Ok, here's the thing, I haven't written in this story for a very long time, so, I decided to refresh my memory of how much I had posted so far. I was reading, and I became horrified at the inconceivable amount of grammar and punctuation errors I had made, not to mention the structure sentences themselves. I have tried to fix the most glaring problems as much as possible, but I am not done. Which means I am going to be reposting the old chapters, even adding things. I may repost the chapters several times. I am sorry if this is inconvenient in any way, but it was just so bad. Now on with the fic!

Summary: Long ago, a war began between two demon clans. From this war came tears, blood, and a child. Now the remnants of one of those clans have joined forces with the most dangerous wizard alive, Lord Voldemort. Harry must fight his way through a maze of fear, hate but most importantly love. Can he be true to himself before it's too late? Or will he succumb to the mind-numbing darkness? Only one way to find out...

Disclaimer: If I owned HP would I be writing this crap? Brianna, James, Lucien and the Portillo-Martinez family are mine; ALL MINE! MWAHAHA!... Okay, I'm done now...

Warnings: This story contains yaoi. Meaning there's some hot M/M action in here somewhere. If you have a problem with this...I do NOT care! My suggestion to those who do is this: Go take your homophobic ass to the nearest bar, drink yourself silly, and then promptly jump into your crappy ass car and drive off a bridge. Do the world a big favor. You have been warned...

Criticisms are welcome flames are not!

And no, I did not pick out the name of this fic after I heard the title of the 6th book. It's in the sixth year, btw.

This means someone is speaking Spanish, thinking to themselves, or a word is being emphasized.

Chapter 6 Bedrooms and Banks

Lucien

August Eleventh

3:23 PM

Diagon Alley

"Wow," Lucien muttered as he collapsed into a conveniently placed chair. "I did not like that."

The Floo way of traveling was not one of his favorite things at the moment. It left him disoriented and groggy. Hagrid, who had to bend over so he wouldn't hit the ceiling, chuckled and patted Lucien firmly on the shoulder, sending his head forward into new dizzy lights. Lucien winced but Hagrid didn't notice.

"Ya get use'ta tha' as ya keep usin' it."

The boy inwardly shuddered at the thought. He took a moment to look around the room as Hagrid pulled his bags out of the fireplace. They were in what seemed like a living room at the moment. A small table sat in the corner with a bouquet of lilies on it. Lucien smoothed his hands over the arms of the antique chair. It had a floral pattern. There were two couches of the same pattern beside the fireplace and a coffee table in front of them. Lucien was sure he could do his aerobic exercises in this room and not touch anything. There were two doors. One on the other side of the room, the other on the right wall. The bedroom door was opened slightly.

Lucien pushed himself off of the chair to further inspect his new quarters. He fully opened the bedroom door and looked at the antique bed, book table and oil lamp on the far side. It was huge room, with another fireplace and chair beside it. If he looked closely at the walls he could see the beige wallpaper had arrows on it. The "room", despite the size the place, seemed like any normal B and B suite. It felt cozy. His heart throbbed painfully as his brain thought, It would be cozier if it was home.

Lucien walked through the threshold and sat on the bed; squishy. Lucien loved squishy beds. He felt a resounding thump as Vene jumped off his shoulder to land gracefully on the floor, obviously to look around too. He suddenly remembered that the cat hadn't reacted at all to the green flames. He glared suspiciously at Vene as the feline started playing with the long, tassels of the maroon window drapes. Lucien smirked and berated himself for being stupid. After all, it's just a cat.

"This is only fer the night, lad." Hagrid said as he appeared at the door. "So we can pick up yer tutor."

Lucien did a double take from looking at Vene again. "Why for only one night? And what's this tutor like? He isn't a total brain, is he?"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down. One at a time. The reason yer only staying the night is 'cause yer goin' to Hogwarts firs' thing in the mornin'. Yeh need ta get acquainted with the building and rules and such. Yer tutor's one Hermione Granger and SHE is one of me best pals." Hagrid leaned in closer to Lucien so the boy could see his blue eyes flash dangerously. "So yeh better treat her with respect, boy."

Letting out a nervous chuckle, Lucien slid back. "Yes, sir."

Hagrid stood up straight -as straight as he could at least- and was about to say something but he was interrupted by Lucien's stomach growling loudly. The room was quiet all of 3 seconds until Hagrid let out a loud guffaw. "I forgot yeh missed breakfast, lad!" He looked at the clock on the wall and raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Blimey, it's almost 4:30. No wonder yer hungry! I'll let ye get dressed then we can go ta get some food and yer things."

Lucien jumped off the bed right before Vene gracefully slid onto one of the pillows, obviously not at all in the mood for an afternoon romp. Lucien smiled at his familiar before replying to Hagrid just as the large man was about to step out the door, "Oh, I am dressed. Let me get my book bag and I'll be ready."

Hagrid laughed again thinking it must be a joke, until he saw Lucien indeed getting his bag with a witch and charms on it. The half-giant blushed crimson. "Oh. Well... I guess we'll be goin' then. Here's yer keys."

Lucien wasn't offended by his new friend's hesitancy. He was used to people being surprised by his state of dress. He didn't think he looked like a girl in any stretch of the imagination, but apparently the rest of the world disagreed. Many a time was it that when he and some friends went dancing he was hit on by SOOOO many guys. He danced but once they found out he was actually of the male variety most of them ran scared, proclaiming their heterosexuality.

As Lucien gently put the bag of his parents gifts on the table he took the keys from Hagrid. He looked at them this way and that. The first one was a thick bronze skeleton key with intricate swirls ringing the handle ending with a blood red bauble at the end. He thought he saw something inside the bauble and brought it to his eye. Floating inside, in small cursive letters were the words. "Welcome to The Centaur's Herald. If you need anything do not hesitate to pull the bell located on the right side of your front door, and a house elf will see to whatever you may desire. If you do not wish for a house elf ring the larger bell located on the left side of your front door. Please enjoy your stay. The Management." And in even tinier scrawl were the letters "231." Lucien assumed that it was for his room. The second key wasn't so remarkable. It was a simple silver skeleton key. Nothing truly extraordinary about it. He raised it up to Hagrid and said, "What's it do?"

"Tha's the key to yer vault at Gringots."

"...Vault? I have a vault? Since when do I have a vault?"

"For yer bank account. I set it up for yeh. And don't worry neither. Yer parents left yeh more than enough."

Lucien blushed and managed to mumble out a "thank you" before walking out after Hagrid and locking the door. Sometimes it bothered him that his parents earned so much more than the average American. It's part of the reason he never made any close friends. He's one of the happiest people he knows but it wasn't his personality people cared about. Half of the people he knew outside of his family disliked him because they thought he was a spoiled little rich kid the other half just got close to him because of his money regardless of what they thought of Lucien himself. No one actually took the time to truly get to know him. He suddenly came to the decision.

"Hagrid," he said carefully as they started down the stairs, "Can you do me a favor and not tell anyone about how much money my family has? I mean, you saw my house. It can be a little intimidating. I guess you could say that I want to make a fresh start. It's my experience that people treat me differently when they find out. I just want to be a normal kid and I have a feeling I can't do that if people see me as a snob or try to use me." When Hagrid stopped in front of him, Lucien thought he was being hesitant and pressed on, "Didn't you ever have a secret as a kid? One that you KNOW people would treat you less than human for if they knew?"

By the time he was done they had made it to the dining room. Hagrid suddenly spun and gave Lucien a bear hug so fierce, his feet were hanging off the ground and he swore he would have bruises in a few hours. "Yer secret's safe with me, I promise! I know exactly what yeh mean. S'not easy being different." He put the boy down and sniffled. "Let's get yeh sommat ta eat."

Lucien smiled and rubbed his arms as he followed Hagrid. He was liking this man more and more. There was something about his child-like attitude that was just appealing. His willingness to help Lucien was a refreshing break from big city life.

Half an hour later they were leaving The Centaur's Herald with full stomachs and happy hearts. Since they had sat down at the table Lucien was full of questions about the wizarding world. Hagrid answered as best he could but Lucien found what he said at times lacking. He made small mental notes to ask his new mentor, Hermione, to explain a few things. Lucien had been extremely careful about the subject of brooms. He didn't need images like that in his head.

Hagrid explained they were in Diagon Alley. Lucien couldn't believe where he was. The place was huge and crowded. In some ways it reminded of a mix between Salem and San Fransisco. Overcrowded and full of people in pointy hats and robes. It seemed to Lucien that Hagrid barely had room to navigate. If it weren't for the braided boy's dexterity he would have been surely jostled this way and that. But Lucien swore he would have a crick in his neck come morning. He kept trying to see the different shops. He also made sure to remember certain places when he saw something for his family. Like an apothecary store where he would buy stuff for his Abuela or Angel or a shop that sold crystals would have been perfect for Eduardo.

It wasn't until Hagrid said the words "There 'tis," and pointed that Lucien tore his eyes away from a bookstore that was having a major sale he was surveying for Catalina to look straight ahead of them. Lucien's jaw was slowly dropping with each step as they processed. The building in front of him was ridiculously slanted to the right. Come to think of it all the buildings were leaning. He didn't see how a structure like that could stay erect. It looked like it was about to fall in any minute. Duh, stupid, he said to himself as he rolled his eyes. You're in a magical world. Use your head. When they reached the white marbled stoop of the twisted, deformed building Lucien's astonishment continued to build. Against his will he found himself blurting out, "This is a bank!"

Hagrid chose to ignore this and suddenly stopped his companion, forcing him to face him."The goblins that run this bank are a mite touchy... well most goblins are as a whole – but my point is, try not to make 'em mad. T'would be a right dangerous thing ta do."

Lucien could only squeak back, "Goblins?"

Hagrid just shook his head in what the boy hopefully thought was amusement and pushed him inside the double doors only to be met by another set. Above these was a plaque. Lucien decided to take a moment to calm down by reading it. Wow. Morbid much.

Inside was a long hallway with two rows of small grotesque midgets on each side. Warty little fellows. They were tapping away at typewriters or stamping angrily at papers, not a one looking up at the two odd people entering. Eventually at the end of the rows was a desk/podium with one of those midgets – er goblins behind it.

Hagrid stood up straight and said with authority, "We're here for the account Mr. Lucien uh..."

"Jose Portillo-Martinez." Lucien supplied for him when he looked flustered.

The goblin leaned down and glared over the large podium at Lucien. "Key, please," he (at least Lucien hoped it was a "he")sneered down his long nose at the brunette.

Noticing goosebumps rising on his skin and feeling just a little intimidated, Lucien fished the key out of his pocket and held it up without his usual witty retort. The goblin snatched it and held the key up to the light turning it this way and that. He humhped, seeming satisfied and handed it to another goblin standing beside the podium that Lucien hadn't seen before. This goblin bowed forcing Lucien to smother a giggle and spoke in a high yet gravely voice, "My name is Griphook. I will be taking you to your vault. Follow me please." With that he promptly spun on his toes and walked down a hallway through yet another set of double doors.

What service, Lucien thought as he inspected the decor a bit more. All the bricks were perfectly centered, there were no chasms in the floor and there were no patches in the roof. All in all there was no inward sign that the entire building seemed to have the same designer as the leaning tower of Pisa. It seemed a nice enough place as as banks go. Lucien, because of his parents, had seen much bigger. He personally couldn't imagine working in such a stifling setting. He wondered if there were any employed here of the human variety.

Just then Hagrid let out a loud yell of excitement. "Oi! Bill! Over here." He started waving his arms excitedly.

Lucien brought his eyes in front of him to see a very lanky punk-rocker seeming to step out of a room in the hallway right before he saw a whisp of gold hair disappear around the corner. This Bill person looked slightly flushed and was adjusting the bottom of his shirt as he made his way towards them. He wore a grin. Somehow, Lucien doubted it was because of Hagrid. Lucien wasn't attracted to the screamer rock types but he had to admit the guy was cute in a thrown together sort of way. He especially liked the cool earring. Totally not someone he pictured working in a bank though.

Hagrid and Bill clasped hands before the larger of the two turned towards him. Hagrid flourished his hand in Lucien's direction and said, "Bill Weasley I'd like you to meet one of the new students -"

"Lucien Portillo-Martinez," Lucien held out his hand, letting his new friend off the hook. Most people couldn't pronounce his name or even remember it, much less someone with such a heavy accent.

They shook hands briefly as a glint filled Bill's eyes."Oh yeah! The one Hermione's tutoring. Wow what a mouthful."

Lucien laughed and decided to let the glint go. He figured he would find out what it was about soon enough. "Mine's not so bad. You should hear my youngest sisters' full name."

"Youngest? So you have a lot of siblings?"

He grinned. "Seven brothers and 4 sisters. So far. I'm the eldest."

The two men just stood there for a few minutes staring at him before Hagrid blurted out "Yeh mean all those other young 'uns were yer brothers and sisters. Blimey I thought they was yer cousins or the neighbor kids or summat."

Bill scratched his head and said in an amazed tone, "Bloody Hell. And I thought I had it bad."

Lucien couldn't help but laugh. "Actually, I love it. They're my best friends. I personally don't know what I'd do without them." He sobered and held his bag a little closer to his side.

Bill smiled sympathetically. "I know how you feel mate," he said placing a hand on his shoulder. "It's only for a year. And not even that, you can see them on holidays and the like."

Lucien was about to reply in gratitude when he was interrupted by a loud "Ahe-hem!"

They turned to find a perturbed goblin tapping his foot on the marble tiles. He stood up straight and gestured down the hall. "If you wouldn't mind, sirs, we are on a tight schedule." He glared at Bill. "And we don't have time for disruptions."

"Oh, don't get your knickers in a twist, Gripper. I was just here for my new assignment. Bye, Hagrid. It was nice meeting you Lucien. Hope to see you around." And with that he was gone.

Lucien looked up at Hagrid quizzically as they started moving again. When the man didn't get the point Lucien asked, "Assignment?"

"Oh, yeah. Bill does work for Gringots," Hagrid replied in a whisper.

Griphook let out a loud laugh and mumbled something indistinct.

"What was that?" Lucien liked the cool guy and felt a need to come to his defense.

"Step into the cart please," the goblin said haughtily, pointedly ignoring his question.

They had come to an underground passage of some kind. A railroad cart like you see in cartoon mines was on the tracks. The side closest to them swung open and steps detracted from it. Once Lucien was in he looked back at Hagrid who had turned slightly pale. "I think I'll stay out here if it's alright."

Griphook nodded and pointed to the right. "There is a waiting area around the corner. You may retire there if you wish. But do not leave the room."

Lucien was about to protest when the steps retracted and the door shut nearly slamming on his fingers. And with that they were off.

Besides the roller-coaster ride the rest of the bank visit was pretty much uneventful. He got his money, went back to the lobby, got Hagrid and walked out. They had a while to go until dinner and Lucien was feeling peckish so they stopped by a stand that sold candy. Hagrid recommended the Chocolate frogs. Lucien fell in love with them immediately. He also liked the idea of moving pictures. His first card was Dumbledore. He stared at it and exclaimed, "Hey that's the dude on my letter. Cool. And he moves! Kick-ass!" making Hagrid laugh but look around nervously as a witch moved her two small children farther away. Lucien would cherish the card always.

Lucien bought some Bertie Bott's Every Flavored beans and a few more frogs and they started walking again. When Hagrid came to an abrupt stop, Lucien very nearly ran into him. Hagrid turned around and pointed to the faded sign above the door to a shop. Lucien popped a grass flavored bean in his mouth and looked up at a faded gold sign that said, "Ollivander's: Makers of fine wands since 382 BC"

"We're here for my wand," he asked, excitement stretching his voice.

"'Course, we are," Hagrid explained in exasperation. "Yeh can't be a wizard without a wand." His face fell and he gripped his pink umbrella a little tighter. "Ya know what, Lucien, if yeh can give me some of yer money, I'ma go get yer books. It's a little too crowded in there, and I think it's obvious I like large spaces. I'll meet yeh on that bench over there when yer done. Ta. " Hagrid gathered the money that Lucien Held out to him and before Lucien could say anything he was off.

Confused and a little worried, this was the second time this had happened after all, he stepped through the door heralding the ringing of a tiny gold bell. Inside it was practical chaos. That's the only way he could describe it. Shelves piled with boxes were displayed as far as the eye could see. In one of the corners a small mound of boxes were strewn. He looked closely and saw an equally small pile of sticks beside the boxes. Ooooh, cool! He thought taking a step closer. Wands.

"Ah, what have we here? Another student perhaps?"

Lucien jumped, squeaked and dropped his bag. He twirled and crouched into a defensive position that his brother had taught him before seeing it was an old man. Holding his hand over his heart he glared at the man who had seemed to appear out of nowhere. "Don't do that!" He snapped thoroughly out of sorts. Lucien hadn't realized he was on such a hair-pin trigger.

Taking a moment to catch his breath he looked the minuscule little man up and down. He was about the same height as Lucien but only by a few inches. His clothes were rumpled but fairly new. Lucien couldn't resist staring at his face. His expression almost seemed dazed yet currently amused. The way he moved was a little wobbly. Lucien caught his eyes and fought to catch his breath again. Those eyes were so intense. Almost as if he was looking at something inside the boy.

Lucien shivered but relaxed and picked up his bag. When he stood back up again the man was right in front of him. Lucien was very proud of himself for not jumping and dropping his bag again.

The man held out a hand. "How do you do, my dear boy? I am Olivander."