Chapter Title: Bring the Noise
Summary: Another non-human at Hogwarts must face the challenge of keeping a secret and the fear of being found out. When Ginny realizes that he's a vampire, complications ensue. Somewhat closely based on book five. OCxGinny.
Disclaimer: This story is closely based off of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I don't own anything in the aforementioned work of fiction except Eli. =)
The Hogwarts Express was unpleasantly loud as it surged through the relentless rain that stained the clouds a murky gray. Steam billowed in rippling trails off the top of the train, swirling off into the air to mix with the looming, dark thunderheads in the overcast sky. The train's sure wheels moved steadily, clattering against the tracks as it weaved through the green countryside. The train would arrive at Hogsmeade station later that day.
Inside, the glossy, transparent windows rattled against their clean metal frames. The rain battered the windows and left swollen, clear droplets of water to quickly slide down the glass. Students' voices swelled and rose within the train, an endless multitude of chattering Hogwarts students. The sounds blended together into one meaningless string of irritating babble.
I had known before I'd arrived here that it would be hard for me not to murder all these innocent humans for their sweet-smelling blood. I hadn't contemplated, though, that it would be difficult for me not to kill these children merely because they talked far too often and noisily. I wanted to run to the nearest compartment and throw myself out of the window- and that was one of the more rational ideas I'd come up with in the past hour or so.
It was going to be a long year.
I strode swiftly down the narrow hall of the train, an urgent and desperate need to escape this atrocious noise guiding me far down the train's corridor. My sensitive hearing couldn't take in all the yelling, whispering, and inane chatter that was going on- if I were a human, I would have contracted an immense headache by this point. But then, if I were a human...none of this would be happening in the first place.
My wand lightly brushed my leg through the denim of my jeans. It was an odd, unfamiliar feeling to finally be in legal possession of a wand. A smile tugged at the corner of my mouth. I was finally here: on the way to Hogwarts. What irked me was the fact that I wasn't actually there yet. First, I'd have to survive this preposterously loud train ride.
A large cat with an alarming, tufted mane of white fur suddenly streaked by, yowling pitifully to itself. It was soon followed by a small girl with blonde hair who dodged me as she ran down the corridor.
"...Come back! C'mon, Fluffy!"
What a terribly creative name. Bravo.
I turned my head, watching her chase it. The furry thing let out another loud, frightened meow of protest and put on another burst of speed. I watched the girl's glossy, quickly moving reflection in the glass of a compartment window ghost by. The last thing to disappear was the flowing gold tendrils of her hair, rippling in the air behind her as she ran. Her eyes darted up to meet mine for a fraction of a second. She didn't pause. Then she was gone, and all I saw was myself reflected back at me.
I looked around sixteen or seventeen, give or take a couple of years. Fifteen at the least, maybe nineteen or so if I was pushing it. My coppery-brown hair shone faintly in the dim light, my ivory-pale, chiseled features too perfectly proportioned to be quite human. My unreadable eyes, black with thirst, stared with a bored kind of confidence out of my face. They were underlined by the dark shadows of one who never sleeps. I had a slim build with lean, wiry muscles that were still noticeable through the long-sleeved button-up shirt I wore. Every human has their physical flaws, but as a vampire, my every physical attribute was designed to attract humans: my prey.
Thinking logically, the only reason I looked like a human was so that I could hunt them down more efficiently.
After reminding myself sharply that they were, in fact, no longer my prey and should not be thought about as food, I scanned the compartments, looking for somewhere with less noise.
"No running in the halls..." someone intoned, rather weakly. I glanced at the source of this comment, a tall, awkward, ginger-haired boy. He looked vaguely bored. He glanced at me- for a second, there was a tinge of fear in his eyes. It was a natural reaction to a vampire like me, but humans had long ago learned to ignore their instincts. He blinked, and the fear melted from his eyes, as if it had never been there. Humans were so easily trusting.
I shouldn't think like that. Humans have no reason not to trust me...right?
As I felt a brief, faltering doubt spark through me, the red-head tried to casually shoulder past me. I flattened myself politely against a wall to let him pass.
Another couple of students awkwardly dodged me as I walked. They left intoxicating trails of scent behind them. My nose flared as I took in the delicious, aromatic scent of blood.
God, I needed to get out of here...perhaps I could find an empty compartment somewhere on this atrocious human vehicle?
I checked a few compartments. All of the humans occupying them either looked faintly scared when they saw me, had a full compartment, or just...annoyed me.
Eventually, I slid open the doors to yet another compartment. It was full, as usual. I glanced at one of the occupants- a dark-haired girl who met my eyes with a slight flinch.
I used to be smug when humans became scared of me. Now, it was only saddening.
I sighed and was about to close the compartment door when she quickly put her hand out, stopping me from closing the door. I looked down at her fingers holding the door open and back up at her.
"Were you looking for a seat?" she asked, smiling at me.
She wasn't afraid anymore.
I kept my expression smooth, unreadable. "I was, but this compartment seems full. I'll just go look for another one, thanks," I replied curtly.
"No!" the girl protested. "Really. Padma, why don't you leave?"
Another girl with black hair gave me a skeptical look, clearly undeterred by the vampire standing in the entrance of their compartment. Her eyebrows rose. "Why should I leave? I was here first!"
"But this person needs somewhere to sit!" the first girl protested.
"Pavarati, I don't care! You're not going to kick me out, it's really rude and-"
"Yeah, Pavarati. Why don't you go?" another girl asked, arching an eyebrow and tossing her blondish-brown hair.
"Just be quiet, Lavender, no one asked you-"
"Erm...I'll just be going, then..." I said awkwardly, beginning to edge out of the compartment. I don't think that they even noticed me leave.
Outside, the noise seemed uproarious to my sensitive hearing.
Anything would be better than the racket out here, I decided.
Before I could change my mind, I abruptly threw open the doors to the nearest compartment without knocking and and slid the doors closed behind me.
I was relieved to find that there was rather less noise in here. Perhaps it was because all of the passengers in the compartment had suddenly fallen silent upon my entry.
I glanced down at the surprised faces staring up at me. A few of them seemed to be swapping chocolate frog cards. "...Hello," one of them said, a girl with bright red hair, "is there something wrong?"
"Er...no. Do you mind if I sit here? Everywhere else is full."
The red-head looked at the boy sitting next to her. He shrugged.
"Okay," she said, smiling slightly. I gratefully slumped into a seat and smiled cautiously, careful not to reveal my fangs. I was relieved that I wouldn't have to leave again. "Thank you for letting me sit in here," I said politely. "Oh- I'm Elijah Sangue, by the way. You can call me Eli."
"I'm Ginny," replied a girl with alarmingly red hair. "This is Loony- I mean, er, Luna, Neville, and Harry."
I smiled again. "Hello," I murmured, nodding at my fellow passengers. I paused, scanning each of the students she'd introduced me to.
Luna was a girl with widely-spaced eyes, who also happened to be sporting raddish earrings. Neville was a round-faced boy clutching some kind of greyish cactus covered with what looked like boils. Harry had jet black hair and green eyes. I could just see a thin, jagged line coming from his hairline...
A scar?
"Are you Harry...Potter?" I asked hesitantly.
He blinked at me, green eyes flashing.
"Yeah, I am."
He was obviously used to the recognition, and didn't particularly care for it.
I was beginning to think that entering this compartment had been a bad idea- the smell of blood saturated the air in this small, confined space. I was sure that the ministry would not look upon me with favor if I admitted to accidentally killing the Boy Who Lived. But then- the ministry didn't seem to be very fond of Harry Potter just lately, anyway.
"Are you new here?" asked Ginny, "I don't think I've seen you around..."
"Yes, I am," I replied. I decided not to elaborate and lead to further questions.
My fellow passengers wouldn't allow me to get away with such a short answer, of course.
"What year are you in? I mean, have you already been sorted?"
"Fifth year," I replied. "I was sorted privately; I'm in Gryffindor."
I hadn't expected to get into Gryffindor. In fact, I'd expected Slytherin after Dolores Umbridge convinced everyone who showed up at my trial that I was a corrupt, monsterous, depraved, murderous, wicked, blood-sucking beast that should probably be in solitary confinement instead of being allowed anywhere near Hogwarts.
If so many humans in court believed that, I reasoned, then why should the person who sorted everyone into their houses be any different? Of course, I hadn't known at that point that a mind-reading hat would sort me into the proper house.
It had been a very unusual trial, because a vampire that also had magical ability was absolutely unheard of. Vampires had been classified by the Ministry as 'Non-Wizard Part-Humans'. I barely remembered what it had been like to be a human- and I was a wizard. I'd found that I was different from other vampires I'd met. I didn't have all of the shortcomings that they did. Garlic wasn't particularly hindersome to me- it made my nose itch unpleasantly, but it wouldn't ward me off. The sun only made my eyes hurt. I had greater senses and physical ability than them, and it took more than just a stake through the heart to kill me. Also, I wasn't particularly fond of black capes.
In other words, I was an absolute misfit. I didn't have anyone else of my species that I could actually relate to. I couldn't be one of the vampires, and I couldn't be one of the humans.
I was only going to Hogwarts by Dumbledore's good favor. He was the only person who had seemed to understand me.
"Oh, you'll be with Harry and Neville, then," said Ginny. "They're both Gryffindor fifth-years." She tossed her hair, fanning her scent toward me. I swallowed convulsively, attempting to get rid of the venom that was flooding into my mouth. My throat burned horribly in protest.
"Great," I said, trying to be enthusiastic.
Harry seemed to be scrutinizing me. His green eyes scanned me, dark eyebrows furrowed. He didn't seem scared- not yet. Hopefully, he hadn't paid too much attention in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Even if I wasn't very much like other vampires, it wasn't too hard to tell that was hiding something. He might have even noticed that I rarely smiled, for fear of revealing my fangs- another difference. Other vampires had pointed teeth, but it wasn't just their canines. And my fangs were noticeable. Too noticable.
The compartment door opened again, this time revealing a rather annoyed-looking pair of students, accompanied by a large, disgruntled ginger cat and a shrilly hooting owl in a cage. The girl's most noticeable features were her wild hair and fluid brown eyes. The boy was the one I'd seen earlier, telling the first-year to slow down in the hall. His hair was almost the exact shade as Ginny's. I wondered if they were siblings.
"Oh- who's this?" asked the boy rudely.
"I'm Eli-" I began, but Ginny interrupted me. "Ron, this is Eli. Eli, this is Ron. Eli couldn't find an empty compartment, so he's sitting here."
Ron made a resigned kind of noise.
"Oh, and Eli, this is Hermione," Ginny continued. I nodded at Hermione and she smiled back tentatively.
Soon, Ron and Hermione seemed comfortable enough to speak freely in my presence.
"I'm starving," Ron intoned. He was sitting in the seat next to Harry, and had seated his smaller owl next to Harry's large white one. Hermione had told me that the two owls were Pigwidgeon and Hedwig; her cat was Crookshanks.
Ron was munching on a chocolate frog that had apparently been taken from Harry. He was leaning back in his seat, his eyes closed.
"There're two fifth-year prefects from each house," Hermione said, an irritated look entering her eyes. "A boy and girl from each."
"Guess who's a Slytherin prefect?" Ron asked. He didn't open his eyes.
"Malfoy," Harry said without hesitation. There was no question in his voice, yet he sounded horrified.
"'Course he is," Ron spat bitterly. He stuffed another chocolate frog into his awaiting mouth.
I looked around, puzzled. "Who's Malfoy?"
"A stupid, interfering git," Ron informed me solemnly.
I blinked at him.
"He's in our year," Hermione added, "and he's really horrible. Oh, that reminds me, what year are you in? Have you been sorted? Were you in a different school? I don't-"
"Hermione, slow down!" Ron laughed, "you're scaring him!"
Hermione glared at him.
I ran through the questions in my mind. I had a good memory. "Er, fifth, yes, I'm in Gryffindor, and no, I was homeschooled," I replied.
Hermione nodded, her hand pausing thoughtfully on Crookshank's head. Her head tilted almost imperceptibly to the right, her eyebrows drawing closer together as she stared at me. My dark eyes met hers, challenging, and she quickly looked away, but I could see that she was thinking of something. She glanced at Harry, raising her eyebrows, eyes flickering at me. He shrugged, almost imperceptibly.
All this happened in a few moments, as the others were chatting on. I tended to notice details.
Now Harry and Hermione had both noticed something odd about me, but the other passengers remained blissfully ignorant.
Harry interrupted Hermione's train of thought. "Who're the other prefects?"
"Pansy Parkinson," said Hermione, a touch of viciousness entering her vaguely bossy voice. "I've no idea how she got to be a prefect, though..." she glanced at me, as though she was about to say something but had decided against it.
"Who are Hufflepuffʹs?" Harry asked.
"Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbott," Ron replied, shaking his head.
"And Anthony Goldstein and Padma Patil for Ravenclaw," said Hermione.
"You went to the Yule Ball with Padma Patil," Luna said dreamily, her eyes slightly unfocused as she stared at the ginger-haired Ron from over the magazine that she was reading. The cover read, The Quibbler. She tilted her head slightly, her unblinking eyes squinting as Ron nearly inhaled his mouthful of chocolate frog.
"Yeah, I know I did," Ron replied. He raised his orange eyebrows.
"She didnʹt enjoy it very much," said Luna, with a slight air of seriousness. "She doesnʹt think you treated her very well, because you wouldn't dance with her."
"I don't think I would have minded," she added as an afterthought, looking into the distance as she considered this, "I don't like dancing much."
Ron looked too surprised to react very much. Ginny giggled uncontrollably at Ron's expression as Luna glanced at me for a few seconds before continuing to read her magazine.
After Ron recovered from his shock, he looked down at the watch he was wearing. I wondered when we'd get off the train; the smell of blood was beginning to make me restless, and my senses were urging me to bite something. My gaze kept somehow wandering to Ginny's neck. She blushed easily, and I could see the blood moving under her skin. I kept myself still, trying not to inhale.
"We prefects have to patrol the corridors every once in a while," Ron said. "Didn't I see you in the corridor earlier?" he added, looking at me.
I smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, probably," I mumbled around my fangs.
"...can't wait to get Crabbe and Goyle," he said thoughtfully.
"Who're they?"
"Malfoy's evil henchmen," Ron snorted in reply.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Ron."
"What? It's the truth."
They continued to bicker back and forth as I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, trying to ignore what tempted me so constantly.
The air whooshed slightly as Harry took Luna's magazine and began to leaf through it.
"Anything good in there?" Ron asked.
"Of course not!" Hermione snorted. "The Quibbler's rubbish, everyone knows that-"
She froze when she saw Luna's expression. "My father's the editor," Luna informed Hermione coldly. "I'll have that back, thanks," she added, snatching the magazine back from Harry.
"Oh, well, I mean, it's quite- it's-" Hermione stuttered, her cheeks turning a delicious red color as Luna glared at her. Hermione's sweet, distinct aroma fluctuated as she blushed.
The compartment door opened once more. It was almost a relief to get some air that wasn't completely tainted with blood. A blonde boy walked in, flanked by two overly muscular, lumbering boys. His had finely pointed features twisted into a sneer as he looked down at us.
"What?" Harry asked, his tone almost violent.
Was this the infamous Malfoy?
As I pondered this, I remembered: hadn't there been a Malfoy at my trial? Yes, I was nearly certain there had been. A sudden, vivid image of a cold, sneering face popped into my head; his stormy eyes, mocking and condescending beneath his slick, blonde hair. I felt a surge of hate.
"Manners, Potter. I can give you a detention, now, you know. Oh, and who's this?" he looked down his nose at me. "A new student?" He scanned me for a second before a look of realization lit up his pale, pointed, smirking face. I felt a twist of horror.
"Hey, I know you..." Malfoy said slowly, still staring at me. "My father told me about you. You're that disgusting little va-"
"Shut up, Malfoy," I snarled viciously. My voice was barely recognizable as coherent words, but my snarl seemed to get the point across. Malfoy smirked.
"Bite me, Sangue." He winked arrogantly, then strode out of the compartment.
I watched his 'henchmen' go after him, my eyes dark and thirsty. It was all I could do to stop myself from pouncing at the bigger one- his blood didn't smell amazing, but it was still better than the animal blood I usually drank. Every muscle in my body tensed as I tried to hold myself back.
The boy shuddered when he met my violent, animalistic stare, and quickly lumbered away.
The other passengers were staring at me, apart from Luna, who was still reading her magazine- which was, interestingly enough, upside-down.
"You're right," I said quietly, still staring after them. "Malfoy is a horrible, interfering git."
"I thought you didn't know Malfoy?" Hermione eventually asked, a note of hesitation in her voice. Her eyes were wide and unblinking.
The others remained silent. A silent, murderous vampire in the corner of their compartment most likely unnerved them.
"I'm...acquainted with his father," I spat out. My hands shook as I tried to calm down. I took a deep, calming breath, but nearly choked as the combined aromas of the assembled humans struck me.
"Oh...how do you know him?" Hermione asked.
"I'd rather not say," I said curtly.
Harry stared at me. I met his eyes, but he didn't flinch. It was fairly strange- usually when I was in this kind of a mood, humans became terrified- and with good reason. He blinked after a few moments, then looked away.
There was an uncomfortable silence as I slowly calmed down. Eventually, it was broken by Hermione. "We're nearly at school...we'd better change."
We all pulled our robes on, Hermione and Ron carefully pinning shiny prefect badges to their chests. The scent of blood swelled as the swishing fabric waved the mingled aromas around the compartment.
I swallowed the venom that was gathering in my mouth, trying not to inhale too often.
The noise outside of the compartment was soon plausible even from inside the compartment as everyone got their luggage and animals ready so they could get off of the train. Dumbledore had let me keep my own owl, Troglodyte (Trog for sort) in the owlery in Hogwarts for the last few days of summer.
Hermione and Ron left; as prefects, they were to supervise everyone leaving the train. Luna offered to carry Ron's owl, and Harry passed her the cage gratefully.
The cold night air whipped my hair up as I stepped onto the platform, but I couldn't feel the chill of the breeze. The cool temperature of the wind wasn't so different from the temperature of my bloodless skin. A sharp, female voice called for first-years somewhere in the distance.
"Where's Hagrid?" Harry asked.
I had absolutely no idea who or what Hagrid was, so I stayed silent.
"Dunno," Ginny replied vaguely. "We'd better get out of the way, though- we're blocking everyone."
Harry mumbled his agreement. We started to move out of the way, but we were jostled by the quickly moving crowd. I stayed near Harry, but soon we became separated from Ginny. Harry was craning his neck, looking for something- Ginny, I guessed. Eventually we were forced to move forward, up the dark road by Hogsmeade station.
I was surprised to see several hundred carriages pulled by vast, black animals that resembled horses. There was something oddly reptilian about their fleshless skin, through which every bone was visible. Theirs heads were vaguely dragonesque. Batlike wings shifted slightly as they moved.
Harry was watching them, too.
As we approached, the animals began to make nervous, grating squeaks, stamping their feet restlessly. I saw that their eyes were an odd, milky white, pupilless and rapidly blinking. Almost all animals seemed to respond this way towards me; they had far better instincts than humans did.
When I'd retrieved Trog from the owlery, the entire shop had been in an uproar upon my entry. Owls hooted all over the place, screeching and batting their great wings against the cages. I'd been exasperated at the time- I wasn't going to eat them, so why were they so panicked? Amidst this chaos, Trog watched me placidly, staring with bored arrogance out of her cage. I could tell that she wasn't at all scared of me. I immediately chose her.
"What are those things?" I asked quietly, glancing at Harry.
"I don't know," he replied, "they've never been there before."
I heard Ron approaching behind us, and turned so I could see him. "Where's Pig?" he demanded rudely. I wondered what he was talking about for a moment before I realized that he was making reference to his owl.
"That Luna girl was carrying him," Harry answered. "Where do you reckon-"
"-Hagrid is? I dunno, but he'd better be alright."
I found it slightly unnerving that Ron was able to finish Harry's sentences. How long had they known one another?
I noticed Malfoy pushing some smaller children out of the way as he barged towards a carriage. He was just like his father.
Shortly afterward, Hermione had shuffled her way out of the thronging group of hundreds of students. She began to complain about Malfoy, but I barely heard her. So many humans, all crowded together in one place...
I shuddered slightly, fighting to remain calm. I stayed perfectly rigid, not breathing, staring at all of the humans and their delicious blood.
A/N: Oh noes, a cliffhanger! I'd say I was sorry, but I don't like to lie to my readers. Relish the suspense. Review.
