Shades Of Gray

By princessofplanets

E-mail: princessofplanets@hotmail.com

Part 2 / 9

Alex's bare feet ran across the cold stones silently. She quickly made her way to Headmaster Dumbledore's office, a place she had been more than once. When she reached the stone gargoyle she bent over, breathing deeply. Once she had caught her breath she started listing candies.

Ten minutes later she was still standing there, this time screaming insults at the monster. "You're worse than a constipated Blast-Ended Screwt!" Much to Alex's surprise, the gargoyle leapt to life and stepped aside. For a moment the blonde blinked in surprise. "You have GOT to be kidding," she muttered darkly as she ascended the stairs. The blue-eyed girl frowned as she heard voices from behind the door, hesitating to knock.

I've got to tell him, she told herself firmly. No exceptions. She knocked loudly on the wooden door.

"Enter," she heard Professor Dumbledore say. Alex shifted for a moment before pulling the door. Her eyes scanned over the teachers present, her eyes resting for a moment longer on the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. She frowned as she read his aura, then turned back to the Professor who was waiting expectantly for her to explain her visit. "Yes, Ms. Star?"

"Professor Dumbledore, I'm sorry for coming so late, and for interrupting a meeting – "

"You should be!" Professor Snape interrupted. "It's one thirty in the morning, and you interrupted a meeting between the teachers, Ms. Star – "

"I had a dream." The interruption was so unlike the quiet blonde that it shocked Snape into silence. "It was more of a nightmare, really," she added in a softer tone now that she had the teachers' attention. "It started out as reliving Cedric's death… But then it changed into a vision." Alex turned her dream-like gaze to Dumbledore. "Voldemort's gained power and confidence. He believes that he could easily crush us." She again looked away, her focus now on the floor. "He wanted me to choose what side I was on."

Dumbledore frowned in concentration. "Professors, Alexandra, as most of you know, is not a normal witch."

"I'm not a witch at all," she explained. "I'm a magician, a worker of magic. That's why I don't need a wand – all my power is already running through me. My training comes in with learning how to control it."

"How is this possible?" The new teacher commented. His black eyes had roamed her body for a moment before reaching her eyes again.

Alexandra breathed out for a moment, closing her eyes to collect her thoughts. "He created me to be powerful. That was to be my only use. And powerful I am – it's just too bad I grew up in a way that made me want to choose the 'wrong' side."

"Who?" Professor McGonagall inquired, her curiosity piqued. The new DADA teacher examined her again in his captivating gaze.

"You're not a vampire, so you couldn't mean Seite," he murmured to himself. Alex looked at him again.

"What's your name again? I'm afraid I must have forgotten it," she stated calmly.

"Professor Carew Karr," the dark-haired man introduced calmly, taking her hand and shaking it seriously.

"But that's your human name," the blonde commented after a silent moment. "I meant your vampiric one."

"How did you know…" Madam Hooch was interrupted by the other teachers. Professor Flitwick and Trelawney started arguing, while the others' angry voices grew louder.

"SILENCE!" Dumbledore finally exclaimed, fed up with the noise. He turned his piercing blue gaze to the blonde. "Now, Alexandra, are you or are you not going to explain?"

He was giving her a way out. That was the first thing that popped into the fifteen-year-old's head. She looked away, her nervous fingers tucking a stray strand of golden hair behind her ear. "I'll finish," she whispered weakly. She inhaled deeply, letting the breath out slowly before she continued.

"To answer your question, Professor…?"

His dark eyes flashed, reading hers carefully. "Malachi."

"Professor Malachi," Alex restated softly, surprise shining in her eyes. "Technically it is not possible for a human to have the… pure power, I suppose – there's not really a good word for it – that I possess. Therefore, the only logical answer is that I'm not human." The blue-eyed girl's statement was carefully cold and precise.

The silence that engulfed the room was almost deafening, and Alex shuddered in it. "I…" She swallowed back her fear of the future as she painstakingly chose her next words. "Voldemort created me – fifteen years ago to be a weapon of pure destruction. I'm not sure how he did it… but when I… was taken from the cauldron, I was an infant. I lived with different followers for my 'toddler years'…" Her voice faded out as her memories took over. "By that time my powers had completely asserted themselves… I spent most of my free time creating universes, solar systems…"

The girl shook herself from her memory, laughing slightly at her nostalgia. "Gomen," she apologized breathlessly.

"Japanese?" Malachi again took her appearance in carefully, frowning at whatever conclusion he had come to.

"Yeah, I'm crazy about it!" the fifteen-year-old admitted. "But anyway, after my early childhood they sent me to an orphanage. I think they thought if I relived a life as close to Voldemort's as possible – " the blonde tactfully continued to ignore the flinches she received when she said the name – "that I would grow up to be as… dark… as he is. Obviously that is not the case."

There was silence in the room as the teachers processed the information they had been given while Alexandra shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably. "Thank you, Ms. Star, that will be all," Dumbledore said politely.

"Professor, if… Lord Voldemort… is really after Ms. Star I should accompany her to her house," Malachi said quickly. Alex's eyes darted to him for a moment before returning to Professor Dumbledore's.

"Do you have a problem with that, Alexandra?"

"No, sir," she responded quickly. "As a matter of fact, I'd enjoy the opportunity to speak to Professor… Karr."

"Fine, then. Thank you very much, Carew." Malachi nodded as he left his seat and opened the door politely for Alex.

"Thank you," she murmured as she left the room. He walked swiftly by her side as they moved in silence through the large school. "Professor, may I ask you a personal question?" the blonde asked tentatively as they neared Gryffindor tower. The vampire smiled at her, expertly hiding his fangs.

"Of course. What is it you want to know?"

"Why are you still on our side?" she inquired softly. "I've read a lot about you… My friends think I'm crazy, considering the creatures I enjoy reading about are so dark, while they still consider me so 'light'… And you've never told anyone your reason for staying with the side of 'light'."

Malachi stopped, glancing ahead then back at the blonde in front of him. "Truthfully?" At her silence, he continued, "Truthfully, Alexandra – "

"Alex."

"Alex," he corrected himself after a moment. "Truthfully, once, a long time ago, I knew a woman very much like you. I was her protector, her friend, and her most attentive student. For while she wasn't a teacher – far from it, she was a princess – she was a very intelligent one. She taught me things no one else had. To live life to the fullest, to always look on the bright side, to fight for your beliefs…

"The enemies of her kingdom slaughtered her almost ten thousand years ago, so she is long dead, but she still lives in my thoughts. I've spent most of my 'Undead' life searching the planet for her reincarnations so I could protect her there as well. I'd say, if anything, that she is the one keeping me on the side of light. Because I could never offend her spirit in such a way as to make her feel like she's failed because a friend of hers was dark."

"Wow…" Alex whispered after a while. "That's… intense."

Malachi grinned as he snapped himself out of his memories. "I suppose that's a matter of opinion," he replied lightly. "But in reality, anyone's reason preventing them from going to the 'dark' side is intense, don't you think?"

Alexandra frowned, processing the information slowly. She started walking on, muttering the password to the Fat Lady while still deep in thought. "Oyasumi," she remembered to call back faintly to the vampire as she went into the common room. The portrait swung shut behind her.

"Goodnight," Malachi agreed softly.

TO BE CONTINUED…

For those of you who care, Malachi is a character from my book. In that he was protector to a princess who lived and died 10,000 years ago. (Don't ask.) However, if you ever see something similar to that in a bookstore (it's actually set in the present) then it may be me who published it! (Hey! A girl can dream!) ^_^ . Ja!