Disclaimer: If anyone says I own Harry Potter then I like them. But sadly, 'tis all lies. So maybe you'll want to stone them. I dunno. Whatever floats your boat.
BTW, do you guys want me to answer the questions in your reviews? I've been debating doing that for a while, but I've been too lazy to. But I figure since you put the time in to review, I'd be a bit of an ass not to get back to you. So just put something about wanting a reply in your review and I'll get back to you. Or maybe I'll just start replying to anything with a question. But I have no intention of going back through the old reviews, so anything you asked before you'll have to ask again.
Other than that, please enjoy ^^ But I personally think this is a pretty slow chapter. I'll have to get them back in school soon and make things interesting.
I stared up at the shadowed ceiling as the minutes ticked by. It was sometime past one a.m. now. It had only been a few minutes away from the hour since the last time I'd checked, and that time had undoubtedly passed by now. As it were, I was still finding it difficult to sleep during the night. It just seemed unnatural, like sleeping during the day had when I was still human.
As I lay there, in the spare twin bed set aside for me in Ron's room, listening to the red head's gentle snoring, I drifted back to the events that happened earlier this evening.
Soon after Sirius had arrived, Mrs. Weasley had decided it was dinner time. She'd been planning a late one because I'd never said when I'd be arriving in the letters I'd sent. Sirius had practically dragged me down the stairs, awkwardly at that, because he still felt unable to let me go after getting a hold of me after so long. Needless to say, I tripped and stumbled, and we nearly fell down a flight of stairs. It would have been worse for him, though.
I ended up sitting next to my godfather at the table. A general conversation was struck up around as food was passed around, but Sirius was intent on monopolizing me, apparently figuring that since I'd already been with the Weasleys for a while that everybody else had had their fill of me and now it was his turn.
He'd grilled me on where I'd been, what I'd been doing, who I'd been with (Was there any romance going on?) I knew he'd meant with girls, so I tried to deny that there was with all I had, and I'm pretty sure he believed me, but he wanted to tease me anyway. (Is my innocent little godson a man now?)
When he'd asked that word for word loudly at the table, I felt a blush heat my face, and mind you, that's not an easy thing to do to a vampire, since our blood congregates more around our hearts and less in our other extremities. Point being, you had to be damn embarrassed to blush. And of course I denied all possibilities of that question having any truth to it either. Draco and I had shared a room for a while there, yes, but we'd never gotten any farther than snogging and feeling each other up, even if we did come close a few times.
Dinner was a bit awkward after that. I didn't say much, hoping not to draw attention to myself.
Mrs. Weasley had been the one to portion out the food to everyone, and I was no exception. She'd piled mine just as high as the others, and I was one of the few who normally ate it all, being starved by the Dursley's over the summer and all. So it struck her as strange when I hadn't even eaten half of it and I was just pushing the rest around my plate absentmindedly, following along with the conversation and joining in whenever I wanted to, Sirius no longer forcing me to concentrate my attentions to him. I was internally grateful he'd decided to leave me along. I wasn't sure how much more of his verbal prodding, however good nature it may be, I could take.
"Aren't you feeling well, dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked worriedly after a while, a small frown on her face.
"I'm fine," I replied, "I'm just not that hungry." I said with a slight smile. No matter how overbearing her mothering might be at times, I'd missed it since the last time I'd really spent time with the Weasley's last summer.
"You're not feeling sick, are you? You do look a little pale." She noted, and had her hand pressed to my forehead almost instantly.
I shook her off just as quickly, hoping she didn't notice the unnatural coolness that came with my vampirism, but it was just a precaution. I could simply say I was just feeling chilly, if necessary. "No, I just had a little something to eat on the way here, is all." I replied. That excuse got me off that time, but what was I to say for the rest of my stay? I had no intention of forcing myself to eat this human food if I didn't want to.
After everybody was done eating, we all split off into our separate groups once again, Mrs. Weasley assuring us all that she could handle the clean up by herself. Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and I had made for the living room, occupying most of the furniture the way we were splayed out, only this time Sirius joined us, serving as my foot rest on the couch I was sprawled out on.
To avoid more questions about where I'd been, to which all answers would be lies, half truths, or just left unanswered, I tactfully deflected the conversation onto my friends, inquiring as to what they'd been doing. Sirius and nothing interesting to share, having been cooped up in Grimmauld place, and the same was true for Ron, only he'd been at the Burrow. Hermione, on the other hand, told us all about her family's trip to Egypt.
Apparently, she'd wanted to go ever since Ron had, the summer after second year, after he'd told her about all of the amazing sights and information there. She couldn't get over how the pyramids had looked in the photographs, and she wanted to learn about them in person rather than books. And she'd finally gotten what she wanted, after begging her parents to take her ever since.
When she'd finally been done, it was eleven thirty, and everyone was beginning to get tired, sans myself, so we all headed to bed, and Sirius went home, with promises to stop in after lunch the next day.
Ron pulled on his faded, hand-me-down striped pajamas, while I pulled on brand new emerald silk ones. That earned me an incredulous look that held a slight amount of jealousy as well. As he shook it off, he asked humorously, "Another present from a rich guy?"
I smiled. "Nah, I got these myself. They're very comfortable too, if I do say so myself." And then I flopped down onto my bed, not the least bit tired, and Ron crawled into his as well.
"G'night." He mumbled sleepily, already halfway to dreamland, snuggled under his covers and his head resting comfortably on his pillow.
"Night." I said back, and just lay there and listened to his rhythmic breathing deepen into sleep, wide awake, but relaxed.
And so there I was, lying around, barely feeling the dregs of tiredness, but wallowing in how big and cold even this cozy little twin bed seemed without Draco sharing it with me. This had been the first time I'd slept by myself in weeks, and it was disconcerting. It was almost hard to believe that Draco had had such an impact on me, that I was used to his constant presence to such a degree, in such a short amount of time. But he had.
I wondered if he was having the same trouble now, lying awake, staring at the ceiling, thinking about me as I was him. I decided then that I'd write him when I woke tomorrow, and then forced my eyes to close, hoping for sleep to take me away from the conscious thoughts. It didn't happen. I sighed. This was going to be a long night.
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Needless to say, I slept through breakfast the next day, and thankfully nobody came to wake me. I almost slept through lunch too if it weren't for Ron coming back into his room with an irate Hermione tagging along. "You haven't done any of your summer homework yet? But you told me you'd started on it ages ago! Honestly, Ronald!" she shrieked at him, forgetting my presence entirely until I groaned and shifted where I lay, finally brought back to the world of the living.
"Oh, I'm sorry Harry!" She said after realizing what she'd done, "I didn't mean to wake you, honest. But you really should be getting up around now anyway, so it's not really a bad thing." She justified.
I smiled slightly. "S'all right, Hermione, no harm done." I said and sat up slowly, the silk night shirt I'd worn unbuttoned to bed last night falling off of my shoulders and pooling around my forearms. Not that I really minded. I had nice abs, why not show them off a little?
Hermione pretended to be cross with me for 'undressing in the presence of a lady,' told me to get dressed, and stormed out of the room with Ron looking after her wondering what was wrong. It wasn't like she hadn't seen us shirtless before. But I knew the reason. There had been a faint blush on her cheeks, and despite being like brother and sister, we weren't technically related so there wasn't really anything wrong with her liking the sight of me shirtless. But then again, Ron would be insufferable if he knew the reason for her quick departure, so I just played dumb as well and left him to ponder the event on his own.
After a moment, Ron turned his attention back to me. "Anyway mate," he began, "lunch is ready, and mum really was gonna wake you soon if you didn't get up. I'll meet you down, then." He said, and I nodded, sending him on his way, his stomach growling.
Now that my mission was to get presentable, I turned to my trunk located at the end of the bed. I'd brought it inside, along with Hedwig's cage, last night after things had died down a bit. As for Hedwig herself, I'd told her to take her time getting here, so she had yet to arrive. She'd probably turn up that night after she'd rested and eaten.
I pulled a loose pair of black pants, clean boxers, and a black muscle shirt out and promptly dressed, still wearing my ever present dragon pendant. I slipped on a pair of simple black flip flops to complete the casual summer look, and made my way downstairs to where I would undoubtedly pick at lunch.
As soon as I walked into the dining area, I felt Ginny's stare on me. I sighed internally and wondered if my outfit was a bit too much for her, given that I knew it was sexy because I'd worn it, or something close to it, for Draco before. But then again, it was hot out, and this was one of the coolest things I owned . . .
But her gaze did make me feel a bit awkward. And it didn't seem like she was going to let up either. I internally shrugged. There wasn't really anything I could do about it right now.
"Well, come on, Harry dear, what are you waiting for?" Mrs. Weasley called when I hovered in the doorway for a bit, feeling awkward, and missing the seclusion of my manor home. Because it was technically mine now too. As Vick's heir, I had a right to everything he owned, unless he specified otherwise. So unless he kicked me out or disowned me, which was highly unlikely, I could always find sanctuary there.
Suppressing a sigh, I walked to the table and sat down, politely asking that someone pass the plate of turkey sandwiches. I ate half of it and then I was done. This time it was Hermione who bugged me about my lack of appetite.
"Why aren't you eating, Harry?" she asked me in a mothering tone, eyes showing slight worry.
I answered smoothly, "I usually don't eat that much for breakfast, and seeing as I just woke up . . ." I trailed off, letting her fill in the blanks.
She scowled, but her face soon smoothed again. "Alright, if you say so. But you didn't eat that much last night either, so let us know if you're feeling sick, alright?" she waited for my answer.
"Of course, Mione." I said with a slight smile, wanting to make her happy so she wouldn't spend her day worrying about my lack of appetite. She'd better get used to it soon anyway, I mused, because it wasn't going to ever change. If anything, I'd start eating less as time progressed.
Lunch was soon over, and Hermione drug us all back up to Ron's room, Ginny included.
Once we were there, she declared "You are all going to do your summer homework, now if you please." although there was no ounce of request in her demand. "You will not be rushing to do it all on the train like you did last year, and the year before that, and the one before that!" she rated, out of breath by the time she was done.
Ron, looking chastised, grumbled unhappily that he would do it so long as Hermione gave him a hand where he needed it.
Ginny, on the other hand, just shrugged. "Alright, but I only have Transfiguration and half of Herbology left to do, but I guess doing it in a group is more fun than alone." So she left to go collect her things and return.
Hermione looked to me next. "Well, Harry?" she asked over the thumping of Ron digging through his text books and throwing them won-ton all over the floor when they weren't the right one.
"I have mine done." I replied easily, lounging on my bed, head resting on the pillow, eyes drooping sleepily. It made me wonder how late I was up until last night, because I hadn't checked. It must have been well into the morning for me to still be this tired after sleeping until noon.
Her eyes narrowed in disbelief, just as Ron's widened with the same emotion. "You can't be serious, mate!" he exclaimed in horror, which I perceived to be genuine. "Please tell me you're lying." He begged. "You can't be turning into another Hermione! Who else am I going to have for company when I have to stay up doing homework the night before its due?"
"Ronald!" Hermione exclaimed and cuffed him upside the head. "Don't encourage bad behavior! We wouldn't want him to relapse, especially if he's telling the truth."
I gasped, feigning mock hurt. "You really doubt me so, Mione dear? I'm crushed!" I pretended to fall into depression, lying listlessly there on the bed. Her only response was a raised eyebrow. I rolled over and sat up with a sigh. "Fine, I'll get it out for proof." I crawled my way pathetically, for theatrical purposes only, to the end of the bed where my trunk lay in wait.
I had my trunk locked, with a new security feature Snape had helped me add less than a week ago. The lock was now keyed into my blood. So as I reached to open the lock, I inconspicuously jabbed my finger on a small hidden spike, and I heard the click of the lock opening. It might have seemed a tad bit extreme, for the trunk would only open for me unless I keyed someone else into it, but I didn't want to risk anyone stumbling across my new dark arts books, and a few others that didn't quite make the cut as illegal, but were unsavory none the less.
I rummaged through the top layer of books and pulled out a folder from under them that contained all of my completed work. Not even bothering to open it, I tossed it to Hermione, my aim dead on, and she had no trouble catching it.
She wasted no time opening it, pulling the enclosed papers out neatly and precisely, and proceeded to skim over them quickly. Her expression began to morph into one of surprise. "Harry!" she exclaimed, "These are done very well! How did you manage this? There's information in here that's not in the text book. How did you get it?" She was frowning slightly at the end, probably wondering if it really was in the book, but she'd just missed it.
I shrugged, still hanging around over at my trunk. "My summer residence had a library to rival that of Hogwarts'." I said. You could see the instant jealousy on her face.
"And where exactly could possibly have a library like that, do tell?" she more demanded rather than asked, her thirst for knowledge showing through. In all actuality, it would have been completely appropriate to compare her desire for information to a vampire's need for blood. But I'd kept my mouth shut. I didn't need to go spouting things about vampires in front of her. It would just make it easier for her to figure me out in the end.
"Honestly, Mione, I'd be pretty dumb to tell you that." I said like it was obvious, but the others didn't understand why, Ginny just having walked back in to catch the last bit of conversation.
"Why does it matter now?" Ron asked. "You're here, so it's not like we need to go hunt you down."
I scowled. "I never needed hunt down in the first place." I said crisply, but I soon made an effort to get over it, and quickly at that. "If I told you now, I couldn't go back." I said simply.
Ginny looked at me funny, tearing her gaze away from the current essay she was finishing up. "You plan on going back?"
My lips morphed into an easy smile. "Hell yes. That place is home to me now." And I wasn't lying. Vick and I were family, and by rights as his appointed heir, what's his was mine. As soon as he declared me his successor, my name was automatically added to all of his accounts as well as his property deeds. But that still felt strange to me, so I still asked before I spent his, technically our, money.
Ron scowled. "You only spent part of the summer there, how can it be your home?"
"It's not the place that matters, but the people in it." I shot back.
"But then wouldn't this be your home?" he countered.
I sighed, lying back down on the bed, facing the ceiling. I figured I'd better get comfortable for this little debate. "No, Ron, this is your home. Your family, but not mine." I dared a glance at my red-headed friend, and I could see he was quickly becoming furious. "Don't get me wrong," I quickly amended, "I love your family and all, there just not . . . mine." I finished lamely, but pretty sure I'd gotten my point across.
"So my parents, who think of you as one of their sons, aren't your family, but some random people you met over the summer, and have known them less than two months, make the cut?" he was still mad.
"That's about right." I said, "But it's not quite that simple. You just wouldn't understand." I trailed off wistfully. They couldn't. None of them could. They'd all always had families to call their own.
Ron snorted, and decided to keep up the argument, and Hermione and Ginny just watched, tense and silent, wondering if they'd have to break us up. "Oh, and why is that? Are we not good enough for you or what?" he spat angrily.
I sat up quickly and turned to face him, my own features now twisted in displeasure as well. "That isn't it at all, Ron, weren't you listening? They're not my family because they already have a family. They don't know what it's like to be on your own. None of you do. But those people I met, they did know, and they still do now. They understand what it's like, they get it. People like us, we just click together. That's just how it is."
I'd said more than I'd meant to, and I really didn't want to keep up this conversation, so I stood up and left, not wanting to see their expressions. I didn't even look back when Hermione called my name, desperation for my immediate return ringing in her voice. I sighed. This wasn't exactly how I'd planned my 'homecoming' to go. And I just couldn't help but think that something like this would never have happened back at the manor. . .
I didn't even know where I was going, I just went down the stairs to the ground floor, walking past the elder Weasleys, who shared a worried glance, probably because of my dark expression, and out into the open world. I felt better already, realizing that some of my anxiety may have come from the cramped quarters that I'd become unaccustomed to.
I made my way off the porch and over toward the small Weasley garden, where I plopped down in a patch of grass under a shady oak tree. I sighed I contentment, no longer feeling caged and bothered. It was very warm out and the heat was making me drowsy. I put my arms behind my head as a sort of pillow and I felt myself slowly drift into slumber. What better way for a vampire to pass the day than to sleep?
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I dreamt. Death Eaters were chasing me, coming at me from every direction imaginable, and even with my vampiric speed, I was having difficulty staying ahead of them. I kept running down an ancient stone corridor, with passages teeming with enemies shooting off in every w. I never stopped running, but it never seemed like I was getting any farther. Everything just stayed the same. That was when the panic began to grip me. I couldn't possibly have to face this forever. Things had to change . . .
And thankfully, or maybe not so depending on how you looked at it, things did begin to alter. In the distance, I could see a mighty dragon rising up out of a chasm of nothingness, regal in its appearance, all silvery shining scales, a majestic build and shining talons. It was a rather terrifying sight to behold, especially when it released a mighty roar that set the endless hall shaking.
I paused for a moment, wondering what to do. If I stopped, the Death Eaters would kill me for sure, but if I faced the dragon, the same fate could befall me. But I began running in earnest again when I quickly decided which party I'd rather face.
I was nearly upon the dragon now, out of breath and tiring. Just as I reached the creature, my body went still, and I was unable to move. Panic gripped me as a gigantic silver muzzle lowered over a paralyzed, defenseless me, surrounding me, and swallowed me whole. I heard the dragon's triumphant roar as I began to fall, and the wails of the unsuccessful Death Eaters, who would undoubtedly be punished for their failure.
And on I fell, so far that I wondered if I was still even inside of the dragon. "Harry," a soft voice called out to me, reverberating in the nothingness. "Harry," it called again, the simple syllables seductive. "Harry," it called again, stronger this time, and I could finally place who it was: it was my Draco, he was here too, but where? I looked around frantically, trying to find him, happiness at not being alone surging through me, and—
"Harry!" A different voice called, shattering my dreams, and I sat bolt upright, still as death, eyes darting around to find the source, and easily picking the person out in the din of early evening. It was Ginny, and she looked startled. I relaxed a bit, allowing my heart to calm down from the shock of waking and the unpleasantness of the dream.
"What is it, Ginny?" I asked softly, stretching out.
She scowled, "Do you have any idea how long we've been looking for you? And you've been here sleeping this whole time!" she ranted.
I glanced around again, taking in the depth the sun had sank, and asked, "What time is it?"
"It's nearly eight." Was my reply. "We're ready for dinner, you've been making us wait. Come on." She extended her hand which I took, and she helped pull me up to my feet. Nearly eight, I mused, so much for trying to get off a nocturnal schedule.
I allowed the red headed girl to drag me back to the house where everyone, including Sirius, was already seated at the table, ready to eat. I sighed. This was going to be a long meal.
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Dinner passed like nearly every meal so far, with me picking uninterestedly at my food and the others fussing about my health. But at least the conversation was lively, mostly thanks to Sirius, whose biting comments and critiques would send the whole table into fits of laughter, and whose own barking laugh set everyone else at ease. Well, except for Mrs. Weasley who had never particularly enjoyed Sirius's brand of humor. She just sat there scowling every time Padfoot opened his mouth.
As time played onward, dinner was long since over, and it was well into the small hours of the night. Thanks to my nearly all day nap and sleeping in lat that morning, I was unable to get any rest now, even though everyone else was already abed. Ron's loud snores from the other bed testified to that.
I, however, had commandeered my friend's desk and was using it to write a long overdue letter to Draco. I wanted to know how he'd been doing and fill him in on my own goings on. I winced as I thought of the boredom he was probably suffering by himself at the Leaky Cauldron. I highly doubted Snape had managed to get him to Hogwarts yet. Besides, if he had, he would have sent me a letter with one of the school's owls by then.
I tapped my quill against the blank parchment, wondering what to write. Not coming up with anything incredibly interesting, I just decided to wing it.
Dear Light,
How cliché would it be to tell you in this first line how much I miss you? Merlin, that sounds mushy, doesn't it? But that doesn't make it any less true. I regret that we had to leave the manor so soon, I was having an enjoyable time there. It was so much easier and more pleasant than being here. Here, I have to hide.
It's really not that bad, I'm just not used to being around so many people who like to pry, is all. We ended up getting in a discussion about family too, and that all went to hell. I'll tell you more about it later, I don't want to put it in a letter.
It's also not easy to just be me here either. You know I've changed over the summer, but I can't let those changes show through here. Well, it's not that I can't, I just don't want to deal with the hassle of trying to justify them. Plus, everybody keeps bothering me about my lack of appetite. I don't know what I'm going to do when I actually have to eat. It won't be fun trying to get away.
Do you have any idea when you'll be going to Hogwarts? I bet you'll be glad to finally get out of that room, huh? We're going to have to arrange a meeting once we get back to school or else I'm going to end up stealing you as soon as I see you in the halls . . .
Forever yours,
Dark
I read and reread the decidedly mush-filled letter, and smiled. I hoped I'd get a reply soon. With that in mind, I sealed and addressed the envelope with only the cryptic 'Light,' and stealthily exited the room and made my way towards the makeshift owlery the Weasley's used to house their owls, and the one that Hedwig now resided in as well. Finding Hedwig, I slipped her one of her favorite owl treats and whispered to her to take this letter to Draco, and where he was staying. She hooted softly and took flight, her snow white wings extended gracefully in flight. I watched her disappear into the horizon, and stood there even longer, enjoying the cool nighttime breeze. Eventually, I forced myself back into the house and up to bed to try and get some sleep before I was inevitably awoken in the morning too early for my liking.
I internally groaned and I slid up the stairs. How am I going to manage this during school?
I just wanna try something new down here . . . ehem, *This is you conscious speaking: You want to review. You must review. Do it. DO IT!* . . . Ok, so maybe that was me, but you get the picture ^^ Thanks for reading and please take the time to review