Putting out Fires
Harry's seventh year. They had all been waiting for it; he would defeat the dark lord, graduate, and go on being The-Boy-Who-Survived-It-All. He watched from a corner of the Great Hall as all his friends and classmates swept across the stony floor. In a room so full, who would ever feel as lonesome as he did? He was feeling quite enough paradoxical as it was. Being the golden boy had its bonuses, but being so every girl wanted him for their date at the prom, and having finally chosen one, the rest automatically; albeit temporarily, despised him. It didn't seem to matter much who his true object of affection was, in three weeks he would never see that person again. Harry chuckled to himself, wondering how far the boys' mouths would drop until they completely unhinged. They were all staring at the band on the floating stage, or more specifically, the beautiful raven-haired songstress that had just removed her cloak to reveal what she wore underneath.
It turned out to be black leather, and lots of it. Her top was indicative of a corset, ending with a thick, black studded belt. Tres gothique. Harry thought to himself. He stole a quick glance around the room in search of his date, who had all but disappeared from the room. He noticed that most of his professors seemed to be enjoying the music, however obscure and heavy it was. The one he least expected to see at this dance, was by far the most captivated by the siren prancing about the stage. Severus Snape, whom Harry once mistook his feelings towards as absolute hatred, was standing along the far wall of the Great Hall, about ten feet from the stage. Harry looked to the woman on stage, and notice that every few lyrics that rolled off her tongue, she would glance at Snape, and her ever-gleaming smile would widen by the smallest of fractions. "That has to be his girlfriend or something, otherwise why would she smile like that at him?" Harry mumbled under his breath. His attention shifted as the song ended and Professor McGonagall hurried onto the stage and whispered something into the woman's ear. Just as the band was beginning the next song of the set, the woman cut them off with a simple brusque gesture. The expression on her face had changed from one of complete ecstasy, to one of utter terror. Her silken voice flowed over the hovering microphone in front of her, but she was not singing any longer. "Everyone is asked to make their way back to their quarters, everyone involved in The Order, please remain." At that, Harry plucked himself from position on the wall and made his way towards the front of the stage. As he passed, he heard many sounds of confusion, excited whispering, and groans of dissatisfaction. No one had moved yet. Snape had stepped onto the stage and his voice boomed across the hall. "Everyone leave NOW!" The chaos of 150 students clambering to exit the hall was instant. Within two minutes, there were only a handful of people left, the members of The Order and the raven beauty.
The songstress had sat down on the front of the stage, permitting her legs to dangle freely off the floating stage. "What's wrong?" Ron asked as he joined Harry by the front of the stage after bidding farewell to his date. No one spoke for what seemed an eternity. Snape sighed heavily, and in the most melancholy of tones, "He is coming." Not one question was asked, the term 'He' had become synonymous with Voldemort. Just saying 'He' was much easier that 'He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named'. "He's going to attack the school?" Harry queried. "Yes, Potter. Now I suggest we adjourn this meeting to prepare. We still have a few hours before he arrives." With that the group dispersed. "'Arry, why d'you suppose that singer lady was in on the conversation?" Ron asked through a mouthful of hors d'oeuvres. "That's disgusting, swallow before you speak please. I don't know why she was allowed to listen to the conversation. I don't even know who she is." Ron nearly choked on his food when Harry said this. "You don't know who she is?! That's Elena Avengis! Not only is she one of the most famous singers on the planet, she's a vampire, shape shifter and an EXTREMELY powerful wizard! I'm surprised you haven't heard of her!" Harry's mind was reeling, but his mouth could still work and came up with an honest answer. "How could I have heard of her? Whenever I'm at the Dursley's, they never let me watch the telly, I can't go outside and they don't let me have a radio! How the bloody hell should I know her?" Harry's chest was heaving after his rant, and everyone in the hall was looking at him. He threw daggers about the room with his glare. "Yeah! So I don't have all the luxuries that a 'Golden Boy' like me should have! Nobody knows what I've gone through! You see these?" He lifted his shirt to show off the multitude of scars that raced across his chest. "They hit me every day, their bastard son uses me for a punching bag, and his stupid aunt lets her dog attack me. You all expect me to want to fight Voldemort? Sure I want the bastard dead for what he's done to me and my family, but I have no fight left in me! I just want to be loved, but all I have is friends and unrequited love." He paused to take on air. "You think that it's so great to be me. You're wrong. Being me hurts." With that Harry started to storm from the room. Elena's velvet voice stopped him in his tracks. It wasn't just because she was talking to him; it was because she was speaking directly into his mind. Harry, don't rush off, I wish you to meet someone. He and you are quite alike. Harry spun around to look for Elena, but she was gone. When he turned, he found her already ten feet in front of him. "Well, are you coming?" She looked at him with an expression he couldn't quite place. Like a mixture of wisdom, understanding and pity. Her ever changing eye colour captivated Harry, as he gazed into their depths, he found himself involuntarily moving towards the beautiful vampire, wizard, shape shifter... whatever she was. Elena opened her arms to give him an embrace he dearly wished someone would give him. "They have no idea what it's like to be me, they never will." Harry whispered into the hollow of Elena's neck, one stray tear dripping from his nose onto the porcelain skin of her chest. Despite everything Harry had ever heard about vampires, this one was surprisingly soft, and warm.
After a moment, Elena lifted her head and gently spoke to Harry. "It's time to go meet him, come along now." Harry looked up at her with drying eyes. "Thank you." He stepped back and Elena took him by the arm. Harry paused, contemplating his words to follow. "Um, Elena?" "Hmm?" Harry's heart fluttered as the melodious sound resonated through their latched arms. "I was wondering; how do you know Professor Snape? I mean, It's just, I wouldn't think I guy like him could be with a woman such as yourself." Harry immediately wished he could take those words back. What happened next, Harry definitely didn't expect. Instead of tearing her arm from his and throwing curse words around, Elena laughed. The sound that emanated from her was like hundreds of tiny, twinkling bells. "Harry! Whatever made you think that?" "Well, I noticed you glancing at him every few minutes while you were on stage, and every time you did so, your smile grew wider. What is your relationship with him then?" Elena chuckled and sighed, tilting her head slightly forward to look at the ground. She stopped Harry and looked straight into his eyes. "Harry, I know what I'm about to tell you doesn't seem believable, but it is true. Promise me you will stay calm?" "Of course, Elena. What could you say to me that would agitate me?" Elena sighed again, glanced at the floor then put her hands on Harry's shoulders. "The reason why I looked at your professor with such affection is because I am his mother."
Harry continued to stare into Elena's continuously changing eyes, his mouth gaping slightly as he registered and processed the words that came from her mouth. He watched as her eyes changed, blue, gold, green, silver, red, violet. Elena watched Harry with slight amusement towards the wash of emotions over his face. Harry's expression finally stopped at one of confusion. "How can you be his mother? You don't look a day over 21!" Elena chuckled, "I'm a vampire, Harry. Even if I were human I would be much too old to be his mother. But that's for another time." She returned to Harry's side and locked arms with him again. "Best put the matter out of mind. You have bigger things to think of." Elena led Harry into her dressing quarters. "What are we doing here?" Harry asked, perplexed. "Like I said, I need to introduce you to someone. Have a seat." Elena swept a slender arm towards the overstuffed sofa by the fireplace. Harry watched her as she opened the large bay window that looked over the school grounds. "Watch this Harry. What's the grandest entrance you've ever seen? This is ten times better." Elena backed away from the window and planted herself firmly on the floor. With a voice that seemed to echo through the room, Elena called. "I wish the Goblin King would come take me away!" The lights in the room dimmed, flickered and shut off, the candles on the mantle blew out and Harry heard a gently fluttering. "Elena! Get away from the window!" He began to rise, and Elena ceased his actions with the same brusque action from in the Great Hall. A sudden gust of warm air sent her cloak billowing out behind her. When Harry saw what was making the fluttering noise, something inside of him seemed to relax. It was just a white owl. Nothing more. Why did Elena bring him to her dressing room then?
As soon as the owl touched down on the floor, it began to change. Harry had seen shape shifting before, but none like this. In mere seconds, in place of the owl, a man stood. A man like no other. As the man stood to his full height, glitter fell from his clothing, and what clothing it was. The man was dressed in dark colours, not quite black, but close. It wasn't so much the top portion that alarmed Harry as the bottom. This man was wearing the tightest pants Harry had ever seen in his life, they were so tight that they obviously didn't leave much to the imagination, so Harry tore his gaze away. "Just in time, Elena. I was just about to hang Hoggle over the Bog." "Ah, Jareth. So nice to see you again." Elena stepped forward to greet her guest. She turned and grasped Harry's hand, leading him to stand. "Harry, this is Jareth, King of the Goblins. Do not feel pressed to address him as 'Your Majesty', Jareth will do just fine. Jareth, this is Harry Potter." The wild looking blond stepped forward to shake Harry's hand. "Charmed, so you're the one I've heard so much about." As Harry's mind raced, the loudest thought broke through the top. Who's been telling him about me? Why did Elena bring him here? "Harry." The sound of Elena's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "Jareth is here to assist in the battle. He brings a kind of magic no one on earth possesses." With that, Jareth raised his hand and with a flourish, produced a perfect crystal clear sphere. "I can make these crystals do anything I wish, and I can summon them at any time." Jareth began rolling the ball over his long, slender hands. Harry barely heard anything Jareth said as we watched the crystal glide effortlessly over the gloved hand. "Yes, that's very nice Jareth, but we need to alert the others of your arrival." Harry snapped out of his trance and looked straight into Jareth's eyes. They too were odd, not quite as odd as Elena's, but odd all the same. One eye was a light blue, not very out of the ordinary, but the other, at first glance was mostly pupil with a ring of light golden brown. Harry shifted his head a touch to the side and saw that the eye was blue as well, with a tinge of brown. Jareth smirked, and walked towards the door. "Harry, it's not polite to stare." Elena whispered into his ear. "I know, but I couldn't help it! He's the oddest creature I've ever met!" He whispered back. "Don't think I didn't hear that." Jareth drawled from the door. Elena and Harry shared a glance and headed towards the door.
The time on the clock read 10:28.