Chapter 11: A New Nature
A/n: Sorry it's so short. Please, please review!
If anyone had been looking at the old man (who was Severus Snape in glamour), they would have seen his eyes bug out and his mouth drop open. But all three people in the room were focusing on Harry Potter, recent girl and vampire. They were waiting for the explosion that was sure to come. Harry surprised them all.
"Oh is that all?" The boy-girl looked faintly shocked and her face had gone several shades whiter, but other than that, she was remarkably calm. Too calm.
Healer Dakota Sky was almost speechless. Every single person he had delivered the news to had reacted in a bad way. An explosively bad way. He had never seen anyone accept it with this.... aplomb. Was the girl in shock?
"I'm afraid so. The vampire that attacked you must have made you drink his-" Dakota paused then added- "or her- blood while you were unconscious. Have you been feeling hungry or- er, thirsty?" Dakota asked, uncomfortably. He dealt with unusual creatures all the time but vampires could be so... unpredictable, to say the least.
Again, Harry answered calmly. "Yes, I've been starving. And thirsty. But I haven't had a chance to eat or drink anything because of the, ah, incident earlier. So I didn't think anything weird was going on. Weirder than normal, I mean." Harry stopped talking, then mumbled, "Bloody buggering hell, why can't I ever be normal? I just wanted to be normal." He felt a tear streak down his face, then sniffed and angrily wiped it away.
Severus (in a moment of rare compassion) knew the boy needed a moment alone to process the information. "Excuse me, Healer Sky, Healer Evans. May I speak to you in the hallway please? I'll return shortly, Potter." Harry nodded slowly and flipped onto his side. As soon as the adults had left the room, he slowly slid out of bed, leaning against it for a moment, mindful of the openness of the awful hospital gown he still wore.
He slowly wobbled his way over to the small window that was next to the bed and looked out. The sky was overcast and a fine, misty rain was falling. Perfect for my mood, he thought morosely. He looked up at the sky and whispered, "Well, Mum, Dad, here I am. You probably heard what's happened to me. I'm sixteen now, and what do I get for a present? I'm a girl. And then I get attacked and now I'm apparently a bloody freaking blood sucking monster. Merlin." Another tear welled up and this time Harry let it fall. He cried in silence for a minute before wiping his cheeks with the sleeve of his gown.
No! He shouted in his head. I will not let this get to me! I have survived Voldemort and I can bloody well survive this! He took a deep breath, trying to ease the burning in his throat, the threat of tears still present. He thought a glass of water sounded good, momentarily forgetting what the Healer just told him.
He walked slowly to the small bathroom, flipped on the lights and walked to the sink. A look in the mirror was a sharp reminder of what he wanted to forget- the fact that his face now showed the features of a girl. He was hesitant to open his mouth but he could not contain a morbid curiosity. Slowly, he opened his mouth and saw two extended, very sharp looking canines. He closed his mouth quickly, which, in retrospect, was a big mistake. One of his canines sliced open his lip, causing it to bleed. Instinctively, Harry licked it away, expecting to taste the disgusting iron taste that blood tasted like. Instead, it tasted like the best food he had ever eaten, or the most expensive wine. The taste only lasted for a moment before it returned to tasting like nothing. His own blood could not sustain him, after all.
Harry turned from the mirror quickly and stalked out of the bathroom, forgetting why he had gone in there to begin with. If he had still been looking at his reflection, he would have seen his eyes turn from emerald green to black. The black of fierce hunger.
A/N:
This chapter is dedicated to my reviewers, who I appreciate so much! You inspire me to keep writing. Many thanks to: casanle, nilpotter, Hendrick248848, kirsty, Brookslocklear, minorly-crazy, Beth5572, and cyiusblack. You guys rock!