Part II
Harry lived with his uncles in a town called Hollow's Grave, an ominous sounding town which was populated mostly of witches and warlocks of their coven… along with a family of mortals. The family of mortals knew about the witches and warlocks, and about their coven, but all in all, they don't bother the coven as it seemed too much of a bother. Besides, all the police were warlocks, so they can't think of calling them.
Not that Harry cared. Harry wasn't much for socializing. Mostly because whenever he did try to be with warlocks his age, they would mock him on his looks, his interests, his personality… and his father. Instead, Harry spent his time with his uncles and their familiars. Be it helping Uncle Remus in the garden, sorting the potion ingredients in the cellar, lazing about with Orion and Lycaon, or wandering the vast woods that surrounded Hollow's Grave. Sometimes he wished he had friends, or someone his age to speak to… but one interaction with them is all Harry needs to forget that.
The town of Hollow's Grave was on the medium side. The houses of more prominent or wealthier members were spaced out along the outside of the town, skirting the woods for easy access. It was one of those towns that did not have any apartments, everyone had a house, from a small cabin to a large manor. There was a main street that ran down the middle of Hollow's Grave, and on that street was a makeup store that Harry frequents. It was ran by a senile woman who called Harry a girl most of the time, earning giggles from teenage girls his age whenever they hear her. Harry ignores them most of the time as he buys his makeup, however for some reason, he walked into that makeup store feeling particularly angry.
Orion and Lycaon followed him into the store, and the first thing Harry saw was a group of girls. His eyes fell upon the head of the pack of witches, a girl with a pug-nose and a doggish face plastered with makeup. Pansy Parkinson. "Oh look," Parkinson said in a shrill voice. "If it isn't the boy-girl! What are you doing here? Pretending to be a girl again?" A chorus of laughter followed her jeer.
Harry frowned and looked away while Orion and Lycaon growled at the girls. "Eeeh! Get those filthy mongrels away from me boy-girl!" Parkinson screeched.
"What's going on here?" an old voice said. The store owner walked towards them, looking between Parkinson and her friends then at Harry. "Ahh if it isn't the sweet girl who helped me with my garden yesterday," She smiled.
"Umm… Harry ma'am… and I'm a boy," Harry said a little awkwardly.
"Are you? Oh dear… my eyes are not as they used to be my dear, but after a hundred and fifty years who can blame them?" She chuckled, fixing her round, thick glasses. "Ahh… your uncle's familiars, yes," she said, spotting the dogs. "I'm sorry Harry, but I don't allow familiars into the store, you know the rules…"
"I'm sorry ma'am," Harry said, ignoring the victorious smirk Parkinson held while her friends held in chortles. "But I'm only going to be here real quick, I ran out of my scarlet eyeliner…"
"Still dearie, rules are here for a reason," the old woman said. Harry frowned and let out a sigh, "Fine… come on boys, I'll only be a second." He walked out of the store and left the two dogs by the door. When he walked back, he saw that Parkinson and her group of girls weren't anywhere in sight.
He quickly made to where the eyeliners were displayed and grabbed his eyeliner. He halted for a moment, then decided to give the store a cautious look around, Parkinson and her friends were nowhere to be found thankfully. Relieved, Harry walked around the store, and picked up some more makeup: ruby mascara, a light lavender lipstick, and what looked like swirling rainbow nail polish. He brought them quickly and ran out the door to see Orion and Lycaon sitting patiently by the door. They jumped when they saw Harry with the bag, and followed him without the need of any leash away from the shop. "Sorry boys, I just saw some things I really needed," Harry smiled.
The familiars barked in response and Harry stretched upwards, his light jacket and shirt lifting up to show a peek of his flat stomach.
"Freak!"
Harry froze. He turned around to see Parkinson, along with her gang. Harry decided to confront them by name, hoping they wouldn't dare do anything in public.
Swallowing, he stood at his full five foot three frame and said, "Parkinson… Greengrass, Bullstrode, it's n-nice to see your toady face… oh and Tracey Davis… don't a lot of people forget about you?"
"Funny words from a boy-girl," Davis spat. Harry frowned for out of the group, Davis was the most beautiful, or at least the most normal-looking. At least apart from Greengrass, though that woman has been hit by puberty early. The girls laughed and Harry found that he couldn't come back with a come-back.
"I mean what even are you?" Greengrass sneered as she took a step closer to Harry. "Are you a boy or a girl?"
"I think it wants to be both!" Parkinson laughed.
"How weird! Ew!" Greengrass laughed.
"And that thing is supposed to join our coven? As if!" Pansy Parkinson said. She crossed her arms and strolled up to Harry, glaring down at him as though he was lesser than dirt. "You will never be a real member, girl-warlock," she whispered, smirking as she watched tears start to fall down Harry's eyes. "You will never get into the Academy… and if by some miracle you do… we will kill you." A shiver of fear ran down Harry's spine. However, that was quickly forgotten as Parkinson did something absolutely dreadful.
Her hand moving quicker than lightning, Harry felt intense pain as she squeezed his groin. Shock, embarrassment, mortification, and absolute shame and dread filled Harry as she squeezed. It lasted less than a second, but it lasted an eternity as Harry's face fell further than before; his eyes pooling with bitter tears of both pain and shame; his tears washing away his eyeliner and mascara down his cheeks. Meanwhile Parkinson's laugh only turned higher, crueler as she jumped away as Orion and Lycaon began barking madly, chasing her down as she screamed out laughing, "There's a prick! A very small prick! The girl-boy has a prick!"
Harry felt his legs buckle underneath. His vision blurred with his tears. The girls' laughter filled his head. He squeezed his eyes and tried to shut them out, but it only made the laughter louder. He needed to escape, to get away from the laughter. He did not know where he was going, but his legs moved automatically, running away.
Away from the makeup-shop, away from the streets and houses and business of Hollow's Grove, and towards the vast forest that surrounded it. Into the woods, where its trees were tight together, branches twisting and knotting each other, sometimes looking more a snarl of thick brown vines than actual branches full of foliage. Where the spirits and essences of untamed familiars roam free waiting for a beck and call from a cocky warlock wanting to strike a deal, or a poor wanderer who lost his way. Where Harry's Dark Initiation will occur, at midnight, on his birthday just when the moon is at it's highest peak.
Where Harry has spent any time he had outside, sheltered from the sun's rays whenever the clouds hanging over Hollow's Grave decides to allow it.
Even blinded by tears, Harry knew where he was going. He, like all Witches and Warlocks of Hollow's Grove, know every inch of the dark forest that surrounds it… but not every secret. One secret, in particular, was Harry's secret.
Deep in the forest, where the trees became elders, and their whispers are the loudest; where light is all but snuffed out by the knotted branches and it's leaves, lies a clearing. A clearing that had a regal presence to it, though there is no castle nor throne there, just a stump.
An old stump with an infinity of rings of various shades of brown. One time, Harry tried counting the rings, to see how old the stump was, but every time he tried, he would lose count and have to start again. But that did not matter as he knew in his heart that the tree that once sat there was old, older than the trees that surrounded it, older than Hollow's Grove, and older than the forest itself. Harry theorized that the stump was once The One Tree, the tree of whom the forest is its offspring. On happier days, Harry would sit and ponder what happened to the tree, how it was cut down and why. But now, he just ran to it out of instinct, falling on the meter-long stump for some sort of comfort.
Behind him, he could hear Orion and Lycaon chasing after him, but they did not matter at that point. Harry was too lost in his own sorrow. So much so that he did not notice the slow rolling mist, accompanied by a crowd of chuckling.
"My… if it isn't the witch-warlock," a sinister voice said in a mocking-sad tone. "All alone crying on The Grandfather."
"What a wretched existence it must have! To be named a boy but to act like a girl? My, someone needs to set the boy straight."
"As if we would be the ones," a high female voice said, "would you imagine being stuck with him for the rest of our lives?"
"It would be humiliating!"
"Outrageous!"
"A practical insult to give us an end and have it be with the witch-wizard of Hollow's Grove!"
"However that would include a lifetime to insult it."
"Humiliate it."
"Harm it?"
"No, you know the rules, once we are bound, we must serve!"
The mist covered Harry and the stump by now. It was a thick mist made of what looked to be pure essence, existences that is neither being nor nonbeing. Alive nor dead. The mist was made of only hints of animals, hints of a cat's tail or a deer's head, a lion's paw or a snake's rattle. Hints and suggestions that roamed and shifted in the mist constantly, never taking on a final shape and leaving the mist until it is called by a witch or warlock, and become their familiar.
Harry sniffled and looked up to see he was surrounded by the mist as it taunted him. "As a member of the Church of Blackest Night, I command thee to leave me essence!" Harry said through a broken, heavy voice.
"Look at that he commands us!"
"You called it a he!"
"Oh dear I guess I did, looks like our fun is over. Let's leave the witch-warlock to his crying, it's a pitiful display."
And with that the mist began to roll away. Harry watched as it seeped through the trees, a hint of a goat and a man with goat-horns dancing in the mist before disappearing forever. Harry moved to be on his knees in front of the One Tree's stump. Orion and Lycaon stepped up to Harry and stood at his sides, pressing their bodies against his for comfort and warmth. Wiping his face of his tears he placed his hands on the stump and began to pray.
"Oh Dark Lord, Fallen Angel, please give me guidance in my times of need. Please give me strength to strike down those who wish me harm, give me strength to protect those who wish me good, and never let the False One allow me to stray from your Eternal Glory. …I do not know what to do about them Father, every day it becomes harder and harder and… I don't know if I am strong enough to serve you in the church like my uncles have… like the rest of the coven have… like my father have. Please Fiery Father, grant me a sign, a vision of how I should proceed…"
"If you are trying to pray to Lucifer, you should at least light a match, a candle… something that can hold a fire," a voice drawled.
Harry jumped in shock and turned around to see the most beautiful boy he had ever seen in his life. He was tall, looking to be around his age but older, with platinum-blonde hair and an aristocratic face with perfectly arched natural eyebrows, pink lips, and silver eyes that seemed to burrow into Harry's soul. The boy was dressed in what looked like tailor-made name-brand clothing, expensive, and fitting his slim body perfectly, though it was just a pair of black pants and an emerald polo-shirt. Over that was an open black robe.
It was love at first sight… for both of them.
"W…what?"
"I said, if you are to pray to the Fallen Angel, you should at least light a candle," the boy said.
"I… what are you doing here?" Harry asked.
"Chasing down the essence," the boy said. "I want to craft my familiar myself, not let one pick me."
"Oh…" Harry said slowly, nodding.
"What are you doing here?" the boy asked.
"I come here… whenever I want to be alone," Harry said. "I feel… closer to Him somehow here. …I think this tree fathered the forest. Come feel it, the stump."
Harry placed his hand on the stump again. The boy looked at him for a moment before walking to the stump slowly, his eyes looking at Orion and Lycaon. "They won't hurt you," Harry said. "My uncles' familiars only attack when provoked… or if you're a fox." Harry sniffled out a chuckle.
The boy chuckled and bent down, kneeling next to Harry. He held out his hand hesitantly, as if he was afraid to touch the stump. Harry's hand moved off the stump and onto the boy's. "Here…" he guided the boy's hand onto the stump, leaving his hand on top of it. He heard the boy gasp.
"It's warm… really warm," the boy whispered.
"As if there's still life in it, yeah," Harry nodded. "In the winter… any snow that falls on it melts immediately."
"That's… amazing," the boy breathed. They both turned, and their eyes met. The blonde hesitated, licking his lips as his and Harry's hands stayed on the stump. "I haven't seen you around before… I'm Draco, Draco Malfoy."
"I'm Harry Potter… I spend my time either in the forest or home… I don't go out much," Harry breathed.
With his free hand, Draco held Harry's chin lightly and frowned, "What happened that made you cry?" he asked softly. Harry shook his head. Draco frowned and applied a light to Harry's chin. Harry's face heated softly, and he felt his smeared makeup and tears evaporate away. Draco let go of Harry's chin and glanced down at the bag of makeup. He looked up at Harry, and for a moment Harry's heart dropped as he thought Draco was going to mock him. Instead, with a snap of his fingers, a hand mirror appeared, and he held it out silently in front of Harry.
Harry stared at the mirror for a moment, before understanding what Draco intended. He took the bag and started to apply his makeup again. Ruby mascara with scarlet eyeliner, and a light lavender lipstick that he glided gently across his plump lips. Draco was silent and held the mirror steadily as Harry worked on his face, never talking, or asking questions, just staring at Harry with a soft smile on his face. Lastly, Harry painted his nails with his new rainbow polish, the rainbows swirling around on his nails whenever he moved them.
When he was done, he nodded to Draco, both boys blushing. Draco placed the mirror on the stump and stared at Harry for a moment. "You look… beautiful," he breathed.
"Thank you… you're the first person besides my uncles who told me that," Harry said.
"Well it's true," Draco said, a sort of cockiness. "You are a beautiful boy Harry Potter. Why haven't I seen you at the Academy?"
"Because I'm not a full member… I'm only fifteen," Harry said. "My Dark Initiation is in two days."
"Well, an early congratulations," Draco smiled. "Mine was last month."
"Were you nervous?" Harry asked.
"Of course, I wasn't, Malfoys never are," Draco smirked. Harry smiled and looked down as he blushed.
"I am… I'm nervous that they won't accept me… because of who I am," Harry whispered.
"I accept you," Draco said. "In fact… if you do not mind, if you can do me the honor, I would love to go as your boyfriend."
"Dr-Draco… we just met," Harry blushed.
"And I already know that you are the Fallen Angel our Dark Lord has made for me," Draco smiled. "I felt it when we touched hands…so Harry Potter… will you please be my boyfriend?"
"I…I…" His mind in a twisted fog of emotions, Harry found that in this moment, the Dark Father has given him a ray of happiness. Grasping it, he mentally praised his Lord as he nodded, "Yes, yes Draco I will."
Both boys smiled, their innocent teenage minds leading them as they press their heads together, as their hands interlocked. "Praise our Dark Father," Draco whispered, "for I have my Fallen Angel."
"Praise our Dark Father, for I found my ray of happiness," Harry whispered back. They giggled together and held hands as Draco slowly slipped away. "Where do you live?" he asked Harry.
"The Black's House, about three miles from there," Harry said, pointing in a direction. "I live there with my uncles, they're event planners for the coven. Initiations, marriages, funerals… they do them all."
"Yes, I know where that is," Draco nodded. "I will be there later tonight to show you my familiar. That alright?"
"Yeah, brilliant," Harry smiled.
"Until then…" Draco said, inching closely to Harry until their lips barely touched. Draco waited a moment before closing the distance just for a second, their lips meeting in a chaste kiss that filled Harry with a new life. "You are very pretty, Harry Potter," Draco said. "I'm glad that you are my boyfriend."
Harry smiled in response. Draco's hand drifted from his, and Harry watched as Draco turned and ran after in the direction the mist went. From behind him, however, he heard a crow's caw and saw a second gathering of mist edging around the clearing. "Look at that! The witch-warlock is in love!"
"I wonder if the other boy knows of his oddity?"
"He'll find out soon enough! Let's go see which poor soul he catches."
The mist disappeared, and Harry found that he wasn't saddened by the essence's comments. He was too busy grinning, because he believed that his small fifteen-year-old heart has found love, a love that only lovers like Uncle Remus and Uncle Sirius can feel. And that love's name was Draco Malfoy.
A/N: Ahh young love…and hatred. Please leave a review and let me know what you think!
