Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and I don't make anything from this story.

A/N: It has been a really long time since I've written for Harry Potter. Please review and let me know what you think!

Harry was sick. He had to be. His mouth was dry, his body ached, and his throat felt as if he had been screaming for hours. Sick was the only explanation.

While being sick was horrible on its own, it was even worse now, now that he was at the Dursley's and expected to complete his chores, no matter how he felt. He couldn't just continue to lie on his bed. He couldn't just bury himself under the blankets and rest, like his body was demanding.

With a deep groan, Harry pulled himself up and slowly shifted his body until he could place his feet on the cold floor. He hurt. He had had many horrible birthdays but he felt this was probably made the top five. Trust him to catch the flu on his birthday.

With slow movements, Harry managed to make his way out of his room and into the bathroom across the hall. He was barely in the doorway when a wave of dizziness washed over him. He pitched forward, managing to grasp onto the sink and keep him standing. Panting, his eyes flicked up to the mirror. And he froze.

Something was very, very wrong.

That…that wasn't him.

Except it was.

He couldn't explain it. That was his hair. Sort of. It looked…darker. Shinier. Less messy. It was still going all over the place but now it looked almost as if he had set it that way. His eyes were still his mothers. His skin was…pale. Very, very pale. Gone was his naturally tan complexion. Instead it was replaced with skin that could rival Malfoy's. His scar was still there, just as angry as ever. So overall, his appearance wasn't too different. And yet…

It didn't look like him. His face was more angular. More…pretty.

What the hell was happening?!

No longer worrying about how horrible he felt, Harry moved out of the bathroom and into the smallest room, quickly throwing on the first pair of trousers and shirt he found. He then ran down the stairs and into the kitchen where he heard his aunt. "It's about time you-" Aunt Petunia turned toward him, her eyes wide with shock. Her hand flew up to her mouth and the plate she had been holding crashed to the floor as she stared at him in horror. Harry hurried past her and out the door. There was always a guard in front of the house. The only problem was finding them.

"Who's here?" Harry demanded, turning his head from side to side. "Come on, what is happening? I need help!"

There wasn't an answer. Harry cursed loudly and moved back inside the house. Of course no one was going to answer him. Why should they? He hadn't heard from anyone since school was out. Not since he had stepped off the train. Not since Sirius-

He shook his head quickly, breaking out of the thought. No. He didn't want to think about that. Forcing it from his mind, Harry quickly made his way back up the stairs and into his school trunk. He quickly grabbed his cloak and wand before heading back out the door. Then he made his way toward Diagon Alley. He didn't know what the hell was happening but he wasn't going to find out here.

It took him a little over an hour to reach the Leaky Cauldron and he made sure no one was beside him, or looking at him, and then threw the cloak over his head. He quickly made his way through the groups of people hanging out at the bar and toward the back of the building. Within minutes he stepped foot in Diagon Alley. He dodged witches and wizards as he made his way toward Gringotts. They should be able to help him, right? At least the Goblins might tell him what was going on.

He was outside the bank when he decided to slide the cloak off of his body and stuffing it in his pocket. "Potter?" Someone questioned in surprise.

Stiffening instantly, Harry turned his head toward the voice. He froze at what he saw. He knew him. Right? Wasn't that that Slytherin? The one that never hung around Malfoy. Nott. Theodore Nott. He remembered Hermione saying something about him being her biggest threat in school. But he didn't remember him looking like that. He remembered a painfully thin boy with mousy hair and somewhat mousy features. But now, well, Harry knew his mouth was hanging open and he could actually feel his throat growing dry the longer he stared at the Slytherin.

Said Slytherin was glancing around the two of them with a frown on his face. He quickly moved forward and gripped Harry's arm. Harry's mouth closed in surprise and he instinctively tried to pull away from the slightly taller male. But Theodore's hand tightened as he wearily looked around them. "Come with me."

Harry wasn't sure what was happening and he really wasn't sure why he was being pulled along by the Slytherin. And he didn't know why he was allowing himself to be pulled along and wasn't trying to get away or at least demanding what was going on. No, instead he was following along, not even paying attention to where they were going. Like there wasn't any reason he shouldn't trust a Slytherin he had never spoken to. A Slytherin whose father was a Death Eater. Like Bellatrix Lestrange. Bellatrix that had killed Sirius.

With that in mind, Harry dug his heals in and forced the Slytherin to stop moving. The boy turned to him, his eyes narrowed. Harry frowned back, pulling his arm away and crossing it over his chest. "What the hell are you doing?"

The boy turned to face him again, his own arms loose as his side as his eyes continued to flicker around the passing people before coming to rest on Harry. "Look, I'll tell you when we get there. We can't have this conversation here."

Harry's arms loosened as he stared at the boy in confusion. Why did he feel like they had started in the middle of a conversation that Harry didn't understand? "What are you-"

Theodore's eyes narrowed once more and he stepped closer, close enough that Harry's entire body tensed. "Look, today is your sixteenth birthday, right? You want to know what is going on with you? I'll tell you but you have to come with me."

Well hell.

Harry let out an irritated sigh and motioned for the Slytherin to keep walking. "This doesn't sound ominous at all," he muttered as his right hand gripped his wand. However he followed the Slytherin. He wanted answers and this boy was giving them.

It was only a few minutes later that Theodore suddenly turned off of Diagon Alley into another side Alley that Harry had never noticed before. He froze as the boy seemed to disappear into the darkness. He looked around at the people passing by. Not one person looked at the Alley. Harry himself had walked right past it plenty of times. He was still standing there when Theodore reappeared with a scowl on his face. "Potter," he hissed, his eyes once again glancing around the street.

Harry threw up his hands in irritation and took a deep breath. Fine. He would walk into the dark, mysterious alley. And hope this wasn't a trap. Gathering his Gryffindor courage, he hurried toward the waiting Slytherin and slipped between the two buildings.

He froze. From Diagon it seemed like this was a completely black, abandoned alley. But now… it was almost as big as Diagon itself. There were shops on either side, shops he had never heard of, and they all led the way to a building that looked…like Gringotts. "What the hell…"

"Crux Alley," Theodore said, seeming to finally relax as he leaned against one of the buildings. He gave a tired smile as Harry turned wide eyes on him. "Come on, I'll explain." He pushed away from the building and slowly began to walk toward the Gringotts building. "Crux Alley is charmed to not be noticed unless you are…" he hesitated for a moment and let out a sigh. "Look Potter, has anyone ever talked to you about a magical inheritance?"

Harry frowned at the question, "Mrs. Weasley said that a person comes into their full magic on their seventeenth-"

"That's a magical inheritance," Theodore said, waving his hand. "I'm talking about a creature inheritance."

Harry stopped moving, his brows furrowing at the words. "Creature?"

Theodore stopped as well and stared down into Harry's eyes. "Some families have magical creature blood. Every few generations it manifests on a wizards sixteenth birthday."

Understanding began to bloom in Harry's head, "So the reason I look like this…"

"Creature inheritance," Theodore said decisively. "Elf, to be exact."

"Elf?" Harry squeaked, mentally picturing one of his ancestors with a house elf. Oh god…

"I don't want to know what you're thinking of right now," the Slytherin muttered. "High Elves, Potter. I knew it the second I saw you."

That was terrifying. If the Slytherin could tell he had turned into some sort of…creature…did that mean that other people could tell as well? "How?"

The Slytherin rolled his eyes and continued walking once again. "I came into my inheritance awhile ago. I could tell."

Oh. So Theodore was an Elf too? "I don't understand what's happening," Harry muttered and Theodore let out a laugh.

"I figured you wouldn't," he answered even though Harry really wasn't expecting him too. "Usually the information is passed down through family in case a child is born with the gene. When I saw you in Diagon I figured that you would be needing a little…help." He shook his head and glanced at Harry from the corner of his eye. "First we need to head into the bank and get you registered."

And Harry stopped again.

Theodore turned with irritation. "Potter will you stop doing that-"

"Registered? I am not-"

"It's so the Elvin Council knows that you came into your inheritance and they can add you to their population," Theodore said loudly, cutting Harry off mid-sentence. "Once you are registered, the Wizarding government can't touch you. It's for protection. Plus the council sends a group of delegates to Hogwarts each year to meet those that came into their inheritance. If you aren't registered they won't be able to help you."

Harry scowled but followed behind Theodore as he made his way into the…bank. It was a bank. It was Gringotts. "Why couldn't I just-"

"If you had gone in there the wizards would have alerted the Ministry before the Goblins got you registered," Theodore cut him off yet again. "This way the information gets completed and filed before they know anything about it." He didn't even bother looking at Harry as he walked up to the nearest Goblin and spoke in a low tone. The Goblin turned sharply to stare at Harry.

Theodore motioned for him to come over and Harry slowly joined the two. He wasn't exactly happy about being registered, it reminded him too much of Lupin, but it seemed to be a way to help him. For once. "Come with me, Mr. Potter," the Goblin said quietly. Harry blinked in surprise. The Goblins had never spoken that politely to him before. He turned wide eyes to the Slytherin.

"They don't like wizards," Theodore said softly as he gently placed a hand on Harry's back and pushed him along. "But they're fine with other creatures." Harry swallowed hard as the hand pressed against him. It was warm. Warm and comforting and Harry wanted to lean back into it. Fighting the urge, Harry hurried to follow the Goblin and moved into the room, Theodore closing the door with a click behind him.

The meeting at Gringotts lasted only a few minutes, with the Goblin quickly taking a sample of Harry's blood and letting it drop on an enchanted parchment. The parchment instantly filled with information, Harry's name and creature status being the priority. "Moon Elf," the Goblin informed him, nodding his head and rolling up the parchment.

"A Moon…"

The Goblin turned to Theodore who had moved his hand to Harry's shoulder. "I'll be helping him get some books," Theodore informed the Goblin as he squeezed. Harry felt pleasure curl in his chest at the gesture. The Goblin seemed to accept that and he gave the two of them a nod before opening the door. "This will be sent to the Elvin Council and filed by the end of the day."

It was a clear dismissal and Harry felt his head spinning as Theodore's hand once again found its way to his back and ushered him out of the office, out of the bank, and onto the street. "Store on the left," Theodore said softly and Harry instantly turned the way he was instructed. He found himself stepping into a bookstore.

"Theodore-"

"Theo," The Slytherin corrected, moving between stacks until he finally seemed to find what he was looking for.

"Alright," Harry agreed. "I really have no idea what is going on. I mean, am I different in some way now? And where is the Elvin Council? Will they want to – what are you doing?" As Harry was talking, the Slytherin had been handing him book after book.

"I can't answer all your questions, Potter," Theo muttered, adding yet another book to the pile already in Harry's arms. "It's too much and something most of us have learned about since we could talk. These are a good place to start and I can try to answer any questions you have when we get to Hogwarts," the Slytherin was now on the floor, digging through a pile of mixed up tomes. He finally let out a grunt and added yet another book to Harry's pile. He got to his feet and looked over the pile one last time. "You remember how you got here?"

Mind blank with shock, Harry barely managed to nod before the Slytherin let out a small smile. "Alright then. I'll see you in a few weeks." He then turned and walked out the door, leaving Harry with arms full of books and more questions than he knew what to do with.