Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or anything officially related to him
Authors note: Yes Hermoine30 I think I see your point, as Romances are one of my favorite reads as well. And thank you everyone who read and reviewed for their compliments. I would also like it if you could point out any inconsistencies, gaping plot holes, and grammatical errors. My chapters are long because I have so many ideas to express. I have been reading above my grade level since I was a child so my writing may be a little advanced. I am also attentive to grammatical errors in the course of reading other fictions so if I tell you to proof read your sentences it is usually because I see something missing or doubled so that it is hard to understand. Please excuse my Brutal Honesty because it is my nature to tell the entire and un-sugared truth. Also keep a close eye out for another fiction I am currently working on called The Continuing Adventures of Harry Potter. It is a Post Hogwarts fiction concerning Harry, his old friends, and some new acquaintances. I also had Harry deal with the big V a little differently. Enjoy any of my stories you choose to read.
Chapter Five: Secrets and Power
Harry was even more dumbfounded now than before. Hermione had the blood of a long forgotten ancient race; Harry himself was the descendant of an ancient race of people. He had only Alan to thank and blame. But Dumbledore was descended from Merlin? This was really getting confusing, and whom was Snape talking to. Harry was as blank as a fresh cleaned chalkboard. He just couldn't think.
And if Harry was clueless Hermione was at a rare loss for words. Dumbledore had a brief word with Alan and left. Alan sat in thought for a few minutes before continuing. He seemed to be concentrating on something.
While Alan was thinking Harry and Hermione came out of their stupors and began to question the specters of their ancestors. Harry learned some of the particulars of his unusual powers. And Hermione learned just what a digamon was and where they resided. Harry had a hard time following some of the things High Lord Ventor told him but caught on soon enough. He told Harry that he had a few more powers than his father because of his mother's bloodline. She had descended from a union of quite a few powerful races. Harry would be quite the wizard once he had the training that he would have had were his parents still alive. And he also told him that Hermione would make him an excellent bride and wife. At his last statement Harry felt himself blush almost as deep as Ron might have would that he heard something like that.
Hermione was making a little less progress because her ancestor had an annoying tendency to talk in riddles. She did however also congratulate Hermione on 'Catching such a fine male specimen' for her future husband. She too blushed a Weasley blush at this comment. This went on for about one half hour before Alan interrupted. He helped them both set training schedules with their ancestors and told them to get some rest. With the end of the meeting they all stood up and Alan waved a hand to dismiss the chairs.
((()))
Ron Weasley returned to Hogwarts during the second week of January to discover that Harry and Hermione had grown quite close. He couldn't say he envied them because he had spent most of his Christmas owling Parvati Patil. Ron didn't know how but Alan had convinced him that it would be good for them. Ron now silently agreed with his newest friend.
For the next few nights Ron also noticed that Harry, Hermione and Alan disappeared around eleven o'clock and Harry didn't come to bed until one or two in the morning. On his fifth day back on a Sunday he became curious enough to ask Harry what had been going on.
"Hey mate," Ron finally asked after breakfast, "Where have you, Hermione, and Alan been sneaking off to? I mean if it was just you and Hermione I would probably just consider it a snoging session but Alan's been going with you."
Harry was quite impressed that Ron had noticed so soon. He simply replied with a Tell-you-later look and speed of to class.
Ron's day of surprises wasn't over after that however. For some reason Professor Snape actually seemed happy and didn't even scowl at Harry once. Though he did take points off of Ron for not paying attention in class. Ginny could be seen walking in with a dreamy expression on her face almost all day and Draco Malfoy hadn't said a word to Ron, Harry, or Hermione for almost a week. And just when Ron didn't think his day could get any stranger the weirdest thing happened at dinner.
He was sitting between Harry and Parvati. He was scarfing his dinner just as he always did and was on his third plate of mashed potatoes when Alan came over and asked to see him, Ron, in his private dorm after dinner. Harry and Hermione didn't notice because they were busy cuddling and Parvati had been deep in conversation with Lavender Brown.
Ron was confused but did as requested and walked up to the topmost room in Gryffindor tower as soon as supper was over. Ron had seen too many weird things today and he was dumbfounded to say the least. The one thing he did figure out was that none of this had ever happened until Alan had shown up. Alan had put he and Parvati together. Alan had probably gotten Harry and Hermione together. Alan had caused a lot of couples to come together. Somehow Ron knew Alan had changed Snape's attitude. What he couldn't figure out was how he had managed all of this in less than half a school year.
Ron was still pondering the impossibilities of everything that had gone on when he reached Alan's private room. Before he could knock Alan had let him in and had sat him in a chair. Ron waited patiently while Alan searched through what seemed to be a small jewelry box. Whatever he was looking for he found because he muttered 'Ahha' under his breath. When he turned he held a small golden ring with a few strange markings on it. He fished out another ring from his pants pocket and put his silver ring on his finger. He gave Ron the strange gold ring and asked him to put it on. Ron did so and felt a tingling sensation where the ring now resided on his right ring finger.
Alan was holding his ring with his other hand and muttering under his breath. After a few moments Ron's finger under the ring began to grow warm, and then the rest of his body grew warm. Soon Ron was writhing on the ground as his entire body felt as if it were on fire. Ron was in agony for what seemed like hours but could be counted in only a few minutes. When his body returned to normal temperature he rose to a standing position ready to kill his friend when he noticed the oddest thing. He stared at the mirror behind a thoroughly exhausted looking Alan. His hair had not only grown three full inches but it had become a bright shade of orange. For some reason he thought it looked quite good. Wait a minute! Five minutes ago I would have said that that shade of orange looked ridiculous. Now I think it looks good! What is going on here? Ron looked at the rest of him. He was a little different. He didn't look gangly anymore; he had gotten a little wider. Not to mention that he now sported a nifty looking moustache.
Alan looked to be recovering from his near faint. Ron had a lot of questions he wanted to ask. Still seeming tired Alan told Ron that he had unleashed Ron's hidden power. Since when do I have a hidden power?
"Since you were born Sparky." Ron was shocked that Alan had read his mind.
"What the bloody hell kind of power could I possibly have?" Ron almost yelled.
"Actually you should know by now. You are exceptionally good with fire. You've probably never noticed before but around you flames never get out of control. You have a knack for lighting fires even without your wand. I don't have time to explain right now but your entire family has a bit of Pyrantum blood in you. Don't give me that look," Ron was now more confused than ever, "just keep the ring and ask Harry or Hermione to explain it to you. I'm going to bed." Alan ushered Ron out of the room and said quite clearly, "Good Night."
Ron found Harry in the common room snoging with Hermione. He cleared his throat to gain their attention and asked what was going on. Ron was in for a full night of explanations.
((()))
Draco Malfoy knew he should not like what was happening. He should have just told that Flyer kid to bugger off. He should not like doing what he was doing. If anyone found out his reputation would be ruined. His father would kill him if he knew. But for some reason this just felt right. Draco knew that this was forbidden.
Draco thought back to that day at Hogsmeade. He had been minding his own business, well not really. He had been torturing some stupid third years and somehow Crabbe and Goyle had gotten lost, and while his cronies were away he had been approached by Alan Flyer. Draco had disliked, no hated, Alan since that day on the train. He was nearly as bad as the 'Golden Trio' as everyone had started calling them. And worse yet Flyer actually hung out with those three. Alan had the nerve to politely ask him to wait for him in an isolated out of the way table in the Three Broomsticks. Draco couldn't believe he had actually made his way there and his henchmen were still nowhere to be seen. The worst part about all of this sat at the same table Alan had asked him to sit at. She was there. That girl had caused him no end of trouble since his second year.
"What are you doing here," Draco had sneered.
"Waiting for Alan, stupid," came here reply in her young rich voice, "What do you want?"
All Draco could say was, "Same
thing," as he sat across the table from Ginny Weasley. Draco would have killed
Alan would he had Crabbe and Goyle near him. They sat a while and during this
time Draco looked around to see what was happening. The 'Trio' was there and
Potter was talking to the Weasel.
Then he saw something that
made him sick and worried. Alan was leaving a table that had been occupied by a
large numbers of other students and all of them left in boy-girl couples. Draco
just barely realized that it was nearly time to return to school.
Alan was now walking right toward them. When he sat Draco sneered in mistrust. "What do you want Flyer?"
"I wanted to talk to you two privately for a moment. Ginny you know my secret so I don't have to explain it to you. But Draco here doesn't know what I am. Would you care to explain?" The smile on Alan's lips was almost ear-to-ear. Ginny looking mildly curious explained, to Draco's horror, what Alan had meant. Ok, now I should be worried! Draco was shaking with panic and confusion. He wanted to bolt. A mind reader at Hogwarts, this was becoming frightening even for Malfoy.
At that moment an oddly soothing voice popped into the back of his head. No need to worry said the voice, I've just got a proposition that you just might like, and the amusement in the voice was eerie, if you think about it a bit. Draco was unexplainably soothed by this alien voice. But when Alan said out loud what he had brought them here for Draco's look of horror retuned. Ginny looked as though she would explode. She had gone the deepest red that Draco had ever seen, he distractedly noted she looked kind of cute that way, and wondered whether she was red from embarrassment or anger. And Draco fled. He didn't care that he was unprotected by his usual bodyguards. No other students were out so he wasn't seen rushing into his favorite study room to think.
Draco had thought Christmas break would clear his mind of this absurd thought but it only made things worse. His mother spent all of her days gossiping with the new maid, who was satisfyingly sinister, and his father had 'top secret business' to attend to. Nothing Draco tried had helped. Nothing had gotten his mind off of what had happened. Draco didn't hate Alan anymore, Draco feared the boy. Once Draco gave up on trying to drown, tire, and shove out the increasingly appealing offer out of his mind he began to look back on every time he and the Weasley girl had met. He found that he actually liked the idea. But their families hated, no, despised each other. It would never work. But Draco suddenly wanted it to work.
His parents were busy and he was always free to send owls to whomever he wanted. The first owl he sent anywhere was to Ginny Weasley. To his great relief and surprise, she wrote back. He hadn't expected anything back. But there it was, delivered by a small twittering bundle of feathers.
Draco was sitting in the Slytherin common room thinking back over these most recent happenings. He shouldn't like what was happening but he did. The faintest touches of a truly happy smile crossed his lips.
((()))
Harry was noticing something strange. It had only been two weeks since the beginning of winter term but Alan was acting increasingly irritable. He avoided crowded areas, was often seen scowling, and immediately retired to his dorm after classes. Harry didn't know what to make of it.
For the entire time Harry had known him, Alan seldom showed any emotion other than mild curiosity and that faint amusement he always seemed to have. Now however, Alan seemed on the edge of a nervous breakdown. Harry had told Ron and Hermione about his odd behavior and they agreed that they were going to find out just what was going on. The Trio always had a plan and so they had a plan for this as well. They would walk up to his dorm and confront him about his odd behavior. They were his friends and they were worried.
So it was on a Friday night just past ten thirty that Harry, Ron, and Hermione trooped up the boys staircase to the very top. When their first few tries at knocking failed they entered using the Alohmora charm. What they saw when they entered was not what they had expected.
Alan was not angrily brooding, or mildly depressed, or even sick. Alan's room was darker than the inside of a boot. The moonlight that came streaming through the large window shed almost no light beyond the small squares on the floor. So by wandlight they found Alan sobbing faintly into his dark azure pillow. There was despair in those sobs that wrenched at the heart and each time the trio heard them they came closer and closer to tears themselves.
Images began to swim in front of their eyes, images of a pale woman with honey blond curls. She had a very bright smile on her face that showed the faintest hint of dimples. Her thin and brittle looking form lay in a hospital bed surrounded by many vases of a pale green flower. They knew, for some unknown reason, that these were her favorite flowers. The one set of flowers she held closest and to her was a small glass of water filled with dandelions. These, they knew were given to her by her eight-year-old son.
Suddenly a man and a small boy walked into the scene. The man was tall, with black hair, a hooked nose, and strong hands. He sat and talked with his wife, the woman in the hospital bed. They talked but the trio couldn't hear what was said. They could only know that this woman was about to die from a long forgotten disease. They could only know that the woman had been a muggle and the man was a wizard.
The boy had a stick thin figure and a head full of light brown hair. They knew that this was Alan. The boy could only hug his frail mother and sob into her hospital nightdress begging and pleading her not to die.
The scene changed to a funeral. The casket was about to be lowered into the grave and family and friends of the woman surrounded the hole. The man looked like he had spent several days drinking non-stop. A rather plump old woman was holding the boy. Eight-year-old Alan's face was ashen but it was also blank, devoid of the slightest hint of emotion. This, the trio knew was so that he wouldn't expose his gift and memories to the others.
Someone spoke, shattering the illusions that held Harry, Ron, and Hermione as if in petrified. "My mother died on February thirteenth. Eight months before Harry's parents were killed. The funeral was held on my birthday, February twenty sixth."
All the trio could do was stare. Harry's eyes brimmed with tears. Hermione was trembling, a look of worry etched onto her features. Ron could only stand stock still staring at Alan in shocked paralysis.
"I know you guys are worried but please allow my grieving period. I'll rejoin you on March first. Lock the door on your way out."
Harry could not shake off what he had seen and heard back at the top of the tower. But he knew that this would change the way he looked at Alan. That night after Harry had gone to bed the only dream he had was the same scene, watching Alan begging his mother not to die.
A/N: Please Review. Tell me what you think. I need reviews. Again keep a look out for my next Fic, The Continuing Adventures of Harry Potter. Keep in mind that I am not limiting myself to Harry Potter. I will write for other topics. Again Please Review.
