"The answer is simple child. Were I to be one of those that hide behind the white mask I would have had no qualms with killing you when you back was turned…" what she said was true… there were only a few DE's that liked to taunt their prey, and they knew not to do that with him now… he always escaped when they did. He continued to listen as she continued to speak "And I hold no allegiance the ministry of magic nor the small band of… fighters… that Hogwarts headmaster created to… help… others… I am her as an independent, to give you much needed information and a choice that none other has." She finished speaking softly and Harry thought he could hear an undertone of annoyance when she said that no one else had given him choices… she also seemed to stress certain words when she was talking about the order… almost like she wanted to actually say something else.
Slowly, half afraid that his actions may be wrong he walked over and sat next to the woman, trying to watch her at all times. "What… what do you mean?" he asked finally and was surprised when she smiled slightly.
"There is much the fractions of the wizarding world has been keeping from you, young one… your power… your history… and your fate… the prophecy…" she responded slowly like she was trying to think of what to say.
Harry cut her off when she mentioned the prophecy "Wait! How do you know about that! Dumbledore said only he knew the whole thing…" he scuttled back slightly as it occurred to him that this may very well be the Voldemorts plan to try and get the true contents… through he really couldn't understand how it would matter if he did.
She laughed again, this time lacking the tinkling warmth that had been there before, yet the sound didn't actually make him afraid… he just wondered if she truly was completely there… never the less his ears soaked up the information that the woman offered "So the old man finally told you of that one did he… yes he probably would have, if only to try and regain your trust." Harry nodded slowly… he knew why Dumbledore had finally told him… the man had run out of other options… his Slytherin side wasn't as dead as many liked to think (it just didn't get exercised all that much!) "No little one, the prophecy I speak of is just as important as the one the headmaster told you… all headmasters must know off it as it was foretold by Rowena Ravenclaw herself." Harry gapped at that… could he possibly be linked to more than one prophecy? More importantly could Dumbledore truly know this other and still refuse to tell him after what happened at the end of the last year… very stupid question… of course he could.
Harry's shoulders sagged in defeat for a brief moment before they straightened and he looked directly into the woman's eyes "And what do you wish to offer me, mamm? I can either continue to play the pawn or turn to the dark lord for guidance, neither are acceptable and I don't believe I can survive against the world alone… a third player." He finished watching as a small flash of emotion he had rarely seen… in only a few people… Hermione, Sirius, and Remus… if he read the emotion right she was strangely enough… proud? Of him?
Though the emotion disappeared almost as soon as it came and he soon found a set of determined sky blue eyes. "Do you trust me Harry? Trust me enough to let me change you? Begin the first step for you to come into your power? To let me take you away from this place?" she asked intently. They were very interesting questions… and he found, strangely that, yes he truly did trust this strange woman… she could possibly be the one person that could help him escape the situation he was in… apparently the only one that was willing to try and train him. He opened his mouth to speak but found it suddenly dry so instead choose to slowly nod his head in agreement, watched as an easy smile graced the woman's face, strangely making him relax, and he truly didn't worry as the woman moved behind him and an armed snaked around his chest.
It wasn't the intimate kind of embrace that one would expect from lovers, and yet it was far more caring… far to intimate to be expected from a complete stranger that he had know for perhaps half an hour if even that… and yet he felt like it was the most natural thing in the world. He remained relax as the woman gently tilted his head onto his left shoulder and he wasn't truly surprised when fangs pierced his neck, slowly, gently but swiftly sucking his blood into her mouth. Where he may have once panicked had such a thing happened, now it made him relax even further and he felt a languid peace take over his mind as his eyesight faded into blurs despite that fact that he knew his glasses still adorned his face. He sighed as the fangs withdrew and a tongue slowly traced over the two wounds and they just as slowly knitted back together. He opened an eye slightly as something was pushed against his lips and eyed what appeared to be a white stick… no a wrist. Beside his ear he heard the woman's voice speak softly, instructing him in what to do "Drink Harry" was all she said and he did the minute that his slightly foggy mind processed that instruction, immediately latching his mouth onto the prominent vein and began to drink the sweet liquid that spilled into his mouth… he didn't even know when his mouth had grown the fangs he now used to pierce the skin.
He almost whimpered when the wrist was gently pulled away a short time later, and the woman supporting him gently lowered him onto the bed, he didn't even try to move as the woman spoke again, voice soft and close enough to his ear that he felt her breath "Wait a moment Harry for your body to fully adjust, and change. While this happens I will collect your stuff… you don't need to stay in this place for longer than necessary." She finished and pulled away. Harry listened as faint footsteps moved away before he doubled over in pain, clutching at his stomach as an unbearable pain started and worked through the rest of his body, he stifled the scream that threatened to escape his throat with a practiced ease… Vernon would have no idea that something was happening inside of the room… not if he could help it…
The pain left as soon as he came and slowly he sat up, swinging his legs onto the floor and standing up slowly, swaying as he began to walk forward, pain spiking though his legs with each step. He sighed in relief when the woman's arm snaked around his waist and supported his unsteady weight, while the other gently removed his glasses, amazingly clearing his blurred vision, so he could see that she had indeed retrieved all of his stuff from around the room… even his hidden floorboard had been opened and emptied.
"Shall we be going, young one?" she asked gently, shrinking all of his belongings as she asked, and her eyes once more scanned the room, a small amount of distaste showing through her eyes at the lack personal effects that the Dursley's had given him through the years of his life.
He opened his mouth and tried to speak, coughed with the effort and to clear his throat before trying to speak again "H – Hedwig hasn't returned y-yet…" he explained looking out of the window into the slowly lightening sky. No matter what happened in the world he never wanted to leave his very first friend… actually come to think of it he would need to tell both Hermione and Remus what had happened… How would the respond to what he had now become?
Her arm gave a small hug as if she had known were his thoughts were leading him and offering her own silent support and she spoke again "Do not worry so much, little one. Your beauty will know where to find you and your blood family will accept you if that is who they truly are. Come home with me and rest. Tomorrow I will sit with you and we will tell you all I truly know. What we do after that we will decide together… I will not leave my young to find for themselves in this world and her sometimes harsh views." The woman reassured him and he smiled slightly… this woman had called him her young… her child… and it could be possible that he would finally have a parent figure to follow… for now though he leant further into her steady support as his vision once again began to darken… looks liked a prolonged malnourishment coupled with lack of sleep and today's events had finally taken a toll on his body… yet he knew instinctively that when he awoke he would be safe, and in a place were he could possibly learn to live and feel again.
