Title: Opacre

Author: Shades

Rating: PG – 13 with maybe some R

Summary:  Harry Potter had no friends until Hogwarts…or so he thought.  Darkness engulfs Harry at age 5…but not evil.  This is the past, and of a secret Harry held close without knowing it…SLASH

Disclaimers: Do I need to tell you that I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters? I do? Well, it belongs to J.K. Rowling, a wonderful author.  I only own Lest Opacre, his family, and anything related to him.  The rest belong to her.

Author's Notes: This will be slash.  Between two boys.  Not the shagging kind, all sex but feeling.  Harry will be 10 when feelings of that sort come around, but nothing before that.  NO NO NO! No pedophile!!  No shagging in this story!  Clear? No flames against that, OK?  Flames against plot maybe but none of pedophile because I don't endorse that, constructive criticism and reviews welcome.

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                                                                                                               Chapter 3

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                Next time turned out to be two weeks later.  And those two weeks were full of some emotion, whether it be anxiety, fear, or curiosity.

                Harry was so anxious about Lest's return that he managed to only break two plates and four cups in that two-week span.  Unfortunately for him, two of those cups were made of china and one of the plates had been a family heirloom.  Needless to say, Harry suffered worst beatings than before.

                While Harry was in his cupboard, nursing his new injuries, the fear haunted him in the dark, like a leech, drawing all out all the bravery and courage he had to face the vampire.  Fear that the vampire would come again.  Fear that the vampire would never leave him alone.  Fear that he would be drunk dry by the soulless being of the night.  Fear that he would become one of the damned.  Fear that this being would kill his family…

                …Ok, maybe that wasn't so much as a fear as it was a wish.  But he believed that the vampire would only suck up fat instead of blood.  Maybe that way, he could get rid of two birds with one stone…

                As for curiosity…well, who would not be curious?  How often was it that you met of the creatures found only in fairy tales and books?  And Lest had said that some books had been wrong about vampires.  That not all vampires were these evil demented people whose sole reason for living was drinking blood, living in a castle, taking a beautiful young woman as a wife, and try to take over the world.

                …Well, Harry had read Interview with A Vampire and he was not a naïve little five-year-old.  The vampire had to give him a little credit. 

                'I mean, honestly, does he expect me to take his word on it when I have never met another vampire?' Harry thought irritably as he tore an old shirt of his into bandages to put on his cuts.  'How am I supposed to just cast aside all these rumors and facts that I have learned?  It's easy to learn but it is harder to forget.'

                So those two weeks were spent worrying and looking over his shoulder for a shadow of a ten-year-old vampire.  And every night, he would make sure that that thin log from the first night was as sharp as it could possibly be.

                'Hey,' Harry thought defensively as he tested the point, 'he can not expect me to immediately trust him and not have at least some protection with me, right?'

                How was he supposed to trust a vampire?  Why was he even talking to one?  Why had he agreed to talk?  Why had he just not driven the stake through the thing's heart and sweep out the ashes?  That would have saved him a lot of sleepless nights and some plates.

                Had the vampire used some sort of hypnotism on him?  Had he tricked Harry into trusting him, even for a little?  Or had it been something else?  Had Harry's childlike mind behaved on instinct and made him trust the boy?

                'Dear me, I am only five and I am worrying like a seventy-year-old!'

                Maybe because Lest looked like a child, Harry had accepted to chat with him?  Was that it?  Was it how Lest looked the reason that Harry had allowed himself to socialize with the vampire?  But why?  What was it about youth that allowed people to trust the young?

                'Is it because we are so young that people think we cannot think of deception?  That we have no idea of deceit or distrust?  Is that why?  Do people trust kids because of the fact that we are so young that we do not know of the wickedness of the world?  Is that it? Or is it something else?'

Harry did not know.  Harry wanted to know.  But whom was he going to share his opinions with?  Aunt Petunia?  She would remind him to not ask questions and to keep doing his chores.  Uncle Vernon?  He would beat him to a pulp because he dared to talk and then another for thinking.  Dudley?  The mere idea was laughable.  The thought of seeing Dudley while Harry said his theories was enough to send him into hysterics.  Which caused another beating.  What was it about the youth that allowed a person to trust someone who looked so young?

                So who was left?  He had no friends, no family.  He was not allowed to go out of the house for any reason.  No neighbors cared about his well-being or they would have responded to his calls of distress when he was younger.  He learned quickly that no one responded to calls of help.  'If you want help,' Harry thought darkly, 'you have to yell fire.'  People were naturally selfish.  If they heard help, they would have to interfere in something and would most likely receive nothing.

                But with fire…everyone responded.  The selfish side of a person came to surface.  Fire meant that the person itself was in trouble.  The yell of fire made a person believe that they were in trouble, allowing help in one way or another.

He couldn't lie, though, no matter how much he needed to.  He couldn't hurt, no matter how much he wanted to.  He couldn't do anything to help himself, no matter if he had to.  Nature gave him these weaknesses, which in themselves were strengths.  Unable to lie, hurt or help himself, made people trust him and care for him.  And that trust could be used against them.

                That is, if they knew he couldn't do those things.

                'Best keep hidden, like the rest,' Harry thought.  'Everyone has a mask and everyone needs it.'

                Masks, cloaks, indifference…if a person wanted to survive in the world they needed these things like water.

                This knowledge depressed Harry.  He knew things that no other five-year-olds had the right to know at their age.  He knew true anger, at the way his family treated him like dirt.  He knew true loneliness, because he had no one.  He knew true sorrow, for the family he did not have.  He knew true pain, oh pain, from the beatings.  He knew true fear, from the pain.  He knew true longing, for the love and caring that life had depraved him from.  And he knew true hatred.

                Hatred at the life that gave him nothing.

                Hatred at how he lived.

                Hatred at the fact that he knew how life was, in reality.

Hatred that he did nothing to change this.

                Hatred that he could do nothing to change this.

                And this depressed him.

                'What can I do?' Harry thought miserably.  'I am just a kid.  Some kids have it worse off than me, maybe.  We can't do anything.  And no one cares to do something.'

                Amazing at what a meeting with a vampire could do, huh?  From the questions he had, he managed to lower himself to the ninth level of hell.

                And this vampire had the nerve to find him amusing!

                So, the two vampire-depraved weeks past by, filled with many churning emotions.  Questions floated through Harry's head.  Why, why, why.

                'Maybe I can use this unfortunate occurrence as an advantage,' Harry thought.

                He could talk to Lest, ask him these questions, and examine the results.  He could compare the vampire's responses to his own and maybe, just maybe, he could find the answers he has been looking for.

                All he needed was the vampire.

                And by the time the creature of the night came back, Harry would have forgotten all his questions.

                Lot of help that would do.

                'Bloody…he said he wanted to talk and now he leaves me hanging day by day,' Harry thought, frustrated.

                So there Harry was, curled up in his loose clothes, weakly holding his crude stake in one hand, and laying his head on the other.  He was not asleep though.  He had not had a decent night's sleep since that visit from the vampire.  Every night afterward, he had dozed, jerking awake at the slightest creak, listening for footfalls.

                But there was none.  Not one trace of the vampire.  Had he lied?  Had he forgotten?  Or had he found someone more 'sensible'?  Had he already gotten bored with his human pet?

                Or was he waiting?  Was he waiting until Harry let his guard down?  Until he could no longer stay awake?  Was he waiting for the perfect moment, and then, when Harry was least suspecting, would he swoop down from the night and have his meal?

                How was he supposed to get any sleep?!?

                Harry was annoyed.  Two weeks since his birthday, since the meeting, and the vampire had not returned.  The damned party plagued his every thought of every moment, was the reason he had gotten so many beatings lately, and was why he had not gotten any sleep.  What was he going to do every night until the vampire finally got 'bored' of him?  He could not hold up much longer.

                Should he give up?  Should he let his wariness go?  Should he make it easy for the vampire?  Should he just surrender to the sleep, and allow Lest the chance to feed?  Should he quit?  Should he leave this dream and wake up?

                What should he do?  Nothing held him here, right?  So why did he continue to struggle against the wickedness?  Why did he continue to fight on?  Why did he live?

                Something…something made him hold on to this life.  He did not know what but he knew there was something.  He had no idea what it was but there was something familiar about this reason…something he should know…something he had to live for…but what?

                Sometimes, when he slept, not lately because of the crisis at hand but before, he thought he knew.  He thought the reason, the goal, the life of him, was in his dream.  That reason filled him with hope, with joy, with content.  But when he woke up, it fled his mind and hid, no matter how hard he tried to look or remember.  But it was there.

                So he lived on.

                And would continue to do so until that reason was gone.

                Unfortunately, he was going into withdrawal right now.  The threat of a vampire kept him awake, causing him to lose that memory of the reason.  He could not sleep, therefore he could not dream, therefore he could not see the reason, therefore he could not live.

                And he was angry with the vampire.  Why was he not here?  Why could he not leave him in peace?  Until this issue was resolved, he could not continue with his routine, could not live until he found the reason.

                That was it.  When he next saw the vampire, he was going to see if it could survive with a stake up the arse.

                'Ugh…I am not going to be able to hold out for much longer,' Harry thought drowsily.

                And that's when he heard the creak.

                So soft, so quiet, that he barely heard it.  Had he not been listening for it, had he had more fatigue, he might not have heard it at all.  But he did hear it.

                And that jerked him awake faster than a bucket full of ice.

                Suddenly awake and alert, Harry gripped the stake harder and scooted to the back of his cupboard.  Unfortunately, he pressed too hard to the wall and that hurt his tender wounds.

                Which caused him to remember that he had a lot of cuts.

                Which bled.

                Which vampires drank.

                'Why me?'

                The floor outside his cupboard creaked and he knew that he had no time to cover the injuries.  Harry hoped that the vampire outside had a nice meal before coming to visit him, whoever it was.

                The cupboard doorknob turned slowly.

                'What are we going to talk about?  What is he going to do?  What am I going to do?  Will I have the strength to hold out?  What's going to happen?'

                The cupboard door creaked open slightly.

                'Oh no, he's here, he's really here, what am I going to do?'

                The door opened fully and Lest, the vampire, stepped in.

'Oh my…'

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Author's Notes: Oh! My first cliffhanger! My my, what are my nice reviewers going to think of me? REALLY sorry, didn't mean for it to end like this. I was planning on having two chapters out but…I got delayed. Don't worry, I'll have another one out tomorrow, hopefully. Maybe some more reviews will encourage me?

Sorry bout Harry's thoughts but hey! I told you he was going to be intelligent and I imagine his childhood was not too pleasant. And don't worry, I have something planned for the Dursleys, just not in this story.

K then, point questions: What was Harry's reason for living (1 point); What was the "dream" Harry was talking about awakening from [hint: not the one with the reason or dreams he actually dreams](2 points); and what language did Opacre come from [hint: its spelled opacare] and what does it mean? (3 points)

Remember, person with most points at the end will have a short story dedicated to them about any subject they wish in Harry Potter land (hope its one I like or else it will turn out pretty bad in my view but I will write to the best of my ability, hold nothing back) E.g.: Baby Harry Story, Halloween, End of year, Valentine, Christmas Mistletoe, character thoughts…

Now for reviewers (I GOT 20!):

Chibi-chan - Cute? CUTE?!? How is Harry CUTE?! o_O He was supposed to be dark, thoughtful, cold, intelligent! NOT CUTE!!! ARG!! Where did I go wrong???

LunarBard - Why thank you.

Oceana - Cool. Your wait is momentarily sustained. After GoF? You have to wait for the sequel dear. ¦o_O Whoops…ignore that…*hits herself for letting ANOTHER teaser out*

Lady FoxFire - Email? Um…ok…you can put me on favorites ya know…or Author Alert.  I'm gonna usually post every two days.

Mel - Ok, ok, email…gotcha. Great story huh? Cool...

Lady Shirubana - [Lest] Why, thank you. *smiles* [Shades] Knock it off Lest! Yes, his name has something to do with Lestat but he is not Lestat.

zeynel - *mock-pouts and glares* You got a point for that…As for Ron and Mione…um, sequel.  YOUR Sirius and SNAPEY? Can I buy Sirius? And Lupin? They'll be in the sequel too…but maybe I'll put Snape here…maybe…And what exactly is your suspicion, Ms. zeynel? Btw, don't worry bout Dursleys, I have something planned for them in the sequel…:) Yes, Lest is rather upset… [Lest] *glares evilly and that's saying something*

summersun - Yes, smarter than Hermione.  Insightful? * blushes * Update regularly? Um…you're gonna be lucky if I post every day…most likely every two days…

corrupted hellster - Why thank you. Lest will always be five years older than Harry. That isn't bad. It could have been worse and been ten…Skip years? No way. However…every two weeks per chapter?!?!? ARE YOU INSANE?!?! Lets see, Harry is five and I am doing this past thing til 10…12 months per year…¦60 months for five years…¦2 chapters per month…60 times 20…120 chapters!?!? HELL NO! I'm skipping months, ok, but not years. Yeesh, too long. I wanna do the sequel soon so I have to skip months to make this go faster, k? Ok then, here's another chapter.

No offense meant and please keep reading and reviewing.