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Shades of Grey	By : SpeedyTomato Category: Harry Potter > Threesomes/Moresomes Views: 103926 -:- Recommendations : 6 -:- Currently Reading : 21
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter nor do I make any money off this dance in the realm of strangeness and smut

Chapter List
- 44
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Chapter 45

Beta'd by the amazing Tenchi. You're the best, woman, and thank you!

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.

Keeping an eye on what Lucius was doing, Harry was interested because the man was using spells he hadn't encountered before. The upside to that was Lucius was explaining just what he was doing, how the spells worked, what they were for, and such. That he liked as with most bits when it came to such matters, Lucius was good at getting it across in a way he could easily understand.
Looking around at where they were, Harry was slightly confused by what was going on. They were on the backside of the manor, at the very boundary of the property. They had spent the last hour or so, walking the whole perimeter of the grounds, testing the wards and various other protections with Lucius adding what he could. As would be expected, it was a bit boring, but Lucius wanted him along so he could get to know what was where. That he did understand and it would be helpful. It was just—there was something off about it.
After moving along to another area, he said, “I have a question.” Seeing Lucius motion for him to continue as he tested something, Harry glanced at Severus, who was along with them, then asked, softly, “What are you worried about, Lucius? I get this probably does need done, but the look on your face tells me there is something specific here that's bothering you. Well, beyond the fact that we want everything in place that we can get to stay safe.”
Eyebrow going up, Severus smirked slightly and nodded, folding his arms over his chest. That was something he was curious about as well. He knew his old friend was anal about keeping this place as safe as they could manage, but he assumed that all this was for another reason as well. He just figured that he would suss out whatever it was soon enough without asking.
Stopping what he was doing, Lucius checked on where the two snakes were. They were fine, he knew that, but if they encountered a problem, he wanted to know. Sighing, he looked at the two with him then said, voice resigned, “Bella.” Before they could ask, he shook his head and added, “I honestly can't remember if she knows where this property is or not. Up until now, we've not had to worry about it. Now? As I have no way of contacting Narcissa to ask if she remembers, I thought it best to ensure everything we can get is in place.” Glancing between the two faces that now had concerned looks, he added, “I know she was aware of the hunting lodge we were in before moving here. She couldn't get in unless I allowed it, but she knew of it. Even if she's aware of where Avalon Manor is, she can't get through the wards. I just want to make dead certain that we have something up if any of that side starts to tarry about on the other side of the wards.”
“Not something I thought of either,” Severus groused, rubbing a hand over his face. “While we're safe, it's best that we check every protection we have up each week. Better safe than sorry. That and make sure the animals know to keep a better watch.”
“I'll say something to Buckbeak when we're done,” Harry assured him. “I'm not sure how much he understands, but I'll try.”
“We'll talk to the snakes about it as well,” Severus told him with a nod.
“I'm sure, at first, we won't have to worry about such matters, as the Dark Lord will have his hands full when it comes to dealing with those he released, but as time goes on we may have issues,” Lucius sighed, going back to what he was tending to. “Especially if he's going further off into madness. He may go after those that he sees as traitors as well. I would fit the bill for that, obviously. You and Harry should be fine and he won't concern himself there as he doesn't know what happened to the two of you.”
“Let's hope that he figured you left the country,” Severus sighed, shaking his head.
Thinking over the situation, Harry asked, “To help, couldn't we use something like the Homonculous Charm that Sirius and Remus used on the map? I know that they used more than that to create it, but it was the base for it, as we read. You probably have like a map of sorts for the grounds. Couldn't we apply that for something similar?”
Both eyebrows going up, Severus processed what Harry said and what could be done with that charm then gave a vigorous nod. “We'll try that. It may come to naught, but we can attempt it. Black and Lupin might have some idea of what charms they layered on that map to get it to do what they did. They might not have them all, but what they do can only help. Good suggestion, Harry!”
“We'll start working on that when we get back to the house,” Lucius said, smirking, most pleased. “When you get with your godfather next, have him give you a list of what they did include. It can only help because I'm sure we can come up with plenty of charms that can do what we need. That and ask how they managed to wiggle around the Unplottable issue. I know Hogwarts is, but they managed there.”
“Will do,” Harry told him, grinning slightly.
“Even if we do just map around the boundaries of the manor, we should get an immeasurable assist,” Severus said, scratching his chin as he tried to work out what they could do to help. “As the property is surrounded by Muggle owned areas, we shouldn't have a problem working with that and the charm can easily be applied.”
“That's where we'll start,” Lucius told him, a determined bent to his voice. “I'm not worried about mapping out the manor itself or its grounds. That's better protected than Hogwarts. It's the surrounding areas that need watched. And the charm should suffice in giving us what we need. I think, maybe, we just need a mapping charm for the areas down into the town. That's something we should be able to come up with easily enough.”
“I say we do the town as well,” Severus added, more pleased with this idea as he kept thinking about it. “That way we have a foreshadowing if someone we need to concern ourselves with is about.”
“Oh, yes,” Lucius agreed, smirking. “We'll start researching when we get done here. I say, between the three of us, we can get a basic template we can use done before the day is out.” Finishing this section, he looked at Harry then said, “Excellent suggestion! If you can think of anything else that may help, tell us!”
“Thanks,” Harry said, grinning a little sheepishly. Shaking his head, he added, “The only other thing that comes to mind is something Muggles have; security cameras. We can't do that, of course, but if we could take something like the mirrors and charm them to have a motion sensing bit then link them to a huge mirror so they show what set them off in it, it could help. Most times it would probably just be animals or whatever, but it could be something we need. That and sound an alarm when it starts detecting someone.”
Knowing exactly what Harry was talking about, Severus pointed to him and nodded vigorously. “We'll try that as well. It could work magnificently. All it comes down to is finding the correct charms to go on the mirrors. That would most assuredly help if someone takes it in their head to show up close to the wards.”
Though not exactly sure what Harry was referring to, Lucius did understand that it was something most helpful. As Severus seemed to get it, he would go with it and work from there. “We'll see what we can manage. What we can also do is send along the idea to Black and Lupin. Not only could they be a huge assist, but I'm sure they have uses for such items themselves. Plenty know where Grimmauld Place is. Though protected, like here, any help keeping an eye on who is around would be a boon. Especially since they are in London proper.”
Finishing what he was doing, only having one section left, Lucius looked at Harry, smirking, then said, “Those ideas deserve a reward of some kind. I say you get to pick out dinner tonight. Whatever you fancy.”
A sheepish look on his face, Harry said, “Just roast beef. I like that.”
“Roast beef it is,” Lucius assured him, motioning the two to follow along as he moved towards the last section. “You are quite easy to please, Harry. There are plenty of other foods out there besides the normal fare.”
“I only know the normal,” Harry shrugged. “Other than what you've introduced me to.”
“Something we need to remedy soon,” Lucius snorted, smirking. “I have plenty of books about food. We'll sit down and give you an education on what all is out there. The elves can take on anything we fancy, so experimentation isn't a problem.”
Putting a hand on Harry's shoulder as they walked along, Severus said, “And if you get any other ideas like the ones you just had, tell us. They may not be workable, but it can lead to plenty that is if we take the basic idea and think it over. The more help we get, the better we'll be. Never fear that we'll sneer, poke fun or whatever. We won't, that I promise. And we'll listen.”
“I'm just used to no one listening to me is all,” Harry shrugged. “They did about some bits, of course, but most no one did or they dismissed it. It was Hermione everyone listened to because of the amount of magic she knows.”
“We'll listen, rest assured,” Severus told him, giving his shoulder a squeeze. “All of us see areas different ways. We also all bring something different to the table when it comes to what we know. I would never have thought of security cameras even though I'm more acquainted with Muggle electronics than Lucius. While most Muggle devices won't work for us, we can take what they use and do something to help. Especially in these areas. Let's face it, Muggles can't do what we can when it comes to security. So, they have to take what they do have and make something to work. Those ideas can help. And we want to hear them.”
Smiling just a little, Harry nodded. That felt good, though.

Tapping his fingers on the arm of his chair, Severus put down the book he was looking through. They were looking up spells for Harry's map suggestion. However, his mind was elsewhere. What he wanted was a copy of that day's paper to know just what was going on. Well, at least an inkling because he was certain the Prophet wasn't about to print the real truth or all of it. In fact, he was going rather barmy wanting to know. Black and Lupin had yet to get in contact, something understandable as busy as they probably were, which made the waiting worse. So, he was trying to come up with a solution that might work so they could get papers in a timely fashion.
Pondering the troublesome area, he sighed then asked Lucius, “What do you know of post office boxes and how they are used?”
“Quite a lot, actually,” Lucius told him, leaning back in his chair, putting the book he was going through on his lap, face down and still open so he didn't lose his page. “Why do you ask?”
“I was thinking about newspaper delivery. If we could get one set up, we can get the papers we need, including odd ones from the continent, to know what's going on and not have to wait for Black or Lupin to deliver them to us,” Severus explained.
Taking that in, Lucius rubbed his chin as he thought it over. “The closest I know of, when it comes to one of the hubs, would be in Bristol. That's a smallish one. There is one in Cardiff as well. London, though, might be the better choice with that.”
“How do those work?” Harry asked, decidedly curious as he hadn't heard of them before.
“The mail and whatnot go into the box from wherever after you set up the address it's for. You then pick it up or send an elf or owl to do so. Another option is pay for a private box and the mail goes in at the hub then it appears in a box you have in the house. Many use that option as those boxes are portable. They come in handy when traveling abroad.” Lucius explained. “The issue comes in with actually setting it up and the address.”
“The address is magically hidden,” Severus pointed out. “As long as you get the box set up to the right address, you can use any name on it you want. No one, it doesn't matter who, can find the address. If we can get it set up, we can get not only papers delivered, but owl order anything”
“Yes, I can see the merits in this,” Lucius nodded, wondering why he hadn't thought about it before. “The Prophet and such are easy to route to that with a standard subscription form.”
“How easy is it to get real mail or whatever?” Harry asked, looking between the two. He had an idea about that and was wondering.
“It's quite easy,” Lucius assured him with a wave of his hand. “Any and all mail is magically routed there then sent on.”
“So, the boxes are like that bit we're trying to recreate to pass bits?” Harry asked.
“Similar, yes, though not the same as it's not instantaneous like what we want,” Lucius told him. As he did, his eyes widened and he began to smirk. “We're setting this up, now. It won't be the same as passing what we need and will continue working on that project, but it can help. We just need your godfather to get an owl or something. With him being in London, any owl can get it to us, fast. It's far better than the waiting around we're doing now.”
Nodding, pleased with this, not having thought about how else those boxes could be used, Severus said, “I can set it up. I can do a good enough glamour to attend to it. You two I don't want to risk going out.” Standing, he said, “Let me go now and do what's needed. I'll also get the forms for the papers. Those are easy enough to pick up other places. I won't risk going into the Alley to find them, of course, but know where else to do so. As that post office isn't located in the Alley, but close to the Ministry, I can risk it for a short time.” He didn't like the idea of going out, as it put him heavily at risk, but for this he would chance it the one time. Once it was set up, they could do plenty that they couldn't now and it would reduce their reliance on Black and Lupin to handle matters. That they desperately needed as they didn't know what might crop up to make the two unavailable.
“Yes,” Lucius said, summoning some parchment to list the papers he wanted Severus to pick up the forms for. This would work ever so nicely until they could get the other project finished. Plus, they could keep up to date on what was going on faster. That he wanted.

Looking harried, Sirius shook his head at everything scattered all over the table. Not only was there information on the Horcrux hunt buried in this mess, but the bulk of it was about the breakout from Azkaban. Albus was using them to sort and keep track of what was going on. With everything coming in, there was just so much here that it was hard keeping track of it.
Sighing, warming up his tea, he then took a drink before telling Remus, “We need to get this sorted into a system where we can find things. As it is, it's just so scattered we can't locate anything easily.”
“We do,” Remus agreed with a sigh, producing his wand. Quickly, he conjured some small trays then set the papers to sorting themselves into the proper tray. “This is a start. We're going to have to do the rest by hand, but it should help.”
“A right bloody mess,” Sirius sighed, scrubbing his hands through his hair and sighing. Some of what they had he desperately needed to get to Harry, Snape and Malfoy as it related to what they wanted. Other parts were just the mass of information coming in about the breakout, who was involved, who was released, sightings, bits like that. Though he planned to pass what he could of all this mass, there were priorities that came into play where information was concerned.
“No arguments there,” Remus told him, tone weary. Looking around as papers flew into the right places, he shook his head then said, “We need to focus on areas about the breakout for now. The rest, unless someone comes up with something huge, we push aside and look at what's there when we get time. That will make it manageable and so we aren't pulled in two directions at once. I'm not sure about all of what's coming from the breakout part, but we have bits here from the DMLE that we have to pass along quickly. That and make sure we remember it.”
“We'll go with it that way,” Sirius told him with a determined nod. Mentally, he planned to take a break soon to check in with the others and pass along what he deemed more important. As of now, he couldn't do that because so many were in and out. He needed to make sure that no one would be around, though his room was heavily warded. He just didn't need called out in the middle of talking to Harry was all.
Just as Remus was about to mention getting something to eat, as they had been at this all morning and hadn't partaken in food yet because of how busy they were, his head came up at the sound of the front door opening. With all that was going on, he was wary about what else might come. Looking at the door to the kitchen, he waited. When Kingsley came in, he was more on edge. “What's going on?” He asked, a tone of wariness in his voice.
Looking between the two, Kingsley said, tone hushed, “I need you to pass something to Albus.” Eyes lighting on Sirius, he added, “And stay calm when I give you the info.”
Figuring this was about the red herring they left, Sirius stiffened and glared at Kingsley, as would be expected of him. “Is it about Harry?”
“It is,” Kingsley admitted with a nod. “Stay calm, Sirius, or I won't let you see it.”
“Just stay calm,” Remus told his friend, as would be expected of him, then looked at Kingsley. “What do you have for us?”
“The DMLE is still at the scene, but some of his school books were left at the house in Godric's Hollow. With a message. I obviously can't get my hands on the real evidence, but I managed to get a copy of the message.” He then read it off quickly before looking between the two. Handing the note over to the wide-eyed Remus, he said, “I think you need to get it to Albus. Now. The DMLE thinks it's authentic, but are testing the handwriting and other evidence on it to make sure. He might be able to get in and see what they have found.”
“We'll do that,” Remus told him with a vigorous nod, taking the paper Kingsley had.
“They think it's real?” Sirius asked, staring at Kingsley. Internally, he was grinning over this. It was perfect, of course. With all that was going on, this would spin plenty in all kinds of circles. That they needed to keep the old goat, and others, off track.
“They do,” Kingsley confirmed. “Just give them time. If it is real and as he says, he's safe. That's better than anything we've gotten up to this point. It's going to take time is all, nothing more.”
Grinning, Sirius nodded, “We will. If he got a message out that way, it might mean he can write another and we'll hear from him.”
“Very true,” Kingsley agreed. “Just don't go off half-cocked, Sirius. If he managed to get somewhere safe, give him time. He might need to stay right where he is for now for whatever reason. Let's see what the DMLE can come up with and go from there.”
“We'll do just that,” Remus smiled, standing. “I'll get this to Albus as fast as I can get there.”
Nodding, Kingsley said, “I have to get back. When I have any more information on any of this nightmare, I'll let you know.” With that, he swept out.
“I'll return soon,” Remus said with a smile then followed Kingsley.
Sitting there, Sirius was trying not to grin like an idiot. This was just what they needed. Absolutely perfect!

Stripping off Harry's Invisibility Cloak as he came in, Severus quickly canceled the glamour he had on as well. Though it had been nerve wracking, he had accomplished what he needed to do. The postal box was set up, he had the one for the house and he had all the information to pass to Black and Lupin. Plus, he had picked up all the subscription fliers Lucius needed. And, for the sake of his nerves, he wasn't going on another foray again either. There were too many people around and they were too wary for him to be comfortable doing so.
After determining the two were in the library working, he headed that way, the cloak draped over his arm.
Stepping in, he saw Harry working on the dog while Lucius was researching again. After clearing his throat and getting their attention, he said, “It's handled and I have the information.” Passing the box, information and subscription forms on to Lucius, who looked pleased, he added, taking a seat with a soft sigh then passing the cloak back to Harry, “It's best we don't go out anymore unless it's an emergency.” Seeing questioning looks, he said, voice containing a heavy sigh, “It's madness. I'm not sure what our world is leaning towards now when it comes to believing the Dark Lord is back, but everyone is wary and keeping a close eye on strangers.”
“Understood,” Lucius said, though pleased with what Severus had picked up. Copying the box information, he passed it along to Harry. “Give that to your godfather tonight when you talk. For now, if they absolutely can't get over here and need to pass something along, they can send it there. It'll take time and I don't like going about it that way, but we'll manage until we get something better in place.”
“Will do,” Harry nodded, looking at the slip and fake name Severus used on the box.
“Did you pick up any tidbits of gossip while out?” Lucius asked, starting to fill out the subscriptions and having the elves put the box in his study.
“Some, but not much. Everyone is all a-twitter about the break out and what it means,” Severus sighed. Then he began to pass on some of what he heard, leaving out the most outlandish bits. He assumed when Black and Lupin got the chance, they would pass on what they could. For now, they could discuss what he overheard and see what they thought.
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