Disclaimer: Don't own nothin'. As usual.
No one had spoken to him after his startling confession and breakdown except Nathaniel. Everyone else was too weirded out by his odd show of strength and weakness, and Harry was okay with that. Although it would be difficult to remember to answer to 'Harry' again. He hadn't answered to it in three years. Meanwhile Nathaniel was tasked with making the Pard something to eat as they waited for sunset, still hours away.
With no one to speak with once Nathaniel was busy, and no one to screw unless he wanted to piss Micah off beyond all belief, he slipped back into old habits, and wished for a fag as he fell into meditation. His footsteps echoed as he walked through dripping sewers, grimacing at the mere thought of speaking with Loki. He would be in a ridiculously pissy mood after everything, but Harry had given him his blood. Besides, he really didn't have a choice in speaking to him.
It was either face the Demon and ask why he couldn't slip back into his civilian mindset, or be left ignorant and possibly hurt someone like Nate, someone innocent. He smiled grimly when he saw the Demon and spoke softly.
"I have a question, Lord Loki, greatest of the Wolves, if you will but hear me out." The Demon snarled at him, but couldn't say anything until he had spoken the ritualistic words. "Speak, child, and ye shall be heard." Harry nodded and began quickly, worried that the Demon's show of goodwill would soon fail.
"Lord, I am finding it impossible to slip back into my civilian mindset. Do you know of anything that could cause such a thing?" He was honestly curious, but not really worried. After all, lying about his personality had become too tiring for him to really want to go back to doing so, especially after so many people had seen it earlier.
The Demon exploded into harsh, bitter laugher. "Asks the puny human who allowed Vampire's to claim him, and then pissed them off."
"I did not allow them to claim me," Harry snapped, his eyes flashing fire. "I never had a choice in the matter, so don't put that back on me."
The almost maniacal laughter cut off abruptly and the Demon was deadly serious. "They want all of you, and they won't take 'no' for an answer. They tried giving you a choice, but you practically spat in their faces, so they decided to take the choice away from you. Unfortunately for them, you had to destroy that weak mindset, and your warrior mindset is far better equipped to deal with something trying to take away your free will."
Harry nodded quietly, thoughtfully. Had the warrior side been in charge from the beginning, none of this would have ever happened, because warriors had to learn to be diplomatic. Civilians didn't.
Unfortunately for Harry, diplomacy had been what was needed. It was way past diplomacy now. The Demon watched his little human and smirked. He was starting to understand, but his thoughts would probably need a little jumpstart every now and then. Besides, he should have stopped the Claim before it had taken hold, and now they were both stuck in it.
Loki crawled back into his cage and called out, "It's nearing sunset, and someone's approaching you to wake you up." With that warning he was shoved back into consciousness, barely able to restrain himself from lashing out when he felt someone roughly shaking him.
He opened his eyes in a state of seemingly perfect calm, and gave Micah a level stare before saying, "I'm taking my own car." No one bothered to argue with him, not even Micah. Nate just gave him an arch look before climbing into Micah's car.
Harry growled a laugh, more Demon than human for a moment before commenting to himself, "Little kitty-cat's still got some fire in 'im. Makes me almost wish I was a Dominant now. Almost." He easily followed the leopards through the winding roads, sighing as he got lost in his thoughts.
He didn't particularly want to deal with Vampire's on top of a new Dark Lord in the making, especially as they had decided that it would be a positively swell idea to take away his free will. He smoothly parked and got out of the car, still functioning on autopilot. That is, until they stepped foot into the Circus. Then he was on high alert, his every sense tingling in response to all of the different types of magic. He took a deep breath, sort of 'tasting' the magic, enjoying all of the different 'flavors' melding together, the shifters, the vampires, and….necromancer?
His eyes snapped to the East, but he didn't dare to break his stride to see if it was the one who had raised Anita. Yes, Necromancer. Not Animator, but an actual Necromancer. It was powerful enough, that much was certain. Magic whispered to him sweetly now, promising death to those who would harm those he cared about. Magic was learning him, and Harry had never been so tempted.
Magic swirled around him, unnoticeable to the general public, and not for the first time Harry wished that he could be normal, without Demons and Magic whispering sweet promises in his ears. He closed his eyes briefly in longing, allowing himself to imagine, just for a moment, that he would do it.
He imagined the false life fading from Anita's blank eyes as her faceless creator fell to the ground, lifeless. Then he opened his eyes and denied himself yet again, and Magic cried for the child who wanted to believe he still bled red.
They were in the depths of the Circus now, and Harry was tenser than ever as a door opened and he was herded in to face the two Vampires' alone.
He faced them steadily, and they could both see that he had changed, and not in the way that they had wished. His back was straight, and the tilt of his jaw was proud, and in his dull forest green eyes were cold flames surrounding a core so hard, it would put mythril shame. Jean-Claude and Asher shared a look, both agreeing that this was a situation that had to be dealt with carefully.
"Mon Joli Loup," Jean-Claude began carefully, "Perhaps you could explain to us how this drastic change occurred?" Harry smiled sweetly and nodded, but his eyes were as hard and cold as he said, "Perhaps you could tell me what the fuck you were thinking when you tried to take away my free will?"
Jean-Claude and Asher shared another silent look, and apparently Asher won their silent argument, because it was he who spoke. "We were not trying to take away your free will, mon loup, but merely make you trust us more." The Demon was silent as he tested the truth in their words. Harry laughed harshly when the verdict came back. "The sad thing is that I believe you." But it was still complete bullshit, because that was the only reason he couldn't put his mask back on if he needed to.
Harry rose quickly and quietly, and finally accepted the truth. He was not a civilian, and he was not normal by any means. He was one of the top assassins in the Werewolf Guild, and the shadows were his home. He was the Boy Who Lived, and an Arch-Magus at that, and the limelight was where he was at his best. He was pure contradiction, and anyone around him who couldn't handle that could just get the fuck out of his way unless they wanted to get burned.
Magic whispered to him even as he should have died. He was Harry Potter, and he was not some sort of pet, and he didn't have to take people fucking around in his mind, not anymore. Before he walked out of the office he said, "I will be back tomorrow with what I think caused the attack. Right now, I can barely think."
He walked out to his car, and no one bothered to stop him. He drove home, ate, and then took a shower, relishing in the feel of the hot water gliding over his skin.
He collapsed into bed, hoping for a full night's sleep. Yeah, right.
Omake: As Harry drifted off to sleep, Charlie-Boy sprung from the shadows and attacked Harry with…hugs! So powerful were his hugs that Harry was happy for the rest of his days, and didn't give a rat's ass about the rest of the world, just like he had always wanted.