(52) Black Curse
Harry tried to focus but the incessant tapping of a beak on the window was driving everyone nuts. He was in McGonagall's class doing a two-foot written essay when the tapping had started. He glanced up to see McGonagall letting a large strange-looking owl in, bearing a large package.
The owl looked like it was made up of two owls getting squashed together side by side. It's left side was white with pinkish outlines around each feather & a lighter foot while its right side was a dark chocolate brown with deep blood red outlines & a darker foot. Just like a Snowy, the feet were tufted. Harry realized he was looking at a Firefall owl, a rare breed just slightly larger than the Snowys. Their kind however liked to live in chimneys. He saw the eyes for a brief moment as it perched on McGonagall's arm before she turned away to her desk. One eye was a normal yellow & dark brown swirl while the other eye was pure pink. It finally dawned on Harry that the owl was a partial albino & the line between the condition & the otherwise normal plumage was straight cut from head to pinion.
After the owl had opened its talons to let the package go, McGonagall untied the letter from the owl's lighter foot, then let it fly to a nearby perch to rest. She put the letter & package aside & sat down. The class wrote silently for five more minutes & then laid their quills aside. Normally, a student would be called to collect the test papers but instead McGonagall said, "Mr. Potter, come here please."
Harry got up & came over, slightly confused. She handed both items over. "For me?" Harry took them.
"Could you please take Amisi along & give her some water?" McGonagall pointed to the weird-looking bird.
"Amisi?" Harry held up his arm & the owl flew over.
"It's Egyptian for flower," McGonagall said. "She's Remus's owl."
"Remus?" Harry stared at her a moment before turning & hurrying out of the room. He stepped into a washroom & filled a sink with water. While Amisi drank, Harry ripped open the package first. It was the Invisibility Cloak. Then he opened the letter.
~~Dear Harry, we got him!
"Ohh!" Harry sunk to his knees, feeling weak. "Oh thank Merlin!" Orion was finally finished. He read the rest of the note.
~~Your Dad seems to be doing fine. Been rather quiet. Sirius & I think he might be a little shocked. We're not letting him out of our sight. But we are finally seeing the light at the end of this very long dark tunnel. We'll come round to see you later this month. Not sure when as your father needs some time but soon. Sirius & I have some more great news.
~~Remus
~~P.S.: Make sure that damn owl does not fly into any chimneys! I thought the cocks were bad when it came to clogging up the floo. Hens in heat are worse! Keep an eye on her or Hogwarts will have problems.
"Amisi?" Harry tried to stand up. He cracked his head on the underside of the sink. Eyes watering, Harry swore in French while rubbing his head. "Amisi come here!" After a moment, she flew down & perched on his shoulder, beak wet & dripping. Still rubbing his head, he sat back & looked at her. "I need you close right now." Amisi hopped up his arm to his shoulder & cuddled into his neck. "Yeah I'm not falling for that. My owl is a girl to. You owl-women are nothing more than sneaky little suck-ups." Harry took extra care to get up. Amisi hooted softly. Harry noticed their reflection in the mirrors. Once the brain understood what it was seeing, Amisi was a pretty bird in her own way. Harry stroked her head. "They got him." Amisi hooted again. "Someone really hurt my dad," he told her. She looked up at him with her two-colored eyes. "But he's paying for it now."
Amisi butted her head into his neck as Harry carried her out. Harry wandered the halls aimlessly with her cuddled tightly to the side of his head & gripping his shoulder firmly. Other students he passed by often cast him glances & occasionally one would greet him awkwardly. It had been that way ever since he had come back two months after James had announced to the world what truly happened. Harry hated it. He was not the one raped yet they were still treating him as a fragile victim. He wanted them to stop. James didn't need to hear about it any more either. But on the other hand, he knew they were trying to come to terms with it just as much as he was. He had even had a few Slytherins treat him differently. Unfortunately, Draco & Snape weren't among them. Snape was just as bad as ever & Draco had only just begun to pay for what he had said a while ago as far as Harry was concerned. He was still infuriated by it.
Harry headed up to the Tower & sat on his bed with the album open after pulling out the picture of Sirius from inside his trunk. Amisi was still leaning against his head. She seemed to sense something was wrong. Sirius watched him silently. "We got him," Harry stated simply.
Sirius closed his eyes & knelt down. "Did he get the Kiss yet?"
"I don't know," Harry said. "If not yet, then quite soon." He put the picture back into the album at last & closed it, letting Sirius deal with them. He heard another owl hoot & looked up into the eyes of Hedwig. Her look told him everything. Betrayal! She opened her beak & hissed before spreading her wings to fly away. "Hedwig?" She paused, glaring at him. Amisi nipped his ear. Harry had forgotten about Amisi for a moment & he suddenly understood why Hedwig was mad. "Come here!" Hedwig hissed again but had no choice. Her master had given her a direct order. She flew over, landing on his other arm. She stretched her neck over to Amisi. "Don't you dare Hedwig!" She pulled back, ruffling her feathers. "This is Amisi. She's Remus's owl. I'm not replacing you." Hedwig didn't look so sure. Harry rolled his eyes. "You be nice. Both of you."
He set both of them on the window ledge. Amisi was a head & a half taller than Hedwig. They shuffled sideways as far away from each other as possible. When they could go no further, they both leaned away from each other & rolled their eyes to the ceiling. "Hedwig, make sure Amisi doesn't go into the chimneys." Hedwig clicked her beak at him. "Hedwig don't argue!" He went to his trunk & put the album inside.
There was a flutter of wings. "Amisi!" Harry jumped to his feet & grabbed the owl out of the air. She was just about to fly into the fire grate in the center of the dorm. Harry tucked her firmly under one arm & raised the other. "Come on Hedwig!" She flew over.
Now with two owls, Harry headed back down the stairs & towards the Great Hall for lunch. He told Hermione & Ron the news as they sat down. Hermione burst into tears of relief while Ron looked about ready to faint from it.
"I suppose it'll be all over the next Prophet," Hermione finally managed to say. "Your Dad must be so relieved that he's finally behind bars."
"If anyone deserves Dementors, Orion does," Ron said.
"I wonder what other news they have," Hermione added.
"I don't know," Harry glanced over the note once more. "Just the Wolfstar pair having more great news. Maybe Peter's back."
"Would Sirius consider that to be great news?" Ron asked.
"Well it really wasn't Peter though," Harry shrugged. "I hope Sirius would be over that by now. Peter grew up with Dad & I really didn't get to know him like the others yet." He pulled some parchment out of his bag & began writing.
~~That's excellent news. It's about time. Can't wait to hear what else you have. I kept Amisi out of the fires but she is a bit of a pain so I think it's time to get rid of her.
~~Harry
After rolling it up, Harry put the note on Amisi & let her fly away. Hedwig turned her back on him, being perfectly capable of delivering the same note in a goodly time. Not knowing what else to do, Harry stared at her.
Owl-women.
Human-men!
Ron was the first to get up & leave. Harry sighed heavily. He wasn't sure what was wrong but he had been at odds with Ron since Halloween. First the issue of his name coming out, then the Veela. Harry didn't know what to do with him. Hermione said that both he & Ron were being ridiculous.
To make matters worse, Draco Malfoy had made pins for everyone to wear that insulted Harry whenever he passed. Harry had expected some sort of 'friendly' gesture from Malfoy sooner or later & would have ignored them but the day they first came out, he & Ron did earn a detention with Snape for trying to protect Hermione's blood status from Malfoy's snide remarks & yelling at Snape.
Harry ended up alone at the table in potions class & soon, he realised Snape would poison him. Harry blinked & he suddenly had a 'Malfoy' moment, "Oh yeah? Wait until my father hears about this!"
"OOOOOOOOOOO!" The Slytherins cooed.
"By the time he does, you'll be done with this class," Snape replied. "Pity. Even when he's alive, he can't get here soon enough to rescue you. Perhaps he needs some more practise with his wand. Maybe he can find a spell to know just what you're thinking & get here by a mere thought."
Harry glared at him & it was fortunate he didn't get what Snape was truly talking about in reference to wands. Harry didn't know what Snape had said to his father that made James so angry or else he would have had a sorcery seizure himself right then & there. Fortunately, sort of, Harry was saved the unpleasantness of having a poison of some sort forced on him by Colin Creevey summoning him away.
Harry's victory was short-lived however. Despite not saying much in the interview with Rita Skeeter, he ended up with a three page article on how all the trauma in his life starting with the supposed deaths of his parents & ending with the amazing shock of what truly happened to his father, had caused him to cry every night. In rebellion or perhaps a moment of daring, he had entered his name. He also apparently was finding solace in the pretty muggle-born girl Hermione Granger.
If Hermione was near to having a sorcery seizure, it was nothing like the urge rising in Harry to kill something. But when he saw the badges Malfoy had spread around the school suddenly show more rude notes saying things like 'Up yours' & 'You're screwed' & worse, Harry all but went Dark on Malfoy in his fury.
Draco was in the process of talking about his own father when Harry ran for him. "Your father is vile & you're just pathetic. I hope someone gets to put your father in Azkaban then maybe he can hang out with Orion. How would you like that?"
Draco glared at him. "You'd be—"
"Or how about a better idea?" Harry plunged on. "Orion likes them young. You're not much younger than my Dad was when Orion first started on him. He'd love you! Slytherin. Pure." Draco took a step forward as Harry went on. "Young."
"Shut up!"
"Ripe."
"Shut up right now Potter!" Draco tried to punch him but Harry ducked.
Harry pulled out his wand. "I'll teach you a thing about what it's like with Orion." He was about to cast a spell but Draco's two friends stood in front of him. "Really? You want to protect the likes of him? Fine! Just you wait Malfoy. It'll make the bouncing white ferret seem like nothing!" He turned & marched away. Draco swore at him but did no more.
Harry flung himself on his bed, trying to calm down. He wondered if his father had gotten wind of that article. He hoped not. Harry pulled out the Cloak & stared at it. He hated Malfoy. Hated Rita. What part of his father didn't even want the rape in public in the first place wasn't in English? There was nothing Harry could do about Rita, but Malfoy had gone too far. Harry had been planning something for him ever since the incident in the Greenhouse, but he had put it off, telling himself he wouldn't do anything unless Malfoy had made another comment.
Well, Malfoy had done more than just make another comment & Harry wanted to teach him a lesson. But could he do it? It was time to put that little spell of secrecy to the test. Harry put the cloak on & took the old Map. He located Draco on the third floor, along with a few of his friends. Harry stalked after him.
Malfoy was leaning against the wall, laughing as his badge had turned from Support Cedric to Potter Stinks to—Harry couldn't believe it. 'Snuggle with a struggle.'
"Of course," Draco was saying. "I can't wear this one out in front of all. It's the only one that says this. I'm just letting my closest friends see it. I mean, I'd never do something like that. It's just for a laugh right?" His friends laughed right then & there.
Harry stunned them with one spell, Stupefy Duo, that he had read about in his father's diary. Crabbe & Goyle fell over. The three girls screamed. Harry took two more out while the other ran off with Draco, both scared out of their wits. Harry charged after. He knocked the last girl out, then chased Draco into a long forgotten dim hall.
Draco skidded to a stop & glanced around. He had taken a wrong turn & was now lost & alone. Well, alone apart from some invisible demon coming after him. A pedestal was knocked over & there were footsteps coming towards him. Draco stumbled back, wand out. His wand was taken from him & then he understood ...too late.
"Hello Malfoy," Harry tossed his cloak & Draco's wand behind, then quickly shot another spell at Draco.
Draco clutched his throat for a moment. "What are you doing?"
Harry grabbed the badge off Draco & tossed in the air. "Bombardia!" It exploded into millions of pieces. Harry levitated them into the nearest torch, then rounded on Draco. He hesitated a moment. He was just going to scare Draco. It wasn't the same thing. Right? Harry stepped back. He knew he couldn't do this. He shouldn't have come here.
Draco scoffed. "What are you doing Potter? Mad I'm having a little fun?"
Harry's eyes snapped up into Draco's face. "Fun?"
Draco started to march past Harry. "You're not scaring me. I'll just make another badge."
Harry grabbed his arm & threw him back. Draco fell over on his back to the floor. He was about to get up, but Harry tied him down with a Carpe Retractum to each of his wrists. Harry suddenly flung himself onto Draco, grabbing his throat with both hands. He forced himself to repeat words he had read so many times. "You need to learn to behave, Malfoy!"
Draco choked. "What—wh—"
Harry huffed, psyching himself up. He was not Orion, so this was harder to do than he thought. He wasn't planning to rape Draco, only to scare him into submission. He was the Alpha of a wolf pack. He was just doing what Remus would do was all. "You need to shut up about my father!" Harry snarled. "If you don't stop Malfoy, you'll regret it!"
"Oh yeah?" Draco gasped. "What do you think you'll do?"
"For starters, I just put a charm over you," Harry punched Draco across the face. "I can do whatever I want with you & you can't do a thing about it. Can't tell anyone!" He lingered a moment, then decided to just do it. He put his hand down between them & grabbed Draco hard. Draco screamed. "Any more from you, & I'll give you a taste of Orion. He's a distant Uncle of mine. I have the curse of the Black temper & you just unleashed it! You behave or you'll wish you had." He squeezed harder, all the while feeling sick that he was sounding like Orion. He wasn't actually raping Draco, Harry kept telling himself. This is just a scare. Draco burst into tears. Harry had never seen him cry before. "Good. Think about how many tears my father shed when Orion was doing so much more to him than I am doing to you! But any more from you & I'll do it Malfoy! Understand?" Harry put his face down to Draco's ear. "I'll ...I'll fuck your mind out whether you like it or not. See how you like it. Crystal?" Draco didn't answer. Harry twisted his hand still gripping him.
Draco screamed again, then blubbered. "Cr...Crystal!"
"Good," Harry let go & got off. He released the fiery ropes. Draco curled up into a foetal position & cried harder. Harry wiped his own eyes as a few tears dared to leak out. He would be damned before he cried in front of Draco. "I'm glad you're hurting right now. Think of how much more I can make you suffer. I'll do it Draco. I will do it." Harry almost believed himself for a moment. "Don't test me!"
Draco gasped & slowly opened up. In a fit of blind rage, Harry seized the opportunity & swung his foot hard. Draco screamed again as he curled up once more, clutching himself. "S-s-top! I-I I did—didn't actually mean any-anything!" He sobbed. "You're mental!"
"I'm a Black."
"Don't touch me!" Draco shot at Harry through tears.
Harry promptly reached down & grabbed Draco again. "I said I can do whatever I want with you. So either behave, or suffer. It's your choice. You brought this upon yourself." Harry didn't know which Black he hated more at the moment. Orion ...or himself.
His face tear-stained, Draco glared up at him. "Get away from me," he whispered. "You filthy mudblood!"
"Half-blood!"
"I don't care if you're bloody pure!" Draco shot back. "I'll get you for this." He got up.
"How Draco?" Harry purred, ramming their bodies together against the wall. He pushed hard against Draco, making sure the blond felt every curve. "How? I have the control this time. Not you. Never forget it." Harry stepped away as Draco slid back down to the floor. "Got that?" He waited a moment, then leaned close to Draco's face. Then back-handed Draco so hard he hurt his own hand. "LEAVE MY FATHER ALONE!" At that, Harry turned, picked up his cloak & wand & disappeared. Orion would be so proud of him. Harry went to bed early, feeling sick but hoping his tactics had worked.
(AN: Sylar fans might notice a few lines of his here.)
