A.N

Nothing particular to say really... ENJOY! :)

I own nothing, except the story plot and the OC, all the rest belongs rightfully to J.K Rowling etc, etc, etc

CHAPTER 09

Hogsmeade's visit

Akane never pictured herself as the sort of girl who would comfort others.

And she definitely wasn't, so how she had actually managed to listen to the rant of a small Weasley girl crying in the dungeons was beside her.

Yet that had probably a lot to do with the feeling of raw power and the hint of darkness seeping from her, despite her young years. A powerful being, if properly molded, could be an exquisite ally.

And she was the perfect subject; alone, isolated, picked on by her brothers and helplessly naive.

So Akane sat next to her, patted her back awkwardly and listened to every incomprehensible lamentations, hiccups and sobs the girl made, waiting impatiently for her to regain a dignified control of herself.

But it never happened, and the girl continued crying for all the misery that happened in her life since her birth. Feeling unloved, being picked at by her brothers, being alone, fearing for her future, not being noticed by the oh-so-beautiful Harry Potter, still having remnants of a possession by a dark diary, a year after the event.

That interested Akane to a point where she actually began listening actively.

"A diary you said? Possessing you?"

Ginny startled, as if she had forgotten that someone had been listening, - fool - but she nodded nonetheless.

"Yes," she answered softly, squeezing her hands together. "It made me do things… that I don't remember. But I don't want to. Sometimes I would wake up, covered in blood and I didn't know why or what had happened. Holes in my head. And since then, nobody in my year wants to have anything to do with me." Her bottom lip was quivering, but her voice had remained surprisingly steady. "They know. They know that I was the one responsible for everything, that I unleashed the basilisk, that I almost killed students, that I almost caused the school to close. They knew it was me and they don't forgive me."

"But you said it, you weren't in control."

The girl shook her head, clenching her teeth. "They don't care. Or know. They just see what they want, and it is me, as a bad and evil person. So they isolate me, they barely talk to me. A–and it hurts. Aren't they supposed to be my family?" She rose her head, looking intently at Akane, pleading. Seeking for answers that she didn't possess.

"I don't know," said Akane gingerly, "family is a weird thing in my mind. Is it something between blood relatives? Between similar people? People sharing a goal together? Who knows. The only thing certain is, that, in the end, family is a strictly personal concept."

"But the sorting hat…"

Akane made an irritated sound in the back of her throat. "The hat is exactly that. A hat. It can read people's mind, see their personality and capabilities at eleven years old and make a decision based on that. But it is still only a piece of clothing. Revolving your relationships around its decision is a mistake because, as a human, you are a complex being. You can change, and evolve. Even at this point, with the hat on your head, it won't be simple. No matter which house he sends you in, it doesn't mean that everyone in there will welcome you, or will consider you part of their families. You have your own place to make, be it in your house or elsewhere. You being part of Gryffindors doesn't necessarily mean you are only that. Or only possess the flaws and qualities of the House. You are much more complex than this."

Ginny averted her gaze and mumbled something in the crook of her arm.

"I'm sorry, what?" Akane demanded, unsure of what the mumbling girl had said.

"I said, I was supposed to be in Slytherin." Said Ginny, louder, before hiding her face back again in her arms. The soft scent of shame and embarrassment was picked by Akane, who rose her eyebrows. "Then why aren't you there? Why Gryffindor?"

Ginny sent her a flat look. "How would I have explained to my parents? Sorry dad, sorry mum, despite all your efforts I ended up with the snakes? No, of course not. Ravenclaw, or even Hufflepuff, would have been better. But Slytherin? Bloody Slytherin?! That would have been like betrayal to them. I couldn't do that. So I asked, I pleaded. Everything but Slytherin. Please! Don't send me with the snakes. And he agreed, reluctantly, saying I was making a bad choice, that I wouldn't be happy there." She barked a small, joyless laugh. "If only I had known how right the hat would have been. I don't fit there."

Akane quirked an eyebrow, annoyed. "Really? Are we that bad, then? That the sole prospect of being with us would have been like the end of your world? That you'd rather find yourself miserable than facing the misunderstanding of your family over something that is absolutely not your fault?"

Weasley features softened into an apologetic smile. "I didn't mean it that way. It's just that, well, Slytherin has a bad history. Bad names glued to the House and all. The Dark Lord himself was a Slytherin. And my dad has issues with one of them. The quintessential Slytherin, minus Professor Snape, if you want my opinion. And there's, like, a rivalry between Slytherin and Gryffindor. If I had been in Slytherin, with my whole family being Gryffindors… Well I don't think it would have been pretty."

Akane bit back an annoyed sigh and cocked her head to the side. "Being Slytherin doesn't necessarily means we are bad. I mean, surely you aren't evil, right?"

Ginny laughed a bit. "Not that I know of, if we exclude that Diary thing."

Akane waved her hand, dismissing her words "Well you said it yourself, that you weren't in control. You aren't evil, Weasley. So aren't the Slytherins. People are full of prejudice and premade thoughts, labeling everything either black or white. Our house has its own way to show care. We are not like Gryffindors, wearing our feelings on our sleeves, because feelings can be exploited and we know it, but that doesn't mean we feels nothing. We just chose a… different way to express it, through subtle, little things. We are an entity, a single house that will never show weakness or strife in public. This is our house, we care for each other because no one else cares for us and we are fine with that.

"We are cunning and proud and ambitious. Isolation is nothing to us, but we are also arrogant, ambitious. Everything is a game of power, politics. Everyone analyze and tries to find each other weaknesses, taking advantage of it. It's a constant game. But we do it as one. Outside, we are a House. We aren't evil. We are cunning, sly and ambitious. The difference is the intent. Yes many Dark Lords rose from our House, because we are ready to do anything to achieve our means. We are a House that will be remembered, and that's what matters."

Tears flowed again from Ginny's eyes "But I'm not in there. I made a bad choice."

Akane pondered for a few moments, wondering what to say.

"Bad choice isn't the word, I believe. I don't think the hat would have sent you to Gryffindor if you couldn't fit in there at least a little. But it will be hard, and you may end up alone if you keep to yourself, or to your House. You need to get out of that shell, to expand your boundaries. Everything is a challenge in life, you just need to make the best of it." Akane smirked, looking at the girl. "The first thing you need to learn is to not give up. Gryffindor is courage and daring. Do not be afraid of what you don't know, do not complain for what you don't have and do not cry for what you suffer. Everything is a challenge, everything is a new task you must accomplish."

Ginny smiled, wiping her tears. "You are right, I am a Gryffindor. I am courageous and daring. I can make friends everywhere, I do not need them and I won't beg to them. I have pride too."

"You also have power."

The girl's eyes went wide, and Akane chuckled. "Yes, you do. You will be a powerful witch in the future. Believe in yourself and you won't be so dependent on the others. Being alone is fine too, you know."

Casting a quick tempus, Akane rose from where she had been sitting.

"If you are feeling better, I will take my leave, Nathan and Draco are waiting for me."

"Will you be my friend?" Halfway to the door, the shout made Akane whirl around, meeting the eyes of a sheepish Ginny and she smirked.

"You see, courage and boldness will bring you far."

Akane turned around and aimed for the exit, before turning her head, feeling the uncertainty of the girl. "That was a yes, Gryffindork."

Relief rushed at her in powerful waves before hearing a vague "slimy snake".

She cackled and aimed for the library, plopping a blood pop in her mouth. This girl had potential, a useful tool that could be used later on. Best keep her close and if being friends was what it took, then so be it. She'd play friendship with a human.

Surprisingly enough, only Nathan remained in the library, scribbling notes on a parchment, yet, as soon as Akane had taken a seat, he flicked his wand and casted strong privacy wards around the area.

The genius would always remained ahead it seems, even in spells.

She chuckled a bit, sucking a bit more on the lollipop. She had been surprised to know that it was one of the rare man made food she could ingest without problem, and it curbed her hunger better than what the cubes could do, yet it wouldn't be enough. She would soon need proper food… and rather sooner than later. The healing of her hand had took its toll on her energy, and she doubted she had enough strength to even summon her kagune properly.

"When do you want the first training to be held?"

The question took her by surprise and she took a few moment to consider, leaning back in her seat and drawing the shape of her lips with a finger. "Not before the holidays that's for sure. I don't have enough strength to properly teach or keep order. However we can begin preparations." She made a sign for Nathan to write what she was about to say. "We will need to find a way to communicate with them, easily and discretely, I want their timetables and a way for them to keep silent about all this."

"A contract of sorts, then?" asked Nathan.

"Yes."

Nathan took the parchment, reading it again to make sure everything was in order, before eyeing the blood pop Akane had in her mouth.

"We won't be able to hold onto the food we have if we begin training." He said slowly. "It will take too much energy. But our provider is very strict on the reserve he gives us. We can't take the chance to sneak in too many food." He grimaced, "I'd rather not be asked why I carry human's meat on me."

Akane looked at him thoughtfully. "And your solution? Knowing you, you wouldn't propose a problem if you didn't already found an answer, you self-righteous bastard." She added with a smirk.

A smug grin met her own. "We will ask the older students to bring whatever they can. Hiding it of course. They may have to buy a second trunk, one that can shrunk at will. But it is possible to increase the food available. We will, of course, store it inside the Room."

Akane nodded, it sounded like a good plan, but they needed to take precautions. One misstep and their whole existence would crumble to nothing.

"I still need to talk to that provider of ours. He won't take kindly if I avoid our meeting once more. One time was bad enough, despite the urgency, I can't offend him a second time or we'll be sorry. Too much is at stake."

"I already arranged for today's meeting. We'll take the chance offered by the visit to talk to him. We both need food and news from outside." Stated Nathan, after which he looked at a point behind Akane's shoulder. "However… we have this cute kitten to entertain before anything. " With a wave of his wand, Nathan dropped the wards and snatched the parchment in his hand, sealing it again.

Quirking an eyebrow at the discontent she felt from Draco, Akane turned her head to look at him. With his hands on his hips, a scowl etched on his face, he looked like the very embodiment of an angry kitten. Cute and amusing.

"Are you coming, or what?" he snapped. "I won't wait forever, you know? As if it isn't enough that I had to come fetch you already."

Akane barely repressed a smirk and rose from her seat. "Yes, yes, we're coming, milord."

Draco humphed and whirled around, exiting the room.

Clapping her cloak around her shoulder Akane sighed and followed suit, Nathan on her heels.

"You shouldn't walk that fast," called out Akane, "I have something interesting to tell you."

Grumbling, Draco slowed nonetheless before glaring at Akane who had reached him, remaining silent.

"What?" He finally asked.

Akane smirked knowing perfectly that he would be less than pleased to hear about it, something she found highly amusing.

"I'm sure you'll be elated to ear this" she said, masking her sarcasm "I found someone in the dungeon and I decided we'd be friend with her."

Draco stopped in his track and sputtered. "You decided that we, as in us?!"

Akane rolled her eyes. "Yes, Draco, as in us. And I do expect you to behave properly."

"Behave properly?" He parroted, looking like an offended puppy. "I'm a Malfoy!" he then shot back, "We always behave properly, as a Malfoy…"

"You're noisy. I don't want to hear you brag about your nobility."

His sentence died midway and he stood there, mouth wide open. That kid was probably not used to be interrupted or talked in such a way. He went silent for a few seconds, closing and opening his mouth like a fish before regaining countenance, brushing his shoulder as if dirt had been there.

But there hadn't been any, he was just looking for a way to distract both of them from his awkward composure. He looked back at Akane, who smirked, and he scowled deeply. Taking a deep breath and then proceeding to do as if nothing happened.

"And who is this she anyway?" He asked, resuming his pace.

"Ginny Weasley."

Draco's mouth went agape once more and Akane cackled.

His reaction was as good as she had predicted, of course.

"You can't be serious!" He proclaimed, "She is a blood-traitor! A filthy…"

She held her hand up, effectively shutting him up. "Firstly, who I befriend is none of your business. I like you very much, Draco, but your upbringing in this world has clouded your judgments. This girl is powerful, status or not. And she is young, do you not see the possibilities?"

Draco harrumphed, crossing his arm "She is a traitor. Who cares about her power." Akane rolled her eyes. Arrogant child. Pinching the bridge of her nose to prevent the anger rising in her chest to lash out she spoke slowly, as if explaining to a child. "She is not her family, despite her name. Ginevra Weasley is a young and powerful witch that feels neglected and is picked on by her older brothers. She is alone in her own house, don't you see that? Or are you so blinded by your prejudiced that all your amazing Slytherin's abilities have gone to waste? Think outside of your upbringing for a while, will you?"

He still held his arm folded over his chest, but his brows knitted together, deep in thought. "We could mold her, make her a proper wizard." He finally provided, hesitantly.

She smirked and her eyes brightened."Yes! Part of it! With her as a wizard, we gain the help of a powerful wizard to our side. You gain the possibility of having new pure blood in your genes. She has worth, she can be useful, but we need to reach to her first before claiming our gain."

Draco secured his cloak around his shoulder while humming. "I see… but I don't think my father would approve."

Akane sighed and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Honestly, Draco, I couldn't care less about your father and his approval. While he is important to you, I am probably nothing more than a worthless mudblood in his eyes. So really, I think I can make my own connections without having him looming over my shoulder and authorizing any of my own endeavors."

The boy sighed without bothering to begin a protest she wouldn't listen and settled on motioning to the Hall's door. "Are you coming, then?"

She smirked and nodded, following the flow of students exiting the front hall and nodded at Greengrass and Parkinson who had joined them, starting a meaningless conversation with Draco that she quickly tuned out.

The village was fairly mundane, for a wizarding village at least. At first it had looked like a Christmas card, with the little thatched cottages and shops all covered in a layer of bright and untainted snow that created an aggressive feeling inside of Akane's guts. Everything was too white, bright and peaceful for her. She felt like she had marched right inside a solemn Christian church. Unwelcome and monstrous. But now that Students had invaded the place, crowding the streets and soiling the snow and village with their presence, she felt more at ease.

While looking at the snow firmly packed by numerous feet, she spotted Nathan, leaning on the wall of a shop.

Quickly excusing herself from her small Slytherin group, she walked across the crowd, making her way to the boy, who slightly bowed, before motioning for the shop and entering ahead of her.

She took a few moments to look at the sign. Dogweed and Deathcap… an apothecary. What sort of ruddy excuses can we make if we get caught in that building… she sighed and entered the shop.

No bells tingled at her entrance, not even the slightest noise when the door closed behind her. She walked slowly, listening to the heavy and thick silence that covered everything before coming to a stop next to Nathan, waiting in silence a few moments before a young man came through a door behind the counter, rubbing his muddy hands with a cloth.

Both ghouls immediately focused on him, taking every single detail they could make out, but nothing special could be said about the boy. He was human and fairly ordinary, with a mop of brown hair, a straight nose and full lips. A fairly comely men, but of no danger to the ghouls. A mere human being as weak as they could get, magical or not.

"How many of you, brats, do I need to tell off before you understand. You have nothing to do here, get out!"

And as insensitive as they could get, it seemed.

Nathan quirked an eyebrow. "I believe there is a misunderstanding, we are here as customers."

The helper quickly strode to them and grabbed Akane's upper arm roughly. She narrowed her eyes, a growl forming in her throat. "I would release that woman if I were you, health may suffer greatly if you happened to complete whatever action you had taught of doing."
The boy quickly released her and stepped to the side, revealing a tall neat-looking old man, coldly looking at them

"The shopkeeper, Dogweed" whispered Nathan in her ear. "A ghoul."

"Sir!" exclaimed the boy "I was simply about to throw these kids out, since we only –"

"I know our policy, Laurence," berated Dogweed, "but it happens that I do have business with these two, so do yourself a favor and go finish cleaning the mess you made in the backshop."

"Y–yes sir!"

Second ticked by where the three ghouls eyed each other in complete silence until the young aid had disappeared behind the door.

"I was beginning to think that the new Hogwart's Mother had deemed unfitting to introduce herself to me."

The tone was warm and the expression soft, but the words were harsh and hit their target.

Fully aware of her wrongs, Akane bowed her head, careful to keep eye contact. "It wasn't in my mind to avoid our provider, I simply had a wolf to deal with beforehand. An unknown variable the previous Mother neglected to take care of."

Recognition lighted the old ghoul's eyes before he nodded his head. "Ah yes, the werewolf. He came a few times in the village, but the scarce ghouls living here managed to avoid the beast's nose. But no matter. You are here now, as a customer I am sure, and it is highly impolite of me to hold you off from whatever hunger you may possess."

He stepped aside and, with a wand, tapped some stones on the wall behind, revealing a flight of stair leading downward, in the darkness.

With ease, Dogweed stepped on the stairs and disappeared in the blackness.

Without a moment of hesitation, Akane followed him, Nathan in tow.

She didn't trust the man, but he was old and frail for a ghoul. He didn't fought often and it showed. No matter what sort of resistance he might pose if he decided to be a threat, she was utterly confident that Nathan and her could take him out, despite their current state.

As soon as the old man's foot hit the floor of the basement, torches all over the room lit themselves, revealing a rather large area drenched in blood and the scent of fresh meat.

Shelves adorned the walls with jar containing different part of bodies in a translucent liquid.

Eyes, hearts, livers, brains and even some bone marrows and lungs could be seen.

From the roof was hanged bigger body pieces and Akane quickly identified a leg, with the hip bone still attached and intact, completely cleaned of flesh, an arm, a single thigh, feets and torsos. The sight was appetizing, however they all smelled the same. The meat belonged to sad individuals whom had given up on everything.

People who committed suicide. But at this point, Akane wasn't going to get picky, meat was meat in the end.

The floor was maculated in blood, dried or fresh, coming from the newest part still wet and dripping. A single desk was sitting on the center of the room, with what had once been a living human resting on it. A leg was missing and she could see that the eyes had been bulged out and nails ripped from the fingers. A saw and other tools were resting next to the body.

"Each time I come in here, I always feel like home," commented Nathan, breathing deeply in the scent of blood and meat permeating the place. It did feel like it suited them better than a ruddy castle full of human waving sticks of wood to produce light and magic.

Nathan moved over where the eyes resided and inspected them thoroughly while Akane simply looked over everything.

"Take your time choosing, you can eat dried flesh out of the store, however the fresher product must be eaten here. I'm sure you understand the reason."

Akane threw the old man a sideway glance. "Do you think me so foolish as to actually walk out there and eat raw human flesh amongst humans?"

Shrugging, the old man chuckled, "I'd rather not taking any risks, not all ghouls are… aware of the risks they are in while melding with humans."

"And they usually do not live long either," agreed Akane. "You shouldn't doubt me, old man. I've lived in Japan and still exist to tell tale of it."

"Most of this life was in hiding as I reckon, but yes, you do seems to have a head on these frail shoulders of yours." Dogweed motioned for the food in front of him, "You should eat now. A famished ghoul is not something anyone wants to deal with and your time here is limited."

"Well that was refreshing, don't you think so too?" said Nathan, stretching.

"yeah..."

Nathan looked at Akane dubiously and sighed. "Is it about what Dogweed said?"

"There is too much activity going on, right now. If the humans are getting organized…"

"All of this is based on rumors of passer by."

"It started as rumors too in Japan. Look how well ghouls fare over there."

"Well Tokyo mostly, rest of Japan seems fine."

"Of course, they are hiding and waiting. None of them dares to try something for fear to bring the CCG attention to them. If the sames happens to Britain, it will take half the time it took them in Japan to exterminate us. Britain's ghouls aren't fighters, most of them."

"But they excel in hiding," pointed out Nathan.

"True. But CCG excels in finding. This game of hide and seek won't last long, and not in our favor."

"Oh well, for now we can't do anything. Not while we're in Hogwarts. Let's just keep to our normal and highly interesting lifestyle without mentionning in broad daylight that we are man eating monsters."

Akane scoffed and waved at the thick swirling snow. "I'd like to see anyone bothering on listening on two crazed teenagers casually walking in this storm."

"Well we certainly are acting crazier than, for example, these people." Said Nathan pointing at three huddled forms heading up the streets, heads bowed against the wind.

"It's Potter and its friends."

Nathan squinted, trying to see through the thick blizzard. "Are you sure?"

"I've had his scent memorized, I'm a hundred percent sure."

He threw Akane a bewildered look. "You've scent him from this far in this storm? You're a monster."

"You may be a walking brain, Walker, but I'm pretty unrivaled when it comes to the six senses we possess."

He shrugged. "So? What do you plan on doing with a rebel student doing a visit he isn't authorized to do?"

"Absolutely nothing for now. Let's go. I'm cold and have no more interest in this place."

They started walking toward the castle at a leisurely pace and Akane looked at the snow falling.

At this time, in between the village and the school, it was oddly peaceful and silent.

"Mr. Walker! Mrs. Watanabe!"

The strict of voice of Professor McGonagall made the both of them turn around.

The headmistress was looking at them disapprovingly, a frown on her face and Akane lightly bowed, ignoring the three others behind her.

"Have we done something reprehensible, Professor?" She asked, adding an innocence and politeness to her voice that almost made her gag.

"You shouldn't walk alone in these dark times. Young students such as yourself could easily get harmed." Answered the professor.

"Nathan and I are two individuals. You can hardly say alone. Besides, I am confident I can defend myself quite well."

"That may be so, and I don't doubt your abilities seeing where you come from, however…"

A bulky little man in a long, pinstriped cloak stepped forward, smiling adamantly. "I too, when I was your age, thought I could take on the world. But let me tell you something, as someone who was once in your place. Black is a highly dangerous man, and a very skilled wizard. Children such as yourself shouldn't dwell into matters that are out of their hands."

Akane sent him a blank look. "I fail to see the relevance of your remark, mister…?"

"Fudge, Cornelius Fudge, the Minister." He answered, squaring his shoulders. "And the relevance was that, no matter how good you think you are in this school, Black is an adult who has already killed people. He is a murderer and not someone you, children, can hope to go against."

'I don't like him. He's a coward. I hate cowards. Why don't we kill him?'

'Shut up, will you?'

But she had to agree, this man was a coward and she hated him and his weakness. Were they to meet Black, they should fear for him, if anything not the two ghouls in front of them.

"I've met murderers before. Beings that kills humans for the sheer pleasure of hearing their screams. I've met mans who dismembered people while they were alive, who let their victims bleed out. I've met monsters who laughed louder than the screams of the people under them, and creatures feasting on the corpse of humans. Tell me, Minister, is your Black as terrible as them?"

The Minister had paled considerably during her talk, his eyes widening comically and even McGonagall, next to him, was looking quite ashen herself.

The moment was broken when two other figures entered her sight, wiping out the feeling of glee that had warmed her chest.

Really, what was with this snow that made her completely unable to feel people coming her way. Especially a man as big as Hagrid was.

She bowed again to the two stunned figure, barely acknowledging the presence of Flitwick and the Half-Giant, or so was what Malfoy said about the oaf.

"Minister, Professor. We'll be going then."

They both turned on their heels and quickly made their way to the castle. Nathan looked behind his shoulders and saw that McGonagall was still looking at the both of them with a still deadly pale Fudge struggling to regain his countenance next to her.

"Tell me to memorize that tirade next time I want to shut someone up, alright?" Told Nathan to Akane, who cackled. "Most of them were my comrades. Well I was the one who dismembered people alive. There is just that pleasure in making people screams louder than what they ever thought they could."

"I'll try that next time. It seems fun."

"Starts by the fingers and toes and slowly moves upward. Change places often though, or he'll get numb."

"Noted."

So, did you like it?

I have plans for Ginny. I feel like the aftermath of her possession in the book was left out a bit, as if she never cared at all or hadn't suffered consequences.

Well I'll correct that a bit.

Well that's it, sorry for the time it took, went to Cuba and all...

Enjoy!