kbinnz - Harry's New Home

"Just one second," the other man growled. He had Jonah by the scruff of the neck and he drew back his fist in preparation for striking the struggling boy.

"LEAVE JONAH ALONE!" Seth screamed, and suddenly an explosion of pure white light shook the earth.

When their vision cleared, Harry and Jonah found themselves on one side of the overturned picnic table, next to a shaking Seth, while their two assailants were crumpled, unconscious, at the base of some nearby trees. Broken branches bore mute testimony to the fact that the men had been hurled against the trees with incredible force.

A white-faced Snape and Brunhilde came running up for the second time that afternoon. "What happened?" Brunhilde gasped.

"They tried to kidnap Harry!" Jonah gasped, just as Seth said, "He was going to hit Jonah!" and burst into tears.

Snape didn't wait for explanations and used his wand to bind the two wizards. "We couldn't find you," he said to Harry once he was sure that the threat had been neutralized. "They must have used a Disillusionment spell on the three of you. It wasn't until that was broken that we realized what was going on. Are you all right?"

Harry nodded shakily. "They were saying they were going to take me away and sell me to some sparrows, and they were trying to decide whether to kill me first or not. I told the others to run and tried to defend myself, but Jonah came to help and then one grabbed him and then the other grabbed me and then Seth saved us both."

"Shhh, it's all right," Brunhilde soothed the youngest, who was still sobbing. "Everyone's all right."

"Yeah, Seth. Why are you crying? You saved Harry and me," Jonah said in tones of unaccustomed respect, patting his brother on the arm.

Seth sniffled and looked up. "I did?"

"Yeah!" Harry agreed. "Look тАУ you knocked them both out."

Seth wiped his eyes and began to smile. "I did that?"

"One of the most powerful bursts of accidental magic I've seen," Brunhilde said, hugging him.

Seth scrubbed at his face and squirmed free of the embrace. He didn't want the other boys to think he needed coddling!

"That's pretty cool, how your brother saved us," Harry said to Jonah while Seth peered over at the two unconscious men, now safely bound. "I mean, he was really protecting you."

Jonah looked at his little brother with newfound appreciation. "Yeah. He's not so bad, really."

Seth caught the approbation and grinned. This was turning out to be the best day of his life! It wasn't often his much-admired older brother deigned to notice his existence, let alone commented favorably about it, and now he'd even managed to impress Harry Potter!

Snape took all three boys back to the heavily warded home of Sirius and Remus, while Brunhilde summoned the authorities and explained what had happened. The adults had agreed that it would be better for a Swiss citizen to make the complaint, while Snape was in a better position to defend the children if another attack was forthcoming.

Remus and Sirius were understandably horrified at the near miss, and they agreed to take the boys out to see a Muggle movie when the authorities arrived to speak with Snape. Even Snape had to admit that it would take the Dark Lord himself to wrest Harry and the others from an enraged werewolf and an ex-Auror, now that they were on their guard, and it was unlikely that most Death Eaters would ever think of looking for Harry in a Muggle area.

At long last, after all the paperwork had been completed and the two would-be kidnappers had been committed for trial, Brunhilde and Snape collapsed on the couch. "Does this happen to you and Harry often?" the normally unflappable witch asked in tones of dismay.

"More often than I'd like," Snape admitted. "Perhaps next time you and the boys should visit us at Hogwarts, where the wards are among the strongest in the world. Unless," he added, looking away, "you'd prefer not to associate with us any longer."

Brunhilde smiled and reached for him. "While the boys are still away, let me set your mind at rest about that."

##

After that experience, Snape, Black, and Lupin decided that it was better to return to Hogwarts as quickly as possible. Harry didn't mind too much. He'd enjoyed the days in Switzerland, but he was looking forward to getting his godfathers settled in the castle so that his prank war could begin.

The only problem facing the men was what to do about the Dursleys. It would be difficult for the Marauders to continue their harassment of the Muggles once the students were back at Hogwarts, and on the last night before Harry and Severus returned to the castle, the men stayed up late, trying to decide what to do.

Portkeys, Polyjuice, and Harry's invisibility cloak were considered and discarded, and then Sirius started to grin. "I've got it!" he exclaimed.

"Got what?" Snape demanded irritably. "Fleas?"

"The perfect solution to our problem," Sirius assured him airily. "What if Moony and I handed over the chore to someone else?"

The Potion Master rolled his eyes at this further example of Black's idiocy. "And if this person should betray us to the authorities? Or feel sorry for the 'poor little Muggles'? What then?"

"I can guarantee neither of those things will happen," Sirius grinned. "Kreacher!"

To Snape's surprise, a hideous little house elf popped into existence. "What does horrible, wicked, disgusting Master Blood Traitor want now?" it demanded of Sirius in tones of utter loathing.

"I told you not to call me that!" Sirius exclaimed in annoyance.

The creature sneered. "Yes, Master Blood Traitor."

Black looked like he was sorely tempted to boot the thing through the wall, but a warning rumble from Moony held him back and recalled him to the task at hand. "Kreacher," he started again, forcing his tone to be bright and cheerful, "I have a task for you."

The elf spat to one side, narrowly missing Snape's foot. "And what can Kreacher do for vile Master Blood Traitor and his useless, stupid friends?"

"How would you like to go torture a family of Muggles for me?" Sirius offered enticingly.

Kreacher blinked in shock. "Has Master Blood Traitor finally seen the light and mended his wicked ways? Oh, Mistress will be so pleased!" The little elf broke into a smile that was even more frightening than his scowl. "Yes, Kreacher would like to torture Muggles! How very nice of Master to think of Kreacher! What can Kreacher do to thank Master?"

"Now it's just the one family," Sirius cautioned. "I don't want you torturing any other MugglesтАж at least not until you've proven you can do a good job. Understand?"

Kreacher nodded frantically, reminding the bemused Snape of a (more) demented Dobby. "Yes, Master. Yes, yes, yes! Kreacher understands! Kreacher will do a very good job! Kreacher can be trusted by Master to torture the nasty Muggles for him!"

"Good," Black sat back with a pleased sigh. "I've been torturing them myself all these months, and I'm getting a bit tired."

"Oh, Kreacher can help!" the old elf promised quickly. "Kreacher is very, very proud of Master! Master has been torturing Muggles for months and bad, wicked Kreacher has still been spitting in his drinks and calling him Blood Traitor. Bad, bad Kreacher!"

"Yeah, well, go get us some fire whiskey but no spitting this time!" Black admonished.

"Oh, no, Master. No more spitting! And then will Master tell Kreacher all about these bad Muggles and what Master would like Kreacher to do to them?"

"I supposeтАж" Black allowed, and with a whimper of glee, the house elf vanished.

"He's been spitting in your food?" Snape asked, nauseated.

Black shrugged. "Only after trying poison first. We figured that one out pretty quickly though - one of the benefits of having a roommate with a supernatural sense of smell," he nodded at Remus, who waved a hand modestly. "So, any questions?"