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"Why Me?"	By : SpeedyTomato Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male Views: 88153 -:- Recommendations : 4 -:- Currently Reading : 8
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and make no money off this work of extreme insanity.

Chapter List
- 39
- 40
- 41
Beta'd by the amazing Tenchi. Love you, woman, you're the best!

With help from Lynn who works with me when it comes to flow, continuity and other issues.

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.

Chapter 40:

Trauma Alert!

“I do have to say you made a wonderful choice with the castle, Harry,” Remus told him after settling at the table in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place. They had just returned from taking another foray to Merlin's Rest to check on the castle and the progress of the elves. Of course, they had visited a couple days after Harry made the choice to see it the first time. This was a more elaborate tour to not only check on the progress, but pick their rooms and give the elves an idea of how they wanted their areas decorated.
“The dragon—he won't be an issue, thankfully,” Severus snorted, taking a cup of tea from an elf. “I don't think he could be menacing if he tried. He's far too fat. I'm surprised he can walk!”
“He's just for show now, so there isn't anything for him to do like there was in the past,” Lucius told him with a smirk. “The elves feeding him coupled with the plentiful supply of easy to catch fish, all he does is sleep and eat. And he's rather spoiled by the elves. The only startling behavior from him is you occasionally see him roaming the castle to find the elves so they can feed him. Nothing more. He acts more like a dog than a dragon.”
“Well, dogs don't belch flames, Malfoy,” Sirius chuckled, shaking his head. “I don't think I would do well being confronted with a dragon roaming around in the house.”
“Just summon an elf and they'll tend to him,” Lucius assured him, looking amused. “I do have to warn you he tends to like to join in Quidditch. He likes to chase the ball and smack it with his tail. Nothing more. No flames or aggressive behavior. Those in the past enjoyed him and his ancestors doing so as it gave them a challenge. If you're alone, just call for him and say Quidditch. He'll arrive, post haste, eager to play.”
“A Quidditch playing dragon,” Harry chuckled, shaking his head. “Could be interesting! What's his name, anyway? We can't call him if we don't know his name.”
“Someone named him Puff,” Lucius told them, catching Lucifer as he jumped up onto the chair. After giving Satyr a pat and some fruit when the sloth climbed up the back of his chair, he said, “Not sure where the name came from, just that it was related to Muggles in some way.”
“Puff the Magic Dragon,” Harry chuckled, shaking his head as the song from Peter, Paul and Mary starting playing in his head.
“Yes, what was mentioned,” Lucius nodded to Harry. “Either way, he's just called Puff.”
After getting Harry's assurances he would explain later what was causing the grin, Sirius told Lucius, “It could be interesting.”
“Everything is as ready as the elves can manage?” Severus asked, honing in on the practical. They had seen what they wanted, but Lucius was the one who conferred with the head elf while they were checking various areas out.
“Oh yes,” Lucius assured him firmly. “The elves have the basics ready. Everything is checked and functional when it comes to the necessities. Other bits and bobs are tended to. While it's not fully decorated to suit your tastes, what we need is ready.”
“As long as the basics are in place, we can deal with whatever else,” Remus nodded, pleased. “Not sure when we'll leave here, but we need as much done as we can manage.”
“My thought is it'll be fairly quickly after the meeting tonight,” Sirius added, grinning a bit malevolently at the thought of what they were planning and the fallout which could come of it.
“Oh yes,” Severus agreed, looking rather sadistically pleased at the thought of what they would unleash tonight.
“We want to make sure we're here after the fallout, at least for a couple of days,” Remus said, looking around. “If we vanish right away, it'll draw suspicion to us and look as if we might have had a hand in what happened.”
“Very true,” Lucius nodded. “Especially when it comes to me. After all, the fact I'll be at the meeting will be quite odd anyway. My reputation alone will lean everyone to suspecting me when it comes to anything off.”
“Remus and I will end up suspected as well.” Sirius grumbled. “So, yeah, we have to stick around for at least a couple of days.”
“I'm sure Lupin, Black and, probably, Potter will end up looked at first,” Severus admitted, looking around. “We need to ensure we divert suspicion.”
“What comes out should be enough to hold everyone's attention,” Sirius said. “At least we hope. All we need to do is press for areas which will end up talked about, especially with Albus.”
“While we'll go for info from everyone to make sure it doesn't look odd and will keep plenty off-kilter, we need Albus' plans. It can only help all of us in the future.” Severus schooled, looking around.
“We'll manage, not to worry,” Sirius grinned as he took a sip of his drink, chuckling evilly.
“Oh yes,” Remus agreed, a genial smile spreading across his face. “I would suggest Harry and Lucius stay out of any questioning, though. If they have a suggestion on what to ask, have them pass it to Sirius. He can take it from there.”
“I'll have Kreacher stick by me, staying invisible to most, and he can pass whatever if it's needed,” Harry added, glancing around.
“Good way to go about this,” Severus agreed, smirking. “We'll manage, between all of us.”
“And it should be plenty good to hear some of what's said,” Sirius chuckled again, the evil grin growing. Oh, this would end up great! James would be impressed!

As everyone came in and settled for the meeting, Harry was seated on one side of Sirius with Lucius on the other. Remus was by Sirius and Snape on the other side of Lucius. Though there were some suspicious looks tossed in Lucius' direction, no one said anything to them. Albus must have put the word out what was going on, at least from the story he was fed. Sirius planned to ensure no one suspected Lucius with what was coming.
Molly immediately went to work tending to refreshments. The elves provided some and pulled out the serving ware needed, but she shooed them off then began making the tea and sending some of her homemade goodies to the table. Sirius fought off a grin at how it was all going as planned. The elves couldn't be blamed as Molly wasn't letting them touch the food or drinks. None of them could be directly traced as the food wasn't ready and the tea was being prepared by her. The other drinks were all sealed when they were sent to the table, like the beer and butterbeer. They were covered, at least for most of this.
Those coming in were wary of Lucifer, probably because they had heard tales about him, keeping an eye on where he was perched in Lucius' lap. The ferrets were inquired about, so they mentioned something about Draco and a trade for Vlad though they didn't come out and say Draco had the psycho ferrets. Vlad was a hit, especially with the twins who were passing him back and forth, petting him. Satyr was fawned over with almost everyone taking a turn letting him cling to them and feed him fruit. Between all of it, various other bits, like most not seeing Harry since he was whisked away from school, everyone was not only relaxed, but distracted. Just what they needed.
Without appearing to, Severus checked his watch. They had a limited time to kick this off, so he wanted to hurry it along. Once the tea was in the pot, the potion would start working and infusing with the hot liquid. Then they had, at the most, twenty minutes before it went into effect. It was the best time they could manage to not only have them in the middle of the meeting, but to draw suspicion away from those who might end up blamed. Keeping those guidelines in mind, he wanted to hurry this along.
After everyone kept fawning over various bits, like the sloth, Severus decided to jump start this mess by asking Albus what was going on. He was pleased when the old man focused on the people rather than the puffskein he was chortling over. Perfect. It was time to prepare.

Right at the twenty minute mark, Severus gave Lucius a nudge, the signal the potion was working. There was a tell-tale flush on the old goat's cheeks and a slight glazed over look in his eyes which signaled it was doing what they wanted. Time to get to work.
The signal was quickly passed on to the other conspirators in the scheme. Sirius was fighting the urge to grin evilly as he decided to launch in. “If I understand right, you're still worried about that Prophecy, so exactly why are we guarding this? You call it our secret weapon, but we don't know why it is or what it says.”
“Good question,” Severus nodded. “The Dark Lord isn't mentioning it anymore and seems to have moved on, so why are we still worried about this Prophecy and focusing so much on it when there are other areas which need our full attention?”
“Just because Tom isn't actively trying to obtain the Prophecy doesn't mean he doesn't want to hear it,” Albus assured everyone. “We still need to protect it.” What he said was the standard and nothing off about it. However, as he finished, the rest came spilling out, despite his attempt to stop it. After rattling off just what the Prophecy said, he pressed on, “Which means not only is Harry in danger, he needs to end this mess. While he'll die in the fight, he'll return to end Tom. We just need him prepared for the fight.”
The last sentence out of Albus' mouth not only left the aging headmaster looking panicked, but was lost in the cacophonous uproar it brought on from almost everyone at the table. There were plenty of infuriated shouts at Albus over what came out of his mouth as the aged headmaster stammered at what he had uttered, not understanding why he had done so. Harry was emitting some kind of stammery, squeaky, gurgle-y noises, eyes overly wide, clinging to Sirius. Sirius was adding his voice to the uproar and shouting at Albus. Even the calm Remus was fairly miffed, huffing.
As the bedlam reigned, Severus took the opportunity to dump more fuel on the fire and cause as much chaos as he could. Oh, what Albus said was more than enough to divide the Order plenty, but he wanted to go for as much as he could. “This is why you allowed him to get away with murder while in school, isn't it?” He figured it was, but there might be more, so he would see what it was to know which way to lead the conversation.
“Well, yes, but it's not the only reason,” Albus admitted, trying to stop himself. Unable to, he kept right on going, information flowing forth he had always planned to keep a secret. “I knew how bad the Dursleys were and how he was abused by them, so I wanted to give him some pleasure. After all, he was starved and mistreated when he went home. It's the only pleasure he had in life, Severus, so I let it go on. Besides, the more he was into, the better trained he was for the coming fight. And, well, Harry is one of my favorites, just like his father was. They are both ever so handsome. I didn't have a chance with the two, what with how old I am, but they are nice to look at. It was the same for Remus and Sirius. I let it go on because I was able to spend time with them when they managed to find themselves in trouble. Tom was the same way, though I was a teacher at the time.”
“I need therapy. Lots and lots of therapy,” Harry moaned, actually now behind Sirius and clinging to him the way Satyr did with Lucius. Forehead resting on the stammering Sirius' shoulder, he added, shivering, “I'll never get those images out of my head, ever!”
“You and me both!” The blindsided and stuttering Sirius agreed. Oh, of all the bits to come out, what the old goat just muttered wasn't something he'd ever considered. Albus had a crush on him, Remus and James? He couldn't even contemplate the wrong that descended to. And, frankly, he didn't want to! All he knew was he wanted a shower because he now felt filthy.
Though blindsided like the rest, hearing most at the table stammering by now, Severus sneered, glaring at the old goat, “No wonder you did nothing to stop the shenanigans at school when it came to some of their stunts!” Albus was gay? He'd had no clue there. The old man had hidden that tidbit well. With how he flirted with Minerva, he assumed there was something going on between the two or was progressing there. He would go with it, though. It could only help all of them.
“I'm sorry, Severus,” Albus muttered, tone strangled as he tried desperately to stop what was coming out of his mouth. “You were a cute one, but you didn't take care of yourself. The clothes I could have overlooked, but not the lack of showering and greasy hair.”
“You're gay?” Minerva stammered out, eyes wide behind her glasses. “What was all the flirting with me then? You knew I fancied you and you made reference to wanting a relationship. If you're gay, why did you do that?”
“I didn't want to hurt you, but I needed a cover so people didn't grow suspicious about me,” Albus soothed, patting her hand. “I consider you one of my best friends in the world, Minerva, the romantic—it was just to look good, not to hurt you.”
“My brain needs bleached from the images,” Harry moaned, clinging hard to Sirius, willing his ears to stop working.
“You used me!” Minerva accused, voice a deadly hiss, one almost cat-like.
“Well, yes,” Albus admitted, trying to stop it, though not succeeding. “Minerva, you know what times are like. We need to put some personal issues aside and keep up appearances for so many. I mean, do you really think I can fully trust you? After all, you were married to a Malfoy at one point.” Albus was completely horrified by what he was admitting to, though unable to stop it. And he didn't know why, either! Someone must have cast a spell on him before he came over which was causing this. Now he had to figure out what it was!
“True,” Lucius said, chiming in for the first time. He was highly amused by what was coming out, just sitting there and watching the chaos, stroking Lucifer as he did. Oh, this was good! Though it was what they wanted, he wanted to hear more for personal reasons, such as just knowing. This was a riot for those reasons. And he could use it for plenty!
“Just how many people have you used like this, Albus?” Molly huffed, hands on her hips, glaring at the old man. “Or manipulated? This isn't right!” She was still fuming over the bit with Harry and wanted to go on a rant of epic proportions over it.”
“It's a time of war and has been since the first one, so I did what was needed,” Albus stammered out, trying to stop himself. “There were plenty over the years. Severus is one. I made sure to manipulate him into doing what I wanted. It isn't like he would have a good life if I didn't step in.”
Now irate, Severus glared at the old man and hissed, “I knew it! You did it all on purpose.”
“You were needed and a little guilt went a long ways,” Albus told him. “It wasn't like Lily would have ever ended up with you.”
“Oh, Merlin,” Moody muttered, shaking his head. This was growing worse and he wasn't sure what was causing it. All he knew was Albus needed to shut up! Before someone shut him up, permanently. From the looks on faces around the table, plenty might try. “Albus, you need to stop! Get yourself together, man!”
“I'm trying,” Albus admitted, shaking madly.
Sirius was blindsided, completely. Going in, he wasn't sure what he would hear when it came to so much, but this wasn't it! And he couldn't think because of the information. Head shaking, making sure poor moaning Harry was clinging to him, he asked, because he wanted to know, “How many in the Order have you played, Albus? We were willing to help all we could, so you didn't need to pull anything with us.”
“Oh, almost everyone,” Albus admitted, trying to will his body to move so he could do a runner before worse came out. “Molly and Arthur—I made sure they were on the front lines with Harry and took care of him. While they would have done so, they needed some nudging by me to help. The same with Ronald. Well, you know what he's like—a few simple instances of implanting what I wanted had him as Harry's best friend.”
“Tonks is someone I needed as an Auror. With Alastor retired and Kingsley not yet in the Order, I needed someone in there I could count on,” Albus pressed on, horrified by now. Even the Silencio Alastor cast didn't stop whatever this was. “I used a little of the influence I have in the DMLE and she was in, despite being a klutz. Once she was in, Kingsley attached to her and came to me. It was all the help I needed. He likes her, of course, something I've encouraged him about, but she has her heart set on Remus.”
“What?” Remus asked, eyes wide. He had no idea there. It wasn't like it mattered, as he was bonded, but it would have been nice to know!
“You are dead sexy,” Tonks told him, face flaming at the admission, not sure why it came out.
“It isn't like the slut wolf doesn't know what people think of him,” Albus tossed out there.
“If it moved in school, he nailed it. We all knew to avoid certain places so we didn't stumble across him and whatever partner he had.” Minerva said, rolling her eyes while horrified she said it aloud.
“And you thought you hid it well,” Sirius muttered to his old friend, unable to help himself and grinning a bit.
“Everyone in the bleeding castle knew,” Minerva told him, trying to control herself and what came out of her mouth. “I've been trying to steer Tonks away from Remus because I knew what he was like, especially around the full moon.”
Shoulders shaking, Sirius was still grinning at the affronted huff from Remus. “She has a point, you know,” he told him.
“Be quiet, Sirius,” Remus shot back, giving him an elbow in the ribs over it.
“You used all of us,” Molly snarled, glaring at Albus. “I knew from my brothers that you were bad, but never this bad!”
“It couldn't be helped,” Albus told her, shaking madly by now. “It's war, sacrifices are needed. Lying is a little price to pay for stopping what's coming.”
“You didn't need to lie, Albus,” Arthur told him, looking furious. “We would have helped all we could without being lied to! Well, until we heard you want to sacrifice Harry!”
“The reason I lied,” Albus groaned, finally starting to stand, planning to run for his life. “I couldn't take the chance.” However, he was shaking so madly he couldn't manage to get his feet moving right and had to brace himself on the table to keep from landing in a heap on the floor.
“Really, Albus!” Molly huffed, glaring at him. “All you needed to do was say something and we would have helped Harry all we could.”
“You were too busy being the dominatrix for Arthur to notice much, Molly,” Albus muttered, thankful Alastor was helping him move by now. He needed to get out of this house, now! “It had you distracted.”
“Oh Merlin,” Arthur moaned, flushing bright red.
“Therapy, now! I can't take anymore,” Harry whimpered, clinging tighter to Sirius as the visions of what Dumbledore said played through his mind, one hand clapped over an ear so he could tune out what was said before it grew worse.
“Makes two of us there,” Lucius agreed, shuddering at the idea.
Molly stammered, blushing brighter than Arthur.
“No, we didn't need to know that,” George moaned, head dropping onto the table.
“Bloody hell, no!” Fred whimpered, head going back, shuddering at what was said.
“It isn't like your family is normal, you two,” Kingsley tossed out there, ashen in color over all which was being bandied about. “Ron likes Hermione for the same reason. It's common knowledge. The same with Bill. Fleur is just your mum with a French accent.” And he had no clue where that came from, though he knew it to be the truth. “Just like we all know Ginny has tried every love potion she knows on Harry to get his attention. They keep failing, making her mental.”
“What?” Harry asked, astonished, head coming up.
“She has it bad for you and plans to land you any way she can,” Minerva said. “The elves at the castle monitor every bit of food you have so they can replace it if they find it tainted.”
Harry stammered, sounding squeaky, as he looked around.
Moody was trying to haul the shaking Albus out the door, sputtering loudly. This was a nightmare. He wasn't sure what had happened as not everyone was affected, but it was bad. “Shut it, Albus,” he growled. “We aren't going to have an Order left if you keep talking!”
“I'm trying, Alastor,” Albus told him. Then he added, “It's not like you wouldn't do the same thing. You were the one on board with all my plans. Severus thinks he knows everything, but you're the one who helps me plot.”
“Dammit,” Alastor muttered, shoving the old goat towards the door. “Shut it!”
“And you even hide it from my brother despite the fact you two have been in a relationship since before the first war,” Albus added, allowing himself to be shoved towards the door.
“Gah!” Sirius moaned, clutching his head at the visions that bit produced.
“Therapy, now! Inpatient therapy with potions,” Harry whimpered, clinging harder to Sirius.
“Damned old goat,” Alastor snarled, actually flushing, both from anger and embarrassment. Leveling his wand at the old man, he cast a spell which shoved him out of the kitchen then left himself, not wanting to face how bad this might end up. All he knew was it was plenty rotten already. Worse was probably coming and he didn't want to stay for it.
As the shouting in the kitchen grew louder, Sirius tried to focus, but couldn't. He had learned too much already to want to know more. He would manage, though. Well that, and make Snape give them all calming draughts before they went to bed to minimize the trauma. However, the plan worked well and they had the best excuse they could ever find to leave. They now just needed to wait for the right moment.
Though he didn't want to, he tuned back into the conversation to hear what was said. After all, you never knew if you might need the information for something!
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"Why Me?"