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Chapter 15

Rule No. 43: Never Attempt to Control a Demon

Pain was the first thing that registered in Harry's mind when he came back to the conscious world. He tried to lift his head but stopped when it pounded in retaliation. Instead he just turned it, which still hurt but didn't hurt as much as lifting it.

He was lying out in the open he could see, thanks to the light from the fire burning nearby. Dark shapes moved on the other side of the fire and he could only guess that he was now in the hands of Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Despite the fact that that should fill him with fear, he was still perfectly calm.

Turning his head the other way, he saw Hermione lying on her side nearby. Her arms were pulled behind her back and he could see a pair of shackles on her ankles. A new bruise was on her right cheek and rage ripped through him at the sight.

He then noted that he was A) on his knees with his head leant against the ground, B) in the center of a circle made of silver, and C) was chained inside said circle. The circle itself was made up of two silver rings set in a large stone slab with symbols in silver placed in between the two circles.

Closer examination of the symbols showed them to be Japanese kanji. The one set at the right of Harry's head was musubu. To the left was osaeru, which didn't make him feel any better about being in the center of this circle.

Slowly sitting up, he made the discovery that he had been stripped of both sweater and shirt and also had a shackle about his throat, the chain of which ran down his back to anchor somewhere behind him. Turning his head, he found the kanji shakuho and dobutsu behind him, which sent a shiver of fear down his spine.

If he was reading these kanji right, someone was going to…

"Ah, I see our guest is awake."

Harry's head snapped to the right at the sound of the voice and on his forehead the lightning bolt scar burned. Standing there in black and blood red robes was the snake-like Lord Voldemort a.k.a. Tom Marvolo Riddle, the creature that had stolen any chance of a life with his mother from the han-akurei.

"Welcome back, Mister Potter," purred Voldemort as he took a step closer to Harry. "It's such a pleasure to see your true self at last. Oh, yes," he continued at the sudden shocked look on the teen's face, "I knew what you were the moment I began to go after you. Of course, I did not count on your Mudblood mother hiding you away and creating a human double of you. So I killed it. But it seems old magick works on double's as well."

"What do you want?" growled Harry, narrowing his eyes at the monster in front of him.

"Want? Why I want what any Lord wants, dear boy. I want control." He smirked. "Most particularly control of you."

Harry laughed brashly and snapped, "It's not that easy."

"Oh, but it is. Lucius!"

"Yes, my Lord?"

"Kill the girl."

"Yes, my…"

"NO!" bellowed Harry, shooting to his feet. But the chains binding him were too short for that and too strong for him to break, so he collapsed back to his knees, his entire body straining against the chains.

"'No'?" repeated Voldemort. "Well then, dear boy, you must surrender. If you don't, I will have Lucius here kill your little Mudblood."

Harry snarled venomously then glanced from Voldemort to Lucius then over to the still unconscious Hermione. He then sank down into a sitting position again, not noticing the bushy-haired girl's eyes were blinking open.

"Just let her go," whispered Harry, closing his eyes and ducking his head. "You can have me if you let her go back to Hogwarts."

"Very well," said Voldemort. "Let us begin!"

The snake-like Dark Lord began to walk along the outside of the circle, muttering under his breath in Japanese. None of the Death Eaters could hear him but Harry could and his heart sank down to his knees at the realization of what was about to happen.

As Voldemort walked around the circle, osaeru and musubu slowly began to glow. Harry watched with dull eyes as it brightened to an almost blinding white then magic snapped out like a bolt of lightning and struck both him and Voldemort in their chests. The han-akurei's body arched backwards as the pain built but he did not scream. It felt as thought something was being ripped out of him and was never coming back.

Then something that wasn't a part of him filled the hole and he collapsed into a heap as the magic faded, leaving both him and Voldemort on the ground gasping.

"My Lord!" exclaimed a few of the Death Eaters, taking steps forward. But Voldemort lifted a hand and bade them back before rising shakily to his feet again.

"He is bound to me now," he said in a hushed voice as he began to circle again. "Now to finish it."

"Don't," whispered Harry even as he sensed the Dark Wizard circling him again and heard him speaking. "You don't know what you're doing…"

"Oh but I do," hissed Voldemort during a pause. He then stopped so he was standing between the other two kanji – shakuho and dobutsu – and raised his arms, shouting in Japanese instead of speaking softly. Harry stiffened and sat up like a bolt of lightning as every hair on his body stood up.

"No," he whispered just before the magic engulfed him in a wave and ripped through him. His body arched backwards in pain again but this time it hit again and again in hard waves and he could not keep himself from screaming. The screams echoed because of the trees surrounding them and rose in volume until they were a high, piercing shriek that made the Death Eater's cover their ears.

Then the scream faded, as did the magic, leaving Harry a crumpled heap in the center of the circle. Voldemort took a step forward then and knelt, reaching out a hand to lift the han-akurei's head. Blank, feline eyes stared back at him and he smirked in triumph before turning towards his Death Eaters.

"Break his chains."

Three Death Eaters stepped forward with their wands and used them to sever all of the chains binding Harry halfway down their length. They scuttled back then as Voldemort rose to his feet and spat, "Get up."

The blank eyes lifted and met scarlet then blinked. Voldemort snarled and spat again, "Get up."

Blank eyes blinked then Harry moved, slowly rising to his feet. The severed chains at his wrists dangled down to his knees while the one at his neck reached to his waist as it hung over his shoulder and down his chest, which was now inflicted with slashes from his own claws – made during the final spell as he struggled against it's pull.

Lucius took a step forward and asked, "Did it work, my Lord?"

"Of course it did, Lucius," said Voldemort with a superior smirk. "Even demons can be tamed, after all. Now…for the girl."

In the blankness of Harry's mind, something stirred at those words.

Hermione, who had been staring in shocked silence this whole time, finally found her voice.

"Harry," she said loudly, "Harry, please!"

Voldemort cackled and said, "It's too late, girl! He is mine. I control him now."

"No," whispered Hermione. "Harry! HARRY!"

"Let her have him if she wants him so much, my Lord," hissed Lucius in a dark voice. "The brat never specified how we return her to Hogwarts."

Hermione's breath caught in her throat as she realized what Malfoy senior was implying. Her eyes darted to Voldemort and she saw a cold smirk on his face.

"Very good, Lucius. Harry."

The blank emerald eyes turned towards the Dark Lord and one ear twitched in response.

"Kill her."

A muscle in Harry's cheek jumped then he turned towards Hermione and she shrieked as she saw not the Harry she knew in those feline eyes but the pure demon half of him that he had only allowed her to glimpse.

He took a step towards her, the chains dangling from wrist and neck clanking, and she squirmed backwards away from him. With a snarl he darted forward and was on top of her, his claws digging into her shoulders.

"Harry," she whispered, staring up into the demon's face. "Please…"

A snarl bubbled up out of his throat again and he lifted a hand, bringing it slashing down across her shoulder and down to her armpit. She screamed from the pain then looked through half-lidded eyes at Harry. He was staring at her blood dripping from his claws and down his hand with those horrible hungry eyes. Then those eyes darted to hers and she swore for a half second she saw humanity flash in them.

Snarling, he lunged at her again, one hand clawing down her wand arm whilst the other slid under her and ripped the back of her sweater and the blouse underneath it open. But when he pulled back to ready for another strike, she found that the chain of the shackles binding her wrist had been severed as well and she stared at Harry.

Had he done that? Was he still in there, trapped behind the demon?

His claws fell again towards her and she flung herself up towards him, clasping her hands on his shoulders. She noticed in that moment that there were faint stripes running down his shoulders and onto his arms, echoing the faint stripes that ran down his tail and tipped his ears.

"Harry, please," she whispered, hugging herself as close to his body as she could. Tears sprang to her eyes as she pressed her face against his chest and dripped down to fall there.

Voldemort took an angry step forward as Hermione flung herself as Harry then paused when he felt the newly forged magical link between himself and Harry waver. It shook and he grabbed hold of it, just in case it tried to break.

But him holding it didn't help any. The link shattered and collapsed, leaving only the link that had existed before.

The Dark Lord lifted scarlet eyes then to find Harry's head turned towards him, with complete consciousness back in his emerald eyes. He looked at his Death Eater's then and shouted, "Kill them!"

Lucius was the first to step forward and cast the Killing Curse, which arched towards Harry and Hermione with startling accuracy. The girl shrieked as Harry hauled both of them to their feet then gasped as he lifted an arm and used it to send the curse hurling back towards the elder Malfoy. He wasn't quick enough to dodge and the curse engulfed him, leaving him dead on the ground.

Hermione stared at Harry's hand, which was smoking and glowing slightly red, then looked up at him. His eyes darted towards her then back to Voldemort but he whispered, "I will never let anything hurt you again."

She nearly sagged in relief at those words. Her Harry was back and that demon that Voldemort had made was gone.

"KILL THEM!" bellowed Voldemort again. "KILL THEM!"

"Kill us yourself," snarled Harry, holding out his still smoking hand. His wand and Hermione's flew to it from wherever they were and then they were gone, disappearing just before Voldemort send the Killing Curse winging towards them.

- - -

Harry collapsed when he and Hermione reappeared in front of Kailua's pub, bringing the girl down on top of him. His heart pounded in his head, which didn't help matters any as his head was pounding with pain anyway.

"Harry!" he heard Hermione say dimly. "Harry, don't leave me alone!"

He wearily lifted a hand and placed it on her cheek, smiling when she leaned into his touch and didn't pull away despite what he'd just done to her.

"Never," he whispered before losing consciousness.

Hermione choked back a sob then turned and saw the pub's front door, which she immediately flew to and began to pound on. The door swung open a moment later and Meru appeared, only to vanish the moment she caught sight of Harry.

"MAMMA!" Hermione heard the girl shriek. "HARRY!"

"Merciful Heavens!" came the cry from inside and then Kailua appeared, nearly shocking Hermione out of her wits as she saw the woman's tail. "Harry!"

Kailua swooped down on Harry and swept him up in her arms, carrying him swiftly inside and upstairs. Meru appeared then and tugged on Hermione's hand, saying, "Mamma will take care of Harry. Don't worry."

Hermione looked down at the little girl then sank to her knees sobbing in the doorway of the pub. She barely felt gentle hands lift her up and carry her upstairs, placing her on the bed next to Harry.

Kailua hugged the teenager until her sobs subsided and she slipped into an uneasy sleep then stepped back. She then sent Meru after bandages and whatever antibiotics they had as she sat down and began to clean both teenagers' wounds with a soft rag and warm water.

- - -

Hermione's mind slowly found it's way back to consciousness and she bolted upright, sending the flannel blanket covering her flying. She then took a deep, shuddering breath and looked at the homey room around her. Cautiously, she touched the blanket that was still covering her legs and nearly sagged with relief when she found it to be real.

It hadn't been a dream then. Harry had saved her.

She looked down at her wrists, which she had last seen cut and bleeding from the shackles Lucius had bound her in. They were now bandaged, as were the wounds Harry – no, the demon – had inflicted on her.

Sighing, she slowly turned and found herself looking down at Harry, who was sleeping peacefully beside her. Small strips covered the self inflicted wounds that scattered his chest, which was the only physical wound he had besides the lump on his head where the elder Goyle had hit him with a heavy silver candlestick.

She then looked again and saw that he wasn't sleeping as peacefully as he seemed. His brow was furrowed while muscles in his left cheek continually twitched. The muscles in his shoulder moved as well and she pulled the blanket covering them down to see his fists clenching and unclenching, his claws tearing the sheets.

Wait…his claws?

Hermione pulled back from him with a confused look on her face. What was going on? He should have turned back to his human form by now, shouldn't he?

The door opened then and she whirled, hand flying to the nearby nightstand in search of her wand. When it wasn't there, she grabbed the book lying there and held it up, ready to hurl it at whoever was coming through the door if they were dangerous.

But an eleven-year-old girl with dark hair and soft gray eyes entered the room, jumping when she saw Hermione.

"Eep!"

"I'm sorry!" exclaimed the bushy-haired girl, putting the book back down. "I just…"

"It's okay," said the girl, closing the door behind her. She smiled brightly then and said, "I'm Meru."

"Hermione. And this is…"

"I know," said Meru.

Hermione blinked and started to ask how she knew Harry but the young girl beat her to it.

"He crashed his broom near here and stumbled into our door. Mamma and me took care of him till he was better then he went to rescue you from my bad papa."

The older girl blinked again and stared at the younger. Was this…was this girl saying that she was Draco Malfoy's half sister?

Meru then walked over to her and took the older girl's wrists, checking the bandages then reaching up to pull down the thin shirt she was wearing and check the others. She then stepped back and frowned, saying, "You'll be okay for another hour or so, then we'll have to change the bandages again."

Hermione stared at the young girl as she walked around the bed and jerked back the blanket off of Harry. It fell past his waist, revealing the top corner of dark green boxers. The bushy-haired girl blushed furiously and moved her gaze back to Meru as the girl checked each of the bandages on his chest.

"He'll be okay for a while longer," she said as she pulled the blanket back up and laid a tiny hand on the han-akurei's broad shoulder. She then lifted her gray eyes to meet Hermione's as she added, "His wounds weren't as serious as yours."

But he caused all of them, thought Hermione bitterly. Except for my wrists and those were Lucius…should I tell her that her father is dead? No…no, it's not my place.

She coughed then and asked, "Could I have a glass of water, Meru?"

The dark-haired youth grinned and chirped, "Sure! Be right back." She then dashed out of the room, leaving Hermione alone with Harry once more.

A soft groan came from the sleeping male then and Hermione turned towards him, waiting to see if he was having a bad dream or waking up. When his eyes didn't open, she figured it was the former and reached out to touch his bare shoulder. His skin was warm to the touch and soft – almost like Crookshanks fur along his cheeks.

The moment she thought that she noticed why it was like that: there was a light dusting of fur gracing Harry's shoulders, so little that it wasn't visible unless she looked close. There was more across his chest and down the smooth planes of his stomach to where it thickened into near visibility before disappearing into the waistband of his boxers.

Something tickled her leg (which she had just noticed were bare) and she peeked under the blanket to see Harry's tail curled about her ankle, which were bandaged much like her wrists. Smiling, she continued to run her hand over his shoulder, carefully tracing the lines of muscle there and the faint stripes as she tried to ignore the collar still about his neck but now lacking it's chain.

The door opened again and she looked up to see the woman from the night before standing there, her tail draped over her shoulders like a boa. She held a glass of water in one hand and a pitcher with more in the other with an amused smile on her face.

Crossing the room, she sat the pitcher down on the nightstand and handed the glass to Hermione, who took it in her free hand. The other continued to slowly stroke Harry's shoulder.

"My name is Kailua Cloudfox," said the woman, sitting down in a chair that sat near the bed. "And you are Hermione, I presume."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Ah! None of this 'yes ma'am; no ma'am' business. Call me Kailua."

"Yes ma – Kailua," said Hermione. She then frowned and asked, "Why are you helping us?"

Kailua smiled and nodded towards Harry, replying, "Because he is the son of my first true friend and the first man I ever loved. I feel I owe it to Harper to take care of the child he never got to know."

"Oh." The bushy-haired girl sat still for a moment (except for her one hand still moving) then asked, "Um, not to be rude but when can we go back to Hogwarts?"

"Soon, my dear, soon. But you must let both of your wounds heal a little – mental and physical one's."

"Why would Harry have mental wounds?"

Kailua looked at her as though she'd asked how birds could fly or fish swim.

"Child, he gave up his free will in an attempt to save your life. A noble thing to do but not something a demon – even a half demon – should ever do! I fear for what might have happened if you had not been there to pull him out of it."

Hermione frowned and demanded, "How do you know what happened?"

"I can only assume," replied the akurei, lifting a hand slightly. "At least on you pulling him out of it. I can smell that madman's scent on Harry – a scent that will never fade away, I am afraid. " She shook her head and continued, "The fool tried to bind together what was already bound and ended up switching a portion of himself with a bit of Harry."

"You mean he has even more of Voldemort in him now?"

"I am afraid so."

The teen frowned and turned her head towards Harry, who was now leaning into her touch. "Oh, Harry…" she whispered.

"But that is not all," said Kailua, bringing Hermione's attention back to her. "He used a spell to fully release Harry's demon half, something that he was foolish to do."

"You mean…it wasn't ever fully there?"

"No half-demon's demonic side is ever fully there," said Kailua. "That is what essentially makes them a half-demon, not their human side as most think. Generally a half-demon is not strong enough to control their demon half and it gets out of control, which is why that are all born with part of their demon side blocked off."

All the color in Hermione's face left as she gasped, "But Harry…"

"The fool of a wizard completely demolished those restraints." The akurei slapped a clenched fist into her other hand, growling, "If he had left a few shreds of them, I might be able to use my power to rebuild them! But, no, he destroyed it entirely with his foolhardy spell and now we are in a right mess."

"But Harry can control his demon half!" exclaimed Hermione.

Kailua shook her head slowly at that.

"He could control what bit of it was free of the restraints. Now his demon side is whole, which is both a good and a bad thing in these times."

"How is that?"

"It is a good thing," explained Kailua, "as it will make him slightly more powerful and perhaps even increase a few of his current abilities. The bad thing is that he will have absolutely no control over the fiercest half of himself."

Hermione paled again and she looked down at the han-akurei, her brown eyes filled with fear and sadness. She remembered what that fierce half of him had done under the hand of Voldemort and what it might have further done if Harry hadn't fought it back down.

Kailua frowned and leaned forward, gently pressing the teenager back down into the bed.

"Enough talk," she said. "Sleep a little more. You'll need it."

"For…what?" asked Hermione around a yawn.

"The ride to Hogwarts."

The teenager tried to speak again but a gentle wave of power rushed into her from where Kailua's fingertips rested on her shoulder and she was lost in the arms of Morpheus.

Translations

Musubu: Bind

Osaeru: Contain

Shakuho: Release

Dobutsu: Beast

Author's Note

If anyone's wondering what Kailua's tail looks like, think Sesshomaru from Inu Yasha. If you have no idea who that is, picture a long, furry tail – kinda like a boa. Only attached.