The Hero Hidden Beneath A Traitor's Clothing
Summary: Voldemort is at the height of his power once more, terrorizing both the Muggle and Wizarding World's he is considered unstoppable and ruthless. There is only one person left who can truly defeat him, a boy that the world has set on a pedestal. In his seventh year the boy is now a man and single handedly taking on the dark forces but are the people truly grateful to this mysterious warrior, or will he have to depend on another girl several years younger than him and a complete stranger to believe in him.
Rated: R (for adult content and some violence)
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, the talented Ms. Rowling does, and the WB has some rights to the series. I just write for the hell of it all, so don't sue. I don't have anything worth taking me to court over.
Chapter 7: Color Of Thy Veins
"It's done then, Sirius has a son and Harry has a father." Remus said and beside him Snape nodded chewing on his bottom lip thoughtfully.
"Let's just hope they both live long enough to enjoy it." The Potions Master said quietly staring at the two nearly identical men sitting on the floor.
Although his words were quiet the room was empty and echoed carrying his last statement over to the two and Sirius quickly picked up on it dragging Harry to his feet.
"Remus go find Gabrielle, this can't wait any longer."
"NO! Sirius I said I wouldn't do it until it was absolutely necessary and unless she was fully trained but she's far from it! She can barely move I started training three days ago remember?!" Harry whole-heartedly protested and loosened his godfather's grip on his arm.
"It is necessary, I won't lose you like I lost James. I won't do it." Tears started gathering in his eyes and the shock of seeing his best friend again finally settled in and registered in his mind. After years of Azkaban and being on the run emotions and feelings sometimes would not break through until several minutes passed. Loneliness during those years taught Sirius to barricade his mind against them and such a habit was hard to break. The room grew quiet and he let silent tears keep coming.
It seemed endless, and he wanted to bawl, to beat his fists against the ground and sob like a child but it would not come. Instead he sank down to the floor and lay down letting an emotional slide gently overcome him instead of break through in waves.
It was at that time that no one really knew what to do or say. Snape really knew none of them and couldn't care less if their precious feeling were hurt. Remus was in quite the same shock his friend was in and was battling his own emotions. And Harry, Harry was in denial about his possible downfall. He couldn't let some little thing like power corrupt him, and he couldn't let love, something he never had as far as he could remember save him. Especially a love that was quite false. He didn't even know Gabrielle, and she didn't him, so how could they possibly care for each other.
Or could they grow to feel for each other? The young man snorted at that thought and shook his head. No one could love him but his parents, or perhaps even Sirius. But then again Sirius was his father now, or was he always in a way another father?
No one was really clear on the facts of Necromancy, not even the spirits themselves or the Necromancers. But when a Necromancer lent a spirit part of his life force he would in a way die but still be present though immobile due to the amount of energy he lent and lost in the process. At that moment he of course felt a tad weak but in a matter of hours he'd have a headache the size of Hogwarts when the Dimensions would supply him with more than he could possibly handle.
"Come on Padfoot, you're not getting rid of me that easily, I'm the-boy-who- lived remember? I won't let something like death separate us. " the young man chuckled dryly not quite believing himself lately. If his father was right then that meant Salazar had a lot to do with it and the next time he saw that slimy snake he would rip him a new one. Interfering with his mental stability was not only stressful and taxing on himself but it could mean winning or losing this war along with hundreds of innocent and not so innocent lives.
"But what about life?" Snape's cutting voice interrupted. "You survived the Avada Kadavra because you subconsciously understood death and had the urge to live. But do you understand life enough to live? Would you understand it enough when it comes to staying alive?" And with a sweep of his robes the other man gracefully got up and left the room shutting the door with a bang.
"What's up his arse today?" Harry murmured not at all taking his words into mind much. He had considered them before, of course he had. Just like he considered everything else pertaining to this war but there was nothing he could do to save himself that wouldn't affect others.
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Four-thirty a.m. called finally only giving Harry what seemed to be four hours of nightmare filled sleep. Life really wasn't fair, he realized gazing out his window, which showed it was still dark outside he grabbed the blankets and quickly yanked them off before he grew lazy and fell back to sleep. The cool air hit his warm skin like a needles poked into a pincushion, sharp and painful.
"Damn it's cold!!" he yelped sprinting to the adjoined bathroom he and Hermione shared carefully hopping from one foot to the next to keep his feet from freezing on the stone floor. He quickly relieved himself and got dressed in sweats with swimming trunks underneath. He had started wearing them since he had company these days out on the lake and wished to spare both himself and Gabrielle the embarrassment.
Back in his room it was still cold even in warmer clothes and if he was to come back soaking wet then he'd literally freeze to death.
With one look at the fireplace it lit up with a cackling fire warming the room and dispelling the chill in his bones some. It was the middle of September but the temperature had dropped drastically and it was on days like these that all he'd like to do was stay in bed and live a normal life. Somehow though he would get through today just like he got through the past two years.
Now all he had to do was find his invisibility cloak, but where did he put it? Going to his top right dresser drawer where he usually kept things like small trinkets, the marauders map and anything else that might help him in Hogwarts he opened it and was surprised to find lingerie. Women's lingerie.
//What the hell?!\\ Frowning he picked one of the garments up and shook his head dropping it back into the drawer and closing it quickly. //Don't you have enough room in your dorm Gabby! Honestly you've already taken up half of my closet.\\
About a week ago it had seemed like a good idea to take Gabrielle on a shopping spree during Hogsmeade weekend considering she had nothing with her. Everything of hers had been destroyed in the fall of Beauxbatons but now this was a little extreme! There was simply no room for these things.
But with a resigned sigh he smiled slightly, if it brought some happiness to her then it was all worth it.
It turned out his trusty cloak had been hidden in the back of his dresser and he put it on swiftly grabbing his pendant he directed it to 'point GD' which was actually connected to Gabrielle's own pendant that he had crafter for her use. Although he had to be careful not to catch her in any awkward situations.
As usual he was pulled away in a mist of colors and pulled back down to lay right beside the blonde girl, who lay content in her sleep breathing softly and perhaps even dreaming. She looked so peaceful right now like nothing troubled her at all and in a way he wished it so.
The past two weeks had been hectic on her and it was starting to show. Dark circles would accumulate under her eyes while she slept, he didn't know if it was a charm or her Veela assets that made them disappear during the day but her exhaustion was still evident. In a way he wanted to stop pushing and training her and just let her relax, have a normal teenage life.
Unfortunately you can't be normal when Voldemort is after your hide. You can't be have a normal existence if a dark wizard murdered your family and as much as Harry wanted to look out for Gabrielle he knew sooner or later he wouldn't be there for that crucial moment in time when something could go wrong and at that moment she would need to know how to defend herself.
"Transportus Gabby." Were the words keyed to Gabrielle's own necklace and within moments he felt himself rematerialize on a soft and warm surface. So comfortable that he wished he could just wrap his arm around the blonde lying next to him and close his eyes before letting himself fall into the land of dreams.
Supporting himself on his elbow Harry leaned over the girl to see her breathing rhythmically and bundled up in two thick quilts to keep warm. Gabrielle was really sensitive with the cold and in the mornings Harry sometimes couldn't bring himself to wake her up and make her go outside. Especially now that it was getting cold.
"So beautiful." He whispered to no one in particular as he stroked her hair and pushed a few strands that fell in her face behind her ear. Everyday would be the same, he would always port into her room and watch her for a few minutes, it seemed that even in their sleep Veela radiated their powers of seduction. But like all good thing this had to end.
"Gabby." he gently shook her and jumped right up off the bed when she snapped awake holding her wand in hand.
//Not bad, except if I was a Death Eater she would have been dead already.well maybe not a Death Eater, they're to stupid to accomplish that but Voldemort could. But then again Voldemort couldn't kill anyone without gloating first.\\ he thought and turned back to the surprised girl who now put away her wand with a groan and stubbornly snuggled back into her blankets.
"Gway, wanna sweep." She muttered half awake burying her pale face into her pillow and throwing the blankets over her head covering her whole body now.
"Come on Gabby time to get up. Strangling yourself in your sheets won't get you out of this; remember you chose to get up this early. Or do you want to give up already? You want Voldemort to win that easily, you want your family's death to go without being avenged?" He smirked as she rolled out of bed with a groan.
//That always gets her going, wish she would learn to control her temper and close off her emotions a little though.\\
"Harold James Potter, I absolutely hate you!" came her snarl as she stepped onto the cold floor with her bare feet and shivered.
"Yes, yes I know, take a number Gabby. I'll be waiting in the common room." And with those words he strolled out of the fourth year girls dorms chuckling as the blonde cursed his name quietly behind him.
In the common room Harry wasn't at all surprised to see Hermione sitting in one of the large armchairs by the roaring fire with her head buried in a large tome she had borrowed from the library. Ever since the Head Girl had found out he was ninja mage Smoke she had done everything in her power to ease the load on his shoulders despite his protests.
She was now a silent partner in his research and in the mornings would get up to guard the common room making sure no one from Gryffindor house followed him out, and if they did get up and happened to catch him leaving she would distract them long enough to place a memory and sleeping charm on them.
It was a dirty business but someone had to do it.
"Hello 'Mione." He whispered and she whipped her head up and smiled slightly showing the strain of having so little sleep these past few weeks. She too was getting bags under her eyes and dark circles as well. She looked the way she was in third year when she used the time turner to go to so many classes and like a part of his heart ached to stop Gabrielle's torment, it also ached to stop Hermione's.
Along with her discovery of his ventures they had become close again, closer than he and Ron had ever been. Of course this only made his red haired friend all the crankier, which didn't make many things easy. Ron, Harry noticed was starting to get aggravated with him, more aggravated for spending more time with Hermione than being so secretive the past couple of years.
"Hi Harry." She whispered back. "Sleep well? Any dreams tonight?"
"Slept like a baby." he said lying right through his teeth. He'd become good at it too as she gave him a relieved grin.
Although they had become close, they hadn't become so close that he was willing to tell her all his secrets and plans. She didn't even know that he was a necromancer, nor where he got all his information on Voldemort's activities. As much as he would like to tell her the truth about a lot of things he was doing it for not only her protection but also his own as well. If Hermione was ever kidnapped which was highly likely seeing as she was one of Harry's best friends, then she wouldn't be able to tell anyone much besides the fact that he was Smoke and Gabrielle was training to be a ninja mage.
He could live with that getting out but Merlin forbid anyone else knowing about the necromancy, they would ship him to Azkaban and the Dementor's Kiss before he could say Quiddich.
"Oh before I forget," The brunette said quickly and reached over the side of her armchair pulling a bundle of what looked like towels out and handed it to him. He then discovered that there were two fluffy bathrobes and four towels. "I notice you never bring towels for after your swim, and you may not need them but Gabrielle probably will. It's freezing out there and you'll probably catch a cold." She explained reprimanding him slightly for not thinking of it before and he thanked her holding the bundle under his arms.
"Of course mum." He teased getting a scowl back in return but he could see that Hermione's eyes were laughing even if her lips were not.
"Alright come on Potter I'm ready." Came the half awake voice of Gabrielle Delacour as she stumbled down the stairs rubbing her eyes and yawning widely.
"Good morning Hermione." She added afterwards seeing the girl laughing with Harry.
"Morning." Hermione threw back gently smiling slightly and without further ado went back to her book ignoring both of them as they argued good naturedly on their way out.
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"Come on Gab, quit stalling!" Harry yelled over his shoulder exasperatedly once they stepped outside and completed their warm-ups he practically had to pull her around the Quiddich Pitch.
"The way you're carrying on I'd swear you're my fat cousin Dudley." He mocked and grinned getting the needed result as her eyes flashed a bright silver color and she knocked his hands off oh her arms and ran ahead of him.
"You'll never make ten laps at that rate!" he yelled ahead as she continued on at full speed, he had no doubt she'd wear herself out and collapse before the seventh maybe even pass out before they got to the lake for a few laps.
Gabrielle growled deep in her throat and grudgingly slowed down to a light jog. She just hated it when Harry was right, she hated it how she was always lagging behind and most of all she hated that after this he'd just teach her about the theory of a spell she'd learn soon. She wanted to get some results already!
Finishing her ten laps a little after the Head boy did she collapse in a heap by his waiting feet and breathed heavily trying to calm down a little.
"I hate you." She breathed not even meaning it and knowing he wouldn't take it seriously. Looking up at him she could see his face marred in a grimace as he rubbed his forehead with the palm of his hand.
//Voldemort must be huffing.\\ she realized getting up and pushing Harry's hand away before putting her own over it and rubbing in little circles.
She could practically feel the heat and built up energy coming off of it along with the tension fading from Harry's shoulders as he leant against her slightly and wrapped his arms around her waste gratefully.
"You don't know how good that feels." He murmured into her hair heaving a tired sigh. The stabbing pain that he felt nearly splitting his head open melted away under her touch like ice cream would melt under the sun. Her touch felt so light and refreshing, like a cool breeze during a hot summer day.
It was almost like petting a unicorn, so light that their touch drove off all the negative and dark energy to the far corners of his being. How much longer could he last like this? If it weren't for wanting to keep Gabrielle from experiencing what he was at the moment he would have long given in to the idea of bonding and getting some of this off his shoulders.
His father, Remus, and Sirius were right, he had to do something quickly before he turns into an old rag without a purpose. Salazar was really grating on his nerves greatly too. He knew what the old ghost was doing while he was sleeping yet there was nothing he could do about it but let the dead help him.
"Harry maybe we should go inside, you don't look to hot at the moment." Part of her mind knew that he wouldn't allow it but she had to try anyways. What surprised Gabrielle was the answer he gave.
"Maybe that's a good idea, I've been pushing you to hard anyways. Maybe we should just skip the swim and go straight to magic." He suggested still leaning against her sleepily and yawning all of a sudden.
"Whaaa????!!!" she was not at all expecting him to say that and just to make sure she brought her cheek to his forehead to see if he was burning up in a fever. Surprisingly he wasn't.
"Alright Harry, I knew something was wrong and Sirius has been badgering me about the whole bonding for days on end now. What's wrong with you? Was it the vision you just had? What happened in it?"
"Old vision, nothing to worry about." He whispered raking a hand through the hair of her ponytail and smiling slightly hoping to get off the subject.
"Nothing to worry about my ass! If you don't tell me what's wrong I'm taking your godfathers advice and tying you down to perform the soul bind." She threatened him trying to pry him off of her and giving him a good glare, not enough to sway him unfortunately.
"Tie me down eh? Sounds kinky." A strange grin plastered over his face and he stood of his own accord after much prying from Gabrielle and gathered the pile of towels from the ground before giving the blonde a hand up from where she sunk to the floor under his weight.
"Sometimes you could be such a horn dog." She complained and tried to change the subject. "So are you going to teach me any useful magic today? Perhaps something dark?"
"No." he answered stubbornly only making her grind her teeth further in annoyance.
"How come?"
"You've already asked me that before, and I've already told you I won't teach you any. What part of 'it's not good for you' don't you understand Gabby?"
Sometimes Gabrielle couldn't help but feel like a child under his gaze during these kinds of discussions. She hated it when he did this and as usually she pushed him even more.
"You know just as well that if you don't teach me then I'll teach myself!" She didn't expect him to grab her so roughly by the arm and spin her around to face him. For a moment she shied away pulling against him when she saw the animalistic rage in his eyes. Lately he's been so short tempered and vicious she couldn't help but feel apprehensive. Something was going on, just as Sirius had told her.
"Do you know what it feels like to have something so pure and light corrupted by the dark?!" he nearly screamed jerking her arm and shaking her aggressively giving the blonde no doubt that there would be bruises on her arms later.
"Because every time you touch me that's what I feel. I feel the dark corrupting you. I am dark Gabby, because of the dark arts I'm becoming more and more like Voldemort each day until one day there won't be anything let but a psycho in this body." She couldn't help it, she felt tears rolling down her cheeks, hot tears that landed on his hand when she turned her face away from his jaded eyes.
"Harry stop it, you're scaring me."
"Scaring you?!" he roared incredulously. "You think you're scared! Fucking hell, you don't know what being bloody scared is! I'm being corrupted from the inside out Gabrielle, in a matter of years I'm going to die and I'm bloody scared! Yes, Harry Potter the-fucking-boy-who-fucking-can't-die is scared or dieing! Scared of living! Do you know that there hasn't been a Necromancer to live past his 30th birthday? Well I won't live to see my 20th and I'm just hoping that I can fight this.whatever this is doing to me until then."
"You're not going to die." She cried still scared, she wasn't scared of him hurting her but rather scared of what would happen after that, what would happen after he snapped out of this daze.
"Yes," he argued. "Yes I am." She felt him let go of her arm and drop the towels only to grip her chin in his strong hand and move it so she was looking at the underside of his other arm. She hadn't noticed before but his veins, she almost cried out when seeing that the veins beneath his skin were black inside of blue. As black as the night.
"Harry let me help you please," her hands trembled tracing the spidery lines down his arm and up to his elbow where they started fading back into blue. He wasn't lost yet since his veins weren't completely turned black.
"You can't help me." He whispered letting go of her and stepping down to pick up the linens he'd dropped earlier. "No one can."
"Harry that's Salazar speaking! Not you! God damn it why won't you just share the pain with me? What I'm not good enough for you?! I won't stand aside and watch the Others, whomever they are do this to you!"
"How much does Sirius tell you? Doesn't he understand what bloody discretion means?" Harry ranted throwing his hands up and clenching his jaw painfully to keep himself from saying something that he would regret later.
"He's worried about you! You don't even listen to him anymore. What else is he supposed to do but tell me? You won't even listen to me either though."
"He's not my bloody father! He can't order me around you know. And you can't either, you're not my sister, you're not my mother, nor are you a long time friend, you're an acquaintance, a girlfriend, an apprentice!"
Then Gabrielle did the unthinkable, just as Harry had taught her to, she decked him right in the jaw with a nice upper hook wincing as her fist came in contact with it. For a few moments she stood heaving rubbing her knuckles while he blinked as if woken up from some stupor.
She watched him shudder uncontrollably and just let his legs give out falling on the ground and sitting there like a deer caught in the headlights.
"If I'm nothing then you don't need me anymore." Were her final words to him before she ran back to the castle tears gathering in her eyes and blurring her vision. God, she couldn't lose him too, he was all she had left.
She ran all the way to Gryffindor tower where she gave the Fat Lady the password without a second in between getting there and rushed past Hermione who got up alarmed to see the blonde in tears. The first place she could think of going was to the Head girl's bathroom, which Hermione had let her use more than once in the mornings as not to wake anyone up in the girl's dorms.
Maybe a hot shower would make her feel better.
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Harry sat like an idiot for another half hour minutes until he realized what just had happened.
"Bloody hell what have I done?" he ran a hand through his hair after freeing it from a ribbon that he had tying it back. "Gabby." He whispered rubbing his soar jaw before getting up and not caring whether he'd get caught or not he used his pendant to port to her side no matter where she was.
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Why did he have to be such an ass? Why was he so stubborn? Why not just go through with the bind and get this shit out of the way?
Gabrielle slumped against the shower wall closing her eyes and letting her tears mingle with the water running down her face. She'd been in the shower for next to twenty minutes, just standing in the warm spray and letting her muscles loosen.
Hermione had come up to check on her and find out why she was crying but upon getting no answer after a whole ten minutes she gave up reasoning the blonde needed to be alone and left cursing Harry's name whom hadn't showed up yet.
Gabrielle turned around resting her forehead on the cool tiles and sobbed, this time harder than before feeling her arms where bruises already started to form. She knew that what happened Harry had no control over, this was a darker Harry influenced by a dark spirit. But it still hurt; mentally it still hurt because her mind would always associate Harry with the pain now.
In her mind she could almost hear him next to her, whispering apologies and gathering her in his arms. For a moment she thought she truly went mad, it felt so real that she had to find out herself.
"HARRY!!!!!!!!!?" Her eyes were wide and her mouth agape as she screamed.
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Upon teleporting Harry found himself getting wet under a warm spray and feeling uncomfortable in his sweats once they were soaked to the bone he peeled them off and threw them over the shower stall along with the towels and robes he was still carrying from outside. He knew how it must have looked but at the moment all coherent thoughts were stricken from his mind when he saw her.
Were those tears or just water? He asked himself watching her shudder and tremble sobbing lightly and turning around to lean against the tiles. Her shoulders were still heaving and all he wanted to do was take back all the hurt he inflicted.
He lightly ran a hand over her shoulder for once his eyes didn't stray to the rest of her body to remark on how beautiful she really was.
"Gabby.Gabrielle I'm so sorry. Please, I didn't mean what I said. I'm so sorry. Forgive me Gab." He whispered again and again running both his hands over her shoulders and massaging them gently, he let his skin graze hers as if she was made of glass and he was afraid she'd break.
Slowly she turned around with eyes as wide as a house elf's.
"HARRY!!!!!!!!!?"
"I'm sorry." Was his only dazed reply. "I didn't mean it, please Gabby, forgive me." He brushed a few strands of her wet hair behind her ears and bent his head to kiss her cheek lightly whispering in her ear. "I'm sorry." He ran his hands down her shoulders and to her upper arms where he gripped her earlier with such savageness.
The blonde felt his hands smooth over the skin of her upper arms and she felt a chill go down her spine all of a sudden after being out of the spray of the shower for so long. She shuddered getting goose bumps all over her skin.
Harry noticed the shudder and stepped away letting go of her afraid that he'd scared her somehow.
//She's scared of me.\\ he thought with a saddened expression that she must have noticed because once she did it Gabrielle understood completely and disregarding the limited amount to coverage they had over their bodies she took a step closer to him drawing his hands back to her arms showing him that she wasn't scared of him. Showing that she forgave him, or at least could.
"Harry." she murmured looking down and said something he least expected. "Why are you wearing socks in the shower?" and she started laughing, that laugh that he just fell in love with the first time he heard it. A laugh so wonderful that it was contagious and he started laughing along with her slipping his socks off and throwing them over the stall along with everything else.
He must have been so preoccupied with apologizing that he didn't notice them.
"So, am I forgiven?" he asked hopefully kissing any new bruises he could find on her arms.
"Not so fast." She pulled them away and shot him a good glare which turned into a furious blush once her attention returned to how obviously naked they were.
"Huh?" his bewildered expression showed that he was still not at all himself. He must have been shocked from what happened earlier and not at all have been quite himself especially if he just stepped into the shower with his clothes on earlier.
"What are you going to do when this happens again and I'll be trained enough to thoroughly beat your arse up? Because believe me I will hurt you next time you go crazy like that!"
"Simple." He replied as if it was the most obvious answer in the world. "It won't happen again." The assurance did not quite set her mind at ease though.
"Oh and how are you going to keep that from happening again?"
To Gabrielle's surprise he got down on his knees and she almost stepped back afraid of what he was planning. But before she could step away he embraced her waist with his arms and laid his head on her abdomen burying his face against her skin and murmuring something incoherent.
"What?" she asked placing a hand on his wet hair and stroking it like she would a dog, she could feel the slight stubble on his cheeks rubbing against her stomach and couldn't help but smile; it didn't quite tickle but it felt good.
He turned his gaze up to her, his bright green eyes clearer than ever and a small smile on his lips.
"Marry Me." He said and if he wasn't holding her around the waste she would have fallen by now as her knees weakened and she balanced herself by holding onto his shoulders once he again asked.
"Gabrielle Delacour will you marry me, will you bind your soul to mine for all eternity?"
***********************************AUTHOR'S NOTE***********************************
Well folks how did ya like that?? I particularly thought that the socks in the shower thing was funny, but hey that happens to everyone right? Lol. Okay I admit I forgot my socks once. Looks like you're the first to know, along with millions of other people around the world not to mention some of my friends who happen to read this stuff.
All right then off that topic now, I hope everyone's had a happy thanksgiving remember.tis the season to be sharing! Lol.
I realize that I haven't updated in a while and I once again apologize I probably won't update until I get this blasted science project I've waited to the last minute to do. GTG now.
Oh by the way I had one of those stupid spells today and momentarily forgot how to spell Quiddich (right? Or wrong?) Ever since then I couldn't remember how to spell it and I find myself to lazy to go and check.
See ya later alligators!!! READ AND REVIEW!!!!!!
Summary: Voldemort is at the height of his power once more, terrorizing both the Muggle and Wizarding World's he is considered unstoppable and ruthless. There is only one person left who can truly defeat him, a boy that the world has set on a pedestal. In his seventh year the boy is now a man and single handedly taking on the dark forces but are the people truly grateful to this mysterious warrior, or will he have to depend on another girl several years younger than him and a complete stranger to believe in him.
Rated: R (for adult content and some violence)
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, the talented Ms. Rowling does, and the WB has some rights to the series. I just write for the hell of it all, so don't sue. I don't have anything worth taking me to court over.
Chapter 7: Color Of Thy Veins
"It's done then, Sirius has a son and Harry has a father." Remus said and beside him Snape nodded chewing on his bottom lip thoughtfully.
"Let's just hope they both live long enough to enjoy it." The Potions Master said quietly staring at the two nearly identical men sitting on the floor.
Although his words were quiet the room was empty and echoed carrying his last statement over to the two and Sirius quickly picked up on it dragging Harry to his feet.
"Remus go find Gabrielle, this can't wait any longer."
"NO! Sirius I said I wouldn't do it until it was absolutely necessary and unless she was fully trained but she's far from it! She can barely move I started training three days ago remember?!" Harry whole-heartedly protested and loosened his godfather's grip on his arm.
"It is necessary, I won't lose you like I lost James. I won't do it." Tears started gathering in his eyes and the shock of seeing his best friend again finally settled in and registered in his mind. After years of Azkaban and being on the run emotions and feelings sometimes would not break through until several minutes passed. Loneliness during those years taught Sirius to barricade his mind against them and such a habit was hard to break. The room grew quiet and he let silent tears keep coming.
It seemed endless, and he wanted to bawl, to beat his fists against the ground and sob like a child but it would not come. Instead he sank down to the floor and lay down letting an emotional slide gently overcome him instead of break through in waves.
It was at that time that no one really knew what to do or say. Snape really knew none of them and couldn't care less if their precious feeling were hurt. Remus was in quite the same shock his friend was in and was battling his own emotions. And Harry, Harry was in denial about his possible downfall. He couldn't let some little thing like power corrupt him, and he couldn't let love, something he never had as far as he could remember save him. Especially a love that was quite false. He didn't even know Gabrielle, and she didn't him, so how could they possibly care for each other.
Or could they grow to feel for each other? The young man snorted at that thought and shook his head. No one could love him but his parents, or perhaps even Sirius. But then again Sirius was his father now, or was he always in a way another father?
No one was really clear on the facts of Necromancy, not even the spirits themselves or the Necromancers. But when a Necromancer lent a spirit part of his life force he would in a way die but still be present though immobile due to the amount of energy he lent and lost in the process. At that moment he of course felt a tad weak but in a matter of hours he'd have a headache the size of Hogwarts when the Dimensions would supply him with more than he could possibly handle.
"Come on Padfoot, you're not getting rid of me that easily, I'm the-boy-who- lived remember? I won't let something like death separate us. " the young man chuckled dryly not quite believing himself lately. If his father was right then that meant Salazar had a lot to do with it and the next time he saw that slimy snake he would rip him a new one. Interfering with his mental stability was not only stressful and taxing on himself but it could mean winning or losing this war along with hundreds of innocent and not so innocent lives.
"But what about life?" Snape's cutting voice interrupted. "You survived the Avada Kadavra because you subconsciously understood death and had the urge to live. But do you understand life enough to live? Would you understand it enough when it comes to staying alive?" And with a sweep of his robes the other man gracefully got up and left the room shutting the door with a bang.
"What's up his arse today?" Harry murmured not at all taking his words into mind much. He had considered them before, of course he had. Just like he considered everything else pertaining to this war but there was nothing he could do to save himself that wouldn't affect others.
********************
Four-thirty a.m. called finally only giving Harry what seemed to be four hours of nightmare filled sleep. Life really wasn't fair, he realized gazing out his window, which showed it was still dark outside he grabbed the blankets and quickly yanked them off before he grew lazy and fell back to sleep. The cool air hit his warm skin like a needles poked into a pincushion, sharp and painful.
"Damn it's cold!!" he yelped sprinting to the adjoined bathroom he and Hermione shared carefully hopping from one foot to the next to keep his feet from freezing on the stone floor. He quickly relieved himself and got dressed in sweats with swimming trunks underneath. He had started wearing them since he had company these days out on the lake and wished to spare both himself and Gabrielle the embarrassment.
Back in his room it was still cold even in warmer clothes and if he was to come back soaking wet then he'd literally freeze to death.
With one look at the fireplace it lit up with a cackling fire warming the room and dispelling the chill in his bones some. It was the middle of September but the temperature had dropped drastically and it was on days like these that all he'd like to do was stay in bed and live a normal life. Somehow though he would get through today just like he got through the past two years.
Now all he had to do was find his invisibility cloak, but where did he put it? Going to his top right dresser drawer where he usually kept things like small trinkets, the marauders map and anything else that might help him in Hogwarts he opened it and was surprised to find lingerie. Women's lingerie.
//What the hell?!\\ Frowning he picked one of the garments up and shook his head dropping it back into the drawer and closing it quickly. //Don't you have enough room in your dorm Gabby! Honestly you've already taken up half of my closet.\\
About a week ago it had seemed like a good idea to take Gabrielle on a shopping spree during Hogsmeade weekend considering she had nothing with her. Everything of hers had been destroyed in the fall of Beauxbatons but now this was a little extreme! There was simply no room for these things.
But with a resigned sigh he smiled slightly, if it brought some happiness to her then it was all worth it.
It turned out his trusty cloak had been hidden in the back of his dresser and he put it on swiftly grabbing his pendant he directed it to 'point GD' which was actually connected to Gabrielle's own pendant that he had crafter for her use. Although he had to be careful not to catch her in any awkward situations.
As usual he was pulled away in a mist of colors and pulled back down to lay right beside the blonde girl, who lay content in her sleep breathing softly and perhaps even dreaming. She looked so peaceful right now like nothing troubled her at all and in a way he wished it so.
The past two weeks had been hectic on her and it was starting to show. Dark circles would accumulate under her eyes while she slept, he didn't know if it was a charm or her Veela assets that made them disappear during the day but her exhaustion was still evident. In a way he wanted to stop pushing and training her and just let her relax, have a normal teenage life.
Unfortunately you can't be normal when Voldemort is after your hide. You can't be have a normal existence if a dark wizard murdered your family and as much as Harry wanted to look out for Gabrielle he knew sooner or later he wouldn't be there for that crucial moment in time when something could go wrong and at that moment she would need to know how to defend herself.
"Transportus Gabby." Were the words keyed to Gabrielle's own necklace and within moments he felt himself rematerialize on a soft and warm surface. So comfortable that he wished he could just wrap his arm around the blonde lying next to him and close his eyes before letting himself fall into the land of dreams.
Supporting himself on his elbow Harry leaned over the girl to see her breathing rhythmically and bundled up in two thick quilts to keep warm. Gabrielle was really sensitive with the cold and in the mornings Harry sometimes couldn't bring himself to wake her up and make her go outside. Especially now that it was getting cold.
"So beautiful." He whispered to no one in particular as he stroked her hair and pushed a few strands that fell in her face behind her ear. Everyday would be the same, he would always port into her room and watch her for a few minutes, it seemed that even in their sleep Veela radiated their powers of seduction. But like all good thing this had to end.
"Gabby." he gently shook her and jumped right up off the bed when she snapped awake holding her wand in hand.
//Not bad, except if I was a Death Eater she would have been dead already.well maybe not a Death Eater, they're to stupid to accomplish that but Voldemort could. But then again Voldemort couldn't kill anyone without gloating first.\\ he thought and turned back to the surprised girl who now put away her wand with a groan and stubbornly snuggled back into her blankets.
"Gway, wanna sweep." She muttered half awake burying her pale face into her pillow and throwing the blankets over her head covering her whole body now.
"Come on Gabby time to get up. Strangling yourself in your sheets won't get you out of this; remember you chose to get up this early. Or do you want to give up already? You want Voldemort to win that easily, you want your family's death to go without being avenged?" He smirked as she rolled out of bed with a groan.
//That always gets her going, wish she would learn to control her temper and close off her emotions a little though.\\
"Harold James Potter, I absolutely hate you!" came her snarl as she stepped onto the cold floor with her bare feet and shivered.
"Yes, yes I know, take a number Gabby. I'll be waiting in the common room." And with those words he strolled out of the fourth year girls dorms chuckling as the blonde cursed his name quietly behind him.
In the common room Harry wasn't at all surprised to see Hermione sitting in one of the large armchairs by the roaring fire with her head buried in a large tome she had borrowed from the library. Ever since the Head Girl had found out he was ninja mage Smoke she had done everything in her power to ease the load on his shoulders despite his protests.
She was now a silent partner in his research and in the mornings would get up to guard the common room making sure no one from Gryffindor house followed him out, and if they did get up and happened to catch him leaving she would distract them long enough to place a memory and sleeping charm on them.
It was a dirty business but someone had to do it.
"Hello 'Mione." He whispered and she whipped her head up and smiled slightly showing the strain of having so little sleep these past few weeks. She too was getting bags under her eyes and dark circles as well. She looked the way she was in third year when she used the time turner to go to so many classes and like a part of his heart ached to stop Gabrielle's torment, it also ached to stop Hermione's.
Along with her discovery of his ventures they had become close again, closer than he and Ron had ever been. Of course this only made his red haired friend all the crankier, which didn't make many things easy. Ron, Harry noticed was starting to get aggravated with him, more aggravated for spending more time with Hermione than being so secretive the past couple of years.
"Hi Harry." She whispered back. "Sleep well? Any dreams tonight?"
"Slept like a baby." he said lying right through his teeth. He'd become good at it too as she gave him a relieved grin.
Although they had become close, they hadn't become so close that he was willing to tell her all his secrets and plans. She didn't even know that he was a necromancer, nor where he got all his information on Voldemort's activities. As much as he would like to tell her the truth about a lot of things he was doing it for not only her protection but also his own as well. If Hermione was ever kidnapped which was highly likely seeing as she was one of Harry's best friends, then she wouldn't be able to tell anyone much besides the fact that he was Smoke and Gabrielle was training to be a ninja mage.
He could live with that getting out but Merlin forbid anyone else knowing about the necromancy, they would ship him to Azkaban and the Dementor's Kiss before he could say Quiddich.
"Oh before I forget," The brunette said quickly and reached over the side of her armchair pulling a bundle of what looked like towels out and handed it to him. He then discovered that there were two fluffy bathrobes and four towels. "I notice you never bring towels for after your swim, and you may not need them but Gabrielle probably will. It's freezing out there and you'll probably catch a cold." She explained reprimanding him slightly for not thinking of it before and he thanked her holding the bundle under his arms.
"Of course mum." He teased getting a scowl back in return but he could see that Hermione's eyes were laughing even if her lips were not.
"Alright come on Potter I'm ready." Came the half awake voice of Gabrielle Delacour as she stumbled down the stairs rubbing her eyes and yawning widely.
"Good morning Hermione." She added afterwards seeing the girl laughing with Harry.
"Morning." Hermione threw back gently smiling slightly and without further ado went back to her book ignoring both of them as they argued good naturedly on their way out.
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"Come on Gab, quit stalling!" Harry yelled over his shoulder exasperatedly once they stepped outside and completed their warm-ups he practically had to pull her around the Quiddich Pitch.
"The way you're carrying on I'd swear you're my fat cousin Dudley." He mocked and grinned getting the needed result as her eyes flashed a bright silver color and she knocked his hands off oh her arms and ran ahead of him.
"You'll never make ten laps at that rate!" he yelled ahead as she continued on at full speed, he had no doubt she'd wear herself out and collapse before the seventh maybe even pass out before they got to the lake for a few laps.
Gabrielle growled deep in her throat and grudgingly slowed down to a light jog. She just hated it when Harry was right, she hated it how she was always lagging behind and most of all she hated that after this he'd just teach her about the theory of a spell she'd learn soon. She wanted to get some results already!
Finishing her ten laps a little after the Head boy did she collapse in a heap by his waiting feet and breathed heavily trying to calm down a little.
"I hate you." She breathed not even meaning it and knowing he wouldn't take it seriously. Looking up at him she could see his face marred in a grimace as he rubbed his forehead with the palm of his hand.
//Voldemort must be huffing.\\ she realized getting up and pushing Harry's hand away before putting her own over it and rubbing in little circles.
She could practically feel the heat and built up energy coming off of it along with the tension fading from Harry's shoulders as he leant against her slightly and wrapped his arms around her waste gratefully.
"You don't know how good that feels." He murmured into her hair heaving a tired sigh. The stabbing pain that he felt nearly splitting his head open melted away under her touch like ice cream would melt under the sun. Her touch felt so light and refreshing, like a cool breeze during a hot summer day.
It was almost like petting a unicorn, so light that their touch drove off all the negative and dark energy to the far corners of his being. How much longer could he last like this? If it weren't for wanting to keep Gabrielle from experiencing what he was at the moment he would have long given in to the idea of bonding and getting some of this off his shoulders.
His father, Remus, and Sirius were right, he had to do something quickly before he turns into an old rag without a purpose. Salazar was really grating on his nerves greatly too. He knew what the old ghost was doing while he was sleeping yet there was nothing he could do about it but let the dead help him.
"Harry maybe we should go inside, you don't look to hot at the moment." Part of her mind knew that he wouldn't allow it but she had to try anyways. What surprised Gabrielle was the answer he gave.
"Maybe that's a good idea, I've been pushing you to hard anyways. Maybe we should just skip the swim and go straight to magic." He suggested still leaning against her sleepily and yawning all of a sudden.
"Whaaa????!!!" she was not at all expecting him to say that and just to make sure she brought her cheek to his forehead to see if he was burning up in a fever. Surprisingly he wasn't.
"Alright Harry, I knew something was wrong and Sirius has been badgering me about the whole bonding for days on end now. What's wrong with you? Was it the vision you just had? What happened in it?"
"Old vision, nothing to worry about." He whispered raking a hand through the hair of her ponytail and smiling slightly hoping to get off the subject.
"Nothing to worry about my ass! If you don't tell me what's wrong I'm taking your godfathers advice and tying you down to perform the soul bind." She threatened him trying to pry him off of her and giving him a good glare, not enough to sway him unfortunately.
"Tie me down eh? Sounds kinky." A strange grin plastered over his face and he stood of his own accord after much prying from Gabrielle and gathered the pile of towels from the ground before giving the blonde a hand up from where she sunk to the floor under his weight.
"Sometimes you could be such a horn dog." She complained and tried to change the subject. "So are you going to teach me any useful magic today? Perhaps something dark?"
"No." he answered stubbornly only making her grind her teeth further in annoyance.
"How come?"
"You've already asked me that before, and I've already told you I won't teach you any. What part of 'it's not good for you' don't you understand Gabby?"
Sometimes Gabrielle couldn't help but feel like a child under his gaze during these kinds of discussions. She hated it when he did this and as usually she pushed him even more.
"You know just as well that if you don't teach me then I'll teach myself!" She didn't expect him to grab her so roughly by the arm and spin her around to face him. For a moment she shied away pulling against him when she saw the animalistic rage in his eyes. Lately he's been so short tempered and vicious she couldn't help but feel apprehensive. Something was going on, just as Sirius had told her.
"Do you know what it feels like to have something so pure and light corrupted by the dark?!" he nearly screamed jerking her arm and shaking her aggressively giving the blonde no doubt that there would be bruises on her arms later.
"Because every time you touch me that's what I feel. I feel the dark corrupting you. I am dark Gabby, because of the dark arts I'm becoming more and more like Voldemort each day until one day there won't be anything let but a psycho in this body." She couldn't help it, she felt tears rolling down her cheeks, hot tears that landed on his hand when she turned her face away from his jaded eyes.
"Harry stop it, you're scaring me."
"Scaring you?!" he roared incredulously. "You think you're scared! Fucking hell, you don't know what being bloody scared is! I'm being corrupted from the inside out Gabrielle, in a matter of years I'm going to die and I'm bloody scared! Yes, Harry Potter the-fucking-boy-who-fucking-can't-die is scared or dieing! Scared of living! Do you know that there hasn't been a Necromancer to live past his 30th birthday? Well I won't live to see my 20th and I'm just hoping that I can fight this.whatever this is doing to me until then."
"You're not going to die." She cried still scared, she wasn't scared of him hurting her but rather scared of what would happen after that, what would happen after he snapped out of this daze.
"Yes," he argued. "Yes I am." She felt him let go of her arm and drop the towels only to grip her chin in his strong hand and move it so she was looking at the underside of his other arm. She hadn't noticed before but his veins, she almost cried out when seeing that the veins beneath his skin were black inside of blue. As black as the night.
"Harry let me help you please," her hands trembled tracing the spidery lines down his arm and up to his elbow where they started fading back into blue. He wasn't lost yet since his veins weren't completely turned black.
"You can't help me." He whispered letting go of her and stepping down to pick up the linens he'd dropped earlier. "No one can."
"Harry that's Salazar speaking! Not you! God damn it why won't you just share the pain with me? What I'm not good enough for you?! I won't stand aside and watch the Others, whomever they are do this to you!"
"How much does Sirius tell you? Doesn't he understand what bloody discretion means?" Harry ranted throwing his hands up and clenching his jaw painfully to keep himself from saying something that he would regret later.
"He's worried about you! You don't even listen to him anymore. What else is he supposed to do but tell me? You won't even listen to me either though."
"He's not my bloody father! He can't order me around you know. And you can't either, you're not my sister, you're not my mother, nor are you a long time friend, you're an acquaintance, a girlfriend, an apprentice!"
Then Gabrielle did the unthinkable, just as Harry had taught her to, she decked him right in the jaw with a nice upper hook wincing as her fist came in contact with it. For a few moments she stood heaving rubbing her knuckles while he blinked as if woken up from some stupor.
She watched him shudder uncontrollably and just let his legs give out falling on the ground and sitting there like a deer caught in the headlights.
"If I'm nothing then you don't need me anymore." Were her final words to him before she ran back to the castle tears gathering in her eyes and blurring her vision. God, she couldn't lose him too, he was all she had left.
She ran all the way to Gryffindor tower where she gave the Fat Lady the password without a second in between getting there and rushed past Hermione who got up alarmed to see the blonde in tears. The first place she could think of going was to the Head girl's bathroom, which Hermione had let her use more than once in the mornings as not to wake anyone up in the girl's dorms.
Maybe a hot shower would make her feel better.
----------------------
Harry sat like an idiot for another half hour minutes until he realized what just had happened.
"Bloody hell what have I done?" he ran a hand through his hair after freeing it from a ribbon that he had tying it back. "Gabby." He whispered rubbing his soar jaw before getting up and not caring whether he'd get caught or not he used his pendant to port to her side no matter where she was.
-----------------------
Why did he have to be such an ass? Why was he so stubborn? Why not just go through with the bind and get this shit out of the way?
Gabrielle slumped against the shower wall closing her eyes and letting her tears mingle with the water running down her face. She'd been in the shower for next to twenty minutes, just standing in the warm spray and letting her muscles loosen.
Hermione had come up to check on her and find out why she was crying but upon getting no answer after a whole ten minutes she gave up reasoning the blonde needed to be alone and left cursing Harry's name whom hadn't showed up yet.
Gabrielle turned around resting her forehead on the cool tiles and sobbed, this time harder than before feeling her arms where bruises already started to form. She knew that what happened Harry had no control over, this was a darker Harry influenced by a dark spirit. But it still hurt; mentally it still hurt because her mind would always associate Harry with the pain now.
In her mind she could almost hear him next to her, whispering apologies and gathering her in his arms. For a moment she thought she truly went mad, it felt so real that she had to find out herself.
"HARRY!!!!!!!!!?" Her eyes were wide and her mouth agape as she screamed.
----------------------
Upon teleporting Harry found himself getting wet under a warm spray and feeling uncomfortable in his sweats once they were soaked to the bone he peeled them off and threw them over the shower stall along with the towels and robes he was still carrying from outside. He knew how it must have looked but at the moment all coherent thoughts were stricken from his mind when he saw her.
Were those tears or just water? He asked himself watching her shudder and tremble sobbing lightly and turning around to lean against the tiles. Her shoulders were still heaving and all he wanted to do was take back all the hurt he inflicted.
He lightly ran a hand over her shoulder for once his eyes didn't stray to the rest of her body to remark on how beautiful she really was.
"Gabby.Gabrielle I'm so sorry. Please, I didn't mean what I said. I'm so sorry. Forgive me Gab." He whispered again and again running both his hands over her shoulders and massaging them gently, he let his skin graze hers as if she was made of glass and he was afraid she'd break.
Slowly she turned around with eyes as wide as a house elf's.
"HARRY!!!!!!!!!?"
"I'm sorry." Was his only dazed reply. "I didn't mean it, please Gabby, forgive me." He brushed a few strands of her wet hair behind her ears and bent his head to kiss her cheek lightly whispering in her ear. "I'm sorry." He ran his hands down her shoulders and to her upper arms where he gripped her earlier with such savageness.
The blonde felt his hands smooth over the skin of her upper arms and she felt a chill go down her spine all of a sudden after being out of the spray of the shower for so long. She shuddered getting goose bumps all over her skin.
Harry noticed the shudder and stepped away letting go of her afraid that he'd scared her somehow.
//She's scared of me.\\ he thought with a saddened expression that she must have noticed because once she did it Gabrielle understood completely and disregarding the limited amount to coverage they had over their bodies she took a step closer to him drawing his hands back to her arms showing him that she wasn't scared of him. Showing that she forgave him, or at least could.
"Harry." she murmured looking down and said something he least expected. "Why are you wearing socks in the shower?" and she started laughing, that laugh that he just fell in love with the first time he heard it. A laugh so wonderful that it was contagious and he started laughing along with her slipping his socks off and throwing them over the stall along with everything else.
He must have been so preoccupied with apologizing that he didn't notice them.
"So, am I forgiven?" he asked hopefully kissing any new bruises he could find on her arms.
"Not so fast." She pulled them away and shot him a good glare which turned into a furious blush once her attention returned to how obviously naked they were.
"Huh?" his bewildered expression showed that he was still not at all himself. He must have been shocked from what happened earlier and not at all have been quite himself especially if he just stepped into the shower with his clothes on earlier.
"What are you going to do when this happens again and I'll be trained enough to thoroughly beat your arse up? Because believe me I will hurt you next time you go crazy like that!"
"Simple." He replied as if it was the most obvious answer in the world. "It won't happen again." The assurance did not quite set her mind at ease though.
"Oh and how are you going to keep that from happening again?"
To Gabrielle's surprise he got down on his knees and she almost stepped back afraid of what he was planning. But before she could step away he embraced her waist with his arms and laid his head on her abdomen burying his face against her skin and murmuring something incoherent.
"What?" she asked placing a hand on his wet hair and stroking it like she would a dog, she could feel the slight stubble on his cheeks rubbing against her stomach and couldn't help but smile; it didn't quite tickle but it felt good.
He turned his gaze up to her, his bright green eyes clearer than ever and a small smile on his lips.
"Marry Me." He said and if he wasn't holding her around the waste she would have fallen by now as her knees weakened and she balanced herself by holding onto his shoulders once he again asked.
"Gabrielle Delacour will you marry me, will you bind your soul to mine for all eternity?"
***********************************AUTHOR'S NOTE***********************************
Well folks how did ya like that?? I particularly thought that the socks in the shower thing was funny, but hey that happens to everyone right? Lol. Okay I admit I forgot my socks once. Looks like you're the first to know, along with millions of other people around the world not to mention some of my friends who happen to read this stuff.
All right then off that topic now, I hope everyone's had a happy thanksgiving remember.tis the season to be sharing! Lol.
I realize that I haven't updated in a while and I once again apologize I probably won't update until I get this blasted science project I've waited to the last minute to do. GTG now.
Oh by the way I had one of those stupid spells today and momentarily forgot how to spell Quiddich (right? Or wrong?) Ever since then I couldn't remember how to spell it and I find myself to lazy to go and check.
See ya later alligators!!! READ AND REVIEW!!!!!!