Disclaimer
: The Harry Potter Universe and all characters and ideas associated with it are property of J.K. Rowling. Characters and ideas that are not found in either the Harry Potter books or the movie were invented by me, therefore I own them. There are quotes and references to other books, movies, series, etc. throughout this story, disclaimers for these will follow each chapter.Sins of the Father
Chapter 7: Hogsmeade
She had been at Hogwarts for over two months, and had never—never—gone into Hogsmeade. She had permission to, of course, but she had always stayed behind.
"What would be the point?" she had asked him in a corner outside the Great Hall the next day, "I have no friends to go with, and if I stay behind then I am nearly alone in the wing because the First and Second years are the only ones who stay behind. There's freedom in being alone."
"That's nonsense. No one likes being left alone…" he had answered.
"That depends on who you're talking to, and whom they have to choose for company. The best part of the weekends is that bastard Malfoy is gone…I swear, if he doesn't leave me be I might have to kill him…"
At that Harry raised an eyebrow.
"I'm only kidding," she quickly said.
"Well, why don't you come this weekend. You can walk around with me. I, frankly, am getting very sick of being a third wheel around Ron and Hermione."
"You could always make a tricycle…"
"Hey!"
She laughed. Harry had begun to think that she couldn't—not since the day on the train when he though T.S. Eliot was a book anyway.
"Will they mind having me along? No one's very comfortable around me…"
"Well, they'll just have to deal, or we can just go off on our own. Nothing says that we have to stay with them."
Talia glanced at her watch, "I have to get to transfiguration." She moved to go, but Harry put an arm out to stop her.
"No, I'm not letting you go until you give me an answer."
"OK, fine!" she snapped before smiling, "I'll go into Hogsmeade with you this weekend. Now let me go to class!"
He smiled and brushed his hand over her arm as he brought it down. His smile quickly vanished and then he sighed, "I just remembered. I didn't finish that vampire essay for Mazanec. She's going to have my head on a plate…"
"Well, go back into the Great Hall and write really fast," she said, playfully bumping into him as she passed.
The day started out pretty well. When the students left for Hogsmeade at eight o'clock Harry found Talia half hidden around the corner of a wall, not wanting to go into the crowd where she could see Malfoy flirting with Pansy Parkinson. She didn't want him to know that she was going into Hogsmeade.
During the walk there they stayed behind the main group so that no one really noticed them. Harry picked out Ron and Hermione toward the front and off to the side of the main group walking with their arms around each other. They could easily catch up to them once the main group dispersed upon reaching the town.
Harry looked over at Talia. She had been very quiet all morning.
"Didn't sleep well?"
"I never sleep well. I haven't slept well for years."
"Are you ever going to tell me about your dreams?"
"Maybe someday. Not today though." She was walking, holding her upper arm with her left hand as if she was nervous.
"Is something bothering you?" Harry asked quietly.
"Not really. The dream I had last night just has me a little shaken."
"Why? What happened in it?"
She gave a very small laugh and gave him a push, "You're persistent aren't you? I said I wasn't going to tell you about my dreams, so you might as well not even ask." She looked forward before sighing, "This one was about the future."
"Good future or bad future?"
"I don't know."
"What kind of future was it? Immediate, or distant?" he asked, brushing the back of his hand against hers as they walked.
She looked at him a little annoyed, "You're not going to quit are you?" Even as she said this she took the hand that had brushed hers again as they walked, entwining their fingers together. "Well, I'm not going to tell you," she said watching her feet, "I said that I had my secrets, and what happens in my dreams make up many of them."
Harry sighed. He wasn't going to get any answers out of her today so he decided to change the subject, "Where do you want to go first?"
"I don't care. Wherever you want to go. I don't even know what's in Hogsmeade."
"Well, there's Honeydukes, it has every kind of wizard candy you could possibly want…and then there's Zonko's…that's a prank shop. When you get hungry we can go to the Three Broomsticks, it's a very popular pub—has great Butterbeer…Well, what do you like? There's other shops around town. There's a very nice bookstore down the street from Zonko's if you want to go there…and there's a park with singing flowers…"
"Wherever you want to go Harry."
"Do you want to see where Ron and Hermione are going?"
"Harry, I really don't care. The only reason I came today was to spend time with you. I'd much rather be here with you than back in the Slytherin dorms trying to be left alone."
Harry smiled at her words and was actually surprised by how much they'd touched him.
When they got into town the Third, Fourth and Fifth years took off at a full gallop into the stores as if someone would catch them and hall them back to Hogwarts. The Six and Seventh years were definitely calmer and took their time as they broke apart. Harry could see Ron and Hermione bickering at each other from where he and Talia were walking. Hermione probably wants to go to that bookstore and Ron wants to go to Honeydukes, Harry thought to himself as he and Talia approached them.
"I swear, Ron, you're trying to rot your teeth out by eating all of those stupid frogs."
"I'm after the cards, not the chocolate—well OK, maybe I want the chocolate too--but I still collect the cards."
"You should do more reading!"
"Why would I want to read when there are no pictures?"
"There are plenty of books with pictures in them!"
"Frankly I don't like looking at the insides of dissected animals thank-you-very-much."
"So don't read about anatomy and biology! I don't know…you should read more on transfiguration—your marks certainly could use some help."
"Now that's a low blow."
"No, this is," she said jabbing him in the side with her finger.
"Ow!" He poked her back.
"Hey!"
Within seconds they were in a tickling match like they had been in on the Hogwarts Express that lasted until Harry and Talia were standing only a few feet from them. Ron glanced at him for a split second before trying to avoid Hermione smacking him—playfully of course.
"Hey, Harry, where've you been?" Of course as soon as he saw whom Harry was with he immediately stopped playing with Hermione and turned to the new couple in utter shock. When Hermione saw Talia she did the same thing.
If their reaction hadn't been so insulting it would have been quite funny. Both of them kept glancing from Harry's face down to his hand that was entwined with Talia's, and then back to Harry's face, a look of pure shock in their countenances.
Harry's eye gave a brief twitch in annoyance, and then he felt Talia squeeze his fingers as if trying to say that this was a bad idea.
Finally Harry spoke seeing that his friends weren't going to, "Well, we were walking at the back of the crowd and just now caught up with you two. I invited Talia to come with us today, I hope you don't mind."
Although it was clear that the very sight of the girl had set them off kilter they both mumbled something about "That would be find," and "No problem." Of course, even as they said this he saw Ron's lips press together with uncertainty and Hermione's eyes narrow in suspicion. He saw Talia look down from Hermione's death-stare. This wasn't working out too well.
"Where are you two going first?" Harry asked to break the silence.
"Honeydukes," Ron said before Hermione could start about the little book shop.
But that wasn't enough, "No, I wanted to go to Madame Neich's book shop! I ordered some books there a month ago and they should be in by now!"
The argument started again and Harry interjected, "I think we were just going to walk around for a while. This is the first time Talia's been into Hogsmeade…"
"Really?" Ron asked in shock staring at her with a rather weird look.
She merely nodded.
"…and I was telling her about the park, you know the one with the garden of singing flowers, so I was going to take her over there. Do you want to meet for lunch at the Three Broomsticks?"
"Sounds good to us," Hermione answered.
"About noon then?" Ron asked.
"Is that OK with you?" Harry turned to Talia, who again just nodded. He turned back to Ron and Hermione, "Well OK, we'll see you at noon then."
They all said their brief good byes and headed off in opposite directions.
When they were well out of earshot with Ron and Hermione Talia finally spoke again, "They don't trust me."
"They just need some time. It's just because you're a Slytherin. Ever since our first year the Slytherins have been our number one enemies. I still don't know how the Hat could have put you in Slytherin."
"I've seen looks like that my entire life, and no amount of time is going to change whether they trust me or not. It isn't because I'm a Slytherin. People just have this natural fear of me."
"I don't!"
"You're special. As far as why the Hat put me in Slytherin…I think I know."
"Why?"
"Because I'm ambitious. I wouldn't say power-hungry—but I have a need to prove myself, and overall, I need to be prepared for what I am going to face…"
"What do you mean? What are you going to face."
"There you go again. Prying into things that you shouldn't know about…All my life, I've been preparing myself to face someone, and I have to be at my very best in order to do it. It was that ambition that put me into Slytherin… The Hat did say that I was brave. It thought briefly about Gryffindor, but my ambition overshadowed my bravery."
"What was your rank at Whistendale?"
"I was first when I left."
"Well, there you go. That's why Hermione doesn't like you. She's probably afraid you'll surpass her for Head Girl." He smiled at her before untangling his hand from hers and putting it around her shoulders, "I don't care what the Hat said. You should have been in Gryffindor. Slytherin just isn't any place for you."
"I hate it in there. Nothing but a group of snobs and bigots. The same kind of people I've been against my whole life, and I get stuck with over 100 of them at my elbows." She returned his embrace, letting her arm wrap around his torso.
They entered the park soon. There were other couples walking about as well, but no one paid any attention to them, and Harry was very glad of it.
"What is your family like? Do you have any brothers or sisters?" Harry asked as they went under the shade of a leaning Weeping Willow.
She was quiet before she answered, "I don't have one…"
Harry almost fell when she said this, "Wha—what do you mean?"
"I don't have a family. I never knew my father, and my mother died when I was born. I lived with a friend of my mother's for several years until something happened and I had to be put into an orphanage—so I don't have a family."
Harry wanted to shove his foot in him mouth. Was there a single question he could ask her without it backfiring on his? Thinking about what she'd just said gave him a chill—a Slytherin who was raised in an orphanage—just like Tom Riddle—just like Voldemort. He gulped before he made his next inquiry, "Talia, not that it matters, but was one of your parents a muggle?"
"No. My father was a wizard and my mother was witch."
"Do you know anything about your father?"
"No."
Relief flooded over him. If she had anything else about her compare to Voldemort Harry was liable to faint.
They reached a circular clearing in the park. There was a round wall about three feet high in the center with a shorter edge running around it that was two feet tall. On the inside of the wall was the singing garden Harry had been talking about. It was raised up so that people could sit around the wall and be eye level with the floral chorus.
They had just finished a rendition of "The Rose of Tralee" and were bickering amongst themselves on what to sing next until the large red rose that was the conductor demanded that they sing the song "Lovely Afternoon." Harry and Talia sat down at the front of the little performance.
"Do they always sing about flowers?" she asked after a few seconds.
"I don't know," he answered, "I never really stopped to listen."
"Of course dear," the rose answered, conducting with one of her long thorns, "we only sing flower songs, but occasionally we will sing one about a tree or a field."
"Do you know 'Le Violette?' I heard a girl sing it once. It was in Italian. It was very pretty. What about 'Silent Noon?'"
Talia put her arms on the stone wall and sat her chin on them as she talked to the rose. Harry thought the entire scene looked rather ridiculous. As the chorus finished the old rose said quickly, "Violets, Violets, we have a request for you!" The little purple flowers made quite a commotion in their excitement, their high little voices chiming like bells. They started the song:
Rugiadose, odorose, violette graziose
,Rugiadose odorose, violette graziose, violette graziose,
Voi vi state vergognose, mezzo ascose,
mezzo ascose fra le foglie,
e sgridate le mie voglie, che son troppo ambiziose,
e sgridate le mie voglie, che son troppo, son troppo ambiziose.
The little flowers piped out the Italian. Harry had no idea what they were saying, but it was a pretty song—it would get annoying very fast if he had to listen to it for a long time, but so far it was pleasant. Talia was very pleased with the song, her face very clam with a slight curl on hr lips. Harry figured that if she had known the words she would have started to sing along.
"Bravo! Bravo!" she said as the Violets finished in a trill of fast-moving notes.
As soon as the song was finished the garden came alive with the same argument again until the Old Rose declared that they would sing "Lavender Blue." As they started the next song Talia looked over at Harry, her face still pressed against her arms.
"You're a very good flyer," she said, several strands of hair falling over her face. "I saw you practicing."
"I know—I mean about you seeing me practice. Thanks," Harry said, a slight tinge crossing his face. He knew he was a good flyer, but he didn't like to admit it.
"Who taught you?"
"Actually, no one," he said scratching his head nervously, "I kind, well—I was… McGonnagall said I was a natural born flyer in my first year. They put me on the Qudditch team even though First years aren't allowed to have brooms…"
"A natural huh?" she smiled, "It doesn't surprise me. You fly like you've been doing it all your life."
"Do you like Quidditch?"
"Truthfully, I was never very interested. I've never even been on a broom before—"
"You've never been on a broom before!?!" Harry almost shrieked in utter shock, throwing the daisies and the daffodils off of their parts.
"No…that isn't a problem is it?"
"No, but I just find it hard to believe…didn't they give lessons at all at Whistendale?"
"They were optional, and I needed to take some another class, so I never learned…"
"Sometime I'll have to take you flying—I can't believe—you've never been on a broom before!?!"
"I'm ambitious, remember? Fun and recreation have never been among my top priorities. So how exactly does Quidditch work? I hope its easier to understand than football. Guys were always talking about football back in Ohio and I could never get heads or tails out of it…"
It was probably a bad question to ask because as soon as she'd gotten it out of her mouth Harry had started up on the sport and didn't shut up about it for at least an hour. Of course, during the whole speech about every five minutes he would ask "I'm not boring you am I?" and she would reply "No," but Harry had his doubts.
"So it was one of the Buldgers that almost hit me the other day?" she asked him as they walked back out of the park."
"Yeah that was a Buldger. I don't know what possessed us to put the Wilders on the team. They're going to get someone killed." He looked at her, "Talia, how is your leg? You didn't hurt yourself, did you?"
"No."
"How did you do that…kick the thing without braking your leg? I had my arm broken by one my second year, and it couldn't have hit me near as hard as it hit you."
She shrugged, "Adrenaline? I saw the thing coming at me and I just reacted."
"Why didn't you just dodge it?"
"I don't know—fight or flight… guess I chose fight..."
She was doing it again. Winding her way around his questions like she had on the train. There were just so many things that she didn't want to say. Why doesn't she trust me yet? Harry sighed. He decided to change the subject again. "Now where would you like to go? It's 10:30, we still have an hour and a half before we're going to meet with Ron and Hermione."
"I don't care, Harry," she said, holding is arm tighter.
Harry thought for a moment…girls normally like animals didn't they? He could take her to the small pet shop down from Honeydukes. It didn't have many animals, but normally at least had fuzzy things—at least a hamster or a mouse. It could be a surprise. Maybe they'd even have some kittens or puppies.
"OK, I have an idea," he said.
"Where are we going?"
"I'm going to surprise you."
When they were only a few doors down from the store Harry told Talia to close her eyes and led her by the hand until they were inside of it. They were in luck, he could see that there was a litter of kittens in the back with a group of small children watching them. When he first stepped into the store it was alive with noise from the many caged birds—including several owls—and also the big cages of mice and rats. As soon as Talia stepped foot in, however, everything became dead silent. The birds stopped their fluttering and froze where they were, the same with the mice and the rats.
"OK," Harry said, rather confused, "you can… open your… eyes…"
She did so, "Oh…" she said, "…a pet shop…"
Trying to ignore the odd behavior of the animals Harry spoke again, "Do you like cats? They have some kittens in the back."
"Yes, I like cats," she replied, but she said something else as she hesitantly walked further into the store as if something might attack her at any moment. He thought it sounded like, "They just don't necessarily like me."
Harry walked behind her, watching the animals closely. As she passed the fish he noticed that they all swam behind their castles and seaweed, and the mice and rats scurried to the furthest part of their cages and clawed at the back. What shocked him the most was the reaction of the birds. As she came closer each cage went ballistic, the birds flying about wildly trying to get loose, ramming into the top of the cages over and over again, nearly knocking themselves out. Talia walked slowly through to the back of the store, her head down and her hands clenched at her sides—it was as if she was walking a gauntlet, and the entire store staring at her definitely was not helping.
What IS happening!?!
Harry screamed inside his head.When they were at the opposite end of the previously silent store it was fifty times louder than it had been when they first arrived because all of the animals were in sheer panic. Harry looked at Talia. Her lips were pressed together tightly and her eyes looked as though she wanted to cry. She breathed steadily, obviously trying to calm herself.
Oh God, can I do anything else wrong today?
Harry thought to himself as he touched her shoulder, "Are you OK?""Oh, yes. I'm fine," she answered in an absolutely unconvincing voice.
The children who had been looking at the kittens had run screaming from the store when the birds had gone crazy, and the shopkeeper was merely watching slack-jawed at the whole affair.
They crouched down to get a better look at the kittens. There were six, each about a month old; three tabbies, two blacks, and one white. As Talia bent down Harry saw each one extend its claws and puff up to twice its size. Her shoulders sank in disappointment.
"Here, they're just nervous," Harry said hopefully, "just let them smell you and they'll calm down." Harry extended his open palm out to them. They didn't panic any further for him, "Come on, it can't hurt to try."
"I don't think it's a good idea, Harry," she said, hesitantly reaching her own arm out. Each of the kittens started hissing and spitting as her hand came towards them. She drew it back to her quickly. "This is hopeless," she said bluntly and stood up.
"I'm sorry, this was a bad idea," Harry tried to apologize as they passed down the isle with the snakes and lizards.
"Was it your idea to bring her here?"
They both stopped dead and looked to see who spoke, but the shopkeeper was gone, trying to calm down his birds.
"Over here."
They looked to the right. In a glass aquarium a small boa constrictor was unwrapping itself to look at them. Harry looked around to see that the shopkeeper and none of the customers were watching.
"Yes, it was my idea," Harry answered back.
"You are stupid aren't you? Bringing her into a place with hundreds of stupid panicky warm-bloods."
"Quiet!" Talia ordered.
"I know what you two are. I can smell it," the snake answered, flicking its tongue out again. It looked at Harry, "It's light on you, barely noticeable. But on you," the snake looked over to Talia flicking its tongue out for a second whiff, "it radiates off of you, and they all can recognize it."
"Shut up!" she hissed again.
The snake merely laughed. "They're all afraid that you'll eat them, silly warm bloods. They are always afraid of predators whether they are a threat or not."
"And why aren't you afraid?" Harry asked.
"I know better. She, nor you for that matter, are any threat to me," the snake looked back at Talia, raising its head to the highest point of the cage, "You try to hide it. You try to pretend that you're one of them, but you never will be. You cannot hide what you are. Not to any of us at least."
"Say another word and I will become a threat to you," Talia snarled at the snake.
"Come on Talia," Harry said taking her gently by the upper arm, "Let's go."
"Stupid snakes," she snarled once they were down the street, "they think they know everything."
"Talia, do you know what it was talking about?"
"I don't know!" she answered, but Harry could tell that she was lying. The snake had obviously said something that had thrown her through a loop. It was definitely right about something. She was trying to hide something, but from Harry's point of view it wasn't something, it was almost everything.
Harry checked his watch. It was 11:45.
"It's almost noon," he said, "we'd better start heading for the Three Broomsticks."
"OK," she answered, starting to calm down from the conversation with the snake.
Talia was back to normal by the time they'd reached the Three Broomsticks. Madame Rosmerta greeted them.
"Why Harry, it's nice to see you again! What can I do you for?"
"Well, could we have a corner booth please Madame Rosmerta?"
"Of course dear, and for the last time, call me Rosmerta, none of this 'Madame' nonsence."
She showed them to a small booth cut off from the rest of the pub. This way no one would be able to disturb them—unless Ron and Hermione still hadn't gotten over their shock—in which case they would be moving to a different booth.
Madame Rosmerta handed them their menus with the flashing entrees on them. "What can I get you two to drink?"
"Water's fine," Talia said quietly, "and," she started to hand her menu back, "I don't think I'll be eating anything, thank you."
"Why on earth not?" Harry asked her.
"I don't have any money, Harry."
"Don't be silly!" he snapped, "I'm buying!" He snatched the menu back from Madame Rosmerta and gave it back to Talia. "Order whatever you like, it doesn't matter."
She gave him an almost guilty look as she took the menu.
"Could we get two Butterbeers please?"
"Of course!" Madame Rosmerta said, her quill swishing as she wrote down the drinks on the receipt. "I'll be back in a few minutes to take your order."
"Actually, we're waiting for Ron and Hermione, so you can wait until after they get here."
"OK dear."
"Harry," Talia said, "you don't have to buy me food."
"Don't be silly, Talia! I'm not going to let you starve, and I was planning on buying anyway! I'd call this a date, wouldn't you?"
She smiled, blushing. She looked down at her menu, "No one's ever bought me dinner before. What should I get?"
"What do you like?" He asked.
"Chicken is always good…"
"Well, if you like chicken, get chicken," he put his arm over her shoulder and looked at her menu. He pointed at a picture of fried wings, the steam rising off of them as a hand set a roll down beside the plate, "I hear these are pretty good." He looked down the page, "And here's some chicken strips, I here those are good too." He thought for a minute, comparing the prices of the chicken to everything else, "I hope you're not planning on ordering the cheapest thing on the menu!"
"Um…"
He sighed, "Talia if you order like that because you don't want me to pay for you I'll cancel your order and get you the most expensive thing in here!" He flipped his own menu open and started looking.
"Harry!" she snapped, "I don't like being a bother! Now stop it!"
"No, if you order that cheap side dish of chicken you were looking at I'm going to order the filet minion instead!"
"OK, OK, OK!" she said, "Here," she said, jabbing her finger at a picture of roast beef and mashed potatoes, "Get me this."
"That's better!" Harry smiled.
About that time Madame Rosmerta lead Ron and Hermione over to their table.
Hermione scooted into the booth before Ron, eyeing Talia venomously as Harry took his arm from around her. Ron followed, also giving her a suspicious look.
"So, did you make it to wherever you were going?" Harry asked. They both tore their gaze away from Talia to look at him. Hermione smiled and slammed two gigantic books onto the table. Harry knew that the look on his face must have been hilarious. He glanced up at Hermione, who had a wide grin on her face that stretched from ear to ear. He took the two books to see what they were.
"Modern Physics and Modern Calculus…Hermione, are you insane? It's not enough that you're taking wizard subjects, you're going to learn muggle ones too?"
"Of course! I want to be well-rounded. I already went through Chemistry and Trigonometry over the summer."
"You are insane…"
"Did you make it to Honeydukes Ron?"
"Yeah—we went to the bookshop first," he muttered, "but we did make it. Where did you two go?"
"We went out to the park for a while, and then…" Harry started, but trailed off before he mentioned the incident with the animals.
"We went to that pet shop. I think I gave the birds a bit of a scare," Talia answered.
"What do you mean?" Ron asked.
"They went berserk when we came though the door—of course it might have been Harry and not me," she grinned and bumped into him.
Harry was rather impressed that she was trying to be friendly—of course it was just too bad that Ron and Hermione remained standoffish to her during the entire meal. They spoke to Harry, but deliberately tried not to talk to Talia. He was having a difficult time not yelling at them for it.
"I'm going to go to the bathroom," Hermione said, pushing Ron to let her out, "Talia, do you want to come with me?"
Talia's eyes went wide in surprise from being directly spoken to, and Harry knew he probably looked the same way.
"Uh…" she answered, "OK…sure…"
Harry moved to let her out of the booth. He watched in amazement as the two of them walked off to the back of the pub where the restrooms were.
"Why do girls always go to the toilet in packs?" he asked Ron, noticing a group of four girls exiting the women's restroom as Hermione and Talia entered it.
"That's a very good question, Harry. I can't answer it, but maybe you can answer mine, are you crazy or something!?!" He hissed, leaning over the table to look at Harry.
"What do you mean?"
"That girl is a Slytherin! And not only is she just any Slytherin, she is the single Slytherin that all the other Slytherins are afraid of! Do you have rocks in your head!?!"
Harry stood up at Ron's furious words, "What in the hell are you talking about Ron?"
"That girl is dangerous! And you're swooning over her and babying her as if she's a defenseless—no—a harmless little kitten!"
"Ron, you don't know what the hell you're talking about!" Harry snarled, fighting the urge to attack his best friend.
"She's put some kind of hex on you Harry! You get all dazed every time she gets near you! She's a Slytherin! For all you know she's a servant of You-Know-Who with the mission to get close enough to you to kill you.!"
"Ron, if you know what's good for you, shut up right now!"
"What? What, you want to fight me all of a sudden? Look at you! She's turned you against your friends!"
Harry heard what he swore was a growl coming from his throat.
"Fine!" Ron shouted, "Fine, if you want a fight, come on! If I have to beat some sense into you, then so be it."
No, I'm not going to fight Ron
. Harry told himself. They were going to leave before this got ugly. He moved away from their booth and walked back toward the restrooms, but Ron's arm shot out and caught him across the chest."Damn it, Harry, listen to me, you're making a mistake!"
That was it. Harry turned to Ron and gave him a hard shove into the divider between their booth and the next one, "No, Ron, you're making the mistake! There's nothing wrong with her! You didn't have any complaints when you met her before the sorting!"
Harry was answered by a more severe shove from Ron, nearly knocking him off his feet, "No, I felt the same way then as I do now. The girl gave me the creeps! I just didn't say anything then!"
Harry gave Ron another shove, sending him into the divider again, "Look, nothing you say is going to change my mind, so just back off!" He shouted, turning toward the restrooms again.
"You're going to get yourself killed Harry! She's dangerous!" Ron shouted, but making no attempt to stop Harry again. "Fine, go ahead! Get yourself killed! See if I care you big prick!"
Harry ignored him and slumped against the wall outside the women's restroom to wait for Talia. No sooner had he stopped when he heard Hermione's voice through the door.
"Listen to me, I don't care who you are, or if you're a Death Eater, or anything. If you hurt Harry in any way, I will personally track you down and make you pay for it, do you understand?"
Harry couldn't believe his ears.
"I'm telling you, I don't mean him any harm," he heard Talia's shaken voice answer.
"Funny, but I don't seem to believe you. I want you to leave him the hell alone!"
Harry threw the door to rest room open to see Hermione pointing a finger harshly at Talia, who was backing into the corner formed by the wall and the first stall.
"Harry! This is the girls' restroom! Get out!" Hermione shrieked.
Harry didn't move. He held the swinging door open with one hand and stared at her in disbelief. He couldn't believe that she had actually said those things—of course, he also didn't believe that he had nearly gotten into a fist fight with Ron. After several moments his brows drew down and he glared daggers at Hermione.
He reached his hand out, "Come on Talia, I think it's time we left," he said, taking her by the wrist and leading her out of the corner. He shook his head and turned away from Hermione in disgust. He couldn't believe that neither one of them had given Talia a chance.
As they left the hall he put his arm protectively around her, glaring at Ron as they passed.
"You see? Didn't I tell you? I knew this was a bad idea. I've already come between you and your friends."
"Nonsense. This isn't your fault, it's theirs," Harry replied as he paid Madame Rosmerta. "They just can't accept the fact that you're not a normal Slytherin. What else did Hermione say to you?"
"She just warned me not to hurt you. They're convinced that I'm working for You-Know-Who. Harry, it's not because I'm a Slytherin, it's because I'm strange. People have always been afraid of me."
"Then they're all blind. Do you want to go back to Hogwarts now, or would you like to go somewhere else?"
"I think going back would be the best idea."
Harry had his arm around Talia as they were walking back, his hand gently rubbing up and down her arm as a means of comfort. She was upset—of course why shouldn't she be? She'd just got a death threat from Hermione.
Harry was positively fuming, but he kept it to himself not wanting to add to the discomfort of the entire situation. The only clue he gave of his anger was his enraged breathing.
Talia had laid her head against his shoulder and slipped her arm around his waist. The sensation of her arm against his back sent shivers up his spine and let his anger lift. He glanced down at her, but didn't say anything. Sometimes no words were needed.
They hadn't spoken a word since they left the Three Broomsticks.
They walked on for several more minutes, nearing the end of the main street of the road when she abruptly stopped.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked, looking down at her again. Her face was turned away, staring at something in the distance. He followed her line of sight to see for himself.
They stood in front of a wide alley, and passed a fence at the back of the buildings, up along a tall sloping hill, at the very top stood the Shrieking Shack.
"What is that place?" She asked, a quiver noticeable in her voice. Her face was contorted in what could only be remorse.
"That's…that's the Shrieking Shack."
"What on earth happened there?" she whispered, moving away from Harry. She walked down the alley to stop at the chain link fence. She curled her fingers around the metal as she looked at the creaking building, "There's so much pain and suffering just—just radiating off of it…"
Harry stood beside her, closing his own hand into the chain link as he looked at her. What is she talking about? He glanced at the shack with confusion, The old place is creepy, but where is she getting the suffering stuff? What happened here? He repeated her question in his head and then replayed the confrontation with Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew in his head. The night he'd learned of Sirius's innocence, Pettigrew's betrayal, and Remus's secret…yes Remus…poor Remus…
"There was a werewolf in my parent's class at Hogwarts. During each full moon he locked himself up in the Shrieking Shack so that he wouldn't hurt anyone…" Harry said quietly.
"A werewolf?" she answers, "Yes, that makes sense. They're always in pain…knowing how the world hates them…knowing that they're someplace between a man and a beast…that explains it all…"
"You feel sorry for werewolves?" Harry asked in happy surprise.
"Of course! They didn't ask to be what they are. It is out of their control…any of them would change what they are—they'd sell their soul to be human again, but they can't…" she looked at Harry with mournful eyes as if she knew the pain she was speaking of.
Could she be a—no that's impossible. The moon was full when we were on the roof…
"Well, if you are sympathetic to werewolves I know someone you should meet."
She quirked an eyebrow, "Who?"
"That werewolf," he nodded to the shack, "I know him. He's a great man, Remus Lupin."
She smiled and looked up at the shack again, that small bit of pain still in her eyes. Harry reached his free hand out and ran his fingers through her hair. He wasn't sure, but he could have sworn he saw her shiver. He moved closer. "Talia, what are you?" he asked quietly.
She looked up at him, again, their faces only inches apart. She smiled before she answered, "A very strange female." He gave a small laugh and kissed her again, the same way he had on the roof.
"POTTER!"
Both their eyes shot open.
Oh no…
"Just what in the hell do you think you're doing!?!"
Harry whirled around to see Malfoy storming down the alley flanked by Crabbe and Goyle. "You get your muggle-loving hands off of my girl!"
"Your girl!?!" Harry heard Talia growl, "Get away Draco!" she shouted, "I've already told you that I'm not interested!"
Malfoy ignored her and shoved Harry into the fence, "What, did it finally get through your head that pure bloods are the only way to go? Well too bad! You stay the hell away from the Slytherin girls, Potter. Go back to your mud-bloods and muggle-lovers!"
Harry gave Malfoy a fierce shove backward into Crabbe.
"Keep back Malfoy," Harry snarled.
Malfoy ignored him and turned to Talia, "You know I'm really hurt that you came into Hogsmeade and didn't even tell me, beautiful." He walked towards her and took her by the upper arm, "But you're on the arm of the wrong man. Why don't you come with me? You don't want to go around with this pansy-ass—"
Harry moved toward Malfoy, but Crabbe stepped in front of him cracking his knuckles menacingly, but at the same time Talia shoved Malfoy away from her.
"God damn it, I told you that I'm not interested. Stay the hell away from me and never touch me again!!!"
"I love it when you play hard to get," he heard Malfoy snigger as she stormed over and shoved Crabbe out of her way—which was rather impressive, considering he was a foot taller than her and probably weighed twice as much, if not more, than her.
"Come on Harry," she whispered, grabbing his arm. She pulled him passed Crabbe and Malfoy and kept him going forward even though he wanted to go back and attack Malfoy.
SMACK!
Talia screamed.
Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle started laughing hysterically.
Harry looked at Talia. Her teeth were clenched and bared, she was breathing fast and heavy in building rage, and Harry could see her eyes glass over.
It took a couple of seconds before Harry realized what happened.
His eyes got wide and he wheeled around at Malfoy, rolling up the sleeve of his robes, "God damn it Malfoy, you son of a bitch—" Harry yelled as he started toward him, but Talia caught him across the chest before he could get two steps forward.
"No," she growled, turning toward Malfoy herself.
He laughed even harder as she approached, "Oooo, are you going to smack me again?" he asked.
Talia stopped directly in front of him. "Never—never—do that again!" she snarled, clenching her fists tight to her sides.
"Oh, come on," he taunted, touching two fingers to his chin as he bent towards her, "right here." Crabbe and Goyle roared.
Malfoy never knew what hit him…
Well, technically he did…
…but it came so fast that he didn't even have time to react.
In a split second right leg had drawn back and propelled her entire body weight into Malfoy's face through her fist.
Harry watched dumfounded.
Malfoy fell back on the fence, blood pouring out of his now broken nose, and then fell face first into the dirt, unconscious.
"Draco!" Crabbe and Goyle yelled in unison before turning on Talia.
She turned on her heel and bolted out of the alley, grabbing a still dumb struck Harry by the arm as she went.
They ran until they were well down the path back to Hogwarts. Out of breath and laughing, Harry finally cantered to a stop before Talia. "Can you do that again sometime?" Harry whooped.
"Unless he's as stupid as he looks he won't do that again. Nobody, and I mean nobody can touch me that way—without my permission," she huffed. "That asshole…I won't be able to sit comfortably for a week!" She rubbed her hand over her backside.
"Is that what he did the first day of classes?" Harry asked as they walked, "You know—when you smacked him?"
"No. He said—some rather vulgar things to me—should have called him on sexual harassment…"
"You could you know. We could finally get him expelled. Me and Ron have been trying to figure out a way to pull it off ever since first year."
"No," she answered, "I wouldn't do that to him—he deserves it—but I wouldn't do it…"
"You have no idea…"
"Do you think he'll get me in trouble?"
"No. He'll probably try to pin it on me…and if he does go after you, you have the liable excuse of being provoked…he did…take the first blow," Harry gave a small snigger.
"That's not funny! It hurt! How would you like it happened to you?"
"Hmmm…having Malfoy smack me on the rear… let me think… ick. I don't swing that way."
"You idiot!" she said, giving him a playful shove. "It's not funny! It seriously hurt!"
"Do you want me to kiss it and make it better?" he laughed as she pushed him again before crossing her arms.
Harry recovered his footing and crossed his arms too. Whistling an innocent tune he walked closer to her and bumped her back. This resulted in her jabbing him in the ribs with her finger, which he returned, noticing that she gave a little squeak because she wasn't expecting it. This returned him another jab, but this time he grabbed her around the waist and started to tickle her. She squealed and jumped away, a huge grin crossing her face.
"Now you stop that!" she said, one arm protecting her midsection while the other held out a threatening finger. "Harry, you stay right there," she said. An evil grin crossed Harry's face. He bent his knees for the attack and held his hands in a claw like position. "Harry—don't you dare…"
His grin became wider before he jumped and started tickling her again. She erupted into giggles and screams before she was able to get away again. She ran a few paces before she looked back, but Harry went after her this time. Seeing this she took off down the path, still laughing.
Harry chased after her. She isn't going to outrun me! Harry laughed in his head. As far as Harry could remember he had never met anyone who could run as fast as he could. If Hogwarts had track he would have been a great sprinter. He caught up easily, until she saw that he had. She turned her head to see him one foot behind her. She gave a short scream and broke into a sprint. He increased his speed.
He was surprised. He couldn't catch her. They ran all the way back to Hogwarts with him being unable to close the five-foot distance between them until they came up on the edge of the grounds.
As they ran into the field in front of the castle Harry came close enough to tackle her. He caught her around the midsection and they both disappeared into the tall grass.
"No! No! No! No! Ahhhhhh!" she squealed as he started to tickle her again. Finally she turned on him and started to tickle him back.
"Hey! You can't do that!" he laughed as she turned the tables on him. Her fingers and their extraordinary long nails found their way under his armpits—the most ticklish part of his entire body. He howled and jerked away long enough for her to catch him in a headlock.
"Talia," he squeaked, his caught under her arm, "Talia, I can't breath…"
"I'm not letting go until you promise to be a good boy!" she laughed.
To answer her he ran his fingertips up and down her ribs, causing her to squeal again.
"No!" she said between laughs, "You promise first!"
He sighed, "OK. OK. I'll stop."
Talia hesitantly let Harry out of the headlock.
He sighed again and sat beside her. "You run fast."
She smiled, "So do you."
He looked up at the sky before falling onto his back with his arms behind his head. He closed his eyes and listened to the wind blow through the tall grass. He heard her move and when he opened his eyes again she was leaning over him, one long arm on either side of his chest, her ebony hair cascading off of her shoulders to frame both of their faces in its length. Her arm moved and she traced one long finger along his scar, sending a chill down his spine. She bent forward and brushed her lips against it.
"For what it's worth," she whispered, he could feel her breath on his forehead, "I want to thank you."
"For what?"
She laid down on the grass beside him so that one elbow propped her up while her other arm rested against his chest.
"For treating me as if I was normal."
"You are normal," he lied, raising himself off of the grass to kiss her once again.
Secondary Disclaimers
: "The Rose of Tralee" is an Irish folk song. I didn't write it, it's not mine. "All in the Golden Afternoon" is a song that the garden sings in Disney's Alice in Wonderland, and speaking of Alice in Wonderland, the entire singing garden thing (including the old conducting rose) came straight out of the movie. © Disney. "Le Violette" is written and arranged by Alessandro Scarlatti (1659-1725) and can be found in Schirmer's Library of Musical Classics Vol. 1722 "Twenty-four Italian Songs and Arias. "Lavender Blue" is a song from Disney's So Dear To My Heart. © Disney. "You try to hide it. You try to pretend that you're one of them, but you never will be one. You cannot hide what you are." Here, the snake is supposed to sound like D's hand from Vampire Hunter D. "No matter how you may deny it, you'll always show your fangs in the end. It's in your blood after all…Why do you refuse to accept what you are? It's pointless you know…" © Urban Vision Entertainment. "Say another word and I will become a threat to you." This isn't really obvious, but it's an alteration of D's line that came right after the Hand's line from #5 "I warn you, another word and I'll slice you off." Definitely not obvious, but I thought I'd put it in anyway. Vampire Hunter D, © Urban Vision Entertainment. "'Oh, come on,' he taunted, touching two fingers to his chin as he bent towards her, 'right here.'" OK, this has been in many places where someone temps someone else to punch them. In fact, it's been in so many places that it probably can't be claimed by anyone, but I'm just here saying that I wasn't the first person to use the idea, so I don't own it. "Nobody, and I mean nobody can touch me that way--without my permission." Slight alteration of Doris Lang's line from Vampire Hunter D, "Nobody touches me without my permission." © Urban Vision Entertainment. "You have no idea…" Line from Disney's The Lion King, said by Scar. © Disney.