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.
------- = Change of Scene
~~~~~~ = Flashback
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Chapter 16
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As Aunt Marge hit him with the fire poker for beating Dudley again at musical chairs, Harry thought sarcastically, 'What a holly jolly Christmas.'
It was December again and Aunt Marge was on one of her famous visits to Privet Drive. She had brought along her bulldog Ripper who was currently eyeing him with a hungry look and Harry made a mental note to bar his door tonight.
"BOY!" barked Aunt Marge and Harry jumped. He blinked and noticed that everyone was staring at him in contempt and disgust. He must have spaced out because Aunt Marge said, "Didn't I tell you there was something wrong with his head, Petunia dear? You should really take my advice about hitting him over the head with a bat or something, Vernon, or the boy's absentmindness is just going to get worse and worse. No, no, it's best to knock some sense into the small head of his or he'll begin to walk all over you. Of course, he'll never be like my neffie-poo, Dudley, here - " – she pinched his cheeks and he smiled his fat smile, holding out his hand to receive the 20-pound note – "but who can?"
"Who would want to be a pig in a wig?" Harry muttered under his breath. "I'll stay to my own species, thanks." Unfortunately, Aunt Marge seemed to have heard because she turned red, her mustache bristling. Harry was already up and running to the door when she shouted, "RIPPER! SIC!"
'Damn hag,' thought Harry furiously as he ran faster, the bulldog snarling at his heels. 'Bloody bitch, no wonder she gets along with dogs.' He rounded around the coffee table and leapt over the sofa, stumbling out of the patio door with the vicious bulldog still on his heels. He could feel the dog's hot breath on the back of his legs; feel the foaming saliva dripping on his heels.
'Burn me,' Harry thought frantically as raced around the garden, trying to escape the bloodthirsty beast. 'When the hell are they going to call it off?' He risked a glance behind him – and it was a glance because Ripper took that small slowing to nip at his ankles, ripping off some of his pant leg – and saw that there was no one…
…no one to call off the dog from killing him.
'Oh god,' he thought, feeling his stomach fall and slowing down more, allowing Ripper to bite off some of his other pant leg. 'They're not going to call him off…they're going to let him attack me…kill me…there's no one to stop him…oh my god…please…'
Harry pumped his legs faster, running towards an old oak tree in the garden. Maybe he could be fast enough to climb it…
An arm struck out from behind the tree and grabbed Harry. He opened his mouth to scream but a hand was placed on his mouth while the other arm pinned his own arms to his sides by wrapping itself around him and pulling him towards a warm body. He froze.
'Oh god, as if this couldn't get any worse,' he thought in a panic. He heard the dog's snarls grow louder as it headed towards him. 'Maybe Ripper will take this person down and that'll distract him enough for me to go up the tree. Two birds with one stone.'
Ripper came bounding from around the tree…
…and ran away whimpering from a hiss that sounded next to Harry's ear.
"Damn dog," a familiar voice growled next to his ear. "A coward and a beast. And you call me a monster, honestly. At least I don't run away whimpering when I see Myn." The hand was removed from his mouth and Harry breathed deeply.
"Lest?" he asked in a hushed whisper. He squirmed to turn around and the arm trapping him loosened, then fell – almost reluctantly it seemed – to Lest's side. Harry turned and looked up in surprise at the vampire boy. "What are you doing here?" he hissed. "If the Dursleys catch you…"
Lest snorted and leaned against the tree, crossing his arms. "You're welcome Qye," he said sarcastically. Harry blushed but still looked worriedly at the older boy. The blond rolled his eyes. "Oh come on, Qye, do you think I'm stupid enough to let them see me?"
"Maybe," Harry muttered and Lest glared at him. He smiled sweetly then turned back to the house and sighed. "I better head back or they'll get suspicious and then I'll be in big trouble." He looked at Lest. "Will you'll be here later?"
Lest nodded then looked at the house, scowling. "I swear by the name of Opacre," he muttered darkly, "I'm going to get your relatives back one of these days."
"Just don't kill them and let me watch," Harry joked. Lest looked at him and a small grin flitted on his on his face. Harry inwardly sighed. His friend rarely smiled nowadays and it got rarer as the days went bye. He was afraid of what might happen to those smiles after the ceremony. He sighed and began to trudge his way to the house. He paused and turned around, looking curiously at Lest. "By the way, what did you do to Ripper to make him run away like that?"
Lest straightened up to his full height, dropping his arms, and looked at Harry with hooded, smoldering eyes that screamed hunger for blood. The moon made them shine and the tousled blond hair seemed to glow in the darkness. He bared his teeth, revealing his fangs to their fullest extent, the moonlight making them glow a bright white. From his throat he hissed, the garden making it echo.
…
"Is that it?" Harry asked, blinking.
Lest stared. "What do you mean, 'is that it?'" the teenaged vampire asked stiffly. Harry's lip twitched. The older boy looked very indignant and he guessed he must have bruised his ego with his remark.
Harry shrugged, lips still twitching. "You weren't that scary. Maybe you were right…Ripper is a huge coward to run away from that."
"Bugger off!" Lest snapped, folding his arms and leaning against the tree in a huff. As he walked back to the house, Harry silently snickered as he heard the vampire growl darkly under his breath. 'Aw, did the big bad vampire's scary ego get a wittle bwuised?'
Harry heard Lest's curse at him perfectly.
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"You know, if your act as a terrifying monster of the night doesn't work out you can always try out to be a clown," Harry snickered later that night when Lest came through his door. The Dursleys had finally retired for the night and he waited for the vampire in his cupboard.
Lest gave him a flat look. "That's the thanks I get for saving your life and lightening up your night, is it?" he sniffed, settling down.
"Lightening up my night?" Harry asked amusedly. "Is that what you call your antics?" Throughout the evening, as Harry fought to keep from laughing in front of his relatives, the teenager had mocked the Dursleys, making faces and pretending to do things to seriously hurt them. Harry had almost broken a rib when Lest made a horrid face at Ripper, who happened to be looking out the window, and had jumped into Aunt Petunia's lap, causing her to scream shrilly and drop coffee on her new salmon dress. While everyone was fussing over the stain, Lest had given the dog an evil look, causing the dog to pee and be left outside for the rest of the evening.
"Weren't you laughing?" the older boy asked, raising his eyebrow. Harry mock-glared at him, puffing out his chest.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Harry said innocently. They both grinned and Harry felt a moment of pleasure at being able to bring some happiness to the older boy. It faded with Lest's grin, who suddenly looked very miserable and regretful. Harry looked worriedly at him.
"Lest?" he asked softly, looking at him. The vampire sighed and looked down at the ground. Then he looked up, a forced grin on his face.
"I have some good news for you Qye," he said in a fake cheerful voice. Harry seriously doubted the news would be pleasant but he kept silent. The vampire kept on his false grin and said, "You're going to have vampire-free nights until the beginning of July."
Harry stared at his falsely grinning friend. "What?" he asked flatly, not bothering trying to help the vampire with the semblance of joking.
Lest's grin faltered then fell entirely from his face. The vampire sighed and slumped against the door of the cupboard. "I'm sorry Qye," he murmured, staring down at the floor. "I have to look for possible mates and my father is booking me practically every night until the beginning of July with candidates. It's not like I have a choice."
Harry stared down at the floorboards, the feeling of something he always felt when Lest mentioned his mate stabbing him repeatedly. "So you still haven't found one, huh?" he asked hollowly.
Lest shook his head. "I've looked everywhere I could but I…there's no one I want to be stuck with the rest of my life out there." He let out a humorless laugh. "My father says if I don't find one by the beginning of July, he'll force me to take the heir of the Malfoy family." His lips curled. " I really don't want to be stuck with that arrogant little brat." He looked at Harry and tried another smile and stab at humor. "He's worse than you."
Harry didn't say anything. 'I'm going to be alone,' he thought dully, staring but not seeing the floorboards. 'Lest isn't going to come back at nights. I'm going to be stuck with the Dursleys until July. But what about after? Lest's mate might not like me. Maybe they'll stop him from seeing me. And I'm going to be alone.' The floorboards blurred and he blinked rapidly. 'Damnit…Lest, you bloody git, why did you have to make me like you?'
Warm arms wrapped around him, pulling him close.
Harry froze.
"What makes you think anyone can make me do something, Qye? No one will stop me from coming back. I'll miss you too much," the vampire Lest said quietly in his ear, holding him gently in his arms. He held Harry like he was a porcelain doll, arms gently wrapped around him. All Harry could see was the door, his head next to Lest's.
Harry wanted to tell him off for reading his mind again without consulting him but his throat was too tight. Harry wanted to tell him to let go of him because he might bite him but he just stayed in the vampire's embrace. Harry wanted to tell him the he was a complete and utter git, why would he think that Harry would miss him but he knew it was a lie and stayed silent. Harry wanted to tell him…
"I'm going to miss you too," he whispered, laying his forehead on the vampire's shoulder and closing his eyes tightly. "Promise you'll come back Lest."
"By the goddess of Hélène and name Opacre," Lest said solemnly in his ear, "I promise you I'll come back."
Harry threw his arms around the vampire boy and hugged him tightly. "You better you damn, bloody, irritating vampire," he whispered fiercely. "Or I'll stick a stake up your arse." Lest chuckled and hugged him harder. The remained like that for a few minutes then, reluctantly, separated. Harry felt a blush come upon his face and he noticed that Lest's pale face was flushed slightly too.
The older boy cleared his throat and asked gruffly, "Do you still have that necklace I gave you a while back?" Harry's blush faded and he looked confusedly at the other boy, nodding. He reached into his secret compartment, rummaged around, and pulled out the pendant.
Lest smiled slightly and reached a hand under his shirt, pulling out an identical necklace. Harry blinked, then glared at the vampire.
"I knew there was something extra about this necklace that you weren't telling me," he said accusingly, closing the compartment. He looked down at his own necklace. "Spill Lest, what's with the necklace?"
"It's called the Opacre Pendent actually Qye," Lest said, still smiling slightly. "And there are a lot of extras about it but I'm only going to you one." He put on his own necklace then took Harry's and shuffled to put it on. Harry raised a quizzical eyebrow.
"Which is…?" he probed as he bent his head to let the vampire boy put the necklace on.
"It communicates feelings with its pair which, as you may have noticed, I have," Lest said absently, clasping the necklace on. "If you have it on and you're feeling, I don't know, depressed or something, I'll be able to feel it. Then I'll be able to project my own feelings to you and that'll perhaps cheer you up something. Or if you're just wondering how I'm feeling, hold it in your hand and you'll feel what I'm feeling, which is most likely going to be annoyance because a bunch of these candidates are what give blonds a bad name." Harry snickered and Lest smiled. He shuffled back – almost reluctantly again – and said, "It'll only work if you have it on though. And if you don't feel me, it's because I've taken it off. That's not likely to happen though, unless I'm taking a shower."
Harry picked up the pendent and looked at it curiously. Hesitantly, he grasped it and blinked when he felt something emanate from it. Contentment. Depression. Worry. Regret. Hopefulness. Resignment. Curiosity. He looked up and looked at the other boy, who was looking at him with a blank face.
He smiled and dropped the pendent. "Thanks." Some unnoticed tension left the other boy, who smiled slightly at Harry.
"You're welcome." Lest looked at his watch and from his resigned expression, Harry knew he had to go. The blonde vampire looked up and Harry smiled at him.
"Good luck Lest," he said softly. Lest looked at him, a forced smile on his face. Harry watched as the vampire opened the door and stood out. Harry watched as the older boy exited his cupboard. Harry watched as the boy looked uncertainly at him before sighing and raising his hand in farewell. Harry watched as the cupboard door closed behind his first and only true friend.
Then Harry fell on his cot and let some of his tears fall as the loneliness overwhelmed him.
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AN: Wow…*looks pleased* That was pretty good…*ponders* I think….*sighs then grins* You know, I could end it here…but I'm not going to. *cackles*
(Draco) *glares at Lest* You're such a git.
(Lest) *glares back* You're worse.
(Myn) Aww…poor dollie…
(S, L, and D) o_O
(Shades) *nervously* What did you do with Harry?
(Harry) *taps foot*
(Others) *turn to look at bunny-costumed Harry*
(Lest and Draco) *cough*
(Harry) *glares and snarls*