Friends in Hell
CH2
"Are you sure this is the right house?"
"Positive! I'd bet my life on it"
"Oddly Lilith-Chan that doesn't fill me with the utmost confidence"
Number 12 Grimmauld Place was a very odd house, it had been the ancestral house of the Blacks for generations, but lately something other then the Noble House of Black had taken residence – The Order of the Phoenix. Still that was not what made the house odd, no what made the house odd was all the things inside it. First there was the Portrait of Mrs Walburga Black who enjoyed screaming at anyone who disturbed her sleep, especially those she deemed 'Blood-traitors' and 'Half-bloods'. Next there was the insane and utterly homicidal house elf, Kreacher, devoted completely to the ramblings of the portrait of his beloved mistress, it was no real wonder the house was in such a state of disrepair. That was another thing about the house, no matter how much you cleaned, it was always filthy.
However the two currently wandering through the magically enlarged house, a boy and a girl, were not members of the Order, nor a deranged portrait and house elf; but they were possibly by far the oddest two to have been in the house in a very long time.
Let's start with the boy; he looked to be around fifteen and a bit on the short side. His hair was naturally raven black, but had silver streaks through it and his eyes were a bright emerald colour and practically shone, like emerald lights in the dark, especially in the Black family home. He was dressed casual in black jeans and an emerald hoody. Black sneakers adorned his feat and he had a single earring in his left ear shaped like a red six pointed star on a small chain.
The girl on the other hand was a different story entirely. Whilst she was approximately the same height as her companion, she was dressed completely differently; with a strapless crimson red leotard and light blue bat print stockings. What really made her unforgettable were the red bat wings protruding from her back and the smaller pair on top of her head. When confronted with her outfit, you could almost ignore her light purple hair and crimson red eyes.
"Hey! What is that suppose to mean Onii-sama?"
"Well technically Lilith since you're a Succubus, you can't really bet your life, can you?" The boy explained all this with the voice of someone who had clearly done so many times before, but didn't mind when it came to this girl.
"…umm I guess not"
The two continued to wander through the house for quite sometime. Never once did it occur to them they could use magic to get where they needed to be, they were having too much fun exploring the old house and surviving all the dark traps and artefacts in the Black family estate.
Eventually they made it to what they assumed was the entrance hall to the house; there was a stair case to the upper floors, some curtains hiding a portrait and the front door. There also appeared to be a troll leg umbrella stand. Two other doors could also be seen; one that appeared to head to a library of some sort and the other that judging from the smells was the kitchen slash dinner.
Lilith being the curious little Demoness that she was went over to the curtain hidden portrait and tried to sneak a peak.
That was a mistake.
"HALF-BREEDS, BLOOD TRAITORS, FILTHY SCUM! HOW DARE YOU DEFILE THE ANCIENT AND NOBLE HOUSE OF BLACK WITH YOUR DIRTY BLOOD!" screamed Mrs Black.
Lilith had jumped back to Harry's side the moment the portrait had started its tirade and was growing steadily more annoyed as it continued to insult her and Harry. Harry merely regarded the portrait with a blank expression. The kitchen door chose that moment to slam open as Order members flooded the downstairs, wands out, ready to attack the possible threat that had entered their headquarters.
"That is enough!"
Harry had decided to make his presence known.
The Order did nothing much other then stare at the boy-who-lived and completely forgot the Succubus in the room, watching the proceedings with interest. Harry on the other hand, walked calmly up to the portrait with a very evil grin on his face. Walburga had gone very quite, her eyes locked on six-pointed star that hung from Harry's left ear.
"I would appreciate it in future Lady Black if you refrain from such distasteful comments whist in my presence. You are a pureblood madam and should be acting as such, not like some muggleborn infidel" Harry's voice was respectful, but held an edge of steel to it that broke no argument.
Now many things could be said about Walburga Black; loud, bitter, twisted and spiteful to name a few, but never stupid. She knew just who was in front of her and she also knew he was far more then just a Half-blood. He was powerful and had some very high connections; her painted eyes flicked back to his earring briefly. Yes, very high connections. Walburga knew the importance of that symbol and that no-one wore it without her permission, Harry Potter was clearly favoured by that women and it would be down right suicidal to go against her. Another thought slipped into her head, it was very unlikely that she would allow Dumbledore or the Ministry to control Mr Potter and no matter what happened Walburga knew the Chaos that would follow in the Potter heir's wake would be hilarious.
Her decision made she put on her best smile possible and said "Of course my Lord, forgive me for my poor conduct, it was so unseemly"
Harry grinned "Forgive and Forget, Lady Black, I look forward to speaking with you in future" he turned away from the shocked portrait to find an (if possible) even more shocked order of the phoenix.
"Is this anyway to treat a guest?" asked Harry, amusement rolling off of him in waves.
"Harry…?" Sirius stepped foreword, hesitantly.
"Yes Paddy it's me"
The boy savour suddenly found himself pulled into a tight hug courtesy of his ecstatic godfather. Neither wanted anything to spoil this moment, unfortunately Albus Dumbledore was around so that plan went down the drain pipe.
"Harry I'm happy you are unharmed my boy, but I must enquire as to where you have been? And who is your companion?"
Harry sighed, disentangling himself from his godfather before turning to face the supposed 'Greatest Wizard in the World'. "You may ask Headmaster, but my life is none of your business as to my companion; she is a friend and that is all you need to know"
Lilith chose this moment to make her appearance a little more understood as she walked out of the shadows, several people hissing at the sight of her less then human appendages. The lilac haired girl pulled Harry into a hug of her own which he happily returned, shocking several people who knew of Harry's aversions to physical contact.
"I have to be going Onii-sama, try to stay out of trouble. I'm pretty sure Hild-sama would appreciate it."
"I will try Lilith-Chan, take care and say hello to the others for me"
"I will, although I'm sure they'd rather you were the one to say hello to them. I will try to see you soon" Lilith gave Harry one final squeeze and a kiss on the cheek, before walking into the nearest shadow and disappearing.
The order remained routed to their spots in shock and one member summed up the evening rather well.
"Well… never a dull moment with Potter around"
Jbh14: Before anyone complains about time-skips and Harry being too out of character, I have you know there are some very good reasons for these. With the time-skips, what could I really have put, other then Harry spent time with Hild and trained up a bit? I didn't see the point in dragging the story out like that. I will give a summary and also reveal Harry's abilities and training as time goes on. Next Harry is not out of character, given the fact that the majority of his personality up until he left with Hild had been repressed so as to keep a low profile and play to peoples expectations.
Now then as you can see Hild was not in this chapter only mentioned; the reason being she has HELL to run people and other commitments (like annoying her daughter and the Norns) to keep her occupied. Harry would never forgive himself if Hild spent less time with her daughter because of him. That's not to say she doesn't care, she will pop in when her duties allow, but she does not want to coddle Harry and understands he needs his space as we all do.
Next chapter: that… is a secret
PS – A small thank you to Ozzallos, you are a greater writer then I. You're story 'Hell is a Martial Artist' is what inspired me to write a story involving Hild and involve Lilith from Darkstalkers too. Thank you for your help, even if you were unaware of it.