Chapter 4

Ala These Discoveries

Lovey placed her elbows on the table and then with her chin in hand, began to stare intently at Harry. When Harry was shifting uncomfortably and refusing to meet anyone's eyes she said simply: "Harry Potter." He winced. "I can honestly say that I didn't expect that." She finished, leaning back to fiddle with her tea.

"I can see why you felt you needed a pseudonym as well," Dina said wryly.

"Didn't really want the whole world after me at the time." Harry explained.

"Well you did the smart thing. No newly inherited creature should have to face the scrutiny of thousands." Dina said.

"Will it really be that bad?" Harry asked. He bit his lip then ran shaking fingers through his hair, "I really don't want to care, but…" He trailed off uncertainly.

"But at the same time you kinda do." Fred put in. Lovey had smelled the two apart and made sure to point out the correct brother to Harry, both of whom were still pouting.

"It probably will Harry." Dina said softly. "All creatures face some sort of hardship for their race at one point or another. We've learnt to deal with it and I have full confidence that you can as well. "

"But I thought it was accepted!" Harry burst out. "Since the three of you can rely on each other for your needs I thought nobody cared what you did!"

"Harry," George interrupted him, "Think about all the other adults you know, how many of them are in a Triad bond?"

"Well none, but I figured that everyone's relationships are their own business!"

"Triad bonds, while accepted as legal out of necessity, are still frowned upon." Dina said tightly, clutching her mug with white knuckles.

"The Ministry is still very prejudiced against all creatures." Fred said grimly. At his words Dina's cup exploded, showering everyone in its shards.

"Sorry!" She yelped and brandished her wand repaired the cup. She was still quivering with anger. "I'm going to our room." She turned from them, and grabbing the cloak she used during the day almost ran from the kitchen.

The four others looked on in a mixture of sadness and anger, and Lovey looked close to tears. Harry wondered whether he should ask what had just happened.

Ren glanced at him and decided to explain, "Weres are not allowed to bear or care for children. No matter what precautions are made the Ministry has decided it is against the law." He slammed his fist down to enunciate his point. Then he also stood. "I apologize; I believe I also need some time to cool off."

Harry was surprised to see the always-calm Ren so out of sorts. Fred and George nodded to him in support as he left. Lovey turned to him with a sad smile. "As the submissive, I would have been the one to bear our children," she rested a hand on her abdomen. "When we found each other, the Ministry forced me to make myself barren before we bonded." Harry's mouth opened in a small 'o' of shock. He reached forward and grasped her hand. "They both feel as though they should have been able to protect me." She shook her head and stood. "Excuse me, I have to go after them, they'll only start fighting now."

After Lovey left, Harry sat staring at the table in shock. Was Remus the same? He turned to the twins with the question on his lips, and before he even voiced it they shook their heads. "Remy hasn't found his mate yet, until he does he doesn't need to sterilize himself." Fred said.

"It's one of the few rights remaining for Weres so they fight to uphold it." George went on. "Technically Lovey isn't even allowed to own this store, but she used one of her mate's names to buy it."

They both visibly shook off the tense atmosphere. "So Harry," one of them leaned in. "Do you know what type of creature you are yet?"

Harry shook his head, "I keep meaning to go to Flourish and Blotts but with these things," he gestured to his wings, "I'd attract too much attention."

The twins hummed in agreement. George looked Harry over. "Well if we didn't actually know you, we wouldn't have recognized you." Fred nodded in agreement.

"So you think it's safe enough to go out?"

The twins shared a look. "Harry?" One of them began.

"Yeah?"

"You know our brother can be a prat right?"

"Which one?" Harry asked, but his heart was sinking. Of course he knew which one.

"Ron."

"Yah, I know."

"Well he's gotten jealous again what with all the praise you've been getting in the media lately."

Harry sighed. "Of course he has."

"Add to that his fears…" Fred trailed off. The twins looked at each other again then began speaking rapidly, switching back and forth so quickly Harry had a difficult time keeping track.

"Our parents-"

"-Were not always-"

"The most accommodating, shall we say-"

"-Of Creatures."

"Lately they've-"

"-Been getting better though!"

"Yah loads-"

"-It helped them seeing Remus as a-"

"-Normal person."

"But what you're saying is that I shouldn't be expecting a Weasley sweater for Christmas?" Harry asked with a sad smile.

"Well Mum will get over it in time, and so will Dad."

"Percy won't though, he's too much of a bloody shoe licker to realize the Ministry is wrong."

"Neither will Ron, he's going to use this as an excuse Harry."

Harry nodded, "Everyone else will be fine though?"

They nodded. "Both Bill and Charlie work with Creatures of all kinds, and Ginny might go either way. We've been teaching her but we don't know how much it's impacted her so far."

"I can deal with that." Harry nodded at them and they smiled back gratefully.

"Good, just don't hold anything they may say against us, we really don't believe in what they're saying."

The twin's left soon after, both with a note to give to Mrs. Weasley promising his safety and with promises to look for Creature books and bring them back. Harry stayed to mind the store until both Lovey and Ren came back to send him to bed. Gratefully Harry complied.

He awoke several hours later, refreshed and ready to get back to work, so when he emerged he met the Triad with a happy smile. They chattered together, and the tense atmosphere from that morning seemed to dissipate.

The next three weeks flew by, a whirlwind of training and working. Harry could feel himself getting stronger and recovering from his time spent at the Dursleys. His nightmares, while still frequent, were now easily forgotten with a cup of tea and a hug from Lovey. As someone was always awake to mind the store Harry never found himself without someone to talk to. He was feeling better about Sirius as well, Harry didn't think that anyone could replace him, but the three adults were definitely helping.

He was comfortable in the Triads presence and with their different personalities he found that he always had someone he could turn to for help. Lovey with her childlike hyperactivity was a welcome distraction when he was dwelling on Sirius or his task of defeating Voldemort. Ren was always calm and understanding, and Harry was comfortable approaching him with any problems he had. Ren would allow him to talk or rant and always seemed to have the right combinations of words to make him feel better, and Dina with her no-nonsense attitude was a strong support, someone Harry could turn to for a second opinion or solution to his problems.

The twins were also a new constant in his life. They kept their promise and brought the Creature books, but none of them had any luck. Giving up, the twins remained constants at the store, often dropping in for a meal or to chat during their own stores off hours. They had been working on their family and both of them said that they had high hopes of changing their family's opinions. While glad to hear this, Harry was sorry about having to stay away. Mrs. Weasley was getting more and more upset about his disappearance, and Fred and George said that the Order was frantic in their search for him. Obviously the quick note had done little to assure her that he was healthy.

Harry's training under Dina was also going well. He didn't have such high hopes to expect himself too become proficient at the subject in the little time they had, but the nightly training was making a difference. Harry moved more easily, and the excess energy that had seemed to be pent up within him since his transformation was ebbing away. Dina had explained that most Creatures had the same problem, their instincts fought against them being inactive; as such most Creatures found some form of training or physical activity.

Harry knew he was growing to rely on the adult presence in his life. It was something he had never had the chance to have and he found himself relishing in the release of expectations. The Triad had no other expectations for him than that of being a teenager, and Harry couldn't have been happier.

As Harry's last week of the holidays began, the four of them found themselves staying up later just to be in each other company. For once in his life Harry was seriously regretting the start of term. He was relaxed and happy, very few Wizards came into the store, and none of those recognized him with his Creature aspects. It was the first time in the Wizarding world that no one was looking at him as Harry Potter, he still received looks of disgust, because he was a Creature now, but Harry found it mattered much less to him. No one expected him to save the world. And to Harry, that made all the difference.

All too soon, both Lovey and Ren headed off to bed and Harry and Dina had the quiet store to themselves to train. While the store could be busy at night, that night the hours stretched on with no one entering. A few hours later and Harry was groaning at the abuse Dina was throwing at him during training.

The door swung open admitting two well-dressed Vampyres. Or Vampires. Harry was still having trouble telling the two apart, no matter how many times Dina pointed out the differences. Gratefully, Harry collapsed and took a breather as Dina went over to the cash and began arguing over weapon prices.

"Tough work?" Harry's eyes flew open; the other Vamp had wandered closer to him and was looking at him with an amused smile.

"Yeah," Harry admitted, "She's working me hard."

"You have a good Mate to have her worrying about you."

Harry yelped. "She's not my Mate!" He exclaimed glancing over at Dina to see if she had heard.

"You're Unmated?" The Vamp asked in surprise.

Harry nodded tersely. "Is she your Mother then?"

Harry shook his head again. "No she's just giving me a place to stay."

"Well then little Daemon, I would say you are very lucky."

"Thanks," Harry muttered. Dina as his Mate? He shuddered at the thought, and then the rest of the Vamp's sentence caught up to him. "Wait, what did you mean by Daemon?"

The man looked at him oddly. "You are a Creature. I assumed you were a Daemon."

"Why?" Harry asked. He hadn't considered a Daemon before. Was it a possibility?

"Well you're not Vamp, Were, Veela or Fae." He gestured to the scales on Harry's face. "Oftentimes Daemons share some characteristics with reptiles, and like the Fae most of them have some type of wings."

"Are you sure?" Harry asked skeptically. Was it as easy as that? Some rare breed of Daemon, it seemed a bit too good to be true.

"Daemon's usually have complete or some control over at least one obscure magic - that being: elemental-magic, mind-magic, healing-magic, blood-magic or animal-magic among others." The man looked at him appraisingly. "Have you had any experience with that?"

"No." Harry shook his head, and produced his wand. "I've only ever been able to use this."

"Consider it then," The man nodded to Harry. "My Mate appears to be finished. I wish you luck in your future discoveries." Tipping his hat to Harry, he joined his mate and the two Vamps left the shop, one of them with a heavy bag carrying several different types of weapons.

Dina walked back over. "Everything alright, Harry?"

He turned to her with wide eyes. "How much do you know about Daemons?" He asked.

Both Dina and Harry decided to wait until morning to speak with the others about the discovery. Neither Harry nor Dina had much knowledge on the topic and as the matter wasn't desperate, they figured a full night's sleep would help more than harm.

When they were all once again seated around the table Dina explained what the Vamp had said. The questions inevitably turned towards Harry and he was asked for his own opinion. "I'm not sure," He said. "I have scales and fangs, so I can see the reptile aspect, but I also have feathers and while I have wings I have no extra magical abilities."

"Are you sure, child?" Ren asked. "The types of magic he described can be difficult to recognize as anything other than your own inherent magic."

Harry went through the short list. "Well I can't say I have had any practice in any of them, except for Occlumency, and I was pants at that. I'm a Parselmouth though, would that count as animal-magic?"

"You're a Parselmouth!" Lovey exclaimed. "That's fantastic!"

Harry turned to her, surprise widening his eyes. "That's not the reaction I usually get," he said dryly.

"My fault," Dina winced. "I've told her too many stories about my home."

"Your home?" Harry asked. If he hadn't known any better he would have said she was British.

"More specifically my birth parents home," Dina said. "They moved here from Spain when they first got married. One of the legends they used to tell me was about Quetzalcoatl, a god originating from the Aztecs. Since Lovey recognizes us as her mate, she can't hurt us on the full moon, so both Ren and I sit with her and tell legends and stories for entertainment."

Harry nodded. It was nice to have a reaction other than fear, and he liked being able to see the love between the three. "Actually," Dina's eyes flew wide and she turned to both Ren and Lovey, "think about it."

Their eyes also widened in understanding. "It's possible." Ren said softly.

"Possible? It's brilliant!" Lovey was almost bouncing in her seat. "It makes so much sense!"

"That doesn't classify him, though."

"But it is a hint."

"Do you have any books on the topic?"

"No, although they'll be easy to find, we'll have to remember to get some Muggle ones as well, I'm not sure about the differences."

"I think I'm missing something here?" Harry wondered, eyes flicking back and forth as he followed the conversation.

"The name Quetzalcoatl means feathered serpent."

"Oh." Was all Harry could manage to say.

"This is hopeless!" Harry cried in disgust, throwing the book he was reading down on the table.

"No it's not, you're doing great Harry." Fred said placing a card down on the table.

"Easy for you to say, you gave up hours ago." Harry sneered at him frustrated at the lack of information.

"Exactly," George put in, not looking up from his own cards. "You've accomplished more then we have."

Harry had to smile at them. For the past three days the six of them had been holed up within the store researching as much as they could about Quetzalcoatl.

He turned to Ren, who was also researching as Dina and Lovey minded the store. "Remind me again what we've found?"

Ren cleared his throat then read from the short list: "Quetzalcoatl was a feathered snake with human attributes, and he was the god of Light, Mercy and Wind. Another book tells us that he was the god of Venus, Dawn, Arts and Knowledge. Or he may also have represented Fertility, Rain or Lightning according to this book." Ren held up the books in question, then went back to the book in his hands.

Harry groaned and dropped his head to the table in defeat. "All of this is too vague, none of it makes any sense!"

"Of course it makes sense your Godliness." Fred said. Harry was unable to make them drop the nickname they had come up with, even Lovey had begun to tease him with it. "You are being told to build yourself a temple then have muggles pray to you as their new God."

"Tempting," Harry said dryly. "But no, I think I'll pass. I've had enough fame for a lifetime thank you very much."

"But think of all the girls Harry!" George pleaded. "They'd literally be throwing themselves at you!"

"I do not need to hear your perverted fantasies." Harry moaned covering his ears. "I don't even like girls!"

Fred laughed, "Exactly! You can send them our way!"

Harry had confessed his sexuality to the twins two weeks before; they had accepted it as they did everything else, with plenty of humor and not a care in the world. Harry had never been more grateful for them then at that moment.

"I must agree with you Harry," Ren said. "We have been studying these books for days, while we have found ourselves some information it may be worthwhile for us all to take a break."

The twins whooped and the four of them quickly cleared off the kitchen table before wandering back out to the girls.

As they all talked Harry realized that he had not yet bought any of his school supplies. His robes had all been tailor made by Lovey and sewn to fit his wings, but Harry didn't have any of his books yet. One thing Harry had appreciated was the chance to do his homework without having to hide it under his covers; between the four of them Harry even believed that Snape would have no grounds to complain about his essay.

After a quick word with the twins, Fred and George promised to pick up Harry's list of supplies. Soon after, they left for dinner at the burrow with another letter from Harry. Not wanting to worry Mrs. Weasley, Harry had been writing her regular letters delivered by the twins. While she wasn't pleased that the twins wouldn't tell anyone where he was, she had accepted it as the best she was going to get.

After the door had closed behind them Ren turned to Harry. "Harry we'd like to talk to you about something important."

"Tea then?" Harry asked with a smirk. It had become a habit that whenever something important was being said, or a decision was being made the four would adjourn to the kitchen table. Dina nodded and the four made their way over.

Harry sat, facing the three of them. Ren was gazing at him solemnly, Dina almost nervously and Lovey as always was sitting with a wide grin on her face. Dina reached down and placed a small blue velvet box on the table. "What's this?" Harry asked, reaching for it.

"Harry," Dina began. "We are not actually allowed to formally adopt children." She waited, as though Harry was supposed to say something.

"I remember," Harry nodded, his hand hovering over the box. "So?"

"Open the box, Harry!" Lovey cried nudging it forwards.

Harry shrugged and complied, nestled inside was a leather cuff. "It's really nice?" Harry questioned. He was still missing something: they wouldn't need a kitchen meeting just to give him a present - Lovey was always placing some clothing item on his bed 'to expand his revoltingly small wardrobe' she had explained.

"None of us are Heirs to our Families, Child," Ren said taking the cuff from Harry and turning it. "So none of us can pass on a family ring."

Harry gaped at the three crests revealed on the other side. "But we do want to make you part of our family." Ren finished. Pressed in silver, one next to the other, were each of their family crests.

"You're sure?" Harry whispered hoarsely.

"Never more so." Dina smiled at him wetly.

Harry launched himself from the table and embraced the three of them, putting all of his thanks and appreciation into the hug. It wasn't long before even he was crying happily

A/N: I guess I should apologize that this chapters shorter then usual, I would have liked to make it longer but this is where it wanted to end. Many thanks to the lovely Dracopendragon, all mistakes are my own. Review please! I want to hear your thoughts, even if you hated it. Next Chapter-All Aboard the Hogwarts Express! Also has anyone figure out what kind of Creature Harry is?