Recap: "It was painful but I'm still me, just with a few, uh,
complications." Ron looked a little less uneasy. "Alright I believe you.
Now lets wake Hermione up."
Chapter six
A few hours later they were sitting on Harry's bed. Ron had conjured hot tea for himself and Hermione, apparently prefects were allowed to use magic outside of Hogwarts, and harry and Ron were watching Hermione very very carefully. She seemed to have recovered somewhat but they were still fearful that her brain would go into overload again or something. However, after six cups of tea she seemed normal again, as in she wanted to dive headfirst into the pile of vampire books that harry had bought.
And harry had to admit, it felt a whole lot better knowing that his friends understood and accepted what he was. And then he realized something, this was amazingly similar to what had happened in 'the marauder's era'. Remus was an, um, interesting creature and yet, when his friends found out they understood and were willing to keep his secret and work around it. Harry too was an interesting creature and his friends accepted that and saw it as an opportunity, at least Hermione did. She saw it as an opportunity to read as much as she could about vampires.
The upside to Hermione's reading was that Harry was learning more than he would have if he'd been left to his own devices. For instance, Hermione had figured out quite a lot about what his parents must have been. A born vampire was almost always very dark. Not necessarily skin-dark but dark of hair and eye. This led them to believe that James potter was born a vampire while lily was made a vampire. They assumed that lily was a vampire because a vampire will usually change it's mate.
There were other things they read about that would have helped them guess what Harry's inheritance was had they heard of them sooner. Aside from that whole "dark born vampire" thing born vampires had a high tolerance to pain, were magnets for trouble and injuries, tended to be very lax about rules and regulations, liked to fly, and disliked killing. They also tended to be either very brave and could get away with almost anything. All of these traits fit harry very well.
But eventually it began to get dark and Ron and Hermione said that they really should have been back by now. And so they picked them selves up, straitened the books, and prepared to go. Hermione had a stack set aside to take with her. And then they were gone, out the door, both carrying books as there were too many for Hermione alone to carry.
Harry sighed and turned to flop down onto his bed but before he could there came a loud tapping from the direction of his window. He opened it and in flew Hedwig. She was as good as before the episode with Mr. Dursley. There was a note tide to her leg, which he removed once she settled on top of her cage. With Hedwig crooning peacefully in the background harry read the note.
Dear harry,
Hope you're all right. Ron and Hermione did get there? Hedwig will be fine and you can come spend the rest of the summer here if you want to.
Love from all of us Weaslys,
Molly
P.S. Our condolences about the Dursleys.
Now that's odd, thought Harry, that is the second time someone has mentioned the Dursleys. Oh well. Once again harry turned to collapse on his bed. As he did so he heard noise in the hall outside his room. Walking to the door he realized that it sounded like footsteps. Two pairs. And something else. Something being dragged. A trunk. That was it. Two people and a trunk.
He opened his door a few inches and was surprised at what he saw. Tom the innkeeper was gesturing at the open door of the room across from Harry's. Apparently the wizard that harry had, um, met that morning had moved out. Harry was going to have a new neighbor and it was the very last person he could have expected.
Malfoy.
Draco Malfoy.
Harry was completely speechless as he stood there in his now-wide-open doorway and watched a very disheveled Malfoy drag his trunk into the room across the hall.
"is that all you'll be requiring this evening Mr. Malfoy?"
"Yes, thank you."
As tom turned away harry and Malfoy locked eyes for just and instant before harry shut his door and turned, for the third time, to collapse on his bed with his thoughts. And for the third time he was unable to. Just at that moment came a knock on his door. Upon opening it he came face to face with none other tan Malfoy.
For a long moment they just stared at each other, glaring hatred. Malfoy broke first.
"Potter."
"Malfoy."
"Look, I need a favor." Harry couldn't believe his ears. There was a *Malfoy* of all people asking *him* for a *favor*.
"What kind of favor?"
"Can I come in first?"
"No."
"Please." Now when was the last time a Malfoy was heard to say please? Harry let him in out of pure astonishment.
Upon entering the room Malfoy quickly strode to Harry's bed and sat down on the end. Harry noticed Malfoy was paler than usual, if that were possible.
"What kind of favor?" Harry asked, shutting the door.
"I, uh, lost the use of my wand. It, uh, got snapped and I really need a spell performed."
"And I'm supposed to believe that?"
"It's the truth."
"I repeat, and I'm supposed to believe that?"
"Yes."
"Well even if I believed you I couldn't help. Students aren't allowed to do magic outside of school unless it's an emergency."
"I think this might qualify as an emergency." Harry looked incredulously at Malfoy. Malfoy responded by removing his robes and setting them on Harry's bed. Malfoy's shirt was white at the top but it was an odd red color towards the bottom. The color of his shirt was explained as he removed it. Harry caught only one brief glance of what was underneath the shirt but that was enough. Malfoy had three very deep and ugly gashes across his lower right side and abdomen.
"Shit."
Harry spun away, averting his eyes, and took two large strides to the head of his bed where his wand was lying under a pillow. As he bent down to retrieve it his hair fell in a curtain obscuring his face from view. Malfoy couldn't see harry struggling with his fangs and for that harry was grateful.
It was probably the most difficult spell harry ever had to cast. It was the spell that Hermione had tried to use on him and it took a lot of concentration to begin with. Add to that the fact that he was concentrating very hard already on not sprouting fangs and jumping Malfoy. well, you get the picture.
He did manage it though. And when he was done and in no danger of jumping Malfoy, Malfoy thanked him.
"I know you had no reason to let me in or help me at all Potter and I know that, were things the way they used to be, I would probably not have done the same for you. Thanks."
"Anytime Malfoy." Harry paused for a moment. "Uh, I take that back. I'd rather you didn't show up mortally wounded on my doorstep every few days but, uh, awe hell. You get what I meant. Right?"
"Yeah potter. I get it."
An uncomfortable silence stretched between them. Again Malfoy was the one who broke it.
"I'm, uh, sorry, I guess, about the, umm, Dursleys? Is that their name?"
"You're the third person to say something like that. What does everyone know that I don't?!"
"You don't know what happened?"
"Obviously not! I know nothing about them past my uncle throwing me through the door last night!"
"He threw you through the door?"
"Yeah. Now what is it that you know that I don't?"
"It was in all the muggle newspapers as well as the wizarding ones."
"Well maybe I haven't seen a newspaper since then. What happened?"
"Apparently the dark lord, or supporters of the dark lord, planted a muggle device called a bomb in your house. Since the dark lord couldn't get to you with magic means he resorted to muggle means. You family has been taken to St. Mungoes since they are relatives of a wizard."
Harry was speechless. Feeling warred within him. Relief at having got out of there in time. Satisfaction at his uncle having gotten what was coming for hurting Hedwig. Worry because, after all, they were his family. And something else. Something to do with Malfoy. Oh and, for some reason guilt. It took him a moment to realize why.
"The bomb. I heard it. That's why my uncle threw me out. He though it was some freaky thing I was doing. It must have detonated only seconds after I left on the knight bus."
"That's an odd bus isn't it?"
Harry stared at Malfoy.
"What? You think I haven't ever ridden on a bus before?" Malfoy said defensively.
Harry kept staring.
"Well there's a first time for everything. After I was disowned and my wand was snapped I really had no choice."
"You were disowned too?"
"What? That's what your umm relative-"
"Uncle."
"Right. That's what your uncle did?"
"Yeah. He yelled at me that I didn't belong there any more and we weren't related and I was never to set foot in his house again."
"Judging by the picture one the front of the daily prophet this morning you won't ever set foot in that particular house again."
Harry winced.
"Apparently not. But what about you? Why'd you get disowned?"
"I refused to spy at Hogwarts. We Slytherins aren't actually bad. We're just different. A bunch of us decided over the summer that we'd had enough of standing in our fathers' shadows and getting cursed on trains for it."
Harry grinned.
"That was rather interesting wasn't it."
"Oh sure. I always enjoys getting cursed until I'm unrecognizable."
"Well next time don't insult people who can curse better than you."
"I didn't know that!"
"Well you do now."
Malfoy looked thoughtful.
"Yes, I suppose I do."
A/N: okay, I'm really, really bored. Getting out three chapters in under twenty four hours is unheard of for me.
Chapter six
A few hours later they were sitting on Harry's bed. Ron had conjured hot tea for himself and Hermione, apparently prefects were allowed to use magic outside of Hogwarts, and harry and Ron were watching Hermione very very carefully. She seemed to have recovered somewhat but they were still fearful that her brain would go into overload again or something. However, after six cups of tea she seemed normal again, as in she wanted to dive headfirst into the pile of vampire books that harry had bought.
And harry had to admit, it felt a whole lot better knowing that his friends understood and accepted what he was. And then he realized something, this was amazingly similar to what had happened in 'the marauder's era'. Remus was an, um, interesting creature and yet, when his friends found out they understood and were willing to keep his secret and work around it. Harry too was an interesting creature and his friends accepted that and saw it as an opportunity, at least Hermione did. She saw it as an opportunity to read as much as she could about vampires.
The upside to Hermione's reading was that Harry was learning more than he would have if he'd been left to his own devices. For instance, Hermione had figured out quite a lot about what his parents must have been. A born vampire was almost always very dark. Not necessarily skin-dark but dark of hair and eye. This led them to believe that James potter was born a vampire while lily was made a vampire. They assumed that lily was a vampire because a vampire will usually change it's mate.
There were other things they read about that would have helped them guess what Harry's inheritance was had they heard of them sooner. Aside from that whole "dark born vampire" thing born vampires had a high tolerance to pain, were magnets for trouble and injuries, tended to be very lax about rules and regulations, liked to fly, and disliked killing. They also tended to be either very brave and could get away with almost anything. All of these traits fit harry very well.
But eventually it began to get dark and Ron and Hermione said that they really should have been back by now. And so they picked them selves up, straitened the books, and prepared to go. Hermione had a stack set aside to take with her. And then they were gone, out the door, both carrying books as there were too many for Hermione alone to carry.
Harry sighed and turned to flop down onto his bed but before he could there came a loud tapping from the direction of his window. He opened it and in flew Hedwig. She was as good as before the episode with Mr. Dursley. There was a note tide to her leg, which he removed once she settled on top of her cage. With Hedwig crooning peacefully in the background harry read the note.
Dear harry,
Hope you're all right. Ron and Hermione did get there? Hedwig will be fine and you can come spend the rest of the summer here if you want to.
Love from all of us Weaslys,
Molly
P.S. Our condolences about the Dursleys.
Now that's odd, thought Harry, that is the second time someone has mentioned the Dursleys. Oh well. Once again harry turned to collapse on his bed. As he did so he heard noise in the hall outside his room. Walking to the door he realized that it sounded like footsteps. Two pairs. And something else. Something being dragged. A trunk. That was it. Two people and a trunk.
He opened his door a few inches and was surprised at what he saw. Tom the innkeeper was gesturing at the open door of the room across from Harry's. Apparently the wizard that harry had, um, met that morning had moved out. Harry was going to have a new neighbor and it was the very last person he could have expected.
Malfoy.
Draco Malfoy.
Harry was completely speechless as he stood there in his now-wide-open doorway and watched a very disheveled Malfoy drag his trunk into the room across the hall.
"is that all you'll be requiring this evening Mr. Malfoy?"
"Yes, thank you."
As tom turned away harry and Malfoy locked eyes for just and instant before harry shut his door and turned, for the third time, to collapse on his bed with his thoughts. And for the third time he was unable to. Just at that moment came a knock on his door. Upon opening it he came face to face with none other tan Malfoy.
For a long moment they just stared at each other, glaring hatred. Malfoy broke first.
"Potter."
"Malfoy."
"Look, I need a favor." Harry couldn't believe his ears. There was a *Malfoy* of all people asking *him* for a *favor*.
"What kind of favor?"
"Can I come in first?"
"No."
"Please." Now when was the last time a Malfoy was heard to say please? Harry let him in out of pure astonishment.
Upon entering the room Malfoy quickly strode to Harry's bed and sat down on the end. Harry noticed Malfoy was paler than usual, if that were possible.
"What kind of favor?" Harry asked, shutting the door.
"I, uh, lost the use of my wand. It, uh, got snapped and I really need a spell performed."
"And I'm supposed to believe that?"
"It's the truth."
"I repeat, and I'm supposed to believe that?"
"Yes."
"Well even if I believed you I couldn't help. Students aren't allowed to do magic outside of school unless it's an emergency."
"I think this might qualify as an emergency." Harry looked incredulously at Malfoy. Malfoy responded by removing his robes and setting them on Harry's bed. Malfoy's shirt was white at the top but it was an odd red color towards the bottom. The color of his shirt was explained as he removed it. Harry caught only one brief glance of what was underneath the shirt but that was enough. Malfoy had three very deep and ugly gashes across his lower right side and abdomen.
"Shit."
Harry spun away, averting his eyes, and took two large strides to the head of his bed where his wand was lying under a pillow. As he bent down to retrieve it his hair fell in a curtain obscuring his face from view. Malfoy couldn't see harry struggling with his fangs and for that harry was grateful.
It was probably the most difficult spell harry ever had to cast. It was the spell that Hermione had tried to use on him and it took a lot of concentration to begin with. Add to that the fact that he was concentrating very hard already on not sprouting fangs and jumping Malfoy. well, you get the picture.
He did manage it though. And when he was done and in no danger of jumping Malfoy, Malfoy thanked him.
"I know you had no reason to let me in or help me at all Potter and I know that, were things the way they used to be, I would probably not have done the same for you. Thanks."
"Anytime Malfoy." Harry paused for a moment. "Uh, I take that back. I'd rather you didn't show up mortally wounded on my doorstep every few days but, uh, awe hell. You get what I meant. Right?"
"Yeah potter. I get it."
An uncomfortable silence stretched between them. Again Malfoy was the one who broke it.
"I'm, uh, sorry, I guess, about the, umm, Dursleys? Is that their name?"
"You're the third person to say something like that. What does everyone know that I don't?!"
"You don't know what happened?"
"Obviously not! I know nothing about them past my uncle throwing me through the door last night!"
"He threw you through the door?"
"Yeah. Now what is it that you know that I don't?"
"It was in all the muggle newspapers as well as the wizarding ones."
"Well maybe I haven't seen a newspaper since then. What happened?"
"Apparently the dark lord, or supporters of the dark lord, planted a muggle device called a bomb in your house. Since the dark lord couldn't get to you with magic means he resorted to muggle means. You family has been taken to St. Mungoes since they are relatives of a wizard."
Harry was speechless. Feeling warred within him. Relief at having got out of there in time. Satisfaction at his uncle having gotten what was coming for hurting Hedwig. Worry because, after all, they were his family. And something else. Something to do with Malfoy. Oh and, for some reason guilt. It took him a moment to realize why.
"The bomb. I heard it. That's why my uncle threw me out. He though it was some freaky thing I was doing. It must have detonated only seconds after I left on the knight bus."
"That's an odd bus isn't it?"
Harry stared at Malfoy.
"What? You think I haven't ever ridden on a bus before?" Malfoy said defensively.
Harry kept staring.
"Well there's a first time for everything. After I was disowned and my wand was snapped I really had no choice."
"You were disowned too?"
"What? That's what your umm relative-"
"Uncle."
"Right. That's what your uncle did?"
"Yeah. He yelled at me that I didn't belong there any more and we weren't related and I was never to set foot in his house again."
"Judging by the picture one the front of the daily prophet this morning you won't ever set foot in that particular house again."
Harry winced.
"Apparently not. But what about you? Why'd you get disowned?"
"I refused to spy at Hogwarts. We Slytherins aren't actually bad. We're just different. A bunch of us decided over the summer that we'd had enough of standing in our fathers' shadows and getting cursed on trains for it."
Harry grinned.
"That was rather interesting wasn't it."
"Oh sure. I always enjoys getting cursed until I'm unrecognizable."
"Well next time don't insult people who can curse better than you."
"I didn't know that!"
"Well you do now."
Malfoy looked thoughtful.
"Yes, I suppose I do."
A/N: okay, I'm really, really bored. Getting out three chapters in under twenty four hours is unheard of for me.