Chapter 5: New Appearance
Eros was curled around Harry's body and Haydee was coiled around his head. They had not moved an inch and Anita was worried. Elizabeth stood beside Anita and placed a calming hand on her arm. "He'll wake up, Anita. I've been monitoring him and I'm surprised, but at the same time not surprised. Everything seems to happen to that young man."
"What'd you mean?"
"Harry's snake has been bonded to him for at least six months and that lion, Eros, bonded the night that Harry received his Inheritance. Not to mention that Harry's owl has been his Familiar since he was eleven. Those are three different types of bonds that are keeping Harry alive and at the same time protecting him." Anita smiled softly and closed Harry's bedroom door.
"So with them, he'll wake up soon?" Elizabeth sighed and ran her fingers through her hair.
"I can't tell you that much. If his mind survived the explosion and the increase of magic in such a short time, then yes." Both women moved to the kitchen and seated themselves. "When a young wizard receives their Inheritance, they usually have a family member there for them. The magic is supposed to grow over the week before the birthday, but because Harry's Headmaster placed a damper, Harry received all of his magic in one blow. I've seen many strong witches and wizards go mad because of this and unless Harry is strong in mind, then he'll wake up insane. His bonds should help him with the influx of power and keep him from losing his mind, but only time can tell. Do not beat yourself up over this, Anita. What's done is done and this might help Harry more than you know." Anita frowned.
"Might help him? How? As far as I'm concerned, I basically made him turn mad if he wakes up like that. If he wakes up sane, then I have to try and apologize without him exploding up at me. I said some rude words to him and those can't be taken back." Elizabeth nodded and smiled softly.
"Yes, you did, but Harry is a forgiving soul. He has to be."
"What'd you mean?"
"Jean-Claude told you that Harry's parents died, correct?" Anita nodded. "Well what he doesn't know is that they were murdered because of Harry." Anita gasped and Elizabeth closed her eyes. "The Dark Lord was afraid of Harry because Harry was the only one who could defeat him. There was a prophecy and everything that pointed to Harry and one other boy. When the Dark Lord attacked Harry, he chose the one who could defeat him. Harry survived that night because of an ancient magic. Some call it love, but it is so much more than that. Yes, it is love, but when someone sacrifices himself or herself for another, that person's magic is transferred into the one they are trying to protect. When Lily stood between the Dark Lord and Harry, she gave her magic to Harry to protect him. She did it unconsciously, mind you, because once a witch or wizard gives up their magic for another witch or wizard, they will die afterwards. I think that Lily knew what she was doing when she protected Harry and I believe that she thought Harry was going to come here instead of his Aunt's."
"It was because of the Headmaster, wasn't it? That Harry got sent to his Aunt's?" Elizabeth nodded and Anita shook her head in disgust. "That isn't right. Didn't Lily leave a will behind stating her wishes?"
"I don't know. No one knows, not even Lily's sister. We may never know if there ever was a will or not."
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Harry slid his eyes open carefully, his body aching and his head pounding. He felt as though he had gone ten rounds against an aggravated dragon. With that thought in mind, he moved slowly into an upright position and glanced around his room. At the same time he was wracking his brain for an explanation of what happened. Nothing seemed to be broken, but from what he could remember he had been on the floor and not in his bed. Harry bit his lip in uncertainty and slowly let his feet hit the floor. He hissed in surprise and snatched his feet away from the coldness permeating through the ground. His hiss brought a furred head to his side and he gazed at Eros with a smile. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. His eyes widened in horror and he tried to speak once more. Eros tilted his head and snorted softly. Harry stood from the bed quickly and nearly lost his balance. Once righted, he moved to the door and out of the room.
Silence met his ears as he rushed to find someone, anyone in the house. Panic was swiftly overtaking his senses and he prayed that someone was here. He could feel the comforting presences of his Three, but at the moment he needed someone to speak with him and tell him he would be just fine.
Harry sped into the kitchen and he could not hold back the sob of relief that exited him. Three women were seated at the kitchen table and two men were standing side by side at the counters. Harry made a beeline for Jean-Claude and buried his face in the vampire's chest.
Anita, Elizabeth, Cherry, and Micah stared in stunned surprise at the young wizard, but it only lasted for a moment. Jean-Claude had his arms wrapped tightly around Harry and was frowning softly. "Mademoiselle Curtis, if you would be so kind?" Elizabeth moved to her feet and quietly over to Harry.
"Harry?" The teen peered at her from his spot; fear radiating from the one eye she could see. "My name is Elizabeth Curtis. I'm a Healer. I want to run a diagnostic spell on you to see if there's been any damage. May I?" Elizabeth waited with bated breath. This was a test to see if Harry could trust her enough or anyone else for that matter. Harry slowly turned to face her until his back was to Jean-Claude. Elizabeth smiled softly and held out her wand. "I need you to step away from Jean-Claude for just a moment. Can you do that for me?" Harry nodded and did as she asked. Elizabeth cast her spell and frowned at what she saw. Jean-Claude picked up on her emotions.
"Is something wrong, Mademoiselle?" Elizabeth sighed and went back to her seat beckoning them both to sit. Jean-Claude steered Harry to a seat, but was surprised when Harry seated himself in his lap. Jean-Claude opened his mouth to say something, but Elizabeth beat him to it.
"It's normal for Harry's species to want to be in physical contact with someone they trust. The same goes for lycanthropes."
"Are you saying that Harry's a were of some sort?" Elizabeth smiled softly at Anita and shook her head in a negative.
"No. Harry's a bit more powerful than a lycanthrope, but even more vulnerable. With his species there are two types: Dominant and Submissive. There's no in-between and there's always a mate for each. There have been documented cases where a powerful sub will have more than one dominant, but those cases are rare and only two cases worked out with a good outcome." Anita frowned.
"So what's Harry?" Elizabeth sighed and put the parchment holding Harry's diagnosis softly on the table.
"Harry's a sub, there's no doubt of that in my mind." Jean-Claude frowned.
"I think what ma petite meant is what type of species is Harry?" Elizabeth smiled at that.
"Harry's a cross breed between a nymph and an incubus." Micah was the next of the small group to speak.
"So he's a submissive nymph-incubus? How's that possible?" Elizabeth arched an eyebrow and Micah rephrased his question. "I meant: How is it possible for Harry to be both?"
"Harry's mother was a nymph, but it was dormant because she was unable to access it. Her power wasn't strong enough. Harry's father carried the incubus gene. He may have had a bit of the characteristics, but not as much as Harry's going to have." Anita worried her lip, her eyebrows pulled together.
"But he's submissive?" Elizabeth grimaced.
"Incubi are either very dominant or very submissive. What they turn out to be never ever depends on their lifestyle or how they grew up, but by what gene they carry. Even if Harry had grown up with his parents in a very loving relationship, he would still be submissive. It's not bad, Anita. Harry is strong and with these two different powers he'll be even stronger. What I'm worried about, though, is your voice, Harry. I take it you can't say anything?" Harry shook his head silently, his mouth already opening instinctively to speak. Elizabeth smiled sadly, "I'm going to confer with Poppy about this, but hopefully it's only because of the magical overload your body went through. I'm just happy that you didn't go crazy or die." Harry gave the healer a soft smile and curled back into Jean-Claude, his eyes drooping in exhaustion. This was Jean-Claude's cue to intervene.
"We will speak more of this tomorrow night. Harry needs rest." The group nodded and Jean-Claude scooped the tiny wizard into his arms. Before he exited the kitchen Anita spoke.
"Jean-Claude? Do you want to stay here tonight? Morning is coming soon and I think Harry would feel safer with a more familiar face when he wakes up tomorrow." Jean-Claude nodded and left the room.
