A/N: This is the second part of Harry's confessions. Let's cut to the chase!
Chapter 14: The Trouble with a Revealed Secret pt 2
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"What?" exclaimed Ron, Hermione, and Lupin at the same time, staring at the matron who just brought in Harry's cleaned clothes.
"Well," she said, ushering all of them over to a couch and pulling screens around Harry so he could change,"I found out about it the night of his birthday. After all of you left the room, he spilled out the whole story, thinking I could help him with his problem, which I could. He told me he often got sick if he had more than a cup at a time, but he knew he needed more than that to survive. I told him that once he got back to Hogwarts, he could brew a potion that would have his stomach digest the substance rather than reject it. All he needed to do was take it before he drank any blood."
"But he didn't bite anyone at the house," said Hermione, turning to Harry coming from behind the curtains dressed in his normal robes. "How did you survive?"
"Madam Pomfrey gave me blood from stores mixed in with the medicinal potions so no one would notice. I had sworn her to secrecy and I still won't let her tell the staff or headmaster. It would be a violation of a patient's privacy to divulge confidential things," said Harry casually. He looked much better now than he had earlier.
"So you've been living off blood stores ever since you got back to Hogwarts? What about earlier today? Why didn't you go to Madam Pomfrey?" asked Hermione. Ron was still stunned to silence by all of this information.
"The unexpected smell of blood this morning caught me off guard and allowed my carefully controlled other self to surface. If I hadn't left the building immediately, I knew I was going to bite someone. Unfortunately for the first creature I saw in the forest, he didn't know that. I almost never lose control like that anymore. And no," he said, walking over to an empty seat on another couch occupied by Draco," I haven't been living off the blood stores at school."
"Then how have you been surviving if you need blood?" asked Lupin.
"Madam Pomfrey supervises me while I draw blood every other day in this room."
"But from what or .... or who?" Lupin added, suspiciously.
At this, Draco rolled down the turtle neck he had been wearing. Two bite marks sat there, prominent in the brightly lit room. Everyone but the matron, Harry, and Draco gasped. Ron looked about ready to faint. Draco pulled his turtleneck back up, hiding the bite.
"It's all perfectly safe," said Draco. "Madam Pomfrey supervises the whole time. Harry and I meet here every other night at 7:00 and draws what he needs after taking his potion. It usually only takes a few minutes, and I'm then given a blood replenishing potion. Harry walks me down to the Slytherin dormitories and stays for about half an hour to make sure I'm okay, and we split ways. It really isn't bad at all once you get past the initial puncture; it's quite an odd sensation. He had taken blood from me during our friendship for quite a while until last Friday when he told me about his cousin; I was a bit nervous at first, but I realized today it didn't matter. He's perfectly safe and under control if it's scheduled."
"I had hoped it wouldn't be passed down from Lily," said Lupin, which brought the whole room to silence. Remus looked to the entire room and continued,"On Halloween night just over 17 years ago, she had been bitten and turned by a vampire Deatheater in Voldemort's service by the name of Cicila Sachol, leader of The Cicila Sachol Clan of vampires. The plan was that Lily would finish off James and be taken under Voldemort as a servant of darkness. However, nothing of the sort happened. While Lily did indeed bite James, she had enough willpower to stop when he pleaded with her to. That night was the night Harry was conceived."
The ex-werewolf paused to take a drink of water and said,"We had all hoped that the trait wouldn't be passed onto Harry, but vampire genes are always very powerful and unpredctable and Harry ended up one-fourth human and three parts vampire. A combination of genes like this had never been seen like this before and is part of why Harry is so powerful. Lord Voldemort heard of this and planned the attack on Godric's Hollow carefully. When he attacked, he easily defeated James and went after Harry, hoping to raise him to be his heir."
Collective gasps had gone throughout the room, including Harry's own. While he had looked up the reported incident of Lily in the Daily Prophet archive of the library, he never knew he was meant to be the Dark Lord's heir. He put his reasoning to the test and said," So the reason he was hesitant to kill my mother was because she was a powerful vampire with powerful magic and would make many powerful heirs for him."
"Yes," said Remus. "It feels good to be able to finally tell you, even if it could have been under better circumstances. I only hope you won't be too angry with us, the Order, for holding you from your proper lineage. I need to make it up to you. Draco, would you like a break from Harry next time he feeds?"
"No, Professor, you don't need to," started Draco-
"Call me Remus, alright? All of you can call me Remus outside of class. 'Professor' makes me feel old. It's fine Draco. I'll fill in for you next time. When is it, Harry?"
Harry stared dumbstruck for a minute before giving a warm, toothy smile he rarely gave anymore as it clearly showed a pair of sharp fangs. "Day after tomorrow. Thanks, Remus, I'm sure Draco will be pleased at not having a bite with me on Thursday."
"So, Harry," said Ron. This was the first time Ron had spoken the entire time and everyone turned to focus on him. "Are you still our Harry? My best mate?"
"Yes, I'm still Harry. I might look a little different and have a rather skewed diet, but I'm still just Harry."
As he parted ways with Draco and Remus at the corridor outside the Hospital Wing and was walking back to the tower with Ron and Hermione, he was brought out of his thoughts by Hermione.
"Harry?"
"Yeah?" he said, turning to look at her.
"Could I come with you on Monday when you meet Remus?"
"Sure, if you honestly want to. Starting on that vampire essay we were assigned last week by Remus in DADA and want a first-hand view? I'd only be too happy to help you two with it. I might not be a full vampire, but I'm still enough of one to know. Remember Remus' face when I turned it in the same class period we got it?"
Ron grinned for the first time that day and laughed with Harry. "He was so shocked, he didn't blink for five whole minutes. I mean, who finishes a three-foot essay on 'The Moral Issues Everyday Vampires Face' in forty minutes? Hermione was fuming at you for beating her in turning in an essay!"
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Wednesday blew by headlong into Thursday and Harry found himself sitting down next to Hermione and Ron in Charms after they all had breakfast. Well, they had breakfast, he just sat and watched.
Professor Cal asked Harry if everything was okay as Harry had never returned for classes on Tuesday, having spent the morning in the forest. Harry assured Cal and a just- as- anxious Mr. Kiss Kiss that he was fine. The class was then spent working on an Illusion charm meant to cause confusion in an opponent and give you time to work out a strategy. The three of them, with so much practice in any practical part of magic, mastered it quickly and Harry spent the rest of the time helping with Ron and Hermione's essays for DADA. He knew they were going to get a perfect score on it.
Care of Magical Creatures came after lunch and they spent the entire lesson on the giant squid, which they learned had the ability to vanish which was why Muggles could never find them alive. Hagrid reminded them at the end of the lesson that they should be thinking about which creature they would be studying in class and independently second term.
"So what do you think you'll do for your creature?" asked Harry, turning to his Slytherin friend, as they slowly walked back up to the castle.
"Oh, I don't know. Perhaps Winged Horses. They've always caught my fancy. What will you study?"
Harry looked deep in thought and replied,"No idea. At the beginning of the year, I was leaning towards a hippogriff, but that was just because I wanted one for traveling after Hogwarts. Thestrals can fly so much faster, though. I'll just play it by ear and see what comes to me by the time second term rolls around."
------------------------------------------
At 6:50 that night, Harry, Hermione, and a convinced Ron headed down to the Hospital Wing. Just before turning into the corridor that housed the entrance, Harry stopped them.
"What is it?" Ron asked.
Harry backtracked to a wallhanging of a thestral prancing about a meadow in the night. Upon seeing Harry, it stopped. Harry began to speak to it.
"I, Fallen Angel, master of thestrals, seek the path behind yourself."
To their amazement, the thestral bowed its dragonish head and allowed them access to a path behind its hanging. When they stepped out into the new light, they were in Harry's private room at the Hospital Wing. On the couch sat Draco and Remus, who looked up in surprise at their entrance.
"Madam Pomfrey told me there was an alternate path to this room. I figured it was probably better than all of us walking into the Hospital Wing where prying eyes may see," explained Harry, guiding Hermione and Ron to a couch opposite Remus and Draco. The three could hear Draco telling Remus what to expect and how to relax so the blood would flow better and quicker.
At precisely 7:00, Madam Pomfrey came in and sat down after giving Harry a vile with a metallic black liquid in it.
"Well, go on then, I can't afford to make my patients suspicious as to where I've gone," she said briskly.
Harry turned to Remus. "Are you sure you want to do this? You really don't have to."
Remus just smiled at Harry and removed his high-collared robes, revealing a blue T-shirt and black jeans. That was his way of saying that he was going ahead with it. Harry sighed and said,"If you feel faint, just tell me. I'll try to make it easy as I'm afraid we can't use a pain-numbing potion as it would be absorbed into your blood and would neutralize my potion for my stomach." Remus nodded.
Harry unbottled the metallic potion and swigged it down in three gulps. He then began approaching Remus slowly, keeping himself under control. Hermione and Ron watched, entranced, as Harry tilted Remus' head back with the lightest touch of his fingers, exposing his neck. Harry lowered himself down the Marauder's neck, finding the perfect spot in one of the veins that ran through it, and bit quickly, causing Remus to take in a sharp gasp.
'Draco was right,' thought Remus,'it is an odd sensation.' He felt the strong pull through his body from his neck, and an almost dreamlike state fall upon him. It was a mix between euphoria and intense pain. He felt Harry's magical energy flow through him as he held on to his control, and he marveled at what an odd feeling it was. Before he knew it, he felt Harry release his neck and slowly came out of his daze. Ron and Hermione looked awestruck, Harry looked deep in thought, and Draco was watching Harry amusedly as Harry licked his lips and swished his mouth as though sampling a wine. Madam Pomfrey stopped the bleeding, handed Remus a vial of blood replenishing potion, wished them all good night, and left for her other patients.
He looked around at Draco when Harry finally swallowed his last mouthful of Remus' blood. Draco smirked and asked Harry," So what does he taste like, Harry?"
"You mean you can taste differences?" asked Ron, amazed, as he watched Harry.
"Yeah," said Harry, swallowing. "Everyone has their own unique flavour underneath what people normally taste, it seems. I taste like a dark chocolate, and Draco tastes like sugar. As Draco, under his parents, had taken a wine tasting course, he can also pick out these subtleties. What do you think on Remus, Draco?" said Harry, pulling out a small goblet none of the others had seen and held it out to Draco. Draco took a small sip from the glass and shuddered; he didn't like the taste of blood, but he liked the challenge of finding the hidden flavour.
"Something sweet... It tastes like vanilla extract." regarded Draco, handing the glass back to Harry who took another sip as to verify his tastes again. Hermione and Ron thought that this was the oddest scene they had ever seen in their lives. Here was Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy talking cordially and discussing the taste of their teacher's blood. Yep, definitely odd.
"Yes, I think you hit it on the button, Draco," said Harry, turning to Remus for the first time in this entire conversation. He smiled and said," Congratulations, Remus Lupin, your blood has just been tested and certified as tasting like vanilla extract by the living-impaired and his evil croney! How do you feel? The world wants to know!" exclaimed Harry in his best impersonation of a reporter and shoved a pretend microphone under Remus' nose. The entire room burst into laughter.
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A/N: Wow. No cliffie and it ends on a happy, if slightly twisted note. This is a moment for history! Thanks to all four of you who have reviewed and only half-thank you's to the people who read but don't review. Oh well, not going to cry over spilt blood. And now for the quote of the chapter:
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits."- Albert Einstein
Wow. Deep.
(September 20-20)
Chapter 14: The Trouble with a Revealed Secret pt 2
-----------------------------------------
"What?" exclaimed Ron, Hermione, and Lupin at the same time, staring at the matron who just brought in Harry's cleaned clothes.
"Well," she said, ushering all of them over to a couch and pulling screens around Harry so he could change,"I found out about it the night of his birthday. After all of you left the room, he spilled out the whole story, thinking I could help him with his problem, which I could. He told me he often got sick if he had more than a cup at a time, but he knew he needed more than that to survive. I told him that once he got back to Hogwarts, he could brew a potion that would have his stomach digest the substance rather than reject it. All he needed to do was take it before he drank any blood."
"But he didn't bite anyone at the house," said Hermione, turning to Harry coming from behind the curtains dressed in his normal robes. "How did you survive?"
"Madam Pomfrey gave me blood from stores mixed in with the medicinal potions so no one would notice. I had sworn her to secrecy and I still won't let her tell the staff or headmaster. It would be a violation of a patient's privacy to divulge confidential things," said Harry casually. He looked much better now than he had earlier.
"So you've been living off blood stores ever since you got back to Hogwarts? What about earlier today? Why didn't you go to Madam Pomfrey?" asked Hermione. Ron was still stunned to silence by all of this information.
"The unexpected smell of blood this morning caught me off guard and allowed my carefully controlled other self to surface. If I hadn't left the building immediately, I knew I was going to bite someone. Unfortunately for the first creature I saw in the forest, he didn't know that. I almost never lose control like that anymore. And no," he said, walking over to an empty seat on another couch occupied by Draco," I haven't been living off the blood stores at school."
"Then how have you been surviving if you need blood?" asked Lupin.
"Madam Pomfrey supervises me while I draw blood every other day in this room."
"But from what or .... or who?" Lupin added, suspiciously.
At this, Draco rolled down the turtle neck he had been wearing. Two bite marks sat there, prominent in the brightly lit room. Everyone but the matron, Harry, and Draco gasped. Ron looked about ready to faint. Draco pulled his turtleneck back up, hiding the bite.
"It's all perfectly safe," said Draco. "Madam Pomfrey supervises the whole time. Harry and I meet here every other night at 7:00 and draws what he needs after taking his potion. It usually only takes a few minutes, and I'm then given a blood replenishing potion. Harry walks me down to the Slytherin dormitories and stays for about half an hour to make sure I'm okay, and we split ways. It really isn't bad at all once you get past the initial puncture; it's quite an odd sensation. He had taken blood from me during our friendship for quite a while until last Friday when he told me about his cousin; I was a bit nervous at first, but I realized today it didn't matter. He's perfectly safe and under control if it's scheduled."
"I had hoped it wouldn't be passed down from Lily," said Lupin, which brought the whole room to silence. Remus looked to the entire room and continued,"On Halloween night just over 17 years ago, she had been bitten and turned by a vampire Deatheater in Voldemort's service by the name of Cicila Sachol, leader of The Cicila Sachol Clan of vampires. The plan was that Lily would finish off James and be taken under Voldemort as a servant of darkness. However, nothing of the sort happened. While Lily did indeed bite James, she had enough willpower to stop when he pleaded with her to. That night was the night Harry was conceived."
The ex-werewolf paused to take a drink of water and said,"We had all hoped that the trait wouldn't be passed onto Harry, but vampire genes are always very powerful and unpredctable and Harry ended up one-fourth human and three parts vampire. A combination of genes like this had never been seen like this before and is part of why Harry is so powerful. Lord Voldemort heard of this and planned the attack on Godric's Hollow carefully. When he attacked, he easily defeated James and went after Harry, hoping to raise him to be his heir."
Collective gasps had gone throughout the room, including Harry's own. While he had looked up the reported incident of Lily in the Daily Prophet archive of the library, he never knew he was meant to be the Dark Lord's heir. He put his reasoning to the test and said," So the reason he was hesitant to kill my mother was because she was a powerful vampire with powerful magic and would make many powerful heirs for him."
"Yes," said Remus. "It feels good to be able to finally tell you, even if it could have been under better circumstances. I only hope you won't be too angry with us, the Order, for holding you from your proper lineage. I need to make it up to you. Draco, would you like a break from Harry next time he feeds?"
"No, Professor, you don't need to," started Draco-
"Call me Remus, alright? All of you can call me Remus outside of class. 'Professor' makes me feel old. It's fine Draco. I'll fill in for you next time. When is it, Harry?"
Harry stared dumbstruck for a minute before giving a warm, toothy smile he rarely gave anymore as it clearly showed a pair of sharp fangs. "Day after tomorrow. Thanks, Remus, I'm sure Draco will be pleased at not having a bite with me on Thursday."
"So, Harry," said Ron. This was the first time Ron had spoken the entire time and everyone turned to focus on him. "Are you still our Harry? My best mate?"
"Yes, I'm still Harry. I might look a little different and have a rather skewed diet, but I'm still just Harry."
As he parted ways with Draco and Remus at the corridor outside the Hospital Wing and was walking back to the tower with Ron and Hermione, he was brought out of his thoughts by Hermione.
"Harry?"
"Yeah?" he said, turning to look at her.
"Could I come with you on Monday when you meet Remus?"
"Sure, if you honestly want to. Starting on that vampire essay we were assigned last week by Remus in DADA and want a first-hand view? I'd only be too happy to help you two with it. I might not be a full vampire, but I'm still enough of one to know. Remember Remus' face when I turned it in the same class period we got it?"
Ron grinned for the first time that day and laughed with Harry. "He was so shocked, he didn't blink for five whole minutes. I mean, who finishes a three-foot essay on 'The Moral Issues Everyday Vampires Face' in forty minutes? Hermione was fuming at you for beating her in turning in an essay!"
--------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday blew by headlong into Thursday and Harry found himself sitting down next to Hermione and Ron in Charms after they all had breakfast. Well, they had breakfast, he just sat and watched.
Professor Cal asked Harry if everything was okay as Harry had never returned for classes on Tuesday, having spent the morning in the forest. Harry assured Cal and a just- as- anxious Mr. Kiss Kiss that he was fine. The class was then spent working on an Illusion charm meant to cause confusion in an opponent and give you time to work out a strategy. The three of them, with so much practice in any practical part of magic, mastered it quickly and Harry spent the rest of the time helping with Ron and Hermione's essays for DADA. He knew they were going to get a perfect score on it.
Care of Magical Creatures came after lunch and they spent the entire lesson on the giant squid, which they learned had the ability to vanish which was why Muggles could never find them alive. Hagrid reminded them at the end of the lesson that they should be thinking about which creature they would be studying in class and independently second term.
"So what do you think you'll do for your creature?" asked Harry, turning to his Slytherin friend, as they slowly walked back up to the castle.
"Oh, I don't know. Perhaps Winged Horses. They've always caught my fancy. What will you study?"
Harry looked deep in thought and replied,"No idea. At the beginning of the year, I was leaning towards a hippogriff, but that was just because I wanted one for traveling after Hogwarts. Thestrals can fly so much faster, though. I'll just play it by ear and see what comes to me by the time second term rolls around."
------------------------------------------
At 6:50 that night, Harry, Hermione, and a convinced Ron headed down to the Hospital Wing. Just before turning into the corridor that housed the entrance, Harry stopped them.
"What is it?" Ron asked.
Harry backtracked to a wallhanging of a thestral prancing about a meadow in the night. Upon seeing Harry, it stopped. Harry began to speak to it.
"I, Fallen Angel, master of thestrals, seek the path behind yourself."
To their amazement, the thestral bowed its dragonish head and allowed them access to a path behind its hanging. When they stepped out into the new light, they were in Harry's private room at the Hospital Wing. On the couch sat Draco and Remus, who looked up in surprise at their entrance.
"Madam Pomfrey told me there was an alternate path to this room. I figured it was probably better than all of us walking into the Hospital Wing where prying eyes may see," explained Harry, guiding Hermione and Ron to a couch opposite Remus and Draco. The three could hear Draco telling Remus what to expect and how to relax so the blood would flow better and quicker.
At precisely 7:00, Madam Pomfrey came in and sat down after giving Harry a vile with a metallic black liquid in it.
"Well, go on then, I can't afford to make my patients suspicious as to where I've gone," she said briskly.
Harry turned to Remus. "Are you sure you want to do this? You really don't have to."
Remus just smiled at Harry and removed his high-collared robes, revealing a blue T-shirt and black jeans. That was his way of saying that he was going ahead with it. Harry sighed and said,"If you feel faint, just tell me. I'll try to make it easy as I'm afraid we can't use a pain-numbing potion as it would be absorbed into your blood and would neutralize my potion for my stomach." Remus nodded.
Harry unbottled the metallic potion and swigged it down in three gulps. He then began approaching Remus slowly, keeping himself under control. Hermione and Ron watched, entranced, as Harry tilted Remus' head back with the lightest touch of his fingers, exposing his neck. Harry lowered himself down the Marauder's neck, finding the perfect spot in one of the veins that ran through it, and bit quickly, causing Remus to take in a sharp gasp.
'Draco was right,' thought Remus,'it is an odd sensation.' He felt the strong pull through his body from his neck, and an almost dreamlike state fall upon him. It was a mix between euphoria and intense pain. He felt Harry's magical energy flow through him as he held on to his control, and he marveled at what an odd feeling it was. Before he knew it, he felt Harry release his neck and slowly came out of his daze. Ron and Hermione looked awestruck, Harry looked deep in thought, and Draco was watching Harry amusedly as Harry licked his lips and swished his mouth as though sampling a wine. Madam Pomfrey stopped the bleeding, handed Remus a vial of blood replenishing potion, wished them all good night, and left for her other patients.
He looked around at Draco when Harry finally swallowed his last mouthful of Remus' blood. Draco smirked and asked Harry," So what does he taste like, Harry?"
"You mean you can taste differences?" asked Ron, amazed, as he watched Harry.
"Yeah," said Harry, swallowing. "Everyone has their own unique flavour underneath what people normally taste, it seems. I taste like a dark chocolate, and Draco tastes like sugar. As Draco, under his parents, had taken a wine tasting course, he can also pick out these subtleties. What do you think on Remus, Draco?" said Harry, pulling out a small goblet none of the others had seen and held it out to Draco. Draco took a small sip from the glass and shuddered; he didn't like the taste of blood, but he liked the challenge of finding the hidden flavour.
"Something sweet... It tastes like vanilla extract." regarded Draco, handing the glass back to Harry who took another sip as to verify his tastes again. Hermione and Ron thought that this was the oddest scene they had ever seen in their lives. Here was Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy talking cordially and discussing the taste of their teacher's blood. Yep, definitely odd.
"Yes, I think you hit it on the button, Draco," said Harry, turning to Remus for the first time in this entire conversation. He smiled and said," Congratulations, Remus Lupin, your blood has just been tested and certified as tasting like vanilla extract by the living-impaired and his evil croney! How do you feel? The world wants to know!" exclaimed Harry in his best impersonation of a reporter and shoved a pretend microphone under Remus' nose. The entire room burst into laughter.
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A/N: Wow. No cliffie and it ends on a happy, if slightly twisted note. This is a moment for history! Thanks to all four of you who have reviewed and only half-thank you's to the people who read but don't review. Oh well, not going to cry over spilt blood. And now for the quote of the chapter:
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits."- Albert Einstein
Wow. Deep.
(September 20-20)