I Don't Own Harry Potter
Plot Idea #4: Ever wonder just how far removed Kyu made himself from human to get as powerful as he was? I mean, Voldemort looked like wax after just a few and had red eyes even before he became a snake-thing, so? What about Kyu?
Chapter 2: Blaise's thoughts on his best friend Or... That moment Blaise realized Kyu wasn't exactly human anymore
Blaise liked to think he was an observant guy when it came to people, he knew how to read them and knew how to work around them to get what he wanted, he had to be, after all his best friend of seven years didn't know the meaning of emotional expressions and was the most stubborn teen on the planet. He often had to learn how to make sure his friend wasn't killing himself through lack of sleep or hunger because he was to obsessed with whatever he was working on, not to mention Kyu's face often looked like it was made of stone with how little his expression changed.
At some point, somewhere around third year probably if he had to put a number on it, he became something of an expert on reading his friend... it was depressing sometimes, those faint moments were he could spy the the exhaustion on his friend's face, the dead look that plagued the other teen's eyes, the gaunt and pale look in his cheeks, the unhealthy washed out color of his skin he sometimes got when he wasn't masking his appearance.
Blaise... He could admit, he preferred it when Kyu had that mask of illusionary magic over his face, masking just how rough and haggard he always looked behind a wall of magic. It wasn't because he found his friend revolting or anything when he truly looked like he should, no, he liked it because it helped him sleep better, he could pretend that his friend wasn't almost killing himself through his self destructive behavior weekly because he didn't look like he was one push away from falling over.
Sure, the others might not understand it, but Blaise knew just how human and vulnerable his friend really was. He liked to pretend he didn't, it was just easier to act and choose to remember that Kyu was a genius that was years past his age in terms of magic even in his first year, that he was a stubborn guy who had dealt with things that would make Blaise piss himself unflinchingly and won against them time and time again.
Those moments of relief and knowing that his best friend would always win and succeed no matter what obstacle was in front of him... didn't even compare to the pure fear and worry he had over his friend unfortunately, no matter how much he pretended.
He would never forget those moments when his friend did lose, in the little ways. He doubted even Kyu really thought about it, but he was always there, watching the teen's rage at not being able to understand something, the way he sometimes broke down when he thought he was allowed to, because no one was there to force him to act strong, when he fell to his knees and raged against the world at a pressure on his shoulder's that Blaise wasn't sure he'd ever truly get an answer to.
Those were bad, just like it hurt him to have to make sure his friend even ate at all somedays, or having to drag him to bed at times, he remembered the ways his friend, for those faint moments acted like the person he was, a teen, who stumbled a bit to much over his feet, grumbling to himself about being forced to do things, and who snored the second his head hit the pillow. Blaise couldn't image his friend being perfect or infallible, he was too flawed for that, but those moments? Those were the moments that made Blaise remember that Kyu was just like him, just a human.
It's why he stuck around, something about the teen just made him seemingly orbit around him, he wasn't Blaise's first friend, but he was definitely the first person Blaise could say he'd see as a best friend, as cheesy as it sounded, he always knew where he stood with the other and vise versa, the two barely had anything in common besides maybe the fact they were both Slytherins, and yet, here they were.
Something about him just made Blaise want to help him after a while, he was no longer some muggleborn to test and see if he would have to watch the kid break under the strain of the house the sorting hat put him in, he was someone that Blaise wanted to protect, but just couldn't in anyway real, at least for a while, it always felt like Kyu was in control of everything.
If he wanted something to happen, it happened, he knew how to talk circles around everyone he had to deal with, he managed to establish himself in the first week as someone to not mess with. It was a strange relationship the two had, Blaise never knew why his friend tried so hard, in everything, because he did try, he knew that after the first few years, there was no way Blaise could honestly think his friend's talent was all natural, not with how often he had been there to help Kyu get back to the dorms after a full week of experiments on just one thing.
He'd never be as smart or as protective and powerful as his friend, but he could at least help him when he noticed he was struggling, so he learned to know when his friend was struggling, when he was close to breaking down, when he was close to being overwhelmed. He'd get Kyu distracted, talk about quidditch, about how the other houses were pestering him about the Network, get together with the others, complain about an assignment, ask for help on something completely unrelated.
Whatever he could think of, and Kyu would just take a faint breath and nod before going on with him. He always remembered the way's his friend would complain, making small sarcastic remarks about how he could be doing anything else, or lightly tease Blaise for dragging him away and how he'd need to get back sooner or later, but he never actually rushed back to his projects, nor would he hardly ever say no to the distractions, he was always willing to listen out to the problem, or at least pretend to when it was something he didn't care about.
Kyu was a sociopath, Blaise firmly believed that to be true, he really did believe his friend didn't understand things like conventional social ques, how to express his emotions or be able to relate to other people's feelings in any real way like other people could, not to mention how unstable his moral compass was and how little he seemed to value literally anyone he didn't know. So yeah, Blaise knew his friend was about as emotionally clued in as a fish... But Blaise also firmly believed that his friend did actually try to understand him and the others.
Kyu, even if he never acted like it, or honestly tried to be more open about anything, still showed just how much he tried in the small ways around them all. Even if he never acted like it, he listened to them all, noted their problems, and came up with solutions or gifts to give them to make things easier, he'd complain about it always but he'd never really just ignore Theo when he had an issue with his studies, or how he'd always have a spell ready for them all when they went out to Hogsmeade to warm them up, even if he'd make a show up doing it on himself first, they all knew he'd cast the spell on them soon enough.
Or how sometimes Blaise, in his own little potion's lab would notice he'd be running low on a common ingredient, and the next day it would be restocked without him even saying anything, not to mention how over the top Kyu was about things like gifts. If Blaise didn't know any better, the gift he gave them all on their last Christmas together, a set of near matching hand crafted rings that matched one of Kyu's own, then he'd say his friend was genuinely just sentimental.
Not to say that was the teen's only strange quirk. He honestly reminded Blaise of a cat in all honesty with all the little things he did, and that comparison brought forth a realization, but first, the reason why Kyu reminded Blaise of a cat, because that just seemed important to get out.
For one, the guy hated getting wet, Blaise could swear he's heard him hiss at least a few times, when he was confused or wanted to try and convey it, his head tilted to the side for just a moment without him meaning to, he hummed whenever he was in somewhat a positive mood that gave off the idea he was purring which was so weird when Theo pointed it out, and the last one, he didn't seem to blink when others were around that he didn't trust, unless he was deliberately doing it in some act or was forced to for some reason, Blaise never saw him really blink unconsciously when eyes were on him, and it was weird.
Honestly though, most of those habit Blaise thinks showed up around the start of third year, and that's when Kyu became a fox Animagus. Blaise knew learning that power could have an effect on a person, he knew that well because he became one in seventh year, and he noticed the differences in himself pretty quickly. Just the minor things, but the instincts of his transformation were there now, just in the back of his mind, ignorable, for the most part, and he didn't often call on them, or even used his animal form, hardly ever.
It felt a bit wrong in a way, but he just wasn't in tune with that form of him, maybe it was because he wasn't really all that great at transfiguration, or because he wasn't like Kyu in the way he just naturally understood magic and the concepts to make them even better than reality thinks they should be. Or perhaps it was something completely different, by seventh year he was a near master Occlumens with years of training under his belt.
Kyu in comparison only probably had a few months, maybe a year at best, before doing a transfiguration ritual that completely changed your mind and body and gave the complete instinctual understanding of that new form.
It wouldn't be to hard to believe that maybe there was a reason that doing that ritual and becoming an Animagus could have side effects on a person, especially a preteen, no matter how powerful they were even then.
The idea of it made Blaise a bit sick at the idea, but he couldn't really do anything, if that idea was in fact true, then who knew what else all the things Kyu did to himself did to change him. He was still the same guy, Blaise still trusted him with his life, but he couldn't help but wonder just how different he would have been if he hadn't gone down the path of the dark arts and did so many rituals and transformations on himself.
He knew a few things though for sure. If Kyu hadn't then he really would be as human as Blaise saw him as in those small moments, but other times, because Blaise was observant, he noticed other little things.
Mostly when Kyu didn't bother with that illusion of magic to cover just how tired he was, that's when he saw it the most, the way that when he spoke, how it was almost like his canine were just a bit to sharp and long to be natural, or how his tongue was a bit to thin, and when he spoke and Blaise caught it moving it looked almost like a snake's tongue some times, or how when the light caught the teen's eyes, he would notice how they refracted it like an animals, how they were less brown and more amber, and how those eyes were eerily like an animal with oval-shaped pupils.
Or how when he was angry, his hair would actually hackles up just a tad, more than it should, like he was on the verge of being something feral. The way his skin was just a bit to waxy to be natural, it was to weathered to look right on him, the bags under his eyes giving way almost to a sinister weight that Blaise wasn't sure he wanted to know about.
There were over things as well, but those were the most obvious, the ones that showed just how inhuman his friend had become to win against Voldemort. Blaise wasn't even sure on an outside view that Kyu could even be considered a human anymore. The teen already made jokes that he was only half human because he was half fox, he made those mostly after he figured out the transformation in second year, but now Blaise wondered just how accurate that was, not to mention all the other things he'd done, to learn things like Parseltongue and all the other blood magics, not to mention the fact his best friend was considered immortal now.
...And, he wasn't sure it mattered if Kyu wasn't really human anymore either, it didn't matter to him at least, because he knew he was still the same man he had known for the last almost decade, and nothing was going to change that.
It was almost enough to make him laugh honestly. Blaise remembered a time when he looked down on Kyu for his status as a muggleborn, sure he wasn't as bad as others, but he knew he wasn't immune to it like he acted, and now? His best friend might be barely human and he didn't give a shit.
it was crazy just how much had happened, how much he had changed as well as the others, not just Kyu.
Blaise liked to think it was all for the better. Theo managed to get out from under his family, learning to be himself fully. Daphne learned blood superiority was ridiculous and meant nothing, Tracey got out of the shell she was casted into at a young age and is now working on becoming an unspeakable of all things!
It was crazy to think about, looking back on all their time at Hogwarts, and just seeing how much had happened... Blaise couldn't wait to see what happened next, and whatever happened, he knew he'd be there to make sure Kyu at the very least didn't get himself killed by trying to fight another Dark Lord, or at least if he tried, he'd do it after a proper nights sleep.
List of head canons that weren't established in the story that relate to this chapter:
-Kyu subconsciously shares a couple of mental traits with foxes cause he did his Animagus transformation without proper protection for his mind.
-Kyu also accidently lets small fox-like characteristic out from underneath his glamor spell. They sometimes get past his glamor, only Blaise sees it consistently.
-The reason he has so much jewelry and magic items on him at all times is because foxes are natural hoarders, while Kyu was already possessive of both people and things, the fox part made that explode, even if it's unexplored, he would literally soul torture a man for any of his friends without hesitation.
-Honestly Kyu was a massive idiot when it came to how unprotected he was at times with some of the things he did, but he was mostly safe for most of it, so... half win.
-Blaise knows just how hard Kyu works and chooses to act like his friend is just that smart to not pressure him.
-Blaise is beyond the definition of a mother hen.
-I honestly have no idea if Kyu can be considered a human anymore, definitely not a standard human at least. His biology is all kinds of a mess in all honesty at this point.
-Kyu's soul isn't technically human anymore, it's that of a higher one. No idea what that implies but it's there.
-Kyu accidently constantly shows affection through gifts and acts of minor kindness that his friends notice but he doesn't really pay attention to.
-Kyu's tongue isn't fully snake like, but his parseltongue ritual made it more thin and almost prehensile with how flexible it is.
-If he didn't keep somewhat on top of it with magic to trim them, Kyu's nails would naturally become pointed.
-Blaise is a lot more observant to Kyu's state of mind than you think he is.
-Random factoid, I once considered making Lupin make Kyu a werewolf during third year's conclusion but scrapped the idea when I decided to make him an Animagus in second year, completely changing the plot direction of year three. But it was something I debated a lot when I was making ideas for the story, thinking about how Kyu would deal with the mental and physical burden. This might be a one off at some point.
-Blaise honestly sees himself as Kyu's brother, though he has no idea if he's suppose to be the older or younger brother with how he has to take care of the disaster that is Kyu.
-Kyu is a disaster at basic living. Yes, that required it's own dash.
-This is unrelated, but I could totally see Kyu just dropping already signed papers in front of Blaise and saying he was family now without any context.