Hullo again. So thanks to Crystallyn's review I have decided to put up this next installment. Just as long and just as good!
I was asked how does Draco play into all of this and I will say now that although it will take some time before he is even mention he will appear soon. Like . . . chapter five or something. He's not really connected with the Sohmas but I would like to say that . . . well . . . Harry's life is about to get a lot more difficult. There are some secrets Harry's keeping and you'll just have to wait and find out!
Disclaimer: Even though I have put in a lot of time into this story I still – sadly – don't own Harry Potter or Fruits Basket.
Chapter 2: Harry and the Sohmas
Tohru didn't allow Harry to help her, and so he sat at the low table, Indian style, and watched her move about the kitchen. It was such an odd thing to see. For years Harry had cooked for himself, and the only person he had ever watched cook, had been Mrs. Weasley, but she had been a mom, and the act had seemed normal. With Tohru it was something different. Hermione had never been a cook, so Tohru was the first girl he had actually watched cook, and Fleur did not count.
"Tohru," Harry called and the girl spun around, a skillet in hand and a smudge of flour on her cheek. Harry chuckled lowly at the image before he posed the question that had made him call out to her. "What was Aunty Kyoko like?" Tohru blinked a little, unfamiliar with the title Harry had given her mother, for the boy had used English. And then she smiled and turned back around to continue her cooking.
"Mom was . . . exciting. Did you know she used to be in a gang?" Harry nodded, but Tohru didn't see him for her back was turned. "Yeah, Mom used to be called the Red Butterfly. It was said that when she rode her bike, all a person could see was her red tail lights streaking down the dark road."
"So, she was well known," Harry asked, leaning forward and resting his head in the cradle of his arms. He kept his gaze pinned on Tohru's back, so that he saw when she nodded. "How did she manage to get out of the gang, and why did she?" Tohru's brows pulled together as she thought this over and she bit the inside of her lip.
"I'm not quite sure. Once she told me that she had to fight tooth and nail for all of her freedoms, but I'm not quite sure what she meant." Then Tohru sighed and paused to look out the window above the stove. "But I do know that when a gang member tries to leave their gang, most barely leave with their lives."
"Why?"
"Because the gang tries to beat them to death," Tohru told him morbidly with a small shake of her head. "That's what happened to Uo-chan."
"Arisa Uotani, right," Harry asked and got a nod for conformation. "She was in a gang?"
"Yes. And Mom was her hero. That's how we met. She had come to school wanting to meet the daughter of the Red Butterfly." Tohru paused there and a chuckle escaped her lips. Harry laughed with her, already picturing the scene.
"I'm guessing you weren't what she was expecting."
"Nope," Tohru said turning around to face Harry once more. "It was something like 'Are you stupid, pick the —'" Tohru paused there, the mock scowl frozen on her face. "Oh and then something like 'What the —?'" Tohru paused again, not sure how to continue and Harry laughed again. He could guess at the ending to that phrase.
"What happened?"
"Well I had bumped into her," Tohru explained as she turned back around to start sharing out the food. "I wasn't looking where I was going and I was carrying a huge stack of papers for a teacher. I was trying to apologize for bumping into her when the papers suddenly fell all out onto the floor, and then people were stepping on them so I was trying to work fast to pick them up. And then Uo-chan suddenly yelled at this one boy. And then she starting helping me, and she was yelling at me too, something about me being really stupid or something." Tohru chuckled and shook her head at the memory. "And then she asked me what my name was and when I told her she was like, 'Do you want a bloody nose?' And then I took her home to meet Mom."
While Tohru told her story, Harry watched her in mild fascination. When Tohru spoke, her whole face lit up, and you could practically relive that moment with her. And Harry found himself quickly falling in love with his cousin. The girl was a diamond in the rough.
"So, how'd she react to Aunty Kyoko?"
"She yelled a lot and told Mom that she was disappointed that she had become a doting mother. At least, that's what Mom told her."
"Wait, I'm confused," Harry admitted, lifting his head up and tilting it to the side. "How'd you guys become so close?"
"Oh, well after that I happened to bump into Uo-chan again, on the street," Tohru told him. "And from then on we were always together." Harry looked confused for a moment before he shrugged his shoulders. If he really wanted to know all the details he'd ask some other time, for at that moment Tohru had called the other guys in for dinner.
Dinner started off very quiet, and Harry felt that it was all his fault. If he wasn't there the atmosphere probably wouldn't have been so tense.
"So . . . Potter-san, how long have you been in Japan," Shigure asked after a long stretch of strained silence. Harry looked away from his plate, which he had been pondering rather than eating, and over at Shigure.
"Hum? Oh, right. About two weeks," Harry answered in a distracted tone.
"Oh? And are you and your parents enjoying it," Shigure asked, completely missing the warning looks the other teens in the room were sending him. Harry however didn't seem all that bothered by the question. He lifted his shoulders in a casual shrug and said, calmly, "My parents can't exactly enjoy it seeing as they're buried in a grave about a thousand miles from here."
A look of horror flashed across Tohru's face at Harry's candid attitude. Shigure expression flashed from startled to slightly abashed and then to apologetic.
"I'm sorry to hear that," he told Harry in condolence and the dark haired teen shrugged again, turning his attention back to his food.
"Don't worry about it. I've gotten over it."
The group fell into silence yet again, and after a minute Harry sighed and pushed away his food.
"Is something wrong," Tohru asked, concern lacing her voice. Harry turned and gave her a reassuring smile.
"I'm fine, I'm just not very hungry," he told her before turning and walking out of the room. No one tried to stop him; in fact, they had sort of been waiting for him to leave so that they could discuss him.
"I don't like that guy," Kyo muttered with a frown.
"That's a surprise," Yuki commented dryly, rolling his eyes. Tohru looked between the two with an anxious expression. Kyo bristled at Yuki's words a looked like he wanted nothing more than to lunge over the table and beat the calm teen's face in.
"Tohru-kun," Shigure called drawing the girl's attention away from the two rivals. "Do you trust him?"
"Well," Tohru said, shifting in her seat nervously. "He said he's my cousin on Mom's side, and he looks really lonely." Shigure nodded as if Tohru's answer had cleared something up for him.
"But," Momiji spoke up, a frown taking over his features and making him look more like the fifteen/sixteen-year-old that he was. "Why would he lie?"
"I don't think he's lying," Haru said rather bluntly. When the others looked at him in confusion he shrugged. "He doesn't seem like he would lie to anyone. And besides, why would he come all the way from Britain or wherever to try and screw Honda-san over?"
Shigure looked thoughtful before nodding his head.
"You're right," he said after a moment. "But if it helps we'll just look him up, hmm? . . ." The Sohma's looked to be in agreement but Tohru looked disapprovingly. She, however, didn't say anything. Whatever made her caretakers feel more secure she would allow, but that didn't mean she didn't trust Harry.
Harry didn't impose of the Sohma's any longer. He simply walked out of the house and kept walking. He knew they didn't trust him, and he could understand. After all, how would they be able to believe him if not even Tohru knew about her mother's side of the family. So, Harry would allow them to talk it over and he would give them their space, even though he wanted nothing more than to spend every waking moment in his new found cousin's presence.
Harry roamed his new town at night, taking in the nice calm of the suburbs and then the hustle and bustle of the city. Once in the city he ducked into an alley and pulled out a miniature model of Sirius's motorcycle. He enlarged it before speeding out and into the city. And for the first time in what felt like an eternity he found himself smiling and actually enjoying himself. The last time he felt this way had been after he had broken out of Gringotts on the back of a blind dragon. That had been so long ago.
With a sigh and a shake of his head, Harry turned into the motel he was staying at.
"Whoa, new boy's your cousin? On Kyoko's side? Are you serious," Arisa demanded the next day when Tohru had pulled her and Saki aside to talk in private. Tohru nodded meekly a small, shy smile taking over her face. Arisa blinked owlishly, her mouth dropping open in shock and beside her Saki stared in an unnerving way.
"I see," Saki finally said after a moment of strained silence.
"You see?" Arisa asked incrudiously, turning to look dumbstruck at her dark-haired friend. Saki closed her eyes as she nodded her head and then opened them again to pin Arisa with a blank stare. After another moment of thinking it over, Arisa's shoulders relaxed and a thoughtful expression flitted across her face.
"Okay," she said slowly and then she repeated it again with more conviction. "Okay. Right . . . well then." And then she took a deep breath, her chest puffing up a bit before she let it out in a gust and shot Tohru a cocky smirk. "Well, why don't we go and find Kyoko's long-lost nephew then," she suggested in a slightly superior tone. "It's time for his initiation." Saki smiled at this and nodded her head again, like she had been considering the same thing. Tohru looked between her two friends in complete confusion.
"Initiation," she asked, not completely understanding what her blonde friend meant. Arisa simply nodded before hooking her arm through Saki's and dragging the girl away. Tohru blinked, staring after them, not knowing what had just happened.
Arisa and Saki found Harry walking aimlessly toward the track field, hands stuffed casually into his pockets, and they quickly approached him.
"Oi, Potter!"
Harry turned around so fast the move was almost nonexistent, and his eyes were wide and alert as the scanned the area. Arisa saw his hand inch toward his pocket but quickly move away when he recognized them.
"Oh, hey," Harry called over to them in a calm tone as if to placate them, but Arisa was already suspicious. Why had he looked so panicked, and what had he been reaching for? "Can I help you ladies," Harry asked politely, attracting Arisa's full attention and tilting his head a little.
"Yeah, you can," Arisa snapped harshly and then demanded, "What's this crap about you being Tohru's cousin?" She even went so far as to poke Harry in the chest. Harry looked from Arisa to Saki in confusion before he answered.
"It's just that," he said this slowly, as if he was talking to a child that didn't understand something, and that did nothing to stoke Arisa's anger. She poked him once more in the chest before saying, "I don't believe you."
Harry didn't look the least bit surprised by Arisa's declaration and that only made the former gang-girl more suspicious.
"Okay," he said, drawing the word out as he nodded his head.
"Don't you want to know why?" Arisa then asked skeptically after a moment of tense silence. For some odd reason, Harry's nonchalant manner unnerved her. Harry blinked at her for a moment before lifting his shoulders and letting them drop in the universal sign of a shrug.
"There's no point in me asking if I already know."
"Really?" This received another shrug.
"Really." And then Harry sighed and stuffed his hands casually into his pockets. "Look, I understand. You don't trust me because I can't prove it. It's not like you can go and ask Aunty Kyoko because she's dead and even if she wasn't dead she wouldn't know because she was born after my mother was given up. You can't ask my mother because she's dead and even if she wasn't she wouldn't know because she was too young when it happened. You can't ask my mother's adoptive parents because they are both dead as well. And you can't ask my mother's birth parents because they would outright deny it," he explained empathetically, almost sounding as if he were reciting the words. "To you this all seems rather convenient. What are the odds that the majority of my family is dead and the only ones alive would deny my existence? How can you possible find out if I'm telling you the truth or not? And the answer is that you can't and therefore you don't trust me."
There was another strained silence after Harry's small monologue in which Arisa simply stared at him in awe, her mouth hanging slightly open.
"I see you've thought this through," Saki commented lightly, her voice still its soft monotone. Harry gave a jerky nodded of his head.
"I've had to," he replied stiffly. "I know that's I'll have to earn your trust, just know that you'll have to earn mine also."
"And do you trust Tohru," Saki asked and the way she asked the question made Harry wonder if there was some deeper meaning behind her words.
"I trust no one, but that doesn't mean I don't think Tohru is someone I can trust," he told her cryptically. Saki nodded in understanding and Harry felt that she truly did understand. Arisa looked between the two of them in confusion but neither teen explained the meaning behind their words. And before she could even think of something to say the warning bell rang.
"I believe we should be heading to class," Harry said and then the trio turned and walked back into the school building.
"Harry-kun —" Whatever Tohru had been about to say was cut off when Harry held up his hand. She paused and smiled slightly when, like always, Harry shot her an apologetic smile and then explained his reason for cutting her off.
"Sorry, but I really insist that you call me just Harry. I tend to have an aversion to any type of title." Tohru hesitated, not really sure if she was on good enough terms to call Harry by an impolite name. Harry could see the hesitance in her and he conceded. ". . . Or you could call me Harrison, if you wish. That's more formal."
"Okay," Tohru finally agreed, looking more relieved. She then shifted her bag on her shoulder and Harry tilted his head as he waited for her to talk.
"You were saying," he said after a minute of content silence.
"Oh," Tohru exclaimed, her face turning a dark red in her embarrassment. "I talked to Shigure-san," she told him after she had calmed down a bit. "He agreed to let you stay." Harry found the excitement pouring off of Tohru to be very much contagious and he soon found himself grinning along with her.
"That's great. I suppose I can check out of that motel now," he told her with a chuckle. Tohru nodded her head seriously, shifting her bag once more and this time Harry noticed. "Um . . . where are you going?"
"Oh, I have work today," she informed him, her gaze sliding to a clock a little bit away down the hallway. "Oh no! I'm going to be late!" Tohru then slid her gaze back to Harry and offered him a hasty goodbye. Then, in a swish of her long brown hair, Tohru was speeding down the hallway. Harry watched her go with a shake of his head and an amused chuckle.
Harry walked to Shigure's house alone with his minimal amount of stuff. He already had the route memorized and the only reason he was walking alone was because he didn't know the house number and didn't own a cell phone, something he seriously should invest in sometime soon; as a precaution of course.
As he walked, Harry found his thoughts flitting over to his cousin, something it was likely to do these past two days.
She was such a ray of sunshine, something he desperately needed at the moment in his rather dreary and depressing life. But she was also so blindingly innocent, something Harry could never claim to be, that some would call her air-headed. And that meant that she needed protection. She seemed amusingly like the gullible traveler Harry had once read about in primary school. And so Harry could fully understand the Sohma's and Saki and Arisa's reasoning for not trusting him, because Tohru would, even if he really were a conman like they had falsely assumed.
Harry chuckled lightly at the thought that he could possibly be a conman, and shook his head as he finally cleared to forest. He took a moment to observe the house, with its subtly homey feeling. He had never imagined that he would one day find himself living in a traditional Japanese style home, and now that he knew what to look for, he could sense the magic in the air. It left a sort of syrupy taste on his tongue, like the lingering taste of squash concentrate.
"Potter-san?"
Harry jumped a little and spun around quickly, twitching his arm a little bit as his eyes jumped around his surroundings. When he spotted Yuki standing a little ways from him, he sighed and then shook his head, amused at his reaction. All of Moody's 'Constant vigilance' nonsense had made him as paranoid as the man himself.
"Hey," Harry called back casually, stuffing his hand into his pocket. "Sorry for dropping by like this but I didn't have the number." Harry waited a bit as he watched understanding light inside of Yuki's lavender eyes.
"Oh, right," Yuki said smoothly after a second as if trying to regain some of the composure he had lost. "Well, Honda-san is at work right now so I guess I could show you around." Harry smiled and thanked him before following the teen into the house.
"I'm home," Yuki announced loudly as he slipped out of his shoes and then to Harry he said, "I had a student council meeting."
"Student Council," Harry intoned, not quite familiar with the term.
"Yes, I'm the president." This was said a bit reluctantly and with an incrudious look, like Yuki couldn't believe that anyone would make him president of anything. Harry didn't bother to deny it, for he didn't know what kind of things Yuki was capable of.
"Oh, that sounds . . ." Harry trailed off; not wanting to insult Yuki by saying it sounded boring but not wanting to think he understood by saying it sounded cool. Yuki simply offered him a fake smile and shrugged.
"I know. I just wanted to do something for myself for once."
Harry blinked, not completely understanding where that bit of information came from, but Yuki didn't seem to notice nor did he seem to want to expand on his words. "Right, well . . . you know I have no idea where we're gonna be able to put you."
"I knew I would be a burden," Harry said with a shake of his head.
"Oh no, don't worry about it." Yuki told him with another fake smile. Harry wondered vaguely why the boy even bothered to smile if they were all faked but found that it would have been rude of him to ask, and a bit hypocritical, and so he kept that question to himself for a later date. "You're Honda-san's cousin and she wants you to stay here," Yuki continued to say and Harry nodded slowly as he followed Yuki further into the house.
"So, um, why does Tohru live here anyway? I mean, Oji-san said something about her not being happy at his place but I still don't quite understand."
"Oh, well, a while back we found Tohru camping out on the property and so we offered her our home," Yuki explained but Harry didn't believe that was the whole story. After all, what stranger just offered a person board in their home?
"I see," Harry said instead of voicing his suspicions. "Why was she camping out in the first place?"
"Something about her grandfather renovating his house."
Harry nodded his head and said no more on the subject. If they wanted him to know, they'd tell him. If not it was only a matter of time before he found out what they were hiding.
"I guess you can have Shigure's room," Yuki muttered absently after a while, breaking Harry out of his thoughts.
"Then were will he sleep," Harry asked. "You know, I don't mind staying in the living room or something. It wouldn't be the first time that I've had to." Yuki was shaking his head before Harry could even finish.
"No, no, Honda-san would be displeased if you did." He then turned to look at Harry curiously. "You know, I can see how you two are related. She offered to do the same when Kyo came back."
"Oh," Harry said softly although he was wondering why Yuki had spoken Kyo's name with such venom. Did the two not like each other? Why? But he put these questions away for another day, also.
"Anyway, I don't think Shigure would mind anyways. He is the one that agreed to this arrangement. He'll just have to stay in his office." The way Yuki spoke of Shigure was like he was talking about a dog that had thoroughly displeased him.
"Are you sure," Harry asked. He didn't really like the idea of putting someone out, especially in their own home.
"Yeah, don't worry about it," Yuki told him absently. "But it might take a while to clean out that mess." While Yuki continued to talk to himself, Harry looked around. They had ended up in the living room. Just outside of the shoji doors, Harry spotted Kyo. He was doing some sort of karate moves out in the yard.
As if he felt him watching, Kyo paused at turned to look at Harry.
"Oi, what are you doing here!"
Harry opened his mouth to explain when he heard Yuki sigh from beside him.
"Honestly, do you ever listen," the grey haired teen asked rhetorically. "Honda-san told us earlier that Shigure invited Potter-san to stay." Harry saw Kyo visible bristle, and who could blame him. The way Yuki spoke it was as if he were talking to an inferior being.
"Well how the hell was I supposed to know!"
"I just told you," Yuki spoke calmly, not at all fazed by Kyo's unbridling anger, and he folded his arms across his chest. "You're just too stupid not to listen."
"That's it rat boy, do you want to go," Kyo yelled, balling his hands into fist and raising them like a boxer.
"I don't have time to deal with you. Why don't you go and find someone else to annoy." And then Yuki turned his back on Kyo, which only proved to infuriate the boy further. He gritted his teeth before running at Yuki in a full charge.
"That's it!" Kyo pulled back his fist, prepared to strike, but Yuki slid to the side. Kyo stumbled, losing balance when his attack did not meet and before he had a chance to regain his footing, Yuki moved fluidly to the side, and delivered a roundhouse kick to the face. The momentum threw Kyo out into the door, breaking it off of its hinges and he landed in the yard on his back.
"When will you learn," Yuki said coldly.
"Boys, are you destroying my house again?" Shigure's voice drifted into the room and then said man appeared inside the room. He looked around, taking in the broken door and then Harry's shocked expression before he sighed. "Not again."
"I'm guessing this happens often," Harry commented mildly after a minute when the initial shock wore off.
"It wouldn't happen a lot if the idiot wouldn't keep attacking me," Yuki told them matter-of-factly and then he turned and leveled Shigure with a long look, as if something the man did displeased him. "Potter-san is taking your room." With that said he exited the room.
"Um . . . am I missing something here," Harry asked looking from the door Yuki had just departed through to Kyo, who was still laying in the yard.
"Hmm, well, you could say Yuki and Kyo have a certain animosity," Shigure told him with another sigh, the pout he had put on after Yuki's words disappearing into a mischievous smile. "Kyo's always starting a fight. It's just a shame that he's never won any." Shigure's words seemed to joust Kyo from his stupor and he shot up.
"Shut up! I will beat him," Kyo shouted and then took off into the forest.
"Well, this should certainly be interesting," Shigure commented lightly and Harry found himself agreeing wholeheartedly.
I watched immobilized by a force not my own as the pasty faced man raised his wand. I knew what was going to happen before it did. And yet I couldn't believe my eyes or ears when Snape whispered those tabooed words.
"Avada Kedavra."
I wanted to scream, to yell, to kick and carry on until my throat hurt but my voice was blocked and I couldn't speak, or yell, or shout like I wanted to.
I watched as if in a dream, or a nightmare, as the green light stuck the old man it had been aimed out. Dumbledore's body toppled back and he was thrown into the air, spread eagle-like as if he were about to take off, and then he fell out of sight. The spell lifted off of my body, but I remained frozen as the five Death Eaters ran out of the tower.
In that moment, I wanted nothing more than to cry bawling tears that would never stop, to throw a tantrum, to break something, to do anything. I wanted to curse Snape; I wanted to torture the man who dared to kill Dumbledore. I wanted to hurt him so much; hurt him until he begged for death himself. Such hatred filled me that I thought I would go mad with it.
And so I did the only thing that made since to me. I chased Snape down, not caring about the others fighting around me. They did not register in my mind. All that mattered was Snape and causing him as much pain as possible.
"Stupefy!" The jinx I shot missed, whizzing past Snape's head. Snape pushed the boy beside him roughly in the shoulder.
"Run, Draco," he commanded before turning to face me.
"Cruc —" My desperate attempt to curse was easily swatted away. I tried again but again, it was blocked.
"No Unforgivable Curses from you, Potter!" Snape yelled, taunting me. "You haven't got the nerve or the ability —" It worked. My already boiling anger grew hotter, rising up until it felt like I would erupt like a volcano.
He had killed Dumbledore!
"Incarc —" Another deflect. I was getting sick of this.
"Fight back!" I yelled. "Fight back, you cowardly —"
"Cowardly, did you call me, Potter," Snape shouted. "Your father would never attack me unless it was four on one, what would you call him, I wonder?"
"Stupe —"
"Blocked again and again and again until you learn to keep your mouth shut and your mind closed, Potter!" Deflecting my spell once more, he then turned and yelled to the other Death Eaters. I used the moment to try again.
"Impedi —"
Then pain erupted in my body. I felt as if I had been set on fire.
"No," Snape roared and the pain was gone. I got blindly to my feet and wildly casted another curse.
"Sectum —" Deflected. I tried mentally. 'Levi —'
"No Potter!" Another deflect. I couldn't even land one damn spell. Snape's next deflect threw me onto my back and then he was hovering over me. "You dare use my own spells against me, Potter? It was I who invented then — I, the Half-Blood Prince! And you'd turn my inventions on me, like your filthy father, would you? I don't think so . . . no!" I had dived for my wand but Snape blasted it even further away from me.
"Kill me then," I panted. "Kill me like you killed him, you coward —"
"DON'T —" he screamed. "CALL ME COWARD!"
His next hex hit me square in the chest and one blind moment I thought he really did kill me. But of course he didn't. That would have been too easy, too simply.
Instead Snape ran, left me to wallow in endless despair. And I went back, went back to the tower and Dumbledore's broken body. And then it seemed like everything ended.
It was over.
There was no hope, no winning.
Everything was lost.
"Harrison!"
Harry shot up, drawn out of his nightmare by the call of his name, only for his head to collide painfully with someone else's. He moaned and rolled over, clutching his forehead in pain as stars erupted behind his closed eyelids.
"Ita~" Tohru's soft voice washed over him like a cooling salve and he blinked against the pain to look over at the girl who was rubbing her head also.
"Tohru," Harry called, his voice horse. He blinked again before his mind connected the pieces and he realized what had happened. "Oh, I'm sorry! Are you okay?" Harry scrambled off the bed and dropped down on his knees next to Tohru, who smiled up at him sheepishly.
"I'm fine," she told him, even though Harry could plainly see the red bump that was forming on her head. She laughed airily before her expression turned into one of concerned. "Are you alright Harrison?"
Harry blinked, having not expecting that question. It was then that he noticed the tears that were running down his cheek. He hastily wiped them away, and shook off his most recent nightmare. The memory was vivid in his mind before he pushed it back.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he told her when the words were a little bit truer.
"Are you sure," Tohru pushed. Harry smiled and nodded his head, regretting it a moment later when his head started to pound.
"Yeah, it's nothing."
Harry was lying through his teeth and he felt bad for lying to Tohru, but he couldn't explain, and he didn't want to. He didn't want Tohru to be haunted by his demons, he'd rather lie and keep her pure than tell her.
"Okay," Tohru conceded reluctantly. "Well, breakfast is ready."
"Thanks, I'll be down in a minute and then I'm gonna go out for a bit."
Tohru nodded then turned to leave. Once she was gone Harry heaved a heavy sigh.
The week was finally coming to a close and the initial glowing relief Harry had come to associate with Tohru's presence was dwindling. He had grown too used to it. The first few days, the feeling that came with finding his cousin had clouded over his nightmares and he had none. And then they had started coming back slowly, but those nightmares had been practically harmless. He wasn't that affected by the dead faces of the many unnamed people who had appeared in them. But this one was brutal. The scene of Dumbledore being killed was always like a stab in the back. He never though the man could die. And then he did.
Harry sighed again and shook head. He needed to get ready before Tohru came back to check on him.
"Honda-san, are you okay," Yuki asked as he and the other two Sohmas sat at the table for lunch later on that day. Tohru blinked, shaken from her thoughts.
"Huh," she hummed, looking over at the grey-haired teen.
"Is everything alright," he asked again, worried about the vague expression on the normally expressive girl's face. Tohru sighed uncharacteristically and pushed away her barely touched food, another uncharacteristic move.
"I'm worried about Harrison," she admitted to the three Sohmas, biting down on her lip.
"Oh, yes, he is a bit worrisome," Shigure imputed, leaning back and patting his slightly bulging stomach in satisfaction. And then he frowned thoughtfully. "Was he having another nightmare?"
"I think so," Tohru mumbled. "I just wished he'd talk about it."
"Is it that bad," Kyo asked, not really caring that much about Harry but not liking that Tohru was worried. Tohru shifted, not sure if she should share Harry's personal information.
"I think so. He just always looks so . . . spooked"" Tohru turned to look wide-eyed at the three, showing just how shocked she was to see the scared look on Harry's face.
"You know," Yuki started slowly. "I . . . I have this feeling that he's hiding something."
"Everyone's hiding something," Shigure told him wisely.
"But it's not like a normal kind of something," Kyo spoke up, for the first time on the same wavelength as Yuki. "It seems like something bigger than normal." Kyo sighed when he saw the skeptical look on Shigure's face. "Look, has any of you seen his scar?" He looked around the table at all of them.
"Everyone's seen his scar, it's on his forehead," Shigure told him in a tone that sounded belittling, as if he were talking to a child.
"I'm not talking about the one on his forehead," Kyo growled, his face turning red as he glared at Shigure. "I'm talking about the one on his hand," he grounded out between his teeth.
"He has a scar on his hand," Tohru repeated looking clearly shocked. Kyo looked over at her before settling down and explaining.
"Yeah, it looked like words so I looked it up," he told them. "And from what I translated it said something like: I must not tell lies." Tohru gasped and her hands flew up to her mouth. A look of horror flashed across her face.
"That's horrible. Who would do that," she whispered, and she certainly sounded horrified.
"Well, that certainly doesn't sound normal," Yuki muttered, looking over at Kyo as if he was seeing him in a whole new light. "I'm shock, who'd have thought you'd notice something like that?"
Kyo growled at him, balling his hands up into his fist.
"Well Tohru-kun," Shigure said as Yuki and Kyo began arguing. "I must say, you're cousin sure is an enigma."
Harry sighed as he peered down at the slick stone before him. The name Kyoko Honda carved elegantly in it brought about a wave of longing. How he wished he could have met the woman once known as the Red Butterfly. He was sure it would have been a good experience. The phrase 'Why must the good die young?' passed through his head and it almost brought tears to his eyes.
Thirty years, he thought bitterly. All she had was thirty years. Harry was only happy that Kyoko at least got a chance to live longer than Lily. But that still didn't really help.
Harry sat down heavily on the hard and cold ground, and he rested his head against the cool stone tomb. For the first time in a long time he let the depression eat at him. He let it consume him, take him under. He allowed himself to drown in it, to ride the wave of depression and anguish and loss.
He allowed the visions of his past to take over him. The many faces flashed across his eyes. The old, the young, the innocent, the guilty, the powerful, the weak, the rich, the poor, the known, and the unknown, they all slid by like a passing sign on the television. And Harry felt what he had felt then. The guilt was immense, and overpowering. Even now, when he logically knew some of them didn't deserve his guilt, he still felt like he owed them. They were dead because of him. He led them to battle and he failed to save their lives. No matter if they turned on him, or ridiculed him, or slandered his name, he knew none of them deserved to die, or watched their loved ones die.
No one deserved that.
No one.
"Harrison," someone called out and Harry's head snapped up, causing it to slam into the stone. Harry groaned and rubbed his twice bruised head before he turned around to see the mysterious figure of Saki Hanajima. She was clothed, like always, in a long black dress, and the wind whipped her dark hair around her face, giving into the girl's air of mystery.
"Oh, hi, Saki," Harry greeted, plastering a fake smile onto his face. Saki didn't look the least bit fooled. She stared at him with unblinking eyes, reminding Harry forcibly of one Luna Lovegood. "Um . . . what are you doing here?"
"I felt your waves. You seem rather depressed. I was curious as to why," Saki commented rather bluntly.
"Oh . . . um . . . okay," Harry said, not really knowing how to respond to that.
"Would you care to talk about it," Saki asked, folding her skirt under her and sitting down beside Harry. Harry shifted to a more comfortable position but wasn't ready to talk to Tohru's best friend.
If he couldn't tell his own cousin, then he defiantly couldn't tell a girl he barely knew. Saki nodded her head as if she knew what Harry had been thinking.
"Okay, that's fine. But you should talk to Tohru," she told him before standing once again. Harry watched her go with a slightly amused expression.
Yes, she reminded him exactly of Luna Lovegood.
Harry didn't listen to Saki's advice despite how reasonable it sounded, and Tohru didn't try to pry information out of him like she desperately wanted to. And as the days passed Harry grew more withdrawn, pushing Tohru away before she could get close, and no one knew what to do about him.
Tohru was clearing up the table after breakfast when it happened. Kyo had walked up behind her just as she turned around and the two crashed into each other. There was a bang and a puff of smoke and then Tohru was on the floor, looking disheveled and apologizing profoundly to an orange cat.
"Forget about it," the cat told her in Kyo's voice. "It's no problem."
But he soon swallowed his own words when the door opened and in stepped Harry. He looked around the room blankly for a minute before he offered the two a smile, one they could tell was faked for it did nothing to lift the dark look in his green eyes.
"Hey Tohru," he greeted softly before looking down at the cat. "And Kyo," he added not looking the least bit surprised to find that the teen had transformed into a cat. He then walked over to the fridge, got out a bottle of water, and then walked right back out of the room.
"Um . . . what just happened," Kyo asked, clearly confused. And then Harry walked back into the room, looking a little confused.
"Hum . . . you can talk?" And then he shrugged as if it didn't matter to him. "That's a new one," he commented nonchalantly.
Kyo gapped at him, his mouth hanging open to show his small sharp teeth. And then, at that very moment, he transformed back in another puff of smoke, completely naked. Harry's eyebrows rose, disappearing into his bangs as he appraised Kyo lean body.
"And that's another new one," he commented lightly as Tohru squeaked and turned away. Kyo turned a dark shade of red, and scrambled to pull on his clothes, for Harry was still staring, unabashedly, at him.
"Um . . ." Kyo shifted nervously as a guilty feeling twisting inside his gut. It was always him that revealed the family secret.
"Oh, Tohru-kun," Shigure's voice rang out in a sing-song tone before said man appeared, walking calmly into the room. He took one look at Kyo's tense form and Tohru's panicked expression, before he said, "I'll go call Akito," on a sigh. Harry cocked his head to the side and asked, "Who?"
"Akito is the head of the Sohma family. Since you now know our secret I've got to inform him." Harry nodded his understanding. It was perfectly reasonable and he knew he would have to do the same if his secret ever came out.
"Okay, I get it." Shigure smiled tensely before walking out into the hallway to call Akito.
"Well this is just great," Yuki's smooth voice cut into the silence that had fallen. He gaze was cold and hard as he looked at Kyo from where he leaned on the door frame. "Looks like you've done it again you stupid cat."
"I didn't do anything," Kyo yelled, balling his hands into fist and glaring heatedly at Yuki.
"You know," Harry cut in before the two could start fighting. "If it's any condolence, I already knew you had something to hide. By living with you it was only a matter of time before I figured it out." The two Sohmas stared at him and he shrugged. "So, anyone want to tell me exactly what your secret is?"
"Wait, so you don't know," Kyo asked skeptically and when Harry answered in the negative he said, "Then why weren't you surprised when you saw me?" Harry shrugged for the third time.
"I've seen a lot of things. A guy turning into a cat is not something new."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean," Kyo demanded.
"Ask no questions and I'll tell no lies," Harry told him vaguely, only proving to infuriate him more. He sent the teen a surly smile that had Kyo blushing and looking away. "So? . . ."
Yuki sighed and motioned for Harry to sit before he took a seat himself.
"Okay, so the Sohma family has been curse for . . . well we don't exactly know how long. Let's just say a very long time. We were cursed with the Chinese Zodiac, are you familiar with it?" Harry shook his head, looking a bit sheepish. Yuki sighed again, this time in exasperation.
"Well, the story is that once a long time ago, God held a banquet. He invited all the animals and told them not to be late. The rat then decided to play a trick on his neighbor the cat. He told the cat that the banquet was the next day and while the cat slept the rat and the other animals went to the banquet.
"Our family is curse with these animals. For whatever reason, whenever we are stressed or hug by someone of the opposite sex that's not afflicted with the curse, we transform into our respective zodiac animal."
"Okay, and how many animals are there," Harry asked curiously.
"Well there are twelve zodiac animals and then the cat." Kyo hissed and Harry turned to look at him with an amused expression, which was a surprise for those in the room. It had been a while since Harry showed any emotion that wasn't faked.
"You know, I always thought you acted like a cat." And then he turned to look at Yuki. "And you must be the rat with the way you guys argue. And Shigure seems . . . dog-like."
"You're taking this rather well," Shigure commented from the doorway.
"Hum," Harry said. "So, what did your head say?"
Shigure didn't answer and he avoided Harry's gaze. Harry didn't know what that meant but the others did, if Tohru's gasp was any indicator. "Hum . . . should I be worried."
"Akito said no, didn't he," Yuki asked softly, ignoring Harry's joking question. Shigure nodded his head slowly with a sort of resigned expression.
"He's going to erase Harrison's memory," Tohru asked softly and Shigure nodded again.
"He's gonna do what," Harry asked, arching a brow. When they didn't answer he sighed. "Fine, whatever, not like it's gonna work."
"What do you mean?"
Harry looked over at Yuki.
"If I tell you I'll have to erase your memories," he commented sarcastically with a roll of his eyes. His attempt at humor did not help the tense situation. "Okay, there's got to be more to this if you guys are this tense."
"Well, Akito isn't known for his kindness," Yuki said in a small voice.
"Uh-huh, and you think he can hurt me," he asked and then he had to laugh when they didn't answer him. "Wow, well I suppose you would think that. None of you even know who I am," and without giving any meaning behind his response he left room.
"He's . . . weird," Kyo said.
"You really are an idiot," Yuki hissed as he came upon Kyo on the roof. Kyo bristled and whirled around to glare at his cousin.
"What the hell do you want?"
"Tell me something," Yuki said lowly, not the least bit phased by Kyo's yelling. "What would you have done if Akito ordered Hatori to erase Honda-san's memories along with her cousin's?" Kyo opened his mouth to yell some retort when Yuki's words finally penetrated through his angry haze. He paled at the thought of Tohru having to forget him.
"Exactly," Yuki hissed again. "So next time, I suggest you be more careful." Yuki then turned to leave but not before saying, "By the way, Honda-san says dinner is ready."
Kyo gapped after him for a minute before he regained in his senses and headed down the ladder. He walked in through the living room just in time to hear a car pull up in front of the house.
"Hatori's here," Shigure announced sullenly. Tohru jumped a little and turned around, her eyes rimmed red, evidence to the fact that she had been crying.
"Who's Hatori," Harry asked, looking away from the TV, where he had been surfing the channels. He, unlike the others, was completely calm. They all wondered if he could honestly believe that he would be able to retain his memories.
"Another cousin," Shigure answered shortly.
"Ah, another curse member, huh? I'm gonna take a wild guess and say he's the one whose supposedly gonna erase my memories." This was said with a roll of his eyes and a cocky smirk on his thin lips, something that made Shigure shake his head at the teen's gall.
There was a knock at the door and Tohru went to answer it, returning minutes later with a tall dark-haired man. Harry scrutinized him, taking in his lean build, hazel eyes, and stoic expression.
"Are all Sohma's hot," Harry then asked getting squeamish looks from Kyo and Yuki. He shot them both a grin, enjoying the fact that his homosexuality was making them uncomfortable.
"I take it you're Harrison Potter," Hatori asked in a deep and bored-sounding voice.
"Harry," Harry told him. "And yes, I am. I take it you're Hatori Sohma?"
"Yes."
"Great, now let's get this ridiculous ordeal over with and move on with our lives." Hatori arched a brow and Harry smirked cockily. He was enjoying toying with the Sohmas. He could now understand why the Slytherins did it all the time.
"If you insist," Hatori said.
"Yes, I'd very much like to get this over with before dinner."
Hatori shot Shigure a questioning look but all he got in return was a shrug. Harry rolled his eyes then walked past both men, giving Hatori no choice but to follow him. He led the man to Shigure's office, which was doubling as the dog's room and sat down on the futon, crossing his arms and legs.
"Well?"
Hatori sighed; feeling extremely tired all of a sudden. He never liked having to erase people's memories, being forced to take away something people thoroughly treasured. He kneeled down in front of the glasses wearing teen. He instructed Harry to remove his glasses and the teen did.
"This won't hurt a bit," he said as he placed his hand over Harry's eyes. Harry chuckled darkly, finding the statement ironic.
"Last time someone said that to me, it did hurt," he told Hatori. Hatori didn't bother replying, he was too baffled to do so. He'd already used his powers. Harry should have fainted or something, but nothing happened. "Are you done yet?" Hatori pulled his hand away, and stared at Harry with a shocked expression.
"What are you," he asked, and although he was shocked it didn't show in his voice.
"Now that's just rude," Harry said. "Are you trying to say I'm not human?"
"I . . ."
"I'm hungry," Harry announced as he stood up, leaving Hatori utterly confused. He smiled sweetly at the man and walked out of the room. Hatori followed after him in a daze and when he passed Shigure he had this to say. "That boy is not normal."
For the first time in weeks Harry felt elated. It probably had something to do with finally finding out what was weird about the Sohmas. Or maybe it had been messing with the man called Hatori. He was sure that he would never forget the look on Yuki and Kyo's face when he had walked back into the room, his memories in tack. Of course, he couldn't tell anyone why Hatori wasn't able to erase his memories. He couldn't risk the Statue of Secrecy, even if the Ministry did owe him. No, he couldn't do that, and he didn't want them finding him.
Harry chuckled darkly and shook his head before looking around in confusion. All around, as far as he could see, were trees, trees, and more trees. He didn't know where he was; he couldn't even remember entering the forest.
"Merlin, Potter," he groaned, talking to himself. "Now you're lost."
"Hello? Who's there?"
Harry looked around, looking for the person who had just spoken.
"Hello," he called out. Someone moved in the bush beside him and he turned to look. Out slithered a silver snake. It looked up at him with too intelligent eyes. "Oh, hey." Harry greeted, bending down and letting the snake curl around his arm. It was almost in the exact same place as his tattoo.
"Hello," the snake greeted back in a cheery voice. "Would you care to take me to Shigure Sohma's house?"
"Oh, you're one of the zodiacs, right?"The snake nodded, its tongue flickering out to taste the air. "Well, I'm Harrison Potter. It's nice to meet you."
"Ayame Sohma. I'm the most lovable older brother of Yuki." Harry chuckled lowly at the snake's exuberant manner. "Well Harrison, I must comment that you look . . ."
"Hot," Harry finished with another chuckle. Ayame hissed out a laugh also.
"Oh, I like you. You simply must come to my shop. I'd love to try something out on you."
"What exactly is in your shop?" Harry asked curiously as he looked around. He was starting to notice some familiar things.
"Oh, I make and sell clothes, and they are absolutely wonderful! So you will come, right?"
"Of course," Harry agreed much to Ayame's pleasure. "It would be my honor."
Harry was sure that had Ayame been human at that moment he would have been beaming. As it was, Ayame opened his mouth wide and gave Harry the snake equivalent of a grin. Harry smiled back and turned to look as he came upon Shigure's house.
"Guys," he called out. "We have a visitor!" Shigure was the first to see him. He was lounging at the kitchen table, reading a book wearing a pair of glasses Harry had never seen before, and he jumped up when he saw the silver snake wrapped around Harry's forearm.
"Aya," he cried and the snake turned to look at him.
"Gure," he cried back.
"What happened," Shigure inquired curiously taking in the fact that Ayame was in his zodiac form.
"Oh, I must admit that I forgot how cold it was going to be today," Ayame said, hanging his head in shame at his absentmindedness. "Had young Harrison not found me, I'm afraid I would have been lost in the woods." Ayame then turned to look at Harry and he bowed his head once more. "Thank you."
"No prob. It's just lucky that I was wandering around," he told Ayame with a shrug of his shoulders. Someone gasped and Harry turned to see Tohru, Yuki, and Kyo standing in the doorway, staring at him with wide eyes. "What," he asked, noticing that Shigure was also looking at him in shock.
"You . . . you were h-hissing," Tohru stuttered, not quite believing the words even though they had come out from her mouth. Harry tilted his head to the side. He hadn't realized he had been speaking a different language, but then again, he never really noticed it when it happened.
"I was what," he asked, playing dumb.
"You were speaking Parseltongue, dear boy," Ayame informed him in a proud voice. Harry winced at his words and he paled, not expecting a term from a world that had rejected him to suddenly pop up on him.
"H-how do you know that word," he said in a voice so low it was practically a whisper. Ayame tilted his head a little, his tongue coming out to taste the mood in the room before he answered.
"Some snakes told me when I was in England a while back. They said a few special Brits could speak it." Harry visible relaxed, getting questioning looks from all those around.
"Oh," was all he said and then he gentle untangled Ayame from his arm. "Well . . . I'm going out for a bit," he informed them all and left.
Immediately he went back into the forest, his heart racing at a mile a second. When Ayame said he was speaking Parseltongue his heart just about leapt out of his throat. For one insane moment, he had thought that he had finally been caught. And the relief that came later, almost made him sink down to the floor, but that wouldn't have been smart. The Sohmas were suspicious, but there was no reason to make them even more wary. But this just proved that he needed to be more cautious. He didn't need them finding out, and he didn't want them to.
The room was cloaked in darkness, the windows covered with a dark fabric that kept the light out. A man sat in the corner of the room, curled in on himself in his bed. The hakushu he was wearing draped off of him slim body and he had to constantly pull it up for it always seemed to fall off his shoulders. Another man kneeled before him, his head bowed.
"Hatori."
Hatori looked up at his family head.
"Yes, Akito."
"That boy, is he still staying with Shigure," Akito asked nonchalantly as he fingered a loose piece of string hanging from his clothes.
"Yes."
Akito hummed thoughtfully and was silent for a bit before he said, "I think it would be prudent for me to meet this cousin of Tohru-kun's."
"Yes, Akito."
Oo, a little darkness there at the end for ya! Review and I'll update ASAP!