“What the blazes are you three doing?” Tobias questioned harshly as he steadied the redheaded boy who had collided into his chest. Harry’s reflexes had allowed him to narrowly miss running into the headmaster and Hermione was able to avoid the collision altogether. “Ten points from Gryffindor for running in the halls. Now what’s the hurry?”

Harry was silent except for his ragged breathing. They didn’t have time for this. Several portraits said that Umbridge had gone with McGonagall to her office and that Severus had headed that way. He needed to stop Severus from doing anything rash. Harry jerked his head away from his father and focused surprised eyes on Ron when his friend’s haggard voice reached his ears.

“Snape has gone after Umbridge. We need to get there, before he kills her!” Ron’s voice was anxious and louder than normal, almost to the point of yelling.

“What?” Tobias’s confusion was evident as his head tilted slightly and his brow crinkled.

Hermione’s relatively calm, logical voice was the next one heard in the deserted corridor. “Harry told Professor Snape about his detentions with Umbridge and now Professor Snape is looking for her.”

“Why would Professor Snape wish to harm Umbridge for giving Harry detention, when he’s done the very same thing himself, many times before?” Dumbledore ask, his wizened voice acting as a sort of calming draught on the over excited teens.

“Because she used a blood quill!” Ron shouted.

Silence fell in the hall after Ron’s outburst. Though Tobias didn’t know what a blood quill was exactly, he knew it couldn’t be good.

Dumbledore spoke next, his voice and demeanor still calm, but his eyes had lost some of their usual twinkle. “May I see your hand Harry?”

Harry glared at Ron for a moment before presenting his hand to Dumbledore and his father.

Tobias took one look at his son’s hand and turned away from the group heading in the direction of Umbridge’s office.

…………………..

Minerva could see Severus’s wand vibrating as it was pointed in the middle of Umbridge’s forehead. The hand gripping the wand was a combination of angry red and bloodless white as it gripped the wand so tightly it was threatening to snap it. The arm raising it to Umbridge’s eye level seemed overly stiff and Minerva realized that it was because Severus was trying to control his magic. His entire stance was one of rage and his eyes burned with so much more than mere hatred. She briefly found herself curious as to whether or not the killing curse could be cast nonverbally. If she wanted to find out all she’d have to do is wait a few moments longer. The air was brimming with magic coming off Severus in angry waves. The man was emitting more power then she had ever seen in her life and she was quite glad she was not the one staring down the end of Severus’s wand. She suddenly realized, for the first time, that the small dark haired boy she had taught was a force to be reckoned with.

Drawing on the courage that Gryffindors are famous for Minerva took a cautious step to the side of her desk, towards Umbridge, wanting only to know to what offense the Toad Woman had committed against the head of Slytherin. “Severus,” the small hint of nervousness that crept into Minerva’s voice surprised her as she continued speaking. However, her tone only exhibited the firm demeanor she was known for. “Though I understand your desire to throttle Dolores, some self control is in order. Not what in Merlin’s name is going on?”

The air crackled as Severus tore his dark eyes away from Umbridge’s trembling, shocked, form and trained them on the deputy headmistress. Raising the hand that clutched the blood quill, he threw the offending object on the desk beside McGonagall and in a voice that would have made Voldemort, Grindelwald, and Merlin himself run in abject horror, explained his actions to the deputy Headmistress. “She used that on my baby brother. And possibly on every other student that had detention with her.”

Minerva stared at the dark object on her desk for a moment. As soon as she saw it she realized what it was: a blood quill. The useless, idiotic, horrible woman had used a blood quill on her students! Looking up at Severus, who once again had his eyes trained on Umbridge, and The Toad Woman, who looked as though she were about to wet herself, Minerva did the only sensible thing. In a scary overly calm voice she spoke to the twins, though she kept her eyes trained on Umbitch. “Boys, please go fetch the Headmaster, and be sure to close the door and cast a silencing charm as you leave.”

The twins, who had their wands drawn, hesitated for a moment before exchanging a look and leaving the office. They’d make sure to take their time in finding the Headmaster.

Umbridge began to protest as they left, but a second wand jabbed into her throat stopped her.

…………………

In years to come, many of the students to witness the sight would shudder when they recalled the day that ‘Captain’ stormed through the halls of Hogwarts. Many had seen and experienced Professor Snape doing the same thing, but not even he could match the ferocity that the Captain produced as he stomped through the halls. Students gave him a wide berth and felt pity for whoever was on the receiving end of his ire. The captain looked truly murderous.

As Tobias reached the door to McGonagall’s office, he didn’t bother to knock or even to see if it was locked. He merely, without hesitation, kicked the door in.

Walking across the office, he ignored his son and Minerva. In fact, he moved right past them and up to the…creature that harmed his son. Wrapping a strong hand around her throat, he slammed her against the stone wall behind her. Leaning in so that he was a sickening few number of centimeters away from her hideous face, he whispered in a deadly voice as his eyes flashed murderously. “I have killed people for far less than what you’ve done to my son.”

…………………..

“Well children,” began Dumbledore serenely as he turned away from watching his History of Magic Professor storm off, “let’s go to the infirmary to see about your hand, Harry. Then perhaps we could go down to the kitchens for tea.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at the headmaster as though he had finally lost his mind. Harry was about to object, ready to run after his father and brother when another voice beat him to it.

“I think that’s an excellent idea, Headmaster!” George said cheerfully. The twins had just seen the Captain round the corner headed in the direction they had come from.

“I hear the house elves are preparing cranberry scones today,” Fred added, equally cheerfully.

“Hmm…” added the Headmaster as though one of his professors was not about to be murdered. “ I prefer the lemon ones myself.”

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were too shocked to do anything except be led to the infirmary.

Harry attempted to protest, his voice panicky. “But, Headmaster, Dad and Severus are going to ki…”

“They will do nothing of the sort,” Dumbledore interrupted rather firmly, silencing Harry. “Now, let us take care of more pressing matters.”

Fred came up beside Harry, placing a hand on his shoulder, and whispered in his ear. If the headmaster noticed, he made a point of ignoring it. “Don’t worry, mate, McGonagall, Snape, and the Captain will take care not to do anything… permanent, but if Dumbledore shows up he’ll have to stop them before they can make the Toad Woman ‘see the error of her ways’, so to speak.”

…………….

“Severus, repair the door, please.” Tobias requested in a petrifying, emotionless voice. With his hand still securely around Umbridge’s throat, he pulled her away from the wall and into pushed her forcefully into a chair.

Without a hand clamping down on her throat Umbridge stuttered in squeaky falsetto. “Ho..How..dd…dare…yo-you…treat m-me…th-this way…I am D-Dolores Jane Um-Umbridge…Under…”

“I don’t care if you’re the bloody Queen of England,” Tobias seethed inches from her face once again. “If you don’t shut up this instant and listen carefully, I will personally dangle you by your big toe, then, while all the blood rushes to your pathetic excuse of a brain, I’ll allow fire ants to feed on you. Then when you beg for death, I’ll nail you to the ground by your hands and feet while I vivisect you and let Severus use you for potions ingredients.”

Silence reigned for a few moments as Umbridge sat stunned and gaping at the man in front of her.

Tobias eventually straightened up and smiled evilly. “There, now, isn’t that much better?”

……………

Once Harry’s hand had been taken care of and a formal statement taken from him against Dolores Jane Umbridge, Undersecretary of the Ministry, the Headmaster and the five students – who absolutely refused to do anything else – made their way slowly through the halls of Hogwarts to the Deputy Headmistress’s office.

The twins laughed and talked with the Headmaster as Harry, Ron, and Hermione followed nervously behind, not understanding how the situation could be taken so lightly. Once they reached McGonagall’s office, they were surprised to find the door open.

Stepping into the office, Harry’s mouth nearly hit the ground when he saw McGonagall, Severus, his Dad, and Umbridge sitting innocently around the desk as though long time friends.

The Headmaster cleared his throat as he entered and McGonagall offered him a cup of tea, which was graciously accepted. Umbridge then stood up from her chair and approached the Headmaster with a blank look in her eyes and with her customary forced smile on her face, she addressed the headmaster in a sickly sweet voice. “Headmaster, I regret to inform you that due to personal problems, I must turn in my resignation.”

“Oh,” Dumbledore said with a raised eyebrow curiosity etched in his voice, though it was probably forced. “We will be sorry to lose you.”

Severus’s snort of disbelief was ignored.

Still smiling forcefully, Umbridge continued, “I would like to inform you, however, that my fellow colleagues and I have already arranged for my classes to be covered.”

Dumbledore nodded, his eyes twinkling madly, before replying with a false sadness that only he could portray as genuine. “We’ll be sorry to lose you. I trust everything goes well.”

Umbridge nodded her acceptance and with a sigh and an overly sweet voice replied, “Thank you, Headmaster. Now, I really must get packed. I plan on leaving later tonight.”

……………..

Severus tried to ignore the pounding on the door of the private lab attached to his office. Adding the minced rat’s liver, he stirred the potions clockwise before letting it simmer. Marching over to the locked door, he threw it open leveling an irritated glare at the offending knocker. After the ‘meeting’ with Umbridge earlier that afternoon Severus had barricaded himself in his lab attempting to focus his mind on other things.

Harry stood defiantly on the other side of the door leveling his own glare at his older brother.

Severus raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest before speaking in a silky voice. “Yes?”

“What. Did. You. Do?” Harry asked crossing his own arms over his chest in an irritated manner. It appeared as though he had already interrogated their father and come up empty handed.

“That’s hardly any of your concern. Suffice to say, Umbridge has been dealt with,” Severus replied, the only evident emotion annoyance.

Harry’s eyes narrowed as though trying to bore holes through his older brother.

The two brothers stared at each other for several moments in silence. Surprisingly, Severus was the first to cave. “Come with me.”

Harry looked shocked for a moment as he watched his brother close his lab door, locking it behind him. Exiting Severus’s office, which locked automatically when he left, the two made their way to his private quarters in silence. When they arrived, Severus silently lit a fire before taking a seat and gesturing for Harry to do the same.

“Harry,” Severus spoke softly – something he very rarely did – and rubbed his eyes tiredly with a single hand. He hadn’t gotten much sleep since he found out that he was going to be a father. Every night it seemed that his thoughts were plagued with insecurities and doubts that kept him awake and he refused to take Dreamless Sleep for fear of becoming addicted to the substance. “Harry, you must understand that there are things you can’t know. Things that I’ve done which I don’t want to remember myself and certainly don’t want you to know…” Severus trailed off for a moment as he realized that the rest of what he had to say also applied to himself and his father. “It’s the same with Dad. I can assure you that what we did to Umbridge was not illegal, but you’ll have to wait until we know the Ministry’s reaction before we tell you more than that.”

Harry studied his brother for a moment, what Severus said made sense, but something seemed off with his brother. Harry almost snorted in sardonic amusement as he realized what it was. Something had been bothering him since he found out that Serenity was pregnant. The talk Severus had with their dad seemed to help somewhat, but there was still something troubling his older brother. Harry’s voice was quite when he spoke to his brother and he sounded several years younger as well. “Promise you’ll tell me, though, when things have calmed down a bit?”

Severus tried not to smirk at how young his brother sounded but answered sincerely. “Promise.”

Harry nodded and cleared his throat, hoping to prevent his voice from sounding so small again as he asked his brother softly – slightly fearful he would get the same reaction he had the last time he ask his brother the same question – “Sev…” Harry paused to gage his brother’s reaction to the nickname their dad called him. When Severus offered a small half-smile Harry continued. “What’s wrong?”

Severus looked his brother in the eyes, but instead of feeling the same rage as he had before at what he had felt was an intrusion of his personal space, he felt a sort of longing. He needed to tell his brother. There had been some things he hadn’t been able to talk to his father about, many of which bothered him more than those he had discussed with his dad. Breaking eye contact with his brother, Severus leaned forward with his elbows resting on his knees and his hands clasp in front of him.

Severus’s voice was barely above a whisper when he spoke still staring at his hands. “Promise me you won’t tell Dad.”

Harry nodded his head both excited that his brother was going to confide in him and concerned at what was so horrible that he couldn’t tell their father. His voice was soft when he responded, “I promise.”

Severus brought his hands up to press against his temples for a moment before taking a deep breath and sitting up once again and staring into the fire. “How much did you hear the day I told Dad that Serenity was pregnant?” Before Harry answered Severus continued. “Did you hear when he told me that everything changes when you hold your baby for the first time?”

“Yes,” Harry nodded his head again; he had started eavesdropping right about that time.

Severus swallowed before continuing quietly. “It’s not true. Not everyone changes when they have a baby. Our mother didn’t. She pretended for nine years before she got tired of it and left me. She didn’t even think twice about her decision to leave you on the doorstep of two complete strangers. Holding the babies she had given birth to didn’t change anything for her.” Severus paused and swallowed hard, and Harry got the uncomfortable feeling that his brother was on the verge of tears. When Severus continued, it was in a barely audible, despairing whisper. “What if I’m like her? What if holding my child doesn’t change one damn thing?”

Harry was overwhelmed as his brother asked him these questions and when his brother turned his head the desperation held in the dark eyes was enough to make him want to cry. Swallowing hard himself, Harry willed his voice to sound confident. He knew Sev would be a good father, but he didn’t know how to comfort someone. His voice cracked at first when he started speaking, but with every word grew more confident. “You aren’t like her, Sev. Just the fact that you’re sitting here worried over it should prove that. Not to mention what just happened with Umbridge. If you’re that over-protective of me, I can only imagine how you’ll feel over your kid. Sev, the baby isn’t even born yet and you’ve already started changing. You aren’t anything like our mother, Sev. If you were, then you wouldn’t be taking the baby in at all. You’d let Serenity deal with it and walk out of its life without looking back. You aren’t sitting here pretending to care, Sev, you really do care. You’ll be a great dad.”

A couple of tears slipped out, unnoticed, from Severus’s eyes as he scooted closer to his younger brother pulling the boy into a tight hug. Words couldn’t express how wonderful it felt to have someone tell him that.

…………………..

The caller was gone! Finally, after such a long imprisonment, it was free to roam and feed as much as it desired.

But it would have to be careful. They were beginning to notice. This food was smart. It stayed together in packs and didn’t come out in the night very often.

But that wouldn’t be a problem much longer. After another snack, its work would begin to come into focus.

The work on its home had begun after the first attack in this place. Soon, the work would be complete. Then it would feed freely.

It was so close.