Harry Potter and the Forced Hero

Again beta-ed by the Awesome, wonderful, amazing, and ect. ect. P.R.M.A.S. without whom, this fic. Would suck… JK LoL.

Harry Potter and the Forced Hero

The loud music thumping in the large hall that was based underneath a series of flats seemed to echo in between the bodies of the dancing people. Many of them danced wildly, their arms flailing around and their bodies moving to their own beat. Yet, there seemed to be a strange beat that ran alike through the crowd, so that if you looked at it from above, strange shapes and symbols appeared to be formed by the crowd for an instant, before disappearing into a mass of bodies.

O', just, cause life ain't so great,

Everything you know, everything you love, they've taken it, fled with it,

And all you can do, is just sit back and cry,

Watching in pain, as you feel yourself die!

The lyrics of the band, Death's Beat, pounded through the crowd. The crowd seemed to respond wildly as those at the front screamed their adulteration for the band, and those at the back tried to push through the heaving masses towards the front. The band on the stage simply ignored these distractions, concentrating on their instruments. The entire band, that is, except for one person. The lead singer.

His hair long and lanky, reaching down to his shoulders, he grinned as he sang his lyrics into the microphone. To the unfortunate mass that was just below him, always just a fingertip away from touching him, they simply fell into awe. It was no coincidence that most of the crowd at the front near the stage were purely made up of the female population. The stance of the singer simply oozed gorgeousness. It was as though an animal magnetism drew them to him. His sweat-soaked hair, although normally distasteful to the average person, seemed to give him an angelic look in the white light that highlighted him. Of course, that all changed within a second as he leant forward and the white light turned red, making him turn instantly into a red devil. The crowd screamed itself hoarse with admiration as he sang.

When there's fire pouring down,

Where the hell are you gonna be?

Are you going to be sitting in the rain, screaming your hatred?

Or are you going to stand and make a stand, take the war to them!?

At the last word, smoke popped from the side of the stage, masking him and the band behind him. The music, previously pounding and in-your-face had suddenly become quiet, only a small strumming noise could be heard in the sudden silence that had hit the hall. The smoke slowly died away as a figure became more and more pronounced. The smoke drifted away, leaving him holding the guitar. The band members remained in the background, their instruments not being used; it was as though they were waiting for something. Slowly, the lead singer, still holding his guitar, raised his head, and softly sang.

And so we reach the end,

Our friends have gone round the bend,

It's time to get outta here,

Oh, and don't forget the beer.

The crowd, well, mostly the girl part of the crowd, cried out in admiration at the sight of the singer. His face basically caused a hole to emerge in their hearts. In short, he was handsome. And that wasn't just it. For on the left side of his face was a tattoo of a snake. Most of the girls were driven wild already, and his tattoo just made them go crazy!

The resounding twang from the guitar and the rest of the band caused the crowd to go wild, screaming their voices out. The lead singer simply smiled and waved slightly, ignoring the yells and cheers of the audience in front of him. Several bold girls were cheekily offering to share his bed that night, but to no avail. He simply left with the rest of the band.

Not long after the end of the concert, the crowd, in its pairs and groups left the hall, most of them talking excitedly about the band. Many of them felt that the show was definitely worth the money they'd spent, which was at least £30 just to get in. Normally, none of them would've paid that much, however, recently, Death's Beat had been in many local newspapers, and had even appeared in a small column in a national newspaper. It was mainly, however, the lead singer who caused for the band's rise in popularity.

Many of the crowd, few of whom were inclined to return to their homes, left for various drinking pubs and coffee bars. It was there that many of them started up what would become a favoured subject if they ever thought back to that night. Just where did the lead singer come from?

Very little was known about him. There were only ever rumours about who he was, what he did and how he did it. The usual rumours that appeared after a concert were that he was a rich kid out for some fun; that he was just a runaway who played for money or that he was just a group of people pretending to be the same person. Of course, there were very few people, who didn't acknowledge, that whoever he was he was extremely hot.

In fact, the only thing that anyone did actually know about him was that his name was Emerald.

--

Emerald smacked the hand of Rick in a high five, grinning through his weariness at his friend. 'It was a good riff,' Emerald was saying, 'but I still think that it could've used a few more seconds to fully achieve its maximum potential.'

'And I keep telling you, it's perfectly fine where it is!' Rick said, rolling his eyes. It was apparent that this was an old argument between the two of them. Rick's brown, lanky hair dropped down in the way of his eyes, and with a practiced and automatic motion, he blew it out of the way.

'Dude, you really do need to get a haircut sometime.'

'Says you?' Rick said, laughing.

'Yeah, says me.' Emerald said, puffing out his chest and glaring at Rick.

'Hey, if you two ladies have finished trying to prove that you've got a pair, then we still need to get paid for tonight's concert!' A female voice called to them both.

Both Rick and Emerald turned around to see the person who had just called them. There, standing in the doorway was a girl. Her hair was long and blonde, reaching down to her shoulder blades. Her blue eyes gave her the appearance of an innocent angel, so any unsuspecting person would say. It would be those who knew her, however, who would disagree quickly. Well, not if she was in earshot anyway. She was clearly dressed to impress, wearing a tank top and small shorts that barely covered her underwear. She raised an eyebrow at their outraged expressions, a small smirk lingering on her face. Rick opened his mouth to say something before a look from her made him quickly close it. Emerald opened his mouth to do the same, before another look from her made him close it as well.

The girl smirked, her work apparently done. 'Right then, Rick, grab your stuff and get changed. Don't forget our little bet that you lost. You still have to pay for drinks at the club tonight. For everyone.' Rick gulped, while Emerald grinned at him. His grin quickly disappeared when the girl looked at him. 'And as for you Emerald,' she walked up close to him, invading his personal space. 'You still have to get us the money that we're owed! Two concerts, we haven't been paid, and I am expecting to see that money the next time I see you. Get it?' Emerald nodded quickly.

A triumphant smirk on her face, she grabbed Rick by the arm and frogmarched him out of the room, presumably to the dressing room. A worried-looking Rick looked back at Emerald, obviously wondering what horrors would be inflicted on him. With a cheeky grin on his face, Emerald waved him goodbye. He chuckled as soon as they were out of the room. He loved it when Shell came about like this.

Shell was always the domineering type. She liked to have things under control. Her favourite plans were…well, basically plans that worked. A plot with no plan equalled pain. That aside, she was caring, funny, and hot as hell! Emerald had always regarded her with a type of awe. He wouldn't date her, of course. She was like a sister to him. Well, he preferred the name "cousin", because otherwise it would be just creepy thinking someone who you thought of as your sister as being hot.

Right from day one of Emerald meeting the gang members, Shell had been in his life…

--

Flashback…

Emerald looked around the large hall nervously. Dave, after taking Emerald away from the police and the hospital, had instantly known that he couldn't look after a boy on the streets. It could only end with him in prison, and Emerald in an orphanage. While no one would comment on a tramp, they would if that tramp had a boy with them. Therefore, the next best place was with some people who would take care of him.

The building they were in now had clearly been abandoned in the past. Broken windows and graffiti adorned the walls of the flat. The door had clearly been kicked in at some point, and a maze of alleyways more or less surrounded the building. Of course, inside was a different matter. Around two or three floors up, the building was clean and safe. The gang living there, most of them aged from 9 to 16 had made their home here. A carpet, although rugged and scratchy, had been laid in place, and various sofas that seemed to serve as beds were made up in the empty rooms. A small generator had been set up as well, although it was limited only to the third floor. Accordingly, that was where most of the gang had set up their places. Only a few went any further up, and normally that was in pairs, the majority of them were one of each gender. What they did up there, only they knew.

It hadn't taken long before a girl and a boy came up to him. Unlike the others, they were his age. The boy had grinned at him as the girl took his hand. Emerald had flinched at the touch, but the girl ignored it as she dragged him off to a room, where various broken toys were. The boy had followed with a grin still on his face. It had been there that Emerald had met both Shell and Rick, and ever since they had been one of the closest groups that had made up the gang. He had been welcomed, and ever since, he had returned that welcome with his total loyalty.

End flashback…

--

Emerald, now dressed in his normal clothes, a ripped t-shirt and a pair of jeans that had clearly seen better days, walked towards the managers office, nodding at the two bouncers that had cleared out the club, now sat at the bar drinking an alcoholic drink.

'Hey up Emerald,' one of them acknowledged him. 'Great show up there, again. You gonna come back some time?'

Emerald shrugged noncommittally. 'It depends; we haven't been paid for the last two concerts yet, not including this one. If we're not paid, then there's no way in hell that we're going to come back to this place, even with you two guys here to liven it up!' Emerald said the last sentence with a grin on his face.

The bouncer looked at the second bouncer, a small frown on his face. The other bouncer looked Emerald up and down, before nodding at the first bouncer. The first bouncer turned back to Emerald. 'Heads up then, Emerald. The club's been through some hard times recently, and to be honest, it's really been your band that's kept us going so far. We're in heavy debt, and it's unlikely that the boss will pay you much, if anything.'

Emerald ground his teeth in annoyance. He'd gone through guys like that before, who had seen him and instantly decided that he could be played. They generally tended to delay and delay until he gave up. Well, he would not be played with.

'If you go to him,' the first bouncer said, slowly. 'We thought we'd let you know that we became temporally deaf for the next five or so minutes.'

Emerald nodded in satisfaction. He turned from the two bouncers, who in turn, went back to their drinks as though nothing had happened. Emerald walked through the back door of the club, walking through a corridor until he reached the door where the light, shining through the door gave an outline of a figure.

Emerald barged in without knocking, visibly startling the man as he looked up from his desk where he had been writing out various forms. Emerald sat himself in front of the desk, putting his feet up and whistling, looking around the room.

'Nice little place you've got here,' Emerald started before he was interrupted by the manager.

'What the hell are you doing, boy?'

Emerald instantly bristled. The word "boy" raised bad memories in him, even now. Oh, if only the manager knew just how much of a bad start he had gotten to. Emerald put his feet down, looking in the manager's eyes squarely.

'What do I want? Hmm, well, let's just have a think about that. Oh yes, I know…how about, let's start with the money you owe me for the concert two weeks ago. What else…oh yes! The concert that we played at your club a week ago. And there was just one more thing…hang on; it'll come to me…ah yes! The money that you owe me for playing here again this week!'

The manager visibly growled. 'I'll pay you later, all of it. Okay?' The manager seemed to dismiss him as he turned back to his paperwork. He quickly leapt back, however, when Emerald slammed his fist on the desk, shoving the pile of papers onto the ground. The man looked at the pile, clearly distressed. He turned towards Emerald, a face of fury on him as he made a step towards him.

Of course, that didn't last long when he found himself on the floor, having been backhanded by Emerald, whose eyes glinted with satisfaction. The man clutched the side of his face, spitting some blood onto the ground. Emerald walked over to the man, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt, and lifting him up.

'The money, now.'

The man, having been cowed turned towards a safe at the back of the room. Emerald followed cautiously as the man opened the safe and turned around. Emerald swore as he punched the man in the face. He quickly stamped on the man's hand. Of course, this was no random bout of violence, but an instinctive act. What else would you do when the man was holding a fucking gun?

Emerald kicked him savagely in the ribs, winding him and probably bruising his ribs severely. He stepped over the man, who was clutching his side towards the safe. He smiled slightly as he saw various piles of bank bills stacked up. He grabbed as much as he could in his hands and put it into an empty bag that was at the side of the room. He repeated this two times before he was satisfied, leaving just two wads of bank notes.

He stopped and glared at the man, his green eyes darkened and menacing. He slowly put his hand that wasn't holding the bag into his trouser waistline, pulling out a pistol. He pointed it at the man, who looked to be wetting himself at the sight of it. He raised a hand feebly.

'No…please…' he whispered, terror laced into his voice.

Emerald shook his head slowly.

'Die!'

--

'And so then, yeah, I pulled the trigger, and the guy just started crying and curling up into a ball! There I was, just soaking him with water from the water pistol, all the while yelling "Yes! Fear the power of water! Drown you miserable rat! Drown! Muahahahah!" And he was just screaming as the water poured all over him! I could hardly stop myself from dying of laughter!'

Shell and Rick roared with laughter as they listened to what had happened to the unfortunate manager.

'And then, right, the two bouncers came running in at the sound of the screams of the guy, and they took one look at me squirting him with water, and they just started laughing as well! They just couldn't help it!'

'And when I had finally run out of water, the manager finally realised he wasn't dead, looked up and I swear, he had the eyes of the devil! He got up, made to charge towards me, but then he slipped in the pool of water and slammed his head into his desk!'

Rick collapsed onto the ground next to the table, rolling in laughter. Shell buried her head in her elbow, her body shaking with laughter. Emerald, grinning like a Cheshire cat took a sip of his beer before continuing with the story. 'And then I just did one with the money, the manager unconscious and the two bouncers still laughing their heads off!'

Rick clapped him on the shoulder as he got up, tears of mirth in his eyes, while Shell looked up, her face red from grinning so much. Finally, she composed herself enough to make a coherent sentence.

'So, how much did you get from the safe then?'

Emerald smirked, holding up two fingers at her. She raised her eyebrows.

'£200?'

Emerald shook his head, a definite smirk on his face now. Shell's mouth gaped a little at the implications.

'£2,000?!'

Emerald nodded, grinning. Shell shrieked in surprise and quickly kissed him on the cheek. Rick smiled, and made to do the same, only to be shoved away playfully by Emerald, who shook his head with amusement at him. Rick pouted, before turning to Shell, who before he could do anything glared at him. Rick quailed and turned away, his arms folded and his bottom lip out.

Emerald rolled his eyes, while Shell clipped the back of his head, before ignoring him in favour of her own drink. Rick sighed sadly, before his eyes alighted on a group of giggly girls who were sat at their own table. He nudged Emerald, nodding his head at them and raising his eyebrows suggestively. Emerald glanced at them, before looking around the room. He nodded his assent, before he looked at Shell.

'Shell, do you mind if we-'

'Go and perve on some women? Go ahead.' She rolled her eyes as Rick eagerly grabbed Emerald by the arm and walked briskly over to the group of women, who after a minute or two of talking to the pair of them, made space for them to both sit down. Shell looked around the room, before her own eyes spotted a piece of potential eye candy. She smirked seductively as she walked over to him.

--

Emerald smirked at Rick as he put both his arms around the waists of two of the women. He winked at Emerald, nodding slightly at the two women next to him, both of whom did nothing to prevent Rick from placing his arms around them. Emerald rolled his eyes. He wasn't really in the mood, to be honest. It quite scared him, sometimes. It was the fact that he was only fourteen years old, and yet if he wanted, he could've taken at least one of them to his bed tonight. He wasn't really that into older women, to be honest. It just kinda made him feel a bit weird when he knew that women, who were probably at least 6 years older than Rick and him, would sleep with them. He knew that he looked older than he really was, but even so, it kinda made him feel a bit out of place.

Rick, on the other hand, had no problems with it. Now no one could deny that he only appeared to be a year or two older than he really was, but that only made him look like he was fifteen or sixteen. And yet they had managed to get into a club, drink alcohol and sleep with women with no more than a raised eyebrow from any observer. Damn, but their life was screwed up. Emerald chuckled lowly, like he really cared though.

He observed Rick for a minute. Rick was presently laughing at a joke one of the two women had made, his floppy blonde hair shaking with each laugh. His face had a few scars on it, one across his forehead, and another on his cheek. Rick had never told anyone else other than Emerald, but those scars weren't all caused by his stay with the gang. Rather, it had been before his stay with the gang, when he had lived with his abusive relatives. Rick never spoke of it, but there were certain times when he became mournful and didn't speak to anyone.

Not that Emerald could blame him. Emerald was like that sometimes. It didn't happen often, but there was just that time when he felt like he had to sit down and stop whatever he was doing. He felt an aching presence in his gut, and he felt fear lurch in his chest whenever he thought of the Dursleys. They had caused such atrocities to him. He dreamed of them sometimes.

Flashback

A large figure stood over Emerald. The figure standing over him was clearly overweight, but when he punched Emerald, it hurt so much. He was in a small space, surrounded by various shelves and cleaning equipment. A small mattress with blood stains on it was the only thing to show that the cupboard was occupied. The figure stood outside of the door, kicking savagely at him.

The face of the figure changed often. It changed into the faces of his relatives, their faces tinted with bloodlust and hatred of Emerald. They yelled at him, calling him names, Freak, Boy, Scum...They said stuff about his parents, mocking him, calling him worthless.

And over all of that was a green light that flashed every few seconds. A high-pitched voice occasionally laughed, and a woman's voice screamed before cutting out suddenly. And Emerald would then know that, without a doubt, that the woman was dead.

And that was what he was in that dream. He was dead. He was the hunted, rather than the hunter. He was nothing compared to other people, and he was meant to be dead. Everything he had achieved was nothing. All of his friends, Rick, Shell, all of them rejected him. He was rejected, not wanted.

In short...he was in hell.

End flashback

It had been horrible in the first few weeks when he had gone to the gang. Often, he screamed at night when he woke up, crying, as he dreamt that dream over, and over, again. It had gotten so bad that Shell and Rick had to sleep with him in the same room, quickly reassuring him that he was alright when he woke up screaming. It took him a long time to recover from his dreams. Eventually, they had stopped from occurring every time he fell asleep, to only occurring once a week. Eventually, that had gone down to several times every month. And from there, it had stopped. He didn't scream or cry anymore, but he did wake up sweating and panting as though he had been running from the dogs of hell.

Feeling despondent now, Emerald took hold of his drink and gulped it down. He looked at his glass, lost in thought. After a few seconds, he looked back up. Rick was looking at him sadly, as though he knew what Emerald was thinking. Emerald forced a smile onto his face, and lifted his empty glass in a mock-cheer. Rick bobbed his head at Emerald, but his facial expression didn't' change otherwise. He simply kept his eyes on Emerald, his face saddened. Emerald's eyes narrowed slightly, and he stood up.

'I'm off back to the flat, alright Rick.' Emerald said, stating clearly to Rick. He turned, not checking to see if Rick had heard him. Either Rick had or hadn't, Rick wasn't one to worry about such things anyway. He knew perfectly well what Emerald was capable was. There had been several strange incidents about him when he had first arrived to the gang. Things had always seemed to disappear around him, and people intending Emerald harm had suddenly become as soft as kittens. There was very little to worry about when it came to Emerald.

Emerald waved at Shell, who was presently in the lap of a guy. Of course, he doubted that she noticed that he was leaving either. The fact that both she and the guy were lip-locked kinda gave the impression that she was perfectly content where she was at the moment. If anyone did try anything on Shell, she would easily deal a blow or ten to them. Anyone who tried to force themselves upon her would find themselves face down on the ground with several broken ribs to boot. One newly initiated gang member had once tried that, not realising the rules that came with the gang. He was later found in a ditch with a brand new smile...on his throat.

Several minutes later, Emerald made it back to the gang house. The sentry in charge nodded respectfully at Emerald as he clambered over the makeshift barricade that formed the first part of their defences. They had quite a few enemies. They were well known in that area. They harboured several wanted people, and while the police obviously hadn't figured out that they were with them, they still were suspicious of them. And that wasn't all. There were other gangs around the place who were all about respect and territory, demanding and fighting each other for it. Emerald and the gang were directly in the middle of a brewing war, and it would be they who would have to take the first blows. Spectators would be watching them eagerly, waiting to pounce and take as much as possible. For Emerald, that would mean death, whether quick or slow, it would depend on his enemy. But it would be so much worst for the girls in the gang. Most people on the streets were no more than vicious animals, their only instinct to eat, drink and fuck. Any girl taken alive by a rival gang would probably end their days in a darkened alleyway, or sold off to a prostitution ring. It was a vicious circle of life in the streets and the gangs. Only the best could survive. Emerald did more than that, however.

He thrived on it.