Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize from the Harry Potter books and/or movies.
A/N: So much positive response for such a short chapter! Especially for a first one! But no matter, it makes me happy to see that so many people like this so far. I haven't seen many Halloween stories out there, and that's a bit disappointing, so if anyone sees one that's good, please let me know?
Well, as it is, this story isn't exactly going to be based on complete canon (as you may be able to tell.). It's really AU, and many characters will be showing up in it - and some may be slightly OC compared to the books, but it's only there to help this all fit into my story. Like I said before, this is only for fun.
Also, sorry about the shortness of this one as well. I postponed writing it because I was so busy, so that's why it's short - I tried to update as much as I could in one night (It's already past midnight and I have to be up and awake in three and a half hours for work) so I stayed up way too late to write this. Please don't kill me, I promise that the next one will be longer!
Not Your Average Dracula
By: xScenex aka Min
Chapter One
That following night, as young Harry was forced into his cupboard under the stairs - or his bedroom, as his uncle called it - he could hear the wind starting to pick up outside. He paused with his tiny hands on the latch, and stared out of the window closest to him. The clouds from earlier seemed darker as night had settled in, and the streetlights outside seemed to dim with the pulse of wind.
He shivered and tugged his door closed before hopping quickly onto his worn cot. Harry couldn't help but feel jittery from the day's occurrences. What had that guy been doing in the school? The image was stuck in his mind.
Harry thought it was a bit stupid of him to act the way he did, but that guy had just given him the creeps. Maybe he'd just gotten the creeps because the guy looked so out of place at his school. Or, it could have been Harry giving himself the creeps by thinking of guys that did give him the creeps on old black and white movies featuring nonexistent monsters…
He started to become confused.
Tiredly, the boy yawned and rubbed at his bleary eyes, upsetting his glasses. He pulled said object off his face and laid them on a sturdy box that had been placed by his cot as a bedside table and stared upwards at the dark ceiling.
Outside, he could hear the beginnings of thunder as it rumbled angrily at a distance - that, or the sound was just muffled by the stairs and many walls surrounding Harry's cupboard.
Not really caring about the storm brewing overhead, Harry rolled over on his bed and tugged his wool blanket tightly around himself. As his eyelids shut, he momentarily thought of the upcoming drama play and seconds later, he'd fallen asleep.
"And ladies, gentlemen, let me present to you!"
Harry's eyes were wide. He found himself staring up at a huge stage, three times as big as the one at his school, lit up with the brightest of lights and shadowed with the darkest gloom.
Looking around, Harry could see that he himself were sitting in a red, velvet colored chair that clashed with the shadowed persons sitting left and right of him. They nearly looked like people from old films, dressed in top hats and tailored jackets; sundresses with hair done up. Their skin, clothes, and hair were all the same shades - black, white, and gray. They looked completely alien against the bright red seats.
On the stage, the curtains had begun to rise up, slowly and teasingly. From the lower proportion of the stage that was exposed, Harry couldn't see anything. No stage equipment, no feet as people stood in place, no nothing.
Seconds passed as the unknown speaker continued, "… your worst nightmare."
The words were so overused in the recent films that Uncle Vernon watched on night TV that they held almost no meaning to Harry until his eyes settled on a further section of the stage just as the curtains pulled up in a jerky motion so that the rest of what had been dangling was now too high up to cause any annoyance.
In the shadows was a large, hairy form. Golden eyes shone mischievously at Harry from the darkness, and he gulped. The thing was staring right at him, with flared nostrils and bared teeth. That definitely wasn't a puppy.
Harry wanted to run away from the stage. He turned his head to see the other people's reactions, but just as he did, they seemed to fade away in wisps of smoke, smiling and some laughing cheerfully as if this were nothing more than a comedy.
But Harry didn't find anything funny about some hairy, wolfish creature sitting up on the stage. If he didn't know any better, he'd think that the animal was eyeing him hungrily.
Seconds passed before, in startled silence, the boy found a sudden burst of light against his eyes. He blinked furiously and shielded his eyes from the onslaught so that he could find the source of disturbance.
He was surprised to find that the spotlight had just been shifted towards him. The white circle enveloped his form and he looked around desperately.
No one was there with him.
The unknown speakers voice boomed again, this time, to Harry's absolute horror, beckoning him onto the stage.
"No," Harry found himself saying desperately, but even though he voiced his thoughts, he found himself mechanically standing up and making his way towards the stage where the thing awaited him.
The spotlight followed him as he walked up the side steps and onto the red hued stage. He felt as if his eyesight had been obscured by red plastic wrap.
"I don't want to be here," Harry whimpered as he stepped fully onto the stage and a silence pressed down on him.
A snarl ripped through the air after he spoke, making the quiet air seem worse than before.
Harry whipped around to where the creature sat and realized that it was no longer seated. It was now standing up on its hind legs, its chest puffed out proudly and it's clawed paws high over it's head.
The eyes still glowed eerily, and the teeth looked longer and sharper up close.
The boy felt his throat tighten and he tried to cry out. The sound never came, and the wolfish creature stepped towards him, snarling angrily. Spit flew in all directions and Harry vaguely wondered if the animal had rabies.
He watched it come closer and closer until it was almost completely on him. His eyes widened and his heart thumped loudly in his chest.
He wanted to wake up.
The wolf lunged forward to take the last yard between them - but suddenly, the spotlight clicked off with a loud 'Swuck'.
Harry didn't feel the impact.
He stared around himself in the darkness, and saw nothing for a moment until a loud sound pierced the darkness and lights suddenly appeared all around the theatre.
It was clapping.
"Bravo… Bravo…"
Harry's head snapped up at the voice. There was a single man sitting in the front row of the seats, dressed roughly in an old suit which was patched up in various places. His russet hair, much like that of the creatures, was disheveled and his eyes were sparkling with amusement. Amber eyes…
Harry jumped back, only to find himself tripping over something.
As he tumbled to the ground, he frantically scurried backwards and stared wide-eyed at whatever he tripped on.
It was a wolf costume, the metallic zipper visible through the heap of false fur. Had that been…?
His head snapped up once more to look at the man in the audience, and as he did, the man titled his head back, long teeth glinting in the dull light and he let out a howling laughter, sending the hair on the boy's neck standing up.
Harry found himself jumping out of his cot soon after he awoke. He peered around himself uncertainly, unsure of what had just happened.
That sure hadn't felt like a dream, but what else could it have been?
He still heard the unearthly howl of laughter in his mind as he sat back down on his cot and reached for his worn blanket. He felt cold, but that could just be the after shivers from the dream.
He wrapped it firmly around his tiny body and seriously contemplated what his dream had been about.
First it had been the strange man in the auditorium at school, now it was some wolf-guy at a huge theatre. What next? Frankenstein at a ballet?
The child nearly laughed at his own thoughts but kept quiet. He didn't want to wake his family up - they would be angry with him.
He wasn't even sure what time it was. But Harry knew that he wouldn't be able to sleep for a long while, because of that dream. It left him feeling slightly jittery, as if there had been something he'd missed.
Harry poked absentmindedly at a hold in the blanket and continued to think about all the weird things that had been happening recently.
Maybe there was more to it than he had thought. Maybe, just maybe, there was something going on - and he wanted to find out what it was.