CHAPTER 8:

CHEATING AND CHATS

During his first couple of weeks at Hogwarts, prior to the First Task, Henry made a couple of friends. Hermione Granger and Luna Lovegood were a couple of them, of course. A few approached him later, many of them Weasleys from Gryffindor. They seemed a bit wary of him, as they suspected his mother to be a Dark Witch, save for the twins, Fred and George, who were somewhat vulgar but nonetheless amusing pranksters. Henry accepted the twins' friendship without reservation, but opted to take a wait-and-see approach with Ron and Ginny, who seemed to want to meet the Boy Who Lived and become friends with him. Ron seemed turned off a little by Henry's deportment, but when Henry expressed a small interest in learning about Quidditch, it helped provide the bridge needed for a cordial relationship. With Ginny, it was just curiosity about his life, and the remnants of a crush.

There was Draco Malfoy of Slytherin and his circle of cronies. Henry found him amusing, like a mini-Wesker, only with less charm and intelligence. Malfoy had offered the hand of friendship, though he had also said Henry didn't want to go around making friends with the wrong sort of wizard. He had looked pointedly at Hermione and Luna at the time. Henry had responded, very politely, that he would make such judgements for himself. While Henry didn't actually refuse, Draco had taken his polite rebuff rather badly, believing it to be a refusal, and many of the Slytherins were giving him dirty looks. Henry bore it all with deportment and detachment. And the occasional acid smile. Even Snape was impressed by that smile.

Another he had some friendship with was another Gryffindor, like the Weasleys. Neville Longbottom was timid and lacked self-esteem, but Ginny looked upon him as a saviour, thanks to events in her first year at Hogwarts. Upon learning that Neville was interested in magical plants, they had discussions about various plants.

He got along well with the staff, for the most part. He actually liked Flitwick most of all, the jovial Charms Master and Head of Ravenclaw having a vast intellect, in inverse proportion to his diminutive body. Snape and McGonagall were no intellectual slouches either, and he respected that, especially when McGonagall related anecdotes to him about his parents, something Snape was loath to do. Mad-Eye Moody was somewhat off-putting, and it wasn't just the fact that he looked like Frankenstein's monster: Veronica was whispering to him, to be wary of him. He was an excellent teacher, though, in Defence Against the Dark Arts.

Dumbledore, he couldn't quite make out. True, the man was definitely a leader, and was intelligent behind his façade of part-senile eccentricity. But Henry was sure the man had a plan for him. There were odd moments, too. Like that time Dumbledore cast a spell on him, supposedly discreetly, but Henry caught it out of the corner of his eye. Dumbledore, surprisingly, expressed relief, though Henry got the feeling it wasn't because Henry had caught him, but rather, because of something the spell had detected. Or perhaps failed to detect(1). He'd also given Henry, albeit discreetly, a cloak that had belonged to his father, and told him to use it well. It turned out to be a Cloak of Invisibility, and Henry's mind was awhirl with the possibilities. Even so, Henry could see the gears turning in Dumbledore's head, and he could tell the old wizard was up to something.

Oddly enough, the groundskeeper, a massive man (taller even than the prototype Tyrants, apparently) by the name of Hagrid, seemed to try and latch onto him, if only because he knew Henry's birth parents. Henry thought him an uncultured oaf, but there was also no pretence about Hagrid, he had to admit. He seemed genuinely warm and kind, and Henry thought him likeable enough.

It was because of Hagrid that he was here, at midnight, at the man's cabin. Hagrid had known about the Invisibility Cloak, as he told Henry to wear it. Henry then covertly followed Hagrid, who fetched Madame Maxime from the carriage where the Beauxbatons delegation was present. And soon, they were led to an enclosure, quite a distance away from the school, and Henry gaped openly.

Dragons! Honest-to-God dragons! Massive, vicious ones, fighting against the wizards trying to restrain them. Eventually, the wizards were forced to stun them, and Hagrid and Maxime approached, Henry following at a short distance. Seeing some blood from one of the ones wounded, he took out a small biological specimen collection kit, and quickly sucked some up with a syringe. Not the best sample, but his mother would champ at the bit to analyse even degraded dragon blood.

As he put it away, he saw Hagrid speaking to a red-head called Charlie. Henry recalled Ron talking about his brother Charlie, who worked in a dragon sanctuary in Romania. He named the various breeds, and then, as Maxime strolled around the edge of the enclosure, he remarked that Maxime shouldn't have been brought here. She was bound to notify Fleur. The First Task was to try and get past the dragon, and Charlie was not envious of the one who'd have to get past the Hungarian Horntail, a particularly vicious dragon.

On the way back, he nearly ran into Karkaroff, the head of Durmstrang, who was coming down this way. As Henry headed back to the castle, he just realised something: Karkaroff and Maxime were sure to tell their Champions what was coming. But had anyone notified Cedric Diggory? He thought not. As soon as he could contact Cedric, he would. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't, if only to have an advantage over a rival. But against something as deadly dangerous as a dragon? Henry had a lax attitude to death, true, but even so, he was unwilling to let Cedric go to his death blindly. Henry also thought that letting Cedric know might have the Hufflepuff owe him a favour.

The next day, Alexia put the sample of dragon blood into the bioanalyser in one of her personal laboratories, the less-hazardous one, anyway. A specially customised machine created by Umbrella, the bioanalayser would analyse the various biological components of the sample, and even do some sequencing. The technology was decades in advance of anything else the world had.

Lisa stood next to her, peering at the vial. She had been decanted from the stasis tank some time ago, and had remained remarkably calm. It seemed that the prospect of getting revenge on Spencer had calmed her anger. That, and no longer having a misshapen body. It didn't hurt that she and Henry got along well: Lisa had been a teenager when she was forced to become a test subject at the Spencer Mansion. "Dragon's blood," Lisa mused, shaking her head. She was now clad in a dark suit, like a security agent, albeit tailored to her now tall form. "So, dragons exist."

Alexia nodded. "One of these days, I should look into obtaining one. Leaving aside the fact that it would be fascinating to study, I can see the potential for a most powerful BOW in it. I have been studying a text I have obtained in Diagon Alley, Magical Britain's most famous shopping district. Rather rustic and antediluvian, but it is not without its treasures. I obtained many books from their bookstore while Henry was getting his wand. While we did not require an owl, given the telepathic ability of Veronica, I purchased one anyway, as a companion."

"I saw him," Lisa said.

"Her. She is a female owl. Henry named her Veronica, in memory of my ancestor. In order to avoid confusion with the virus, we call her Vera for short." In the corner, on a stand, a magnificent snowy owl was perched, and watched as Alexia approached. "Vera was the only owl who did not object to us being near: the others seemed about to attack us." She gently petted the owl, who nipped at her fingers gently. "I may be Veronica reborn in body and mind, but I believe Vera has her spirit."

Lisa nodded. "A beautiful bird. You like surrounding yourself with beauty."

"Our family often does."

"I wonder then what you saw in me," Lisa said. "I was a twisted malformed thing."

"Yes, but I saw potential in you, Lisa. A potential that William and his cronies thought long-since exhausted," Alexia said. "With all those viruses within you, along with the Nemesis Parasite, I felt you to be the crucible for something greater and grander than even Birkin's G-Virus. And I was right. The Sentinel Virus far exceeds the potential of T or G, even Veronica. That is not something I will admit lightly. Combined with Medea…I believe we are looking at the spark, the starting ember of a wildfire of evolution. Once this First Task is finished, I will bring Henry back, and we will use the S-Virus on ourselves. How does it feel, Lisa, to be at the vanguard of human evolution?"

"Hollow," Lisa said bluntly. "My parents are dead. And the man who brought about their deaths is still alive. If he comes here to demand Medea from you, I will gladly tear him limb from limb."

"I have no doubt, but I want to bring Spencer's world crashing down around him. I want him to feel an acutely Ozymandian despair. Only then will I give him permission to die. And you will be allowed to do as you see fit with him."

Lisa nodded, her hands clenching into fists briefly. "I have thought about how I would do it. I want him to suffer. I want to have him infected by one of these viruses. I want him to be in agony, just like I was. And then, I will beat him to death." Calming herself with an effort, she asked, "Will the two wizards be arriving today?"

"Yes. There had been some delays, as Black was having trouble getting into Britain. He is a wanted man, after all. They should be arriving before long."

As if on cue, a communications panel on the wall lit up. "Alexia?" Alexander asked. "The two wizards have arrived. Where would you like to meet them?"

"At the official residence," Alexia said.

"I was having them escorted there anyway. They do want to see Henry, though."

"I shall send a request to him to come back here. I shall be there forthwith with Lisa."

Sirius Black was far from patient. He was pacing around the room he and Moony had been shown to like a caged beast. He also felt distinctly underdressed for being present in this mansion, which was not unlike a Pureblood mansion. Then again, when you were a wanted fugitive, you didn't have that many opportunities to obtain clothes. This was also the case when you were a werewolf, as poor Remus knew from long, hard experience.

He also knew a little of Umbrella. The Spencer family had married into the Black family a century ago (what Pureblood family hadn't?), and he knew a little about the Squib who managed to make his way in the Muggle world, Ozwell E Spencer. There were rumours around that company, dark rumours. So having Harry enmeshed in it in any form was concerning.

After a moment, he walked over to the wall, where a pair of gold-coloured guns were placed in special slots. As he reached out to take one out and examine it, he heard a regal, haughty voice say, "That would be inadvisable, Mr Black."

"Mr Black was my bastard of a father," Sirius said, turning around to face the speaker. After a moment's pause to take in the sight, he said, "Please, call me Sirius."

The woman who had spoken had a slight smile quirk at the sides of her mouth. Her regal, haughty beauty reminded him of his cousin Narcissa. But unlike Narcissa, who had a cold, distant nature, this woman seemed to be perpetually amused by something. She was dressed in a dark shade of lavender, and wore light-coloured silk opera gloves. Her long blonde hair framed her regal features.

Behind her was a tall woman, well over six foot if Sirius was any judge, dressed in a suit that put him mind of a bodyguard. Although physically imposing, her face was actually rather nice, framed by a boyish fringe of blonde hair.

And there, next to the woman who had spoken, was Harry! He was dressed in Hogwarts robes, having clearly come over from Hogwarts. There was James Potter's face, but with Lily's emerald eyes. He wasn't wearing glasses, though. His expression was of curiosity. There was still a haughtiness to his demeanour, but there was definitely James' mischief and Lily's curiosity dancing in his eyes.

"Very well. You may call me Alexia if you wish," the regal woman said. "I believe you two are already acquainted with my son, even if he was too young to remember you two."

My son. The words stung at Sirius' heart. He remembered hearing from Dumbledore that the stupid old fart had left Harry with the Dursleys. And then, those bastards sold him to Umbrella! "Adopted son," Sirius said pointedly, and perhaps a little recklessly. "Sorry, but I'm rather loyal to James and Lily's memory."

"Understandable," Alexia said.

"But my mother is the only one I have known," Harry said. "Sorry, Mr Black. I mean, Sirius."

In the awkward silence that followed, Remus asked, "And who is this other woman?"

"I am Lisa Trevor," the taller woman said. "I presume you are Remus Lupin?"

Remus nodded. "I understand why you considered giving Sirius sanctuary here, but why allow me to stay?"

"I am well aware of your condition, Mr Lupin," Alexia said. "Umbrella is a pharmaceuticals company. To my knowledge, your world has only treatments for lycanthropy, not a cure. Consider this a win-win situation. I study a most fascinating illness, and you may get a more effective treatment, perhaps even a permanent cure that does not involve death by acute argyria."

"What?" Sirius asked.

"Argyria is silver poisoning," Harry supplied(2).

"But…when I transform…" Remus protested.

"Mr Lupin, our more secure facilities have the capability of containing a dinosaur on the rampage," Alexia said with a confident smile. "A werewolf, I believe, would be simple by comparison."

"You seem confident, especially about hiding a fugitive from the law," Sirius said.

Alexia and Harry merely gave him a smile that suggested something disturbing. That this was far from the only illegal thing they had done…

CHAPTER 8 ANNOTATIONS:

Damn, I'm surprised by how quickly these chapters have come out, after so long not updating this story.

Review-answering time! Glad to have all the praise for how I'm doing Lisa.

Reishin Amara: I'm undecided as to who to pair either Alexia or Lisa with. If there will be any Alexia/Lisa, it will be on a rather casual basis rather than a full-on pairing. I was originally going to make it Alexia/Wesker, and then maybe Alexia/Sirius, but I'm undecided.

jgkitarel: While that wasn't my intention, I'll basically retcon it as being part of Alexia's intentions. However, the Alexia of my story is also someone who values aesthetics as much as science. She's not fond of ugly things. Harry and Alexia are very much Byronic heroes in this story. Alexia is amoral, and Harry has morals, but loose ones. And they view godhood as something to be strived for continually.

FuZzvKiNgZz: Bloody hell, mate, your name is hard to write, if only because of all the case changes. Anyway, Harry's initial Veronica form is like Alexia's, only masculine rather than feminine, obviously. So, in short, think of Harry Potter like Alexia's first form, all grey and chitinous, but still humanoid. Any further forms, I don't know yet, but Alexia, unlike in the game, is leery of using a 'queen ant' stage (her second form in the game, before her third 'dragonfly' form), as she knows it will cut down on mobility. As for more consorts, Luna may be a candidate, but I am yet to decide.

1. Dumbledore was trying to detect the Horcrux. He didn't find it. How this happened will be discussed in a later chapter.

2. This is actually a thing. Of course, actual argyria is actually pretty strange. It turns the skin blue. No, really!