Honoka took her last look at the ancient castle. What should have felt like home to her and her brother felt only like a prison. People who tried to befriend the two only did so in an attempt to separate them.
Harry was her light in the darkness. And she, she was the one who kept him from turning into a complete emo because of the strain.
Fifteen years ago, when she was only two, Lily Evans had rescued her from a Death Eater raid which killed her parents and adopted her. A little over a year later she had Harry.
Honoka Evans ne Black (Sirius had at least managed to adopt the two of them before being falsely arrested) was about to leave England for good. It was going to be Harry's fifth year, and there was no way she was leaving him behind to deal with the one called Dumbledore.
Today was her seventeenth birthday, which marked her as an adult by magical standards.
Which meant the tracers would fall off.
"Come on Harry, it's time to leave," said Honoka.
Honoka's long red and black hair and blue eyes often made boys stumble over themselves to get her attention. Something she never gave except to Harry.
"Okay Sis. Where are we going anyway?"
"A safe haven for people like us that doubles as a school. You'll be attending Night Class since for some reason you got that rather annoying reaction to the sunlight and I didn't. I've already made the preparations."
"Does this mean I can finally catch up to my mundane education?"
"Absolutely. The place we're going has dormitories, and unfortunately we'll be in separate ones. I listed myself as having a rather bad case of anemia among other things, so the headmaster won't ask questions about the fact I have to leave campus every week to get a blood transfusion. You, on the other hand, will have to live with those nasty blood tablets they give out."
"Where's my new uniform?"
"We'll get the uniforms when we get there. It's a private academy, so no one will think about bothering us. You got your things?"
"The twins gave me a bag. All my things are in here, and the goblins gave me a card that will double as a muggle credit card."
"I got one as well. Shall we get going then?"
Harry whistled for his owl, Hedwig. A car drove up to the house, and the two got in. Honoka had marked the guard schedule and knew Figg was out getting groceries for the moment, so no one saw them leave. Petunia was never given the name of the Academy, and all she knew was that Honoka had applied to a private school outside Britain which could apply to anywhere.
Dumbledore really wasn't pleased the day he learned Honoka was a pure blood from an old line, much like her brother.
"Welcome to Cross Academy!" said the Headmaster.
Harry looked at his new white uniform with something akin to annoyance.
"At least it's more tasteful than what we had to wear before," he said.
Honoka had a black uniform, which was the outfit for the Day Class.
"I still don't see why we had to come here for new students," growled Zero.
"Miss Honoka has agreed to help you as part of the Disciplinary Committee. Since her adopted brother happens to be part of the Night Class, she can also use this as a way to keep an eye on him," said Headmaster Cross.
"And what sort of weapon do you specialize in?" asked Zero bored.
"Swords. However I won't be getting a weapon. My magic should be more than enough to keep the vampires from bothering me," she said pleasantly.
You could feel the friction between her and Zero. Yuki, the Headmaster's daughter, seemed relieved to have some help.
"Now Yuki has agreed to be your new roommate Honoka, and young Harry will be joining one of the others. Kaname has agreed to show you around later, once Night Class begins. Yuki, will you show Honoka-san around?"
"Sure thing!" said Yuki cheerfully.
"So...Honoka-san... Why are you so pale?" asked Yuki.
"I have a rather severe case of anemia. As a result, I have to leave campus rather frequently to get blood transfusions. Thankfully I am allow to participate in sports, mostly because the Headmaster has cleared use of something I found in the magical communities called 'Blood Pops'. They were originally designed as the prototype to those blood pills you give the Night Class...however I never really enjoyed taking those."
"I've never heard of blood pops."
"They're more of a prank item than anything. Shall we give one to Kiryu-san later to see his reaction?"
Yuki paused in her stride, before snickering.
Honoka reached into her side bag and pulled out a blood red candy. Yuki could see designs on the candy that looked like blood drops.
Honoka pulled off the plastic and popped it in her mouth.
"I don't mind the sweet taste, but I wish I could make these on my own without stinking up a room."
"What are they made out of?"
"Mostly Blood, sugar and corn syrup. They have all the blood types available, but I mostly prefer the A positive."
"Huh...wait, did you say these things are made of blood?! That could be bad!"
Honoka blew into Yuki's face, and the girl blinked. She didn't smell a whiff of the coppery tang.
"The scent of blood won't come from anyone eating one of these. If anything the only thing a vampire would smell is the scent of candy flavoring. They do add different flavors to these things just because the main buyers like the variety. The one I have now is cinnamon."
"Are you sure that the Night Class won't smell blood from them?"
"Positive. Very few of the vampires I've come across like them because while they do have blood in them, they can't get the taste of the candy flavoring out of their mouth. In fact they've actually complained that there isn't enough of the blood taste in the candy."
"Alright, but if I find out the Night Class became rowdy because of these..."
"Yuki-san, my brother is a turned vampire and he can't smell them on my breath. What makes you think one of the Night Class will even recognize it?"
Kaname looked at the newest member of the Night Class with interest.
Harry Potter, a legend in the magical communities...was a turned vampire who had no bite marks but a few scars. He refused to say the name of his sire, but Kaname had a hunch the vampire was alive. Normally he would be in the Day Class, but he apparently developed a severe rash to sunlight.
He suspected his sister supplied the blood to the kid, which would account for the severe anemia she had. Frankly it was a miracle she wasn't a ghoul yet.
"So what is you blood type preference?" asked Kaname.
"I have no idea. My sister is the one with the preference. Then again, I still don't see why she likes blood pops that much either."
Kaname carefully avoided making a face at the term blood pops. They had circulated among the pure bloods for years as a replacement for blood, but the fad had never really caught on among the elite. The only reason the blood tablets had caught on was because they were discreet and didn't taste like some form of demented candy.
A few of the female vampires had tried the pops and occasionally ate them in place of the tablets, but it was hard to get a hold of the magical treat.
Once Harry was put into his age group, he found it much easier than Hogwarts. Here, people ignored him and treated him like a regular student.
Plus they were rather understanding towards his hesitance to join the Night Parties. While he was of an old line, it was a magical one and he was the first vampire. Harry still didn't know which line his sister belonged to, only that it was as old as his own and from what the goblins said, unbroken even now.
The bracelet that encircled her upper right arm was supposed to be a betrothal bond, meaning when she came of age she was supposed to find the other half.
According to the goblins it would heat up the closer she got to her betrothed. So far it had yet to even warm up, even when flames were put on it, as displayed by a rather vindictive Slytherin.
Honoka would miss Ravenclaw.
Yuki took Honoka out for the first patrol. Their first job was to separate the Day Class females from the Night Class. It was a difficult, thankless job and it didn't make one well liked at all.
Honoka took charge the moment things looked like it would grow out of hand.
She put two fingers to her lips and whistled sharply.
"Alright girls, front and center! I know you want to see the Night Class, but that doesn't mean you can act like paparazzi before the gates open! I want two uniform lines so the boys can get through! Think you can handle that?" she said calmly.
"Hai!" came the response.
"Now, if you behave we'll let you see the Night Class. Misbehave and I'll have you all sent back to your dorms and banned from seeing them for a week. Fair enough?"
"Who are you? I don't recognize you at all!" said one of the Kaname fan girls.
"My name is Honoka Potter. I just transferred and the Headmaster asked me to be on the Disciplinary Committee since Yuki and Zero are overworked as it is. I can understand that you want to see the Night Class but you have to give them some space too. How would you like it if you had someone screaming in your ears while you were trying to get to class?"
The girl who spoke out before looked at her appreciatively.
"I agree. We'll try to keep the noise level to a minimum so long as you lot quit trying to make us go back to our dorms without saying hello to the Night Class. By the way, my name is Usagi Hino."
Yuki stared at Honoka amazed. She got the girls to behave!
Zero watched all this in disbelief. This girl clearly had more sense than Yuki...though that wasn't hard.
When the Night Class came out, the girls were well behaved. It was amazing. The second the messy black hair came into view, Honoka grinned.
"Harry, over here!"
"Hey sis!" said Harry grinning.
The girls zoomed in on the new blood like vampires. It was frightening.
"Who's this?"
"Everyone, this is my younger brother Harry. For reasons I cannot reveal, we have to attend different classes. Harry was selected as a member of the Night class, so be nice. If you don't swarm him, he'll talk to you. He's had bad experiences with people mobbing him," said Honoka.
"Hono-nee..." whined Harry.
She lightly bopped him on the head.
"Don't deny it Harry. Those fan girls kept trying to lace your food the second you hit fourteen. If it hadn't been for me, you would have fallen for some tramp who was after your assets instead of love."
Harry pouted, which had the collective group of girls coo over him.
Kaname paused when he passed by Honoka. The betrothal armlet which his parents had given him when he was three was burning hot. It hadn't changed at all since he got it. So why was it reacting now?
The girl his parents had chosen was a pureblood vampire from an old line. And he was the only pure blood in Cross Academy.
At first he assumed it was Honoka, the only new face there. But she was in Day Class. The headmaster wasn't foolish enough to put a vampire among the humans.
He didn't notice her wince when he came close. Or that her arm was almost glowing.
Honoka's ultimatum to the girls seemed to work better than completely trying to separate the two classes. Yuki found it much easier to keep them separate with the girl around.
The girls seemed to respect Honoka almost instinctively.
One day, Yuki notices a strange arm band around Honoka's right arm.
"What's that?"
"This? I don't know. Supposedly it's a betrothal band, meant to signify that the one wearing it is taken by another. But it's only supposed to act up when the person is near their betrothed or come of age. Frankly I've never believed in that sort of thing."
"Huh. Isn't that a bit old fashioned?" asked Yuki.
"I know, but I have no idea how to get this stupid thing off. And I've tried everything."
Yuki stared at it for a bit. She knew she had seen it before, but was unable to remember where.
"Don't we have patrol in an hour?"
Yuki grimaced.
"Don't remind me, please. Zero is absolutely useless unless there's a fight involved."
Honoka giggled.
"You sound like Harry and I whenever there's work to be done. He hates studying, because of a girl named Hermione who used to draw up these ridiculous schedules."
Yuki pouted and threw a pillow at Honoka. Honoka used her hand to throw it back. It hit Yuki in the face.
"Hono-chan!" she whined.
Honoka descended into giggles. Soon Yuki did too. She liked Honoka, because the girl was like a big sister. She was older than Zero and Yuki, but had to be put in the same class as them because the last school she attended didn't have many normal classes and she needed to catch up.
Honoka heard the girl cry out before she saw them. She was there in a flash.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine...I just twisted my ankle."
"Here, hold onto my shoulder. I'll get you back to Day Class Dorms soon."
"Can't we hit the nurse's office first?" asked the second girl.
"I'm afraid not. The Night Class is full of people who can't stand the smell of blood," lied Honoka.
"Now, now, Honoka-san. You shouldn't lie to such pretty girls," said Aido.
"Back off creep. You won't fool me with those fake charms of yours," snapped Honoka.
Aido took her hand in amusement.
"A pretty girl like you shouldn't be so cold," said Aido.
Honoka did the only thing she could think of. She raised her leg where Aido was and kicked him into a tree. He seemed surprised she had that much leg strength.
"Touch me again and I'll kick your ass," she snarled.
"Honoka-nee, what are you doing?" asked a voice.
"Aido here was being an ass. Too bad for him we took those self defense classes."
Harry sighed.
"Aido-sempai, quit teasing my sister. She's hit more than a few would be suitors with fireballs, and she isn't discriminate about who she uses them on," said Harry bored.
Honoka flicked her wrist, and a ball of flame appeared.
"Now, do I have to set you ablaze before you take a hint or not?"
"That won't be necessary. I will discipline him appropriately Miss Potter. We'll escort the Day Class students away," said Kaname.
He notice her wince and her fireball vanished. Something about her right arm was hurting her.
"I'll leave them to you, Moon Dorm President Kuran," she said.
Once she left, she noted that her arm band had cooled off. Why did it turn so hot after all this time?