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 7: Hermosa

Lucien

August Eleventh

4:47 PM

Diagon Alley

The man held out his hand. "How do you do, my dear boy? I am Olivander." His voice was far off and his eyes never left Lucien's face.

"Uh... Yo. Heard this was the place to go for wands." Damn was that stupid. What else could he say? Oh, yeah. "Lucien Portillo-Martinez." He took his hand.

"Ah, yes. The new student at Hogwarts. I've been waiting for you." He paused and looked at Lucien even more closely making, Lucien want to back up but Olivander still hadn't let go of his hand. "I have been waiting for quite a while."

He suddenly released Lucien's hand and walked past towards a particularly dark hallway between shelves. At least they looked dark to Lucien. Olivander turned and raised his eyebrows at him before he turned back and was out of sight. Lucien hesitated only a moment before following him. I'm just too frickin curious for my own good. As soon as he turned the corner he was confronted by a simple wooden door. Wow. He opened it to find what seemed like a plain reading room. On the far side of the room was a long book shelf, in the center was a chair and table with an oil lamp on it. Olivander was standing in front of the book shelf staring at the row on his eye level. "Aha," he suddenly shouted and pulled a grey book. Lucien was too far away to read the title but he could somewhat see the cool design on the side.

That didn't matter when the entire shelf turned around to show a simple brown brick wall. Except for six differently colored bricks in a circular pattern. The bricks were black, green, blue, yellow, white and red. They were spread out along the wall to form the shape of a large David's Star. Lucien, stunned, stepped closer and raised his hand as if to touch it. He pulled back at the last second knowing he shouldn't come in contact with the wall just yet. This close he could see that some of the bricks had a knob on it, like a drawer. He could also see that the black, green, and white ones had no handles.

"Choose one," Olivander said with a gleam in his eye.

"What?" Lucien asked momentarily stunned.

"Come now, boy, I know you're not stupid. Choose a wand."

Lucien stepped back to look at all of the drawers again. There are wands in there. One of them's mine. The feeling was almost overwhelming. He decided to act on instinct. Dropping his bag, he breathed deeply and walked to the far right side of the wall. He held his hand about 3 inches away from the bricks, closed his eyes and walked.

He could feel something inside pulling away from him as he came to certain parts of the wall. He knew that these were the ones with the wands in them. It was like they were calling to him. Begging like a puppy in a pound that wants to be taken home with you. He smiled but kept walking. Suddenly he felt as if the world had been stripped away, like he had fallen through a hole. His heart was beating fast in his chest. He opened his eyes to see he was surrounded by light and- Lucien yanked his hand back with a surprised yell. When he looked in front of him he saw the red brick.

He shivered and pulled on the knob, screwed his face and braced himself. Nothing happened. He opened one eye. There was nothing extraordinary about the brick-drawer except that it came from a wall. Lucien opened both eyes and reached inside, feeling around for a bit. Finally his hand came in contact with something smooth and hard. When his hand came out there was a wand in it. He looked back at the wall and the stone drawer closes shut with a resounding "thump." The bronze handle seemed to shift and melt into the brick. The red color lost it's shine and became dull as if in time. Again he stood there, stunned.

An impatient sigh came from behind him making him jump. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately. Turning he found Olivander smiling gently. He had forgotten the old man was there.

"Give it a whirl."

Lucien looked at his wand in his hand. My wand. Lucien smiled and raised it above his head. He spun his hand once. At first nothing happened then he could feel something warm melting over him starting from his feet. When it came to the top of his head a burst of red sparks shot from the tip of the wand and showered around him. Slowly the sparks slid together to form a type of barrier. A solid red bubble now surrounded him. It was inches from his body but he didn't feel trapped at all. It was more like a warm hug.

The barrier started to close around him even more but he wasn't alarmed. Quite the contrary. He felt giddy. Somehow the red seemed like a an old friend he hadn't seen in a long time. Once he felt like he was the happiest he'd ever been the barrier melted away. He stood there for a minute or two with his hand raised above his head enjoying the moment. Slowly, ever so slowly he lowered his arm. A smile appeared on his face. He felt calmed somehow as if this was an experience of pure unadulterated bliss. A single tear slid down his cheek. He quickly swiped it away and turned to confront Olivander, who looked inexplicably pleased with himself.

"Excellent choice, my boy. This lovely specimen is made from the bone of a fire demon. A feather from an Arabian-"

Lucien did a double take, and interrupted him, quickly getting over his life altering experience. "Woah, woah. Time out. I'm holding a bone?" He held it up to prove his point.

"Oh, yes. It also contains, embedded under the surface, the wing feather from an Arabian phoenix. The hair from the underside of a dragon is inlaid into it. But the interesting thing about this wand is that it was soaked in the tears of the sister of the fire demon it had once belonged to."

"Yeah that's all nice and cool and all but in my hand, what I'm holding, it belonged to a living being?"

"Only part of him. I assure you, he didn't feel a thing. If you're squeamish about it now, I'm sorry to say that there's nothing to do for it. You couldn't possibly put it back."

Lucien gripped the wand tighter feeling possessive all of a sudden. He looked back at the brick that he had gotten it from and said dazedly, "No, I don't want to put it back. I just was surprised is all."

"Well I should say so!" He exclaimed. "That wand cannot be lost or broken in any way. In any case you must treat it with respect." Ollivander's face turned instantly serious. It was as if some one had pulled a switch. "Listen to me now, boy. You must swear, on whatever it is you find sacred, to not tell a soul what you have experienced on this plane. Only the True One can hear of your actions here today."

When Ollivander mentioned what was sacred to him the first thing Lucien thought of were his brothers and sisters. He shoved them out of his head as he nodded.

"Excellent." The dazed and intense look suddenly reappeared on Ollivander's face as he walked to the other side of the room. Olivander opened the door , turned and called back. "Now I'm afraid I have another customer waiting for me, so you'll have to be going."

Next thing Lucien knew he was out on the street with his bag slung over his arm. He didn't even remember walking through the front door. He looked at the bench but found that Hagrid hadn't gotten back yet. Lucien remembered the book shop that was having a sale around the corner and figured that was his best bet.

He felt dazed and looked at the wand in his hand as if seeing it for the first time. It was dark red, almost maroon. Smooth as if it had been polished yesterday. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

Lucien was almost completely engrossed with inspecting his new wand but as he started down the street he felt as if someone was watching him again. He looked around him but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Well any more than you could find in a place inhabited by magical beings. He shrugged it off and kept walking.

When he got to the book store he spotted Hagrid immediately. It's not like it was hard. The larger man seemed to be very irritated and Lucien instantly connected it to his current companion. A tall platinum-blond haired man was talking to Hagrid. He was in all black, including a long cloak, and was holding a cane with a silver snake handle. Lucien usually had a good eye for the kind of people he would like and he did not like this man at all. He seemed... oily somehow. Lucien dropped his wand in his long side pocket and decided to come to his friend's rescue.

"Hagrid!" Lucien started jumping up and down as he made his way through the crowded bookstore. When he got there Blondie's sneer had transformed into a scowl and Lucien felt proud that he was the cause of it. Turning his back to Blondie, knowing it would piss him off more, Lucien gave Hagrid a warning look reminding him that they were in a public place.

"Those my books? Wow, they look heavy." He twirled to face the other... man. "Hi there. Names Lucien." He didn't offer his hand.

The sneer reappeared like magic but this time it was different somehow. Lucien had to suppress a shiver. "Ah yes, the new... student. Lucius Malfoy. I believe you are about the same age as my son." Lucius held out the hand not occupying the cane seeming not to notice Lucien's bad manners.

Lucien didn't like the way Lucius had said "student." Like it was an amusing swear word. Lucien held down his revulsion and took hold of the proffered hand. He quickly found himself in close proximity with this Lucius Malfoy.

"What unique eyes you have, Lucien." Indeed Lucius was staring straight into his eyes practically whispering. He was almost breathing in Lucien's face.

But Lucien had gotten fiercer looks from the milkman. He glared back as hard as he could knowing his eyes were turning a cloudy navy blue as they always did when he was mad. "I get them from my mother."

Lucius seemed stunned for a moment before Hagrid jumped in. "Now see here, Malfoy. That's enough. The boy needs to get fitted."

Lucius stepped back, still slightly stunned before giving Lucien a nod in farewell and another scowl in Hagrid's direction as he left in a billowing of black cloth. Lucien didn't realize he was shaking until Hagrid put a hand on his shoulder. "You alrigh', there?"

"I didn't like him." Was all Lucien said in reply. He whirled around. "Those paid for?" At Hagrid's nod he took half the pile. They were heavy and he could have put them in his bag but he needed something to occupy his hands. He had a feeling he was being cold but he felt angry somehow. No, he was seething. He wanted to punch something and he knew he needed to calm down first.

He nodded for Hagrid to lead the way. The large man hesitated for a moment then asked, "You sure you're alrigh' Lucien?"

Lucien forced himself to relax and give Hagrid a tired smile. "I'm fine, buddy. He just made me feel weird is all."

"Too righ'! He was acting strange, he was. Well, stranger than the usual Malfoy, at least." Seeming satisfied he walked towards the fitting shop.

Again the next hour was spent without incident but when they got back to the inn Lucien was hungry again. So he asked Hagrid to wait for him in the dining room. He brought the books and robes up to the room and picked up Vene who was sleeping happily on the pillow.

Walking downstairs, with poor Vene trailing groggily behind him, he found Hagrid with someone else at the table. Man, this guy sure knows a lot of people. When he got closer however he saw it wasn't a someone at all. It was a girl around his own age. Bushy hair and bright smile. She was engaging Hagrid in a vigorous conversation. At least he likes this visitor better than the last, Lucien thought taking in Hagrid's relaxed and happy appearance.

Adopting a smile, he walked towards them. As he got closer he heard the girl talking animatedly. "And you should have seen Ron trying to keep a straight face when I started telling him about my assignment. He was beat red. I know it's cruel but sometimes it's just too amusing torturing that boy!"

By this time he had gotten to the table. Lucien decided immediately that he would like her. He laughed making Hermione, that was who he assumed it was, jump and turn in her seat.

Hagrid smiled and gestured towards Lucien. "Hermione, meet your new student, Lucien. Lucien, say hello to Hermione Granger, the smartest witch I've ever had the pleasure of meetin'."

Standing up, Hermione turned an adorable shade of pink. "He's exaggerating, I'm sure." She shook Lucien's outstretched hand.

"That's a lie Hermione, and yeh know it! Don't believe it Lucien, there's not a better witch to tutor yeh that I can think of." Hagrid crossed his arms and looked at Hermione as if daring her to challenge him.

She laughed and sat down so she could reach to swat Hagrid's arms. "Fine then, you stubborn man." Turning back to Lucien, who had by now grabbed another chair for himself, she put on a obviously false air or primness. "I make superb grades, thank you." She whirled on Hagrid and glared good naturedly. "Happy now?"

He uncrossed his arms and nodded his head firmly. "'Bout time yeh admitted it, too."

Lucien laughed again when the poor child put her head in her hand. "I should just give up shouldn't, I, Lucien?"

"That seems safest for the moment, Hermione."

After a few seconds Hagrid looked between them and stretched exaggeratedly. "I gots to get me some sleep, you guys. Need to wake up brigh' and early t'morrow. You two jus' stay here and get acquainted, and I'll see yeh both later. Oh, Lucien, try the butterbeer here. It's good."

Hermione looked disappointed. "Oh, Hagrid, must you? We haven't had much time together this summer."

"'Fraid so. I have a new patch of Hollowpicks that need lookin' after. But I'll see yeh soon."

"Of course, I've just missed you. Have a safe trip back."

It was Hagrid's turn to blush. "I'll see yeh later, Hermione. Bye Lucien."

They waved goodbye and neither spoke for a moment until Lucien piped up, "Well... that was subtle."

Hermione laughed. "Subtlety has never been Hagrid's strong suit."

That was when their waitress decided to finally show up. She also decided to stand uncomfortably close to Lucien. He looked up and had to keep from flinching. She was a teenage girl. She had straight, obviously fake blond hair, and was wearing a bright vermilion halter top which clashed with her overly tanned skin. He was momentarily afraid her breasts would pop out and attack him. Her skirt was just a little too tight and a a lot too short. The make up was thankfully sparse except for yellow glitter as eyeshadow and shimmering red lipstick. Her nameplate said "Apolla." Hooker name, Lucien thought to himself. He couldn't decide if he wanted to laugh or run.

She grinned to show disturbingly white teeth and asked Lucien if they were ready to order.

"Well I ate here earlier but I don't remember the menus. I'd like some butterbeer to drink, though. Oh and can you get some milk for my cat?" Vene decided at that moment to jump up on the table between Hermione and Apolla.

Apolla, smiled with her too-white teeth, and patted Vene's head. "'Course, love." She turned to Hermione. "And for you... ma'am?" Lucien was surprised how her voice suddenly deadpanned when she spoke to Hermione. When she called Hermione "ma'am" she seemed to have a hard time pronouncing it. He wanted to slap the glitter off her face but held his cool. He was raised to treat women with respect, no matter who they were.

Hermione for her part smiled and said. "The same would be fine. Thank you."

"Right then. I'll be right back with your menus and drinks." With a final pat on Vene's head and a bat of the eyelashes to Lucien she bustled away through the growing crowd.

"Jeez." Lucien exclaimed, though not so loud as to attract the Breast Beast again. "What a bitch-whore."

Hermione nodded and leaned in to whisper. "She doesn't like me very much, I'm afraid. She's the manager's daughter. Unfortunately, I had an altercation with him earlier this morning on the subject of the servitude of the houselves of this establishment. Although I doubt that was the reason for her ire." She gave him a pointed look.

Before he could reply Apolla came back on Lucien's other side with their drinks and dropped menus in front of them. Well, she tossed it at Hermione and handed it to Lucien making sure to bend just far enough. She reached over him unnecessarily to put a saucer of milk in front of an obviously impatient Vene. Finally she straightened and pulled out a notepad. "Would you like to order now?" She leaned again and stage whispered near Lucien conspiratorially showing off her killer bongos. "I'm sorry if you think I'm rushing you, love, but it's getting crowded." It was plain to see that she wasn't just talking about the room.

Lucien smiled indulgently and nodded. "I have no problem ordering now. Hermione?" When she shook her head he continued. "Ok then. Could I have a gigante- I mean large cheeseburger with sweet pickles, bacon, jalapenos, onions, mustard, mayo, ketchup, lettuce and a Cesar salad on the side? Oh! And some crisped potatoes in melted cheddar cheese, please. And my friend wants..." He raised his eyebrows at her and waited expectantly. Hermione gulped and put her hand over her stomach. "Just a large Cesar salad is fine, thank you."

Apolla gave Lucien one last blinding smile as she sashayed away yet again with their orders.

"Good lord! I must say Lucien, I'm quite jealous that you can keep that size and eat like that."

"It comes from long years of practice."

Hermione smirked and sipped at her straw. "Regardless of her attitude, she was pretty."

He shrugged absentmindedly as he looked around the dinning room. He took a drag of his drink and was woefully disappointed when he found it was non alcoholic. "I guess, but she's not my type. I mean I would like to be able to breath if she ever hugged me. Or stepped within 2 feet of me. She was right about this place being kinda crowded, though. Getting loud in here."

"She had an amazing body and was wearing a top that would make Liberache look like a dullard. Is there another place we can go?"

"True, but I make it a point to never date anyone with a sexier body than me. I also like someone with a better IQ than Magilla Gorilla." He looked back at her and smirked. "Wanna get out of here and piss her off at the same time?"

Hermione gulped down the rest of her drink, looking intrigued. "Do tell."

Lucien grinned and waved She-Who-Owned-the-Breasts-of-Death over. When she got there, in record time considering her heels were almost longer than her legs, he put his hand over Hermione's. "My friend and I thought you were right about the crowdedness of the dining room. Could you have the food sent up to room 231?" Hermione did a brilliant job of covering by smiling mysteriously and placing her other hand over his. They both had to stifle giggles as the Boob Monster's face contorted comically before returning to it's natural flirty features.

"Whatever you need. Would you and your friend like anything else?"

Hermione batted her lashes and nodded her head towards their empty glasses. "Some more butterbeer would be wonderful, thank you." Their hands never left each other.

"And some strawberries." Lucien put in winking. "I need some comforts considering my boyfriend is all the way across the other side of the world." He stood and half pulled, half carried Hermione towards the staircase. She couldn't walk very well due to the fact she was trying to breath and not laugh at the same time. They left Senorita Busty behind with a very evil look on her face.

Once they got to his room, and he had opened the door, Hermione collapsed onto one of the couches laughing hysterically. "I can't-believe-we-did that." She cried between gasps and bursts of laughter. "You're-insane!"

"But in a good way, right?" Lucien stayed by the door waiting for Vene to walk through. He felt something by his left leg and looked down to find his familiar rubbing across it. Closing the door with his foot he picked Vene up and stroked his head. "Didn't see you come in there, buddy."

"Of course," she answered wiping tears out of her eyes. "That's a beautiful cat." She sat up to see better.

Lucien plopped down on the couch beside her so she could pet the feline. "Yeah, but he's wily as hell. He always seems to be getting into places he shouldn't be or popping up right where you least expect him." He was a little surprised when Vene pushed his head up into her hand and walked over to curl in her lap. Lucien shrugged it off and pointed elaborately to where Vene was making himself quite comfortable. "Hermione allow me to introduce Senor el Gato Venenoso."

"Well, of course he's wily with a name like that! It's not your fault, is it darling?" She spoke the last part in a fond tone and scratched behind his ear making him purr loudly. "He's just a big sweetheart."

"He's a big flirt, is what he is." Then he registered what she had said. "Wait, you mean you know his name means Mr. Poisonous Cat?"

Before she could reply there was a knock at the door.

Excited about another delightful chance to torture the Breast Beast, Lucien bounced up to get it. He was sorry he did. On the other side was not who he expected. A middle aged man was standing there behind a young boy who was carrying their food. The man was wearing a blue robe with a red bowtie. His graying brown hair was combed over to hide his glaring bald spot. It wasn't very successful. He seemed thin and sallow with bags under his eyes which were darting this way and that. He looked overworked to Lucien. The man held out his hand and said in a simpering voice. "How do you do. Marty Fellowsworth at your service. I'm the manager of The Centaur's Herald. Welcome."

Lucien shook his hand, he seemed to be doing a lot of that today, and stood aside. The young boy swiftly shuffled in to place their orders on the coffee table in front of Hermione. Vene jumped onto the table only too happy to lap at the milk in a now crystal saucer. The manager swooped in after the boy as he shuffled out and faced Lucien. "I would like to apologize for the behavior of my daughter towards you Mr. Martinez. It was uncalled for."

Lucien's hairs on the back of his neck bristled but again he kept a straight face. He didn't like this guy at all. So far the only nice people he had met all day were Hermione and Bill. Lucien straightened and put on the air he often did when talking to kiss-ups in the higher range of the working staff. Marco called it his "Mr. Big Stuff" voice. "Actually, it's Portillo-Martinez. And she's the one you should be apologizing to." He motioned towards Hermione with a sweeping arm. "Your daughter seemed to like me just fine."

Marty flushed and turned to Hermione as if he hadn't seen her there before. "Of course." The words seemed to pain him. "I do apologize. It won't happen again."

"It's quite alright." But she wasn't looking at the manager. She was gazing at Lucien with a strange expression.

Marty turned back to him. "Will there be anything else you would be needing this evening, sir? There is said to be a storm coming. I could send up a house elf."

"For now your apology will suffice," he said shortly noticing Hermione's shoulder's tensing but not looking at her face.

The man hung his head in a semi-bow and walked out. Lucien swore if he had a tail it would have been between his legs. Lucien slammed the door and swore under his breath. "I hate people like that." He said with a huff reverting immediately back to his younger tone. He collapsed down into the chair opposite Hermione sulkily. "Simpering little coward who- what?" He stopped abruptly when he saw her face.

"Are you used to talking to people like that? I mean he seemed so attentive." She was still giving him that strange half blank, half careful look.

Lucien shrugged. "Yeah, he was a stupid little kiss-ass. I've met his type before. When they're mean and rude to my friends, it makes sense that I'd be a little less than cordial." He realized at that moment his mistake. Danger! Danger! Danger, Will Robinson! "I don't care how much of a salesman he is, you don't treat a lady that way."

Hermione smiled and blushed. "Oh. Thank you, then. Good gracious, he forgot the butterbeer!"

Lucien laughed and offered to go. He stood up, but Hermione shooed him back into a sitting position as she rose to her feet. "No, no. Knowing how the man reacted before, you might give him an aneurysm. I'll brave the deep for a few drinks." She brushed herself off and started walking towards the door. She stopped and faced him suddenly as if an idea had come to her. "Would you like me to stop by my room and pick up some books? We could start your lessons right away!"

He paled considerably. Lucien turned around so he was facing her. Hermione could only see his eyes over the back of the chair. "Why don't we start out by getting to know each other first, Hermione? Could you get the strawberries too? I have a craving now. Oh! And hot Cocoa. Make them work a little."

"All right." She left looking disappointed.

Lucien chuckled at the closed door and swung around to drape his feet over the side of the chair. He lay there for a few minutes, enjoying the sound of the rain outside. He was going to like this next year. He realized that since he was with Hermione he hadn't thought of his family once. Lucien's face softened as he mulled over the similarities between his new tutor and his sisters. She had Angela's wit but she reminded him most of little Catalina and her books. He was positive that they would get along if they ever met.

Lucien looked over at the food, remembering how hungry he was but thought it would be better to wait for Hermione to get back. That was the gentlemanly thing to do. He tore his eyes away from the scrumptious sight and decided he had a few minutes before she came back. He bounced off the chair and grabbed his bunny bag. Reaching inside Lucien found his prize; the rainbow photo album.

He turned to the first page and lo and behold there was Annita's prize winning oil painting "Mi Familia." It was a copy of course but above each blur representing his family was a signature and a little message to match. Lucien decided it would be safer if he read them later. He was tearing up and he didn't want Hermione to come in and see him bawling. Bad for his rep.

Lucien turned the page to find a picture of him and his entire family. For the first time in a while he stopped to appreciate the differences between all of them. Mamasita and Papi were off to the side with Abuela between them. The trio looked as pristine as always. Mamasita in a sharp, elegant business suit, Papi in a ruffled tuxedo, and Abuela in her old fashioned Spanish dress and shawl. They were smiling at the kids who were crowding around each other trying to get the best side of themselves. Except for Catalina who was off to the side with a hand to her forehead, obviously embarrassed. Each child was dressed in their own fashion. Lucien ran his hand over all the face in the picture trying to devote the photo to memory. He did remember when it was taken. They had just come from one of Annita's art competitions in L.A. She looked so happy clutching her trophy and blushing with excitement.

God, he missed them so much.

He turned the page. There he was in the garden with Angel. It was the time when he had to get some herbs for a special soup for Rosa. She was sick. Abuela had told him if he wanted to make the remedies he might as well learn how to appreciated the way they were made; the proper way. Lucien had been a horrible gardener. Angel was kind enough to give pointers as best he could. But Abuela was right. He did appreciate the parts of his recipes more.

He turned the page again and he was standing on the balcony of Alejandro's room. The picture was taken from behind. They were looking at the stars with Alejandro's new telescope. Alejandro was pointing at the sky and was turned at the perfect angle to see his mystified face. From the look of the decorations in his room it was around Christmas. Lucien remembered with a grin that the telescope had been a gift from Mamasita but Lucien had been the first one out of his family that Alejandro had allowed to touch it.

On the next page was a picture of just himself. It was Christmas morning. The others had obviously gone through the holiday photos first. It was two years ago. He remembered exactly what he had been given, too. His favorite gift was from Angie. She had bought him a figurine of a Cinderella type cooking in front of an old stove with a contented smile on her face. The figurine had long brown hair. A black cat was running behind her. It basically looked like Lucien in drag. He had it tucked away safely in the bottom of his bunny bag with his blue towel over it.

He smiled and ran his hands over his face. He was so happy then. Now he was across the other side of the world. Would he not be happy like that until next Christmas?

His fingers moved to the tree and other gifts behind him. That was when he saw it. Barely perceptible, in the background, there was a place in the picture where it looked like it had a crease in it. Lucien lifted the book up to his face but it still couldn't be seen properly. He pulled the picture out and it was still there only now he could see a slightly dark shape outlining the crease.

"What the hell?"

Lucien shook his head and put the picture back. There was nothing weird about that. It could have been the camera. But to make sure... He backtracked to the other pictures he had just seen. He scanned the contents again and found nothing. Getting an idea, Lucien shifted to a page where it was only himself in the picture again. A picture of him cooking a large meal. With scrutinizing eyes, he looked for another anomaly. And sure enough there it was. The exact same crease and blur. It was probably the camera.

He was about to go through the album when there was a dull thump-thump-thump coming from the door. He leaped at least three feet in the air when he remembered that it was most likely just Hermione. He looked at the clock. She had been gone twenty minutes. Holy crap.

Thump-thump-thump. "Lucien Jose Portillo-Martinez, if you don't open this door right now, I swear I'm dropping your bloody strawberries on the floor."

Holy crap! Lucien rushed to save his fruits, lunging towards the door and fervently forcing it open. Hermione pushed passed him, followed by a rather large fluffy ginger cat. He didn't have time to register the feline before Hermione stomped over to the table and slammed the tray in her hands on the table. With much passionate noise she started arranging their dinners into respective piles, slamming things around. Lucien almost forgot about the Anomaly.

"I am glad we only have-" SLAM! "-to stay here for the night!" She was pissed alright. "If I had to endure-" SLAM! "-another encounter like that with that sodding-" SLAM! " -idiot, I swear I'm strangling someone." She finished and stood up, rounding on Lucien. "He OWNS it! Did you know that? He bloody-"

Taking a risk for his own life Lucien stepped in, "Hermione, hermosa, what happened? And in actual identifiable sentences please."

Hermione actually seemed to calm down at the sound of his voice. "An abomination of a man who thinks he is the greatest thing since wands actually owns this place. You wouldn't know him but he's a servant to one of the most evil wizard ever to walk the wizarding world. I don't know how he stayed out of Azkaban. And he was downstairs not 5 minutes ago." She hung her head to where her hair covered her face. "Malfoy is a-"

"Wait. Time out. Malfoy as in Lucius Malfoy? Creepy SOB, likes black, has blond hair, needs to deal with his personal space issues?"

She looked up surprised and Lucien could see... But that couldn't be. He stepped closer. Yeah it was true. Hermione Granger was almost crying.

"You've met him?" She didn't seem to notice the tears.

Lucien couldn't help the fact that his voice hardened. "Yeah, I've had the unpleasure. Never mind that. What did he do?"

Hermione swiftly turned and continued arranging the dishes almost dropping her butterbeer. She tried to inconspicuously wipe away her eyes, with no success. "He was his usual rude, horrible self. It's nothing worth mentioning."

"Hermosa, you were mentioning it pretty loudly a sec ago." He took another step forward barely keeping his voice in check. "Now what did he do?"

"He called me a..." She said the last part so soft Lucien didn't catch it.

"What?"

She jerked into an upright position again, turning angrily towards him. "A mudblood. Did you hear me that time? A filthy mudblood! And it means just like it sounds Lucien. It's a crude word for someone who has mixed blood. dirty blood. Someone who wasn't born into a pure wizarding family." The tears were back, rolling from her brown eyes in rivulets. "Both of my parents are muggle so that automatically makes me filth. Tell, me Lucien where's the logic in that?"

Without thinking Lucien closed the distance and brought up his arms around her, holding her in a tight hug. "Nothing, Hermosa. There is no logic. People like that are just spiteful, hateful, bigoted, exclusionary idiots. They aren't worth your time or your tears."

It was a moment of silence as she stood rigid. Slowly, she curled her arms around his waist and brought her head down to his chest. "I'm so tired of always having to deal with hate. Hate put my friend in a bloody week-long coma. Hate killed his parents. And hate started this damned war. It seems so pointless."

"It always is, Hermosa." Lucien had seen his fair share of hate. San Francisco was the Homo capital of the good old U.S. of A. but there were still some stupid fucks roaming the streets at night. If Pedro hadn't taught him a very specific low spin-kick he would have been a victim of a hate crime too, on several occasions.

They stood like that for a while just leaning against each other before Hermione sniffled and pulled her head back to look at him. "Why do you call me that?" She gave him a wry simile. "I know I'm not your type."

He laughed and rubbed his hand across her shoulder. "I have a nickname for all of my close friends. Hermosa, Hermione. They seemed to fit. I take it you know what it means, huh? Kinda like how you knew about Vene's name, right?"

Hermione moved out of the friendly embrace and walked around the table to sit on the couch. After she had wiped away the remnants of water from her face, she dutifully started dressing her salad before answering. "Once I found out about who I was going to teach, I did as much research on you as I could. I found a lot about your family but felt that was too personal. So I just stuck with your culture and language." She glanced up giving a cautious look. "You don't mind, do you?"

Lucien stared at the woodgrain in the coffee table, mulling it over. Did he care? He had asked Hagrid not to tell about his parent's money and here was a girl he had just met only a few hours ago who seemed to know his family details, at least a little. He shook his head.

"No," he said, surprising himself. He walked over to sink down beside her in front of his plate. "I mean, it would help if you don't tell anyone else about my family's money, but I don't care if YOU know. You seem like a good friend, Hermosa." They grinned at each other. "Considering how easy it was for you to find out about me maybe I should change my name. Like keep only the Portillo or Martinez. Wait if you knew about my money, then why did you ask if I was used to talking all snooty to that kiss-ass that way earlier?"

Hermione took a bite out of her salad, chewing slowly before answering. "Well, it was just a side effect of the rich life that I never expected to come from you after I had met you."

"You gotta admit he deserved it. Him and his Double D-emon spawn." Grabbing his fork Lucien inspected his own food. "So you learned Spanish in one day?"

Hermione swallowed and looked at him surprised yet again. "I've known about your coming to Hogwarts for two weeks."

Lucien promptly dropped his fork. "So why in the seven Hells did it take so long to get to me?" He was thoroughly annoyed that he seemed to be the last one to know his world was going to be turned upside down.

"I honestly don't know, Lucien. Maybe they needed time to adjust to the fact that you'll be coming in the middle of your education." She didn't sound sure of that though.

Lucien nodded. "That makes sense... I guess. So you learned Spanish in two week, huh?" This boy was not to be deterred.

"Only a little," she replied defensively, taking a sip of her drink.

"Yeah," Lucien scoffed. "Like pretty and Mr. Poisonous Cat and the correct pronunciation of my full name."

Hermione fidgeted demurely and Lucien chuckled. "I was right," he said affectionately. "You are a brain, Hermosa."

"Oh, shut up," she shot back.

"Cute cat, by the way."

The both watched as the large feline waddled towards Vene to sniff him. Vene stood there for a few minutes before he smoothed his head over his new friend

."His name is Crookshanks," Hermione told him as she beamed like a mother.

"Cool name." He blanched as they both saw Vene And Crookshanks start rolling on the floor in play. "Well, that's decidedly weird."

BANG! All of the mammals in the room whirled to face the window that a large tawny owl was now plastered to.

"Good, Lord," Hermione cried and rushed to save the feathery creature from the wind and rain. "You poor thing! Come over here, darling." She gently laid the owl on the chair by the fireplace as she used her wand to light a fire. She turned her own flaring gaze on Lucien. "They washed the windows so clean they don't look like they're there." Crouching in front of the the owl who was slowly regaining himself and shaking off his feathers, Hermione lightly pulled the wrapped paper from around leg.

"WTF?" Lucien asked thoroughly shocked still. "A letter?"

"Yes, that's how wizards and witches send and receive mail." She gave a perfect answer but she sounded distracted. Her face was paling. "It's from Hogwarts. They aren't ready for us yet." She looked up at him. "We're to stay here for the next week."

A/N So... Long.../Dies/ Sorry these chapters are taking so long. I'm trying, I really am. Review please. I also like details. It helps the creative process. What specifically did you like? What specifically did you not? If you have any ideas please share them.