A/N: Gah, this took forever to get out and for that reason the real note is down the bottom. Enjoy lovelies!

Chapter Two— Never Quite So Simple (also known as Life And Hopes Don't Mix Well)

"I'm a what?"

Leune looked sadly down at him. "It is painful, to see that you have no sense as to how closely your family has always been linked to me. Even your father, though he manifested no part of his heritage, knew of what he could have been, what you would be."

"That doesn't tell me anything," Harry snapped, pushing the plate away from him. "I'm fucked up already, I don't need some stupid thing to make me even more abnormal!"

She frowned. "But this is perfectly normal for you, little one."

"No it is fucking not! Normal would be me slaving out in the hot sun for Petunia's stupid fucking garden! Normal would be cringing when Vernon raises his hands and fucking makes me repeat a fucking vow I wish I could fucking forget! Normal would be dying!"

The emerald eyes widened and a sun darkened hand slapped over his mouth as more words tumbled out, turning nonsensical and becoming little more than mumblings.

Leune turned, looking out the window where it overlooked the multi-coloured flowers in the garden. "What is this vow, child, which you are forced to repeat?"

"Mrphflump."

"I cannot hear, nor understand if you do not remove your hand."

Harry glared at her as his hand dropped. "You really wanna fucking know?"

"I would not ask if I did not."

"Fine," he spat out, eyes hardening and glittering dangerously. "I swear, upon the life I was unduly given, to do the desires of those who unwillingly care for me. I swear, to never raise a hand in magic against them, to only do so in order to defend them from my own kind. I swear, to bow beneath their wants and to allow them freedom with my soul and my physical body, to do as they will."

Leune closed her eyes, unable to hide the pain that glimmered in their dark depths. "What have they made you do, Harry?"

He shifted and she opened her eyes. His large black ears were pressed flat against his head, his hands curled into fists by his sides. But his eyes seemed to glow, catching her attention and holding it. This was not a part of his inheritance, this was something completely Harry.

"Things I don't wish to speak of to you. You made me tell you—I don't know how, but you did—and you owe me an explanation. Give it to me," he hissed, emerald eyes narrowing.

She inclined her head, holding a hand out to him. "I cannot easily explain. But I can show you enough, little one."

Harry eyed her warily, his body humming with anger and humiliation. With a heavy sigh, he stood and placed his hand in hers, noticing that it was cold to the touch. Leune smiled sadly at him, before the world reduced to a swirl of colours, vanishing beneath a black canvas, dotted with twinkling, diamond-like stars.

"Where are we?"

"Above everything," Leune said, sweeping her arm out in a fluid gesture.

Harry looked down, eyes widening. He could see a million different lights, yellowish in comparison to the beautiful white of the stars. "But it's day."

"And yet, on the other side of the world, they are sleeping."

"We're on the other side of the world?"

"No," she shook her head. "This is merely a transition, a chance for you to gain some footing before we fall into the memories of the beginning of your history."

Harry stiffened. "Right. Get on with it, if you don't mind?"

Leune smiled softly. "As you wish, child."

The world blurred again before it wrenched to a stop and now they were standing in a dense forest, the sun filtering through in greens and golds. Before them, was a young man with long, wavy raven hair, spinning and kicking out at a tree beside him. Tears ran angrily down his cheeks and he gasped, falling to the ground and hiding his face behind his hands. His shoulders shook and Harry took a step forward, only to feel a cool hand on his arm.

"This is the past, little one, there is nothing we can do. But watch, for this is important."

Harry frowned at Leune, turning his attention back to the dark haired man. Slowly, he took in everything about him, from the way his long hair was pulled back with a thin leather thong, to the way his pants tied all the way up the leg and the way his shirt hung off his shaking frame. And then he saw them, the inky ears that flopped forward, blending in with the locks of hair that had escaped their confines.

"Ears. Just like me."

"The first, of the Potter's to bear them."

The man screamed, jerking upwards and spinning around, a deadly green glow encasing his right hand. "Leave me alone!"

A figure, hidden until now by a thick tree trunk, stepped forward and Harry blinked in surprise.

"That's you."

"Yes," she said softly, watching her past self with tired eyes. "I had no choice in accepting this man."

Past-Leune glided forward, her face holding nothing more than a lilting laughter that shined in her night black eyes, lighting the deep depths. "How can I leave you alone, Eduard, when you cry out for me?"

"I do not," Eduard hissed angrily. "I did not ask for this!"

"And yet, here I stand, before a meaningless mortal man who attempted immortality," she flicked her fingers and the world around them fell into night. "You asked for it quite clearly."

"No," the man shook his head, the glow about his hand vanishing. "No, you don't understand. I told him—I told him!"

"Told him what?"

"Not to do it! Not to combine the potion and the spell. No case, not since it was invented, no case has succeeded. And he was such a coward! He made me do it!"

Past-Leune blinked, stepping forward. "What do you mean?"

"He tied me down, forced it past my lips, cast the spell and now—look at me!" He lifted his hands and tugged at the large black ears. "What am I?!"

Leune touched Harry's arm and he lifted his eyes to hers. "It took some time for me to understand what he was saying. I was not experienced in the way human minds worked, since I had never met a human on an interactive level before." Her dark eyes flickered over to her past self. "I was quite arrogant at this point in my life, assured that the human race would fall like it had done several times before. It was a repetition, and I felt no remorse for having a hand in it."

"But why? What am I? This doesn't give me any answers at all!"

"Look," she said quietly.

Harry turned back, eyes widening as he saw Eduard on his hands and knees whimpering in pain and begging the elegantly clad woman in front of him for some form of release.

Past-Leune looked down upon him, a mixture of curiosity and pity in her eyes—but no guilt, no caring emotion, nothing like she was now.

"This would not be so painful if you would accept the fact you brought this upon you. A monthly transformation is what you shall look forward to now, mortal."

"I did not ask fo-argh!" Eduard curled up, his hands covering his face from view.

Harry watched in horrified silence as the man before him seemed to blur and shift. There was no cracking of bones, nor the ripping of clothes—they seemed to meld into him—and slowly, as if he was watching one of Dudley's horror movies, the man melted until he grew smaller and smaller. When it was over, Harry was staring down at a red fox with black ears and socks over its little paws.

Past-Leune was blinking in shock. "This was not what I had expected at all."

The little fox bared its teeth and snarled, the dark eyes lighting up with a golden fire.

Leune touched Harry's arm. "Come, there is nothing more to see here. Unless you wish to see your ancestor subjected to various tests."

The world blurred and Harry found himself back in the kitchen, standing beside Leune. He frowned, slipping onto the chair he'd vacated what felt like hours ago. He looked up at the silver haired woman with tired eyes. "What am I?"

"A Shadow Fox, one of seven creatures of the elements. You belong to the Night, but mostly to myself. The blood of the Fox has run in your family's veins since Eduard and his unfortunate accident."

Harry closed his eyes. "I'm an animal."

"Not quite," Leune said softly. "You have a few characteristics of an animal, but you certainly are not one, child."

Taking a deep breath, Harry raised a hand and gingerly touched his ears. They were twitching, flicking this way and that as his distress bled through. "What's going to happen?"

"You are accepting this?"

"No. But what can I do, when these," he tugged at an ear and winced at the sharp spike of pain. "Are attached?"

Leune smiled at him sadly. "You are far too mature for your age, little one, it stands as a testament to the life you should not have been forced to live."

Harry shrugged that off, not feeling in the mood for reflections. "I can't go to Hogwarts like this. There'll be an uproar and the Prophet will make out I'm evil or some stupid crap."

Leune frowned. "There is a glamour which we can place upon it. You'll have to renew it each morning, but it should help in the very least. But I do not trust those you attend your school with, little one, the pain that always radiated from there…it was always yours, now I know."

Harry frowned at her. "They're my friends," he snapped.

"Not all of them," she said sadly. "Some of them, even those you were always with, do not see you beyond your name. I could not explain it, but I felt it as keenly as if I was there myself." She fixed him with her fathomless eyes, her expression showing the longing she seemed to feel. "You were not the only child I was barred from communication with, though I could sense more than is normal because of their presence around you."

"Who?" He was curious despite himself, wondering if, perhaps, someone else was just like him.

Leune gave him a smile one might show to a child who was asking questions they knew they shouldn't. "Secrets are what keep us safe, Harry, and though I realise that you most likely have been forced to carry very little of those, I cannot tell you without showing the hand of others."

Harry blinked and then looked at her with his head tipped on the side, really looking at her. "If you were mortal, you'd be in Slytherin," he said simply.

She laughed, the light musical sound bringing a small smile to his own lips. "Oh, Harry, child, that isn't so bad a thing!"

He raised an eyebrow, making her smile fondly. "You know, for someone who hung around me so much as a kid and knows my basic thoughts, you'd think you could realise I don't think that. So the House had some particularly well known bad apples," he shrugged uncaringly. "So what? Slytherin is widely known as a Dark House, accepted as such because their Founder was Dark too. That doesn't mean they all are. After all, isn't Gryffindor supposed to be the House of the brave and loyal? We got Pettigrew, after all," he muttered unhappily, scowling slightly at the thought of the rodent-like man.

Leune sighed. She studied him for a moment, watching as one of his ears flicked to the side, picking up on some noise that she, even with the heightened senses she owned, could not hear, while the other remained flopped forward in a clear sign of unhappiness and dejection. "I will need to leave you for a short time, to make arrangements for your new guard."

Harry's head snapped up, eyes narrowing and she could clearly see him running through several things, memories or conclusions, she couldn't tell. His ears moved as well, laying flat and she wondered if he was aware of the slight growl he was giving off. She could clearly see the anger and displeasure he was fighting to control, fighting to tie down and lock away with a skill borne of long years of practice. She knew where it began, and where it had continued.

"A guard?!" His voice rose, the growl carrying into it and giving it a strange quality. "I have more than enough people prying into my life and watching every moment of weakness, thank you very much," he snapped, emerald eyes flashing. "I don't think I need yet another one to boss me around."

Leune shook her head, slightly amused at his small outburst. "Not a guard in the sense of those who continuously and rather annoyingly prowl around outside the perimeter of this dwelling in some farce of defence."

Harry blinked. "You know about them? Oh!" His eyes widened and his ears rose. "Can they see us? Do they know you're here? Oh god, if they know about this they'll tell Dumbledore and--."

She blanked out his stream of terrified questions, preferring to run over a list of possible guards, ruling out rather quickly any werewolves; they would instinctively attempt to Dominate Harry, since a Fox was naturally smaller and much more Submissive than a wolf. She sighed softly, drawing the attention of the raven-haired wizard, who narrowed his eyes and finally stopped the frantic drone of questions.

"What?"

"I was merely questioning whether or not I actually know of a person who might…" she trailed off, frowning as she finally found on that might suffice. She nodded to herself, satisfied with the choice. Giving Harry a fond look, she softly spoke. "I am going to leave you for a short time, and I shall return with your new guard. I assure you that this one will not be so inane and clumsy as those others. However, I will have to allow your relatives to wake up, since their continued sleeping will no doubt rouse suspicions in a short while. I recommend you go about as if you had been awake at the time in which they usually require you up." She waved her hand and he caught a glimpse of shimmers in the air. "Those chores which could be done physically by now have been completed, so they will hardly have a reason to punish you in anyway."

"Like they need one," Harry muttered darkly.

"Be that as it may, they will face harsh repercussions if they choose such a path." Leune smiled, nodding to him. She stepped forward and pulled him into a hug, her body cold in a way that was oddly soothing as it brought up long forgotten memories of nights spent as a child curled in the lap of the very same woman. "Be careful, little one, and try not to get yourself into any trouble during my absence." She passed a hand over his head, brushing against his ears. "I have placed a temporary glamour over you. It should hold until I am able to return."

Harry nodded, feeling his ears flick to the side as he picked up on yet another noise. "How long?"

Leune shrugged one shoulder in an elegant gesture. "I have no little idea of how long it shall take me. Everything shall fall into place, little one, you will see."

Harry opened his mouth to speak, to say something against her belief, but she had stepped into the light and begun to fade away. He had a bad feeling. His stomach fluttered, and it had only ever done that when something bad was about to happen. He swallowed nervously and turned to look out the window, his eyes scanning the yard. Had the Order guards seen Leune?

A/N: Gah, I am so sorry the update has been so long in coming. As I stated in my profile update, I'm having a huge amount of trouble writing fanfiction at the moment. Currently, all I can write is my own original fiction. I plan to get published some day, and I'm working on a few fics as we speak, or, as I type and you read! Hope you enjoyed this chapter and that it explained a few things. You'll learn a bit more about Harry's situation and Shadow Fox's in the next few chapters. Plus, next chapter I get to introduce my vamp!