Hey! This chapter is going over the new characters that are going to become Harry's friends. Or rather, Zach's friends. Y'see, I came up with the idea that Harry would become someone else around his new friends, but act like the usual Gryffindor Golden Boy around Hogwarts. Get him around his new friends, and out comes Zach Chescher.

Pay attention to the descriptions, or you'll never know what they look like.

Speaking

Thoughts

Under the Light of the Blood Red Moon

Chapter Three: Clear Bracelets…Never Wear Them

Harry was curled up under his comfortably warm covers, trying to remain asleep.

Harry groaned.

Shiri was currently poking him to wake up. "Master Potter. Mr. Potter needs to wake up now. Mr. Potter's going to be late for his meeting with those children at the beach."

"Mpft! Shiri! What time is it?"

"Eleven forty-five."

"WHAT?" Harry jumped out of bed and yanked on a pair of swimming trunks, the blood-red ones with a little evil grinning face on the corner. All over in black writing was 'The only way to get rid of temptation is to give into it.' (That's actually true.)

Harry grabbed a pair of his new black skater-shorts with red lining on the seams, and a red short-sleeve with a picture of a Chimera on the front chomping down on a Basilisk.

Very graphic, but it was cool. Harry pulled on a pair of black sandals and grabbed a towel and baseball cap. His cap was, again, black and red. But it had the Gryffindor symbol on the front.

Shiri handed him a beach bag. "Here, Master Potter. Foods for you and your friends."

"Thank you, Shiri. What would I do without you?"

"Oh, Mr. Potter?"

"Yes?"

She held up a small chain bracelet. It was black silver and had a Wevryn with sapphire's for eyes hanging from one of the holes. It had been a gift from Sirius.

"Oh, thank you, Shiri." Harry locked it around his wrist, and ran out the door.

Once he got halfway to the beach, Harry realized something. Where the hell are the tide pools?

Harry shrugged. He walked up to a boy on the beach. "'Scuse me? Do you know where I can find the tide…"

The guy walked right past him.

After a couple of polite tries, Harry sighed. Time to go Zach.

"Oi!" Harry walked up to a girl.

"Yeah?" she snapped, but her eyes widened considerably as she took in Harry's image.

"I mean, yes? Can I help you, honey?" she batted her eyelashes.

The girl was your average American Beach-Bunny. Bleached blonde hair, contact-induced way-too blue eyes, surgically sized breasts…you get the idea.

"Where are the tide pools?"

She blinked. "They're over there." She pointed a French-manicured fingernail towards the far side of the beach.

"Thanks." Harry jogged off in the direction he had seen the girl point.

As Harry neared the tide pools, which were actually just a bunch of holes in the sand filled with water and all kinds of creatures, he heard splashing and laughter. Both male and female.

Harry had to climb over a rock to get there, but as he came over the top, a familiar voice yelled.

"Zach?"

Harry yelped. "Bloody hell!" He held tight to the rock, keeping his beach bag close. He looked over his shoulder.

There was Minako and Vivian. Along with Adrien, Gabriel, Cory, Bo, Alex and Jamie.

Near them were five other girls. "Minako? Vivian?"

"Yo! If it ain't my latest project!" Minako grinned, showing off elongated canines.

Harry jumped down from the top of the boulder, which was a good eight feet, and landed on both feet, crouching like a cat.

"Cat-boy strikes again!" Gabriel teased. "Trying to impress Mina, eh?"

"Bugger off!" Harry snapped. "Hey, Gabriel, Adrien, Cory, Bo, Jamie, Alex." Thank Merlin I don't blush easily.

Harry finally took a good look at the group around him.

Cory was be-decked in all black with no other color anywhere besides his all-too-pale skin. Black lipstick and eyeliner was easily spotted on his skin, as was his black nail polish. His black hair reached to his shoulders, shadowing his jade-colored eyes.

Bo was wearing the traditional baggy clothing that looked ready to fall off. Red shirt with Flamey on the front, wearing a long-sleeved black shirt underneath, along with the usual loose-around-the-knees shorts. His hair was cut short in a messy style, just like his. Except Bo's was colored auburn-red with brown roots, and sky-grey eyes.

Alex wore an outfit exactly like Cory's, only he was wearing a black tank top and red sex bracelets. His hair was a natural chocolate-brown, his eyes the same color, only having a red tint in them.

Jamie's shirt was yellow, short-sleeved, wearing a pair of blue jean shorts that were kind of baggy on the hips, revealing some of his red boxers.

Okay, I didn't wanna see that. Harry mentally winced.

Then, Harry was introduced to the 'girlfriends.'

Samantha, Adrien's girl, was Alex's little sister, and looked just like him…hairstyle and all. She wore a dark red sundress that covered her ankles, along with yellow jelly bracelets with a few blue mixed in.

He noticed that none of the girls were wearing shoes, they were all wearing some form of sundress.

Zoe, Alex's girlfriend, had natural golden-blonde hair and tanned skin that came from her extensive work on the beach as a lifeguard. Her blue eyes had touches of green in them, making them look like a wild ocean. Her dress was a sky blue.

Dez, Bo's girlfriend, her hair was died a near-black blue that fell to her chin, and her eyes were a violet color. Her dress was sea-foam green.

Rachel, Cory's girlfriend, wore a black sundress that was kind of pretty in his opinion, having red lace rose patterns going across it. Her hair was a golden blonde color, falling to tickle her shoulders. Her eyes were the closest to his eye color he had ever seen, but hers had an amber tint to them that made her seem kind of vampiric. Her pale complexion didn't help the image much.

And last but not least was Corina. Her hair was dyed blue and her eyes were the same color. Apparently, blue was her favorite color, cause her dress was the same color.

Minako and Vivian were both wearing red and black.

Vivian wore a red tank top that hung off her body, and a pair of short-short black shorts.

Minako wore a black work-out sports shirt (otherwise known as a sports bra)and a pair of red short-shorts. Her hair was held up in a red scrunchie, save for thick strands that hung in front of her ears.

"Hey! You guys ready to go swimming?" Bo smirked.

The other guys nodded, and pulled off their usual outfits, revealing their swimming trunks. They all were wearing black.

Harry merely sat down on a boulder, letting his toes barely skim the water. "You guys go ahead, I'll stay right here."

The girls started to pull off their dresses, and then ran into the water.

Harry's eyes followed Minako's movements as she pulled off her shorts and shirt, revealing her blood-red bikini.

Harry gulped. Okay, Potter, keep a hold on yourself.

Minako dove under the water, then came up, water flying every which way from her ponytail.

Water trailed down her body, making her bathing suit stick to her even more than before.

Harry turned around and focused on the water. What is going on! Bloody hell! Your pants aren't that loose!

After a full half hour, Minako noticed Harry sitting by himself on the boulder.

"Oy! Zach!"

He turned to her, green eyes shining behind his glasses. "Yeah?"

"Come on, join us!"

"No thanks!"

"Aw, c'mon!" Adrian yelled.

"Uh…sorry, I don't like swimming." Harry said, hoping he sounded convincing.

"Bullshit!" Gabriel yelled.

The other girls giggled, playing Chicken Fight. "C'mon Zach!"

"NO!"

Minako shook her head, and swam up to him.

(Harry is sitting on a boulder that is near the deep part of the ocean, making it easy for Minako to swim to him.)

"C'mon, Zach. Why won't you swim with us?"

"I don't want to."

"Aw, c'mon!"

"NO!"

Minako noticed the jelly bracelets on his wrists. One certain color made the wheels in her head turn.

"Zach?"

"What?"

"Can I see your wrist?"

"Why?"

"I wanna see your bracelet."

"Fine." Harry hung down his wrist, and Minako snapped his clear bracelet.

"Hey! What'd you do that for!"

"You have to come into the water."

"Why?"

"When you wear those bracelets, each color means something different. Why do you think they're called 'sex bracelets'? When someone snaps one, you have to do what the color indicates. I snapped your clear one, so that means that you have to do whatever I want. And I want you to come into the water."

"I'm not doing---GACK!" Harry slammed into the water on his back, courtesy of Adrian picking him up and dumping him in.

"Way to go, Adrien!" Minako clapped.

Everyone waited for Harry to come up as the water stilled. Nearly a minute had passed.

"Zach?" Minako muttered. "ZACH?" she yelled. Oh no! Maybe he can't swim? Damn it!

She dove under the water, swimming as fast as she could.

Her eyes searched the sunlit waters, and found a dark figure lying on the sand a few feet under her. His black hair flowed with the water's current, eyes closed, chest not moving. He looked like he was asleep, but that wasn't the case. His glasses had apparently fallen off during his fall.

She swam down to him, grabbed him, and swam back to the surface, one of her arms wrapped around his chest. Thank GOD he is light.

Minako pulled herself on the beach, and laid him out.

She pressed her ear to his chest…no heartbeat.

"ZACH!" she pressed his chest with her compressed hands, pinched his nose, and blew air into his cold mouth.

She repeated this process for a minute, until Zach suddenly coughed and heaved up a large amount of seawater.

"Ah, thank GOD!" Minako sighed, hanging her head.

"What…:cough: the hell happened?"

"Adrien threw you into the water and you drowned. Or, rather, you tried to."

Harry sighed.

Then Minako smacked him upside the head. "Ningen wo baka! Naze ka maro anout maro kugen en'ei? Maro jishou nai ganken!"

Harry blinked. "What?"

Minako caught herself. "Whoops. I said, 'You stupid idiot! Why didn't you tell us you couldn't swim? You could have DIED!"

Harry looked down. "I-I'm sorry. I guess I should have told you. It's just… I was never taught how to swim. My family didn't think my safety in a pool was important."

(There will be a change in POV, here, kay?)

Minako looked at the boy. He spat out the name 'family' like it was a type of sickening curse word. Did he really hate his family that much? What had they done to him?

Her amethyst eyes locked on Zach's own emerald eyes.

For just a second, she saw through the window in his soul.

He was sad. Depressed to thoughts of suicide. Something bad had happened. Many bad things had happened to this boy. His entire life was a roller coaster. He was happy and carefree, loving every moment as if it were his last, then everything fell in a downward spiral, putting him through betrayal, pain both emotional and physical, heartbreak…so many of the worst things that could happen to any human souls had been forced onto this boy's heart, leaving scars that would never heal. 'How the hell can he laugh and smile at all?'

She'd been through her share of hardships and pain, but nothing compared to this…hell that Zach Chescher was forced to live through.

Her eyes shone with pity on the boy in front of her.

"What?" he asked, slightly ticked at the pitying look. He apparently didn't like pity. The window was shut, locked, and the curtains were drawn.

"Nothing. Maybe I could teach you?"

"To do what?"

"Swim, you nimrod."

"No thanks."

"You sure?"

"…"

"Think it over." She stood and walked back into the water, leaving him with Adrien, who had come over during their little talk.

"Listen, man, I'm SO sorry. If I'd known you couldn't swim…"

"Forget it. You didn't know, therefore it isn't your fault. Anyway, they say that near-death experiences can make you rethink your life."

Adrien laughed. "Damn, never thought you to be one who thought on the positive side of things."

"I don't…usually."

The two lapsed into comfortable silence.

For once, Harry felt at ease with these people.

They were different, and didn't care. They loved what they were, they accepted it, and took the world as either Hell or normal, depending on what happened.

Harry smiled as he watched Minako fighting Rachel on the shoulders of Dez.

Minako won.

A sudden thought entered his head. The old Harry Potter wouldn't want to learn how to swim, but the new Zach Chescher would. Also, it would give me an excuse to be with Minako. Wait…where'd that come from? No, I don't want to be close to her…do I? Well, she is really very pretty. Maybe I could learn how to swim…it would prove useful. Anyway, I came on this vacation to run away from what I used to be…and the person I used to be didn't know how to swim.

Harry smiled. "Yo, Minako!"

"Yeah?"

"You still up to those swimming lessons?" Harry shot her a flirtatious smile.

Minako smirked. "Hell yeah! If you can handle it!"

"Bring it on!"

Oh how fools rush in…

A/N: Well, there's the end of chapter three. Tell me what you think!