Oh. My. Goodness. Wow…. I post at like… nine something at night, check at 7 the next morning and have five freaking reviews already! Whee! I feel loved! So I'm up dating. See this? More reviews more up-dates. See how it works? Good, now take the hint. Wink wink. Ehem. Here's what I've decided for the pairing from my reviews: Harry/Remus. If you don't like it or have a beef with it tell me, in a CIVILIZED manner if you please. Thank you. Answers to review questions:
SeventhSpanishAngel12: yes. Harry will return, in fact. He comes close in this chapter. But that's all I'm saying.
Aticia: oh, I like that quote a lot. And I know I jumped into the future quite a bit, but that's over now. I don't plan on doing much more time jumping, the thing was that nothing of great interest happened over those left out years that I could write about.
Psicat: Actually I was thinking that Harry and Alice would be close in a way that suggested that the only thing stopping them from being siblings was blood. And the lack of constant
bickering of corse. Glares at the door to my sister's room. She devil. Eh! Sorry!
Wild KS Pheonix: Actually he does know he's a wizard, he knows all about the boy-who-lived stuff and Voldemort. It's just that he grew up with the elves and sees no reason to leave.
FairyQuilan: Yes, elves are well hidden; no one even knows that elves live in the forest, not even Dumbledore. And he is quite yummy isn't he?
I Like Boats: OMG! I know and I'm sooo sorry! I am indeed an absolute grammatical retard! HELP!
! LOOK HERE! READ THIS ! OK, now that I have your attention… as " I like boats" said in his review. I can't do the grammar thing worth shit! So I need need NEED beta! If you're interested or know someone, then please tell me. Tell me and be sure to give me your email address. Thank you!
Disclaimer: no I'm—oh wait… waaaait… OH WOW I AM! I'M--- oh, no sorry, false alarm. I'm not J.K. Rowling, I don't own Harry Potter. Get over it.
&HP&
When Alice and Harry had returned to their houses they got quite a tongue lashing from all of their guardians and/or parents. They were warned about being out of sight, they were chastised for playing a gamble and sneaking off. So it was common sense that you would find both Alice and Harry talking casually in a tree just on the edge of the forest, as they watched the humans run about and relax on the sunny Sunday afternoon that followed. They were sitting in a oak with heavy dark foliage they could blend into well but still see out of fine that sat near the giant lake most of the students sat around.
"Do you think any of them have the slightest idea that we're up here?" Alice asked, Harry rolled his eyes.
"I highly doubt that, Ally." Harry replied dully, eyes trained on Loup and Shadow, whom sat near the castle walls talking with each other. He just KNEW he knew them. Alice looked at him and followed his eyes to the two men. She got an evil smirk and rested her head on the branch in front of her.
"Loup and Shadow… You watch them a lot… Any particular reason?" She inquired innocently; Harry narrowed his eyes in thought.
"Well, it's just that… Ugh, this is going to sound odd but I swear that I know them from somewhere! They're so familiar…" Harry let out a huff of air and inspected both men closely. Looking up when he heard Alice snicker he got a bad feeling. "What?"
"Well... Are you sure you don't like watching them because of your mad crush on Loup?" He said in one breath with an evil glint in her eyes. Harry choked on the breath he had just taken in and blushed deeply.
"Sod you! That was ages ago!" He said angrily, using a furious whisper to emphasize his point but stay quiet. Alice grinned.
"Yeah… Right… You were how old? Thirteen?" She teased, continuing at Harry's embarrassed nod. "Right, well, if I recall it was quite a crush. Are you sure you just… Got over it?" She knew she was pushing it and she didn't care. Harry had indeed had a huge crush on Loup when he was thirteen. Alice thought it was adorable and insisted that Harry must still have a little bit of a crush left at least. Harry blushed again and looked out at the handsome brown haired werewolf.
"I… Maybe… It's just… oh shut up…" He muttered softly, a pout forming on his face. Alice let out a small squeal.
"AWWW! That's so cute! I knew it!" She threw her arms around him in a loose hug. "Artemis is going to be so happy! Her little adoptive son, marrying into her species!" Harry huffed and pulled from her hug, still pouting. Oh, fine. Be like that pouty pants, but it is true. You would make a cute couple." She said, sobering her mood a bit. Looking out at him again she saw him breaking away from shadow and heading to the small hut that housed Hagrid that also sat just by them. There was no one around, and as alone. Alice got an idea. "Harry… I dare you to go down there and talk to him…" She drawled out evilly, eyeing her raven-haired friend. Harry's eyes shot up in surprise.
"What? No! Our guardians get pissed just form us being here! What makes you think they'll be even slightly ok with me having a chat with a human?" He looked down at the man he had a crush on, the man who now stood close enough for Harry to see that he indeed had gold eyes. Gorgeous gold eyes, that sparkled with intellect and mischief. He swallowed the lump in his throat and lowered his voice to the tiniest of whispers, so only Alice could hear. "And besides… What on Earth would I say to him?" Alice smiled and was about to respond when Loup looked up suddenly. Both occupants of the tree froze and held their breath; they looked down at Loup with shock and suspense. Loup tilted his head like a curious animal and narrowed those gorgeous eyes in suspicion, looking every part of the hunter that a werewolf was supposed to be. He raised his face into the air a bit and sniffed softly, tilting his head again to listen intently. Suddenly his eyes darted to the tree Harry and Alice stood in, he stared at his for what seemed like an eternity when he took a few steps forward. Feeling like his heart was going to leap into his throat Harry tensed as his crush moved closer and closer like a prowling predator. Then the door to the hut swung open and Hagrid stood in the frame, Loup spun around and looked at the half-giant in surprise.
"Professor! How can I help you?" Hagrid boomed, smiling broadly. Loup returned the smile, though more reserved, and nodded his head.
"Hello Hagrid, I was wondering if we could have a chat? I need to ask you some things about the next Hogsmade weekend. We're both supposed to chaperone and I decided to talk to you about where to meet and when, etc." Loup said in a soft voice that sent shivers up Harry's spine. Hagrid nodded and let Loup in with a smile; the werewolf cast one last suspicious glance at the tree and disappeared into the hut. Harry let out the breath he was holding and heard Alice do the same next to him.
"Whoa… That was extremely close. We've got to be more careful… Then again, if he caught us then you would have no excuse not to talk to him and you'd live happily ever after!" Alice said with a grin, Harry glared at her.
"Somehow I think you're going to tease me about this all day…" He responded with masked embarrassment as he jumped to some of the other trees silently, moving to a more secluded part of the lake. Alice followed him and giggled gleefully.
"What? No! I won't bug you all day! I mean why stop there? I plan on bugging you the rest of your life!" Harry glared good-naturedly at her. "Well, I got to go; promised mom I would help with the younger kids lessons. You staying here for a bit?" Harry nodded.
"Yeah, I'll meet you later." Alice waved bye and hopped off into the forest, Harry looked back to the grounds. In this specific spot only two people were there. One was a girl around Harry's age with curly brown hair and brown eyes. With her was another girl who looked about a year younger with long, bright red hair and green eyes. They were both talking when the redhead looked at a strap of leather on her wrist and stood up. She quickly said something and ran off to the castle. The brown haired girl grabbed one of the bags and ran after her. Harry saw a chance. They took one bag but the other one was still there, it was lying on the grass with dozens of books in it. Harry bit his lip in thought, he and Alice were always so curious as to what was written in those books. They had human books in the Elvin grove but they were all mostly muggle fiction, and ages old at that. Finally deciding Harry cautiously dropped from the tree and walked over to the bag with silence in his wake. The area was completely deserted and blocked from sight by a huge boulder, the girls were nowhere to be seen, and Harry felt adventurous. He pulled out a book about magical creatures and flipped through it. He snorted and raised eyebrows at some of the "facts" about elves the book listed, and scoffed at the description of the "dangerous werewolf". Artemis was harmless, a bit bitchy at times, but harmless. Not to mention that what he saw of Lupe he was an utter gentleman. Putting that book aside Harry grabbed a History of magic book. He flipped through this one as well and stopped at the "Great Defeats of Dark Wizards" section on the page that had a picture of Bumblebee on it. He read.
Albus Dumbledore defeated the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945. He received the Order of Merlin, first class and is the current headmaster of Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry. The battle of 1945 took place in a-
Harry Stopped, he didn't feel much like reading about an epic battle right now, there wasn't much time. He was impressed though.
"Go Bumblebee…" He murmured to himself as he flipped the page. He froze at the name on the top. "Harry Potter" was written in thick bold type at the top, the words "And the defeat of the dark lord Voldemort" Written under it. Harry was obviously intrigued. He read on, his eyes widening as he went further and further on the page.
&HP&
Hermionie Granger was sitting been sitting by the great lake with her best friend Ginny Weasley. Hermionie and Ginny had been friends since Hermionie's second year when Ginny came to school. The year before Hermionie admits that she was a bit of a loner. Second year they met and became fast friends, she was also pretty good friends with another 6th year from Ravenclaw named Luna Lovegood, Luna was a bit dotty but still very nice. Hermionie became friends with Ginny at first to possibly get closer to a boy in her year named Ron whom she had a crush on. Ron always looked at her with indifference and happened to be Ginny's older brother. Hermionie soon learned that it was a good idea to be friend with Ginny, her and Ron were somewhat closer (though not exactly friends) and Ginny turned out to be really cool. Back to reality Hermionie realized that Ginny had stood up.
"Oh darn! I'm supposed to meet Luna at Hogsmade for a project in five minutes! See ya around Hermionie!" She said quickly, running towards the castle in frenzy, Hermionie laughed. Suddenly she realized that Ginny left her bag, she grabbed it and ran after her friend to give it to her. After she caught Ginny and gave her bag to her she headed back to the lake to finish the homework she was working on. Then she saw him. Crouching by her bag with his back mostly to her was the most gorgeous boy she had ever seen. He had long hair of the purest black and red, absolutely amazing eyes, and flawless pristine skin. She didn't exactly feel a physical or romantic attraction to him, simply and attraction. She wanted to know his name, where he came from, and what on Earth he was. She didn't want to date him or kiss him, just… Know him. He was flipping through her history of magic textbook. Stopping on a certain page he read for a bit before mumbling something that sounded like "Go Bumblebee" and turned the page. Then he looked genuinely shocked at whatever it said, he read and seemed to get even more shocked if possible. Then without warning he froze, a split second later she was faced with the tip of an arrow on a tightly drawn bow.
&HP&
Harry was shocked, the things they wrote about him. Like he was God on Earth when he was one-bloody-year-old! It was ridiculous! Then the end… That's what really got him. They thought he was dead! He knew that he was famous; he knew that he had been… Well seldom seen to say the least, but dead? He felt a tiny pang of regret, did anyone miss him? Did anyone cry when they heard that he "died"? The thought was brushed away immediately, who would miss him? He lived in a bloody orphanage, the only people who could possibly ever miss him knew very well that he was alive and kicking. Those few people were his family back in the grove. Then, as he began to put the book back he realized he wasn't alone. He took a moment to berate himself, he was so engrossed in the almost laughable description on his life he didn't notice the other presence. He stood and drew and arrow in one swift movement. He had his bow taught and ready to fire in seconds, and he found himself face-to-face with a very surprised girl. Time froze for a moment, the air seemed to still. Neither the boy nor the girl made a single move, both was too shocked. Harry was far to wrapped up in his mind about how his family would react to this.
'Shit!' He cursed mentally. 'Aeson is going to kill me! Then find a way to resurrect me so Clara can kill me! Then SHE'LL resurrect me so Artemis can kill me! Then I'll be brought back for Krishna and then again for Ares and it will go on and on until I'm nothing!' Hermionie on the other hand was simply shocked. Begging a smart witch it didn't take her long to figure out what this boy was. The beauty, the clothing, the overall alluring aura. This boy was an elf; Hermionie just couldn't believe it though. It was well known that elves liked to keep to themselves, and were very good at doing just that. Barley anyone had seen an elf since the Renaissance, now Hermionie was face-to-face with one. Moving back to Harry he had long since forgotten his almost humorous self-pity rant and was confused rather than shocked. Why was that girl staring at him like that? He soon surmised that it must be that fact that he had her in a threatening situation. Slightly embarrassed, Harry lowered his bow, still keeping the arrow in its place just in case. She still stared with her mouth open and her eyes wide in awe. Harry cocked his head to the side like a curious puppy and raised an elegant eyebrow.
"What?" He finally said, she snapped out of her trance and shook her head slowly and blinked a few times.
"You… You're an elf!" She finally said in a frantic whisper, pointing her finger in an almost accusing manner. Harry blinked owlishly.
"Well… Yeah… actually no… I'm… It's complicated… What made you think I was an elf?" Hermionie lowered her finger.
"Well, your clothes for one, and your hair. It's so long. Then theirs the bow and arrow thing, then…" She trailed off with a blush. "Elves are known for their beauty… And you are kind of gorgeous." She finished with a mutter. A charming blush graced his cheeks, his gaze faltered.
"Eh, ok… Thanks, I guess." He murmured shyly to her, Hermionie smiled slightly. It was adorable; she took a hesitant step forward.
"Heh… What do you mean, "Complicated"? Are you an elf or not?" She asked, Harry looked at her cautiously before speaking.
"I'm not. I'm a human, wizard. My parents died when I was young and some elves took me in. I've lived with them since I was three, so genetically I'm human. In my heart and mannerisms I'm an elf. Complicated." It was odd, Harry felt safe around this girl, like he could trust her. He still kept his hands on the bow he held though.
"What's your name?" Harry blinked again at this question. Should he give her his real name? What if she figures out who he is? He may be a bit upset that people think he's dead but he didn't know what would happen if they knew. Would they take him from his home? He didn't want that. Before he could dwell on it he found himself responding.
"Harry." He said softly. "What's yours?" He asked, looking at her face. He was trying to read if she knew who he really was. Luckily she didn't wear the face that suggested that she had just heard: "oh, I'm Harry Potter, the hero, the God-like baby in your text books. You know, the dead one? Yeah, I'm alive! In face I've been living under you're noses for years. Irony's a bitch ain't it?" She simply looked interested.
"My name is Hermionie Granger. What were you reading?" This question was terribly unexpected.
"Uh, well. I was curious, back home we don't have books like these. We do have some human books, but they're mostly by humans. Mostly fictional stuff, interesting but not true, I was always curious as to what you read." Hermionie smiled again and sat by her bag, looking at the books Harry was reading.
"Really? I thought elves used magic like wizards and witches." Harry nodded, beginning to feel more relaxed in this Hermionie's presence he leaned against the bolder behind him and loosened the grip on his bow.
"It's true, we use magic, but not like you. You see, humans are far too logical. They feel that they need names and spells for everything. Elves are more into the heart of magic rather than the logic of it all. Logic holds to many restrictions, to many rules. When you do magic with your heart you're freer, you don't need a wand, you don't need to remember all those silly spells, and you just feel. We do have spells for very complicated rituals but that's mainly it. Elves hate restriction; the evidence lies in our homes. When you live in the forest, if you respect the forest, if you respect the other occupants of the forest it is all home. You can wander through a forest that could go on for acres and still never leave your front yard. So we apply this to magic. If you respect magic, and others using it then it is easier to control. You can do thousands of enchantments and still not breech the limits of your power." By the end of his speech Hermionie was staring at him in wonder.
"It's genius, I never thought of it like that. By the way, you say that you wonder about our books. Does this mean you watch us often?" Harry smirked and nodded. Then he proceeded to tell us about him and his friend going "human watching". He told her about the things they like watching the most and of the names they had for each teacher. She had a great laugh at that, especially the name for a man apparently named Snape. It seems that their name for him, "Bat", was a big coincidence considering that most of the students liked to call him "a great irritating bat". He also learned the names of the others too. Like Shadow being named Sirius Black, the name rang even more bells for Harry. He smiled when he learned that Lupe's name was in fact Remus Lupin, he found it odd how close he and Alice were on many of them. For a while they both talked and swapped questions and answers. It appeared that Hermionie found Harry to be as fascinating as Harry found her, he had no idea why. Soon though she had to leave for lunch, they said goodbye and hesiantly agreed to meet next weekend in another even more secluded spot by the lake. Harry now walked through the forest back to the grove, his head buzzing with newly found knowledge. Humans were so odd.
&HP&
Oh wow. That was such a long chapter. You better like it, it took forever to write. Love ya! Peace out!