A Single Choice
Chapter Twelve- Of Break-ins and Murderers
By- IceWind
A/N:
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and everything in its franchise is owned by J.K Rowling and whoever else has rights to the books. I have no claim whatsoever to the characters; the plot is entirely mine though, as is any new characters that I might introduce into the story. Rating is PG-13; though it may turn to R later.
Warnings: Probably slash in later chapters… which for those who do not know what that means, it means boy/boy, yaoi, shounen-ai, or homosexuals if you want to get technical. It's AU (alternate universe) Definitely AU; nobody could mistake it for anything else. I accept constructive criticism, and flames are fine as well just as long as you don't care if I write a reply, most probably sarcastic, unless you actually had a good reason… though that would probably go under the constructive criticism column and I wouldn't do anything but thank you. ^_^
*sweatdrop* Late, extraordinarily late. .;; I know, I know, but you won't believe how unbelievably busy I've been… I'm rather surprised that I've managed to squeeze out this chapter in the scant amount of time I've had. Don't count on another chapter any time soon, I've other stuff to work on, as well as finals and the end of the school year rapidly approaching… and with that teacher cramming work down all of our (the students) throats. *falls over*
Jordan: *sheepish grin* Sorry, can't tell you… perhaps you'll figure it out? Some already have…
Jalee: *sweatdrop* Err… Draco's going to be depressed a bit longer *hides under table*
E: …*sighs* I was actually hoping to address that little issue in this chapter, as you can see (well, if you read heh) I haven't, so I'm leaving that off till the next one. The mental blocks… *grins* You got it right… though which 'right' is for you to figure out :P
Youko Gingitsune: Hehe, you people assume too much. ^^; Yeah, I feel sorry for Draco as well --; But it'll allll get better in several *coughs*lots*coughs* of chapters! *falls over* You want slash, they want slash… they're 11 people! ^^; lmao, j/k.
Frizzy: ^^; You find out a little on why Draco is brooding in this chapter, and well… yeah, answers to the rest later on. *feels mysterious*
Xamona: *large sweatdrop* Well… sure, I could send you an e-mail if you want ^^; I should do that for anyone who wants it… what a bother to keep track of though. Ah well, may as well ^^; No, absolutely not *falls over* No real life people at all! ^^;;; I just can't do that, and I don't want to detract from the plot (there is one damnit!) as well. *blinks* Wow… lots of questions. Erm… he's probably going to be better than Draco if he's getting all this extra tutoring right? But he'll be lacking in other skills… You'll find out about that later. All I say for the rest is 'maybe' except for the Hogwarts thing… yes, I'll tell you that it's definite that Harry will go.
FeltonZgurL: *laughs* The entire thing in one sitting? Heh, how complimentary. Different? Hopefully… same underlying theme though *sweatdrop*
MJ: Lucius… is Lucius, that's all I have to say on that. ^^; I don't envision him as the epitome of evil, yet I don't see him as being all flowers and sunshine either (that… would just be creepy). Harry thinks of himself as a Malfoy, what people have to keep in mind is that this is the type of environment he grew up in, he knows of nothing else. And of Lucius knowing all of it… nope, Lucius definitely doesn't, besides, I don't think that he has the sheer magical power that Harry does. *claps* You got the reason why they can't talk to each other! …SHHH! Chamber of secrets? *sweatdrop* Still on Quirrell, dear… but don't worry, we'll get there soon enough, same goes for parseltongue *grins* This chapter isn't as long as the last one… but I've been busy, forgive me? ^.~
Shakiya/Fallen Dragon/Xirleb70: Thanks for your review ^_^
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Harry sighed softly to himself as he waited impatiently in front of the main doors of the manor, shifting his weight as he waited for Lucius to arrive with the muggle. That thought still turned over in his mind countless times… a muggle of all things! He could understand, vaguely, the reasoning behind it, but still, the idea it self was mind-boggling.
Then again, anything was possible.
Idly he looked around, waiting semi-impatiently for Lucius to arrive with the man… what was his name? Carefully he backtracked the information that Lucius has given him thus far and came to the conclusion, rather quickly, that he didn't know yet. Pity really, not that he would know anything more about the man since he didn't know much about muggles.
But knowing his name would at least give him a feeling that he knew something, even if he couldn't use the information for anything concerning black mail… or any plans akin to that. Though perhaps he could… considering that Lucius had said that the man was on the run, but that was from muggle authorities, and such, is not something that he was concerned overly much with.
Harry sighed and glanced down towards Ayrin who was peacefully lying at his side, head tilted slightly, listening to his thoughts most probably (and getting confused, sometimes the black wolf was prone to that since wolf minds don't work the same way as human minds do).
"What do you think about me getting this muggle trainer? And don't say something only because you think I want to hear it because you overheard it in my thoughts. Truthfully now, Ayrin." He spoke lightly to the wolf.
He liked speaking out loud to Ayrin more than the mind-to-mind way. At least it gave a sense of feeling that in some ways, his mind was not completely connected to the wolf. Harry decided that he would get worried if he somehow suddenly developed a taste for raw meat, that would be one sign that Ayrin was affecting him too much.
You're being silly, bonded. Our minds will not merge Ayrin's mind-voice was matter-o-fact, completely at ease with whatever situation that may befall them both, since he was almost never without Harry, We are pack, we need different, but similar minds
Harry gave his bonded an exasperated look, replying slowly, "That made no sense to me at all, Ayrin, explain it please." Idly he mused to himself over the fact that at times Ayrin seemed entirely too cryptic, yet at other times, he would make as much sense as… well… Draco's Tyr.
Carefully directing his mind away from that train of thought, promising himself that he'll think about Draco later, when he wasn't so busy, he looked expectantly towards Ayrin. Of course the wolf never failed to please.
To be pack, we need similar minds; above all, we must have the safety of the pack. That is very important, Ayrin's mind was more serious than usual, the dark blue eyes locked onto the emerald green of Harry's, But we need different minds as well. Different minds bring different ideas to better the pack
Shaking his head, Harry gave a light shrug, deciding impudently that Ayrin was overly obsessed with the concept of the 'pack'.
I am not! The pack is the most important thing!
The thought came swiftly, and the scandalized tone of it made Harry smile and chuckle lightly. Suddenly realizing that he had been diverted from his original question, he once again asked the wolf for his opinion, "Ayrin? About the muggle trainer?"
Without much more prompting, the wolf flicked his ears towards Harry and answered in a lazy sort of tone, almost drowsy really, You need to learn how to fight without using the swirly colors. Though I do not know how well you will accomplish this with such weak senses and no claws… and teeth that are not very sharp A mental snigger accompanied this thought, making Harry role his eyes and silently urge the wolf on.
Ayrin curled his right foreleg under him, lowering his head so that it rested lightly on his leg, shifting his position comfortably. Throughout this all, Harry fidgeted and gave the wolf an annoyed look, knowing that Ayrin was making him deliberately wait.
Another mental snigger from the wolf, and Ayrin went on, What if one day you cannot rely on your swirly powers? I will protect you as much as I can, but it is not nature of the pack for one to completely rely on another
Harry gave Ayrin a startled look, never thinking of putting it in that light before, But, he mused, Ayrin was right. For all this time, he always thought that he was the one who was taking care of the wolf, while it was the other way around. Ayrin could always leave… and the wolf would be fine by himself, hunt for himself, perhaps even join his old pack -or even a new one- again. Harry? If Ayrin was right and his magic, the swirly colors, ever disappeared, then he was the one who was completely helpless.
Ayrin may have his own powers, as weak as they were, but the wolf never relied of them… in fact, he didn't use them much at all, preferring physical prowess over magical.
At that thought, Harry smiled lovingly at the black wolf and ruffled the soft fur absentmindedly, muttering to himself, "What would I do without you?" He was rather startled when Ayrin answered.
You won't be without me, so put such silly human thoughts out of your mind. We are pack, never forget that Ayrin had such a serious look in his eyes as his mental words came that for a moment Harry was at a loss for what else he could say.
So instead he said nothing and just lightly hugged the warm beast, "Silly creature, when will you learn that I'm supposed to be the one wiser than you are and should be saying such things?"
When you are wiser than me, perhaps I'll let you have a turn
Harry giggled softly at the thought.
"Is it normal for the boy to be talking, and hugging, a wolf?"
Harry whirled around quickly, Ayrin shifting in his grasp and surging to his feet; wide green eyes staring at a man who didn't wear robes and Lucius who had an expression of disgust mingling with amusement on his face.
Disgust? Probably for the muggle who was standing next to him.
Ayrin gave a softly threatening growl, but held himself back stiffly, ears lowered and back with a warning in the way his teeth glinted in the sun.
A glint of metal flashed as the stranger suddenly leveled this… thing in the direction of the wolf and asked casually, "Tell me… can I shoot it?"
Confused as how that thing could shoot much of anything, Harry quickly waved Ayrin back and scolded the wolf, "And here you were telling me that it was a good thing to get taught how to fight physically! Why are you growling like that at the man?" He sneaked a quick glance at the stranger under his messy black hair, trying to covertly study the man.
Interesting looking clothes, he decided silently to himself, no wizarding robe, though he really didn't expect one. The man was wearing black pants of some sort of strong material, with what looked to be a tight shirt, not that he could see much of it under the long black coat he was wearing.
Harry quit trying to look like he wasn't looking and openly stared.
The stranger had a nice color hair, dark brown in color, with amber eyes that looked distinctly cold. Harry shivered slightly under the weighted look the man gave him, but impudently glared, "And you shouldn't be threatening to… to shoot my bonded!" He adopted what he hoped was the same sort of voice that Lucius used at times -never to Narcissa though- and raised his chin slightly.
"Again, he's talking as if the animal actually spoke back. Does it really speak back and I can't hear it because I'm only a… muggle? Or is the boy I'm supposed to teach delusional?"
Harry glowered and bit back with an indignant tone, "I am not delusional!" A soft sound of laughter startled him and he glanced towards Lucius who was laughing, laughing, at him. "Lucius!" he pouted and gave the man a watery look, knowing exactly how to get him, "You're laughing at me! Tell the muggle I'm not delusional!" He turned an imperious gaze back towards the openly smirking man and gave a growl remarkably similar to Ayrin's, "What are you wearing anyway?"
Dryly, Lucius cut in, all traces of mirth wiped from his face, "He's not delusional, muggle, and I'll leave you both for introductions. If you need to see your rooms, then Harry here will summon a house elf to show you the place where you're going to stay. I trust that you won't intrude much?"
The man gave Lucius a faint smirk, "Of course… just as long as you clear my name after all of this is done."
"Didn't I say that I would?"
"I don't trust others much, so please excuse me if I'm a bit skeptical."
Lucius raised an eyebrow, "Yet you accept my explanation about wizards and the hidden facets of the world? You are a strange muggle indeed." He waved a hand lightly, "Just as long as you do your job well, I want the boy completely trained."
"Of course, I never fail a mission."
Harry watched with wide eyes the exchange between the muggle and Lucius. He would have been more amused except he was slightly horrified that he was being left with the muggle who had threatened to shoot (though he still did not know with what) Ayrin.
Lucius gave the man a curt nod and spared Harry a short glance before he strode away, probably off to tell Narcissa that the muggle had arrived and for the house elves to see that the rooms were perfect. The man didn't like muggles, but he would be courteous in his own manor.
Seeing Lucius walk away, Harry turned back towards the man with wide, wide eyes, flinching slightly under the openly assessing look that the man before him had.
"I have my work cut out for me, don't I?"
~
"Hey, did you read this Draco?"
Draco gave a disinterested glance towards the paper that Pansy held in her hands, still feeling a bit morose over the fact that Harry had apparently blocked him off. But by now, he was also getting a bit annoyed as well, wondering to himself what he had done to make the other boy so incensed with him that he would actually block the link.
"What is it, Pansy?"
She gave him an uneasy smile, but held up the Daily Prophet in which the following headline was emblazoned across the top.
GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST
Investigations continue into the break-in at
Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the
work of Dark wizards or witches unknown.
Gringotts goblins today insisted that nothing
had been taken. The vault that was searched had in
fact been emptied the same day.
"But we're not telling you what was in there, so
keep your noses out if you know what's good
for you," said a Gringotts spokesgoblin this after-
noon
"Who has the gall to actually break into Gringotts?" She shook her head with a slightly amazed expression, "It's said that they keep dragons down there to guard the more special vaults!"
Draco gave a shrug, momentarily diverted from his pondering about Harry, a thoughtful look on his face, "I'm not sure… It's interesting though, isn't it? I wonder what they took…" His silver eyes flicked away from the paper and rested on Tyr's form for a moment.
"I bet the item in the vault is important though," he mused more to himself than to anyone else.
~
"Err… so what are you wearing again?" Harry asked uneasily, his hand resting on Ayrin's ruff. The wolf still had not backed down completely and looked agitated, shifting his weight back and forth constantly in order to find the perfect balance at which he would spring at, if the need arose.
"Black trenchcoat, regular shirt and jeans… though perhaps they aren't so regular for a wizard?" The man still had that impertinent smirk on his face, calmly gazing around him as if nothing was worrying him. Though that couldn't be completely true since he still had that… thing… aimed at Ayrin.
He smells of blood. He reeks of it. Human blood…
Harry gave Ayrin a startled look, "Blood? What do you mean, he smells of blood?" Quietly his hand snuck towards his robe pocket where he kept his wand, feeling the soft warmth the stick of wood always gave off. Warily he looked towards the man who seemed to be unperturbed by the fact that Harry just asked the wolf why he smelled of blood.
…I do not like the smell…
"Didn't he tell you that I've killed before?" Quiet, the smirk now gone from his face, the man watched Harry calmly, "Tell your pet to calm down and I'll lower my gun as well. We wouldn't want any casualties on the first day, now do we?"
Harry gave a wild look towards the even tenser Ayrin, looking at the metal thing -the gun- with a bit of trepidation before he gently laid a hand on Ayrin's head, "Shh… Ayrin. Lucius hired him, didn't he? And you did want a teacher for me."
The black wolf gave a mental sigh into Harry's head and quieted; though not completely relaxed as he normally was. Ayrin butted his head lightly against Harry's head, muttering inside the boy's mind with a trace of the familiar impudence he always showed, Hn, of course, what do I care for some humans? But he better not hurt you, bonded, then I would have to kill him The last was spoken quite seriously, Ayrin giving the man across from them a steady look.
The man, unaware of the conversation the duo was having between them, eyed the wolf warily still, but gave the slightest of shrugs when he saw the wolf calm down, sheathing his gun at his hip holster. "It listens to you, interesting."
Glancing up, Harry gave the man a puzzled, but interested look, "Of course, why wouldn't Ayrin listen to me? He is my bonded after all." He kept close to the black wolf, his fingers curling into the soft, warm, black fur. He wasn't completely sure what to make of the man, but gave him the benefit of the doubt… Lucius had hired him for some reason, so he could trust the man… a little bit at least.
"Wolves don't usually talk to people… not to mention that I can't hear it myself."
"Him, Ayrin is male." Harry corrected a bit absentmindedly, turning over in his mind the concept that the muggle didn't know that Ayrin could talk to him. Seeing as he should enlighten the muggle, he spoke in a slightly haughty tone, "And he's my bonded, he can only talk to me because of that." A bit of a lie really, since Ayrin could converse with other Astrali wolves, but Harry decided not to go further into that subject.
Shaking his head slightly, he pinned on the man a thoughtful look, "What's your name anyway? You're to teach me how to fight, right?"
"Hn," the man gave a soft grunt in affirmation, his gaze sweeping around the area before muttering coolly, "Toshi, that's what you can call me."
"It's not your real name…" Being around Lucius, Narcissa, and Severus so much, Harry supposed that he had picked up some tricks to know when a person was being evasive. Seeing the man's face darken for a moment, he shook his head and started walking off towards the place where he played quidditch, "Never mind, it doesn't matter. Follow me… I'll show you where we're supposed to start." At least that was where he thought they were supposed to be… it was a large enough space to do anything that the man wanted, probably anyway.
A quick glance back affirmed that the man was following him at a slow pace, eyes always shifting as if he was afraid that someone was going to sneak up on him and clobber him over the head with a club.
Paranoid muggle, isn't he?
Harry snickered softly to himself, ignoring the frown that the man shot his way as he maneuvered himself towards the large field.
~
Toshi sighed and shook his head lightly as he eyed the boy and the wolf warily. Why the hell did he take up this sort of job? He mused to himself lazily, keeping an eye out or anything that might be harmful. Oh, yeah, it was because he wanted to be a free man when he left, and for some reason he thought that this… wizard… could do it.
Wizard.
He couldn't really get his mind past that fact though more than one piece of evidence presented itself. He thought he was a sort of realist, but how could reality explain something as… chimerical as magic?
He had thought that it would take something akin to magic, or a miracle, for anyone to find him and know about his past, he had sunk himself down and disappeared so completely that he was almost sure of it. But then this man came, this man with a blank stare and cool gray eyes, holding out a tantalizing proposition, but with drawbacks and a story so great, he at first couldn't believe it was anything but imaginary.
Apparently he was wrong.
Another piece of that evidence was the fact that there was an eleven year old kid in front of him playing around with a wolf as if it was nothing, claiming that the wolf talked into his head but not into anyone else's. That was just a bit creepy.
And if he was anyone except for who he was, then he'd probably be blithering about all of the strangeness right now and how wrong this all was.
He froze, and carefully retraced his thoughts, wondering when all of this became wrong for him. Wrong? Who was he to judge what was wrong or not with all of the deaths on his hands? Toshi gave a grim smile, noticing immediately the pensive look the boy gave him.
At least his employer, Lucius, had given him as much background info on magic that he could… though he did manage to leave the boy out of the conversation many times, hence the not knowing of the pet wolf the boy had. Why? He wasn't exactly sure, and Toshi was also sure that the man would match his wits when it came to trying to obtain information.
Pity.
He knew when he was beat, at least temporarily, and gave a slight shrug, deciding to do his job since it was apparent that he had to do it, especially with the boy looking at him so seriously. Harry, he recalled, that's what Lucius had told him. Not smiling, instead he smirked, and spoke coolly, "Tell me, what do you know of physical fighting?" It seemed better to know what the boy knew first before trying anything.
"Leave it to Ayrin," the boy gave a light quip, grinning slightly. The black wolf, Ayrin, by his side seemed to puff up proudly.
Toshi refused to shake his head and groan. In other words, this meant that the boy knew absolutely nothing. Impatience flickering in the undertone of his voice, he snapped out, "Don't you know how to defend yourself at all? Ridiculous."
Confusion scrunched up the boy's face for a moment before it disappeared behind a stoic mask, Harry shifted a bit, his chin tilting up once again, "I've never had to need it. Magic and Ayrin was all I needed, but Lucius brought up good points today, so I'm going to have to learn physical fighting as well." Mild distaste colored the last part, but he hid it relatively well.
Though not well enough that Toshi didn't catch it.
Apparently the man was going to have a lot more trouble in his hands than he originally thought… but it was too late to back out of the deal, he had seen what the wizard could do and personally he didn't want to end up as that cat had.
He wasn't entirely sure if his bullets would work on a man who could turn a cat into a stick and then break it as if he had not a care in the world.
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*falls over* Whee! Done! What do you guys think of Toshi? He's Japanese… I guess lmao, but you should have noticed that from the name. Yes, I happen to put OC a lot of times in my fics… but they will never take center stage *nods adamantly* I refuse to write a Mary-Sue or the male version of that (forgot what it's called) ^^; I've also decided that for this fic to limit the amount I would create and just try to use as many book characters as possible…
Anyway, it would be interesting to see everything from the viewpoint of a muggle, right? And I'm having Harry figure out how to use guns instead of the customary weaponry (swords, knives, ect.) that people always seem to use. Why? Because how many muggles know how to use a sword well in this day and age? Heh, I'll fit it in if I can.
*twitch* I never knew that my version of the first book would take more than two chapters, damnit. *sighs* I'll really try to wrap everything in the first book up in the third chapter (yes, really). I'm kind of an impatient person and want what's supposed to happen (what's in my head) to happen, but don't worry, I won't needlessly rush. But don't you guys find all of this boring? I'd hate to bore my own readers.
Anyway, review please. ^_^
Oh, and if anyone leaves their e-mail address, I'll give you a chapter update if you like.
~
My e-mail address is flyby311@hotmail.com and put Single Choice or fanfic or Harry Potter or something similar to that, so I know what the e-mail is about. Anything you want to add/criticize/comment/whatever you guys just review it… please?
