The Hybrid
Chapter 6
"Not a Vampire!"
"-silver eyes!"
"-daft woman!"
"Ugh," growled Zack as he finally came to. His head felt like it had been stampeded by rhinos, but otherwise he felt okay. "Head hurts, can you guys shut up please?" he asked, getting into a semi-sitting position, not opening his eyes. When he did final get the courage to crack his eyes, he was relieved to find it was night outside, leaving the normally bright hospital wing illuminated only by candles.
Around his bed stood four people, three of which Zack knew. Pomfrey, Snape, and Dumbledore, and a red headed woman. All watched him with different types of interest, but Pomfrey's interest was more like fear. "What happened to me?" Zack asked, surveying his mostly healed injuries. For the most part, he was playing dumb, but better to play dumb and get information than to play smart and be left out in the cold.
"Your home was attacked by Death Eaters. We arrived in time to save you before the Dark Lord could finish you off. We could find no one else from your family," Snape answered.
Zack swore under his breath, but then figured that there was reason behind it, there was always reason behind everything Selene and Michael did. Zack could only hope that Serenity, Nathan and Natalie were alright and that his parents had found them. "How long have I been out?" Zack asked suddenly. He would have asked Kitala if she had been anywhere to be seen.
"A week. You took quite a bump to the head," said Dumbledore in his usual comforting grandfatherly manor. "That includes the first day when you ran out of the Hospital Wing like a mad man. Lucky for you Professor Holly found you," Dumbledore added as an after thought.
"Hello," said the redhead, not paying much attention to the youth, instead watching Dumbledore.
Snape spoke next. "Well professor, now that you are sure there are no threats the student body, I'll be on me way. Professor?" Snape asked, giving Professor Holly a questioning look. She nodded goodnight to Dumbledore, and left with Snape. This left Dumbledore alone in the Hospital Wing with Zack. Pomfrey had long since slipped away.
"Can I leave now Professor?" Zack asked, fairly itching to find out where his family was and what had really happened. He highly doubted that there was no reason for the attack on the mansion other than the obvious.
"Actually I wanted to talk to you about some of the scarring on your body, Zachary," Dumbledore said, his eyes glowing with pity.
Zack looked at him as if he were insane. "What about them?" he asked.
"Zachary, have your parents ever hurt you? Or your siblings?" Dumbledore asked. Zack wanted to slap him.
"No sir. Most of the scars are from when I was younger. My house caught fire, and I had to jump through a window to get out. They had to operate to get out some of the glass. I was also thrown and nearly crushed by my horse about a year and a half ago. That's where this one came from," Zack motioned to the scar that ran from his wrist to his elbow. Technically, it wasn't a lie, and Zack had gotten thrown, and then stamped by his horse, but that wasn't what had caused that particular scar.
Dumbledore nodded. After all, Zack's story was very plausible. "Are you sure there is nothing you want to tell me?" he asked, leaving Zack another chance to admit that his parents had abused him.
'If mom ever hears about this, she'll kill Dumbledore,' Zack thought. "No sir. Now can I leave? I need to try and contact my family," Zack said.
Once again, Dumbledore's eyes shown with pity. Zack could practically hear him say 'I'm sorry dear boy, but your family is dead.' If only Dumbledore knew how unlikely that was. Hell, the thought of his family being killed off by humans was actually laughable.
Dumbledore left quickly, leaving Zack to get dressed in his school uniform. It was kind of hard with his wrist in a cast, but Zack managed, hoping that his wrist would heal quickly so he could snap the cast off. He had hardly gotten out of the Hospital Wing when Kitala, shortly followed by Hermione, pounced him on. "Zack! I was so worried about you! I didn't know why you hadn't come back on the train and the professors wouldn't tell me anything! I didn't even know you were in the school until Kitala came to me!" Hermione pulled back from hugging the taller boy.
With a look of pure anger on her face, Hermione pulled her hand back and slapped him. Caught off guard, Zack nearly lost his footing from the force of the impact. "Do you have any idea what it's been like looking after Kitala for the past 6 days? I should slap you again!" Hermione yelled, poking Zack hard in the chest.
"Come on Mione! I'm injured here!" Zack replied, holding up his bad arm to protect himself from the next several blows Hermione hit him with, muttering about putting up with people, and him leaving her alone.
She hit him twice more, and then pulled Zack into another hug. Judging from the amount of moisture gathering on Zack's shirt, he was sure she was crying. "I'm glad you're not hurt," she finally whispered, not letting go of Zack's waist.
"Hermione?" Zack asked a few seconds later. Her flow of tears had stopped, but she hadn't let go of him. "Hermione, I'm not going to let you go, but I need to see if I can get a message to my family. I'm sure Kitala explained to you who my family is and what they do?" Zack asked. Hermione nodded into his chest, releasing her death grip on him, and stepping back.
"She's just entered heat for the first time. Her emotions are a little off the charts," Kitala whispered into his ear. It was in parseltongue so Hermione wouldn't understand it. Zack grunted in understanding. His mother did the same thing during her 'time of the month'.
Seeing, but not understanding Zack and Kitala's exchange, Hermione's tears started once more. "I'm sorry I'm such a wreck Zack. It's just, with you being gone, the boys have been teasing me, and the girls think I'm ugly, and I don't have any other friends! Please don't hate me," Hermione pleaded, capturing Zack in another bone breaking hug.
"Hermione, calm down. Kitala was just telling me you've been having a hard time. I would never hate you without really good cause, and I think you're beautiful, much prettier than Parvati or Lavender. If the boys tease you again, let me know. I'd be happy to send Kitala after them, right Kitala?" Zack asked.
The fox kit swung her tails happily. "Yep! I'll set their robes on fire again! It'll serve them right!" Kitala announced proudly.
Hermione laughed tearfully, her past emotional distress forgotten. She gave Zack's midsection another good squeeze, and released him, drying her eyes on her robes. "I have something for you, from your sister I think," Hermione said. Searching around in her robes Hermione removed a slightly crinkled letter. "Artimis brought it to me last night," said Hermione.
Zack grinned taking the letter. Ripping it open, he read it quickly. "It's from my mom. Everyone is alive, and they found Seri and the twins. Sirius is there too, with Remus Lupin. They're at the mansion in France, but they're not staying long. They'll be at the villa in Spain by the end of the week, and are leaving Flash in charge in France," said Zack.
"That's good, right?" asked Hermione.
"A little of both. Good, because they're all okay. Bad, because my dad is not one to back down, meaning if they're in Spain, something is really wrong," said Zack, re-reading the letter. He couldn't find anything that would possibly tell him what was going on.
Kitala jumped in once again. "Zack, some things are going on in the wizarding world. We weren't the only ones attacked over the break. Several muggleborn students are dead, others are missing. Voldemort is making his return known."
Zack growled. Voldemort could very possibly become a huge problem in the up and coming future if he continued to strike out against families. "As much as I hate to say it, there isn't anything any of us can do accept wait for the adults to deal with it. I mean, we're kids! This isn't our job anyway!"
Hermione nodded in agreement, but she couldn't help but feel guilty. She didn't like being helpless. "So, we're going to sit back and wait?"
Zack nodded, not any happier about it than Hermione was.
"Zack! Have you seen my tie?" Seri asked, bursting into Zack's room. It was the morning before the two left for their 3rd and 4th year at Hogwarts, respectively. Zack had grown taller, now standing at an impressive 5'9" tall and still growing. He was currently buttoning up his silk under shirt, refusing to wear the standard robes until he was entering the Great Hall.
Seri had about the same idea, wearing a pleated black skirt and white button up shirt, with a blue oxford over it. Her hair was pulled into a high ponytail, accenting her eyes. "Did you ask Nat?" Zack asked, raising an eyebrow at his younger sister. It was well known that the now 3 and a half year old girl loved to play dress-up with Serenity's Hogwarts clothing.
At that moment both Nathan and Natalie came parading into the room, Natalie with Serenity's blue and silver tie wrapped around her head, with Seri's Ravenclaw oxford hanging down to her knees, the house badge showing proudly. Nathan was wearing Zack's over-large outer robe with a Slytherin badge, and a red and gold Gryffindor tie around his neck.
"I think Draco would have a heart attack if he saw that combo," Zack commented, watching Nathan trip over the robe and fall onto the soft white carpet of his room.
"Wook! We is big Hogwartz wizardz now!" Natalie squealed, swinging around a stick that crudely resembled a wand.
"Natalie! What did I tell you about stealing my clothes!" Seri growled, removing the tie and oxford vest from the tiny toddler. Zack just gave Nathan 'The Look' and the little boy let the robes drop off, and pulled the tie over his head. He set both at his older brother's feet.
"I is sowwy Zak," he whispered looking at his feet. Zack just sighed, shaking his head. With practiced ease, Zack picked up the younger boy, tossing him several feet into the air before catching him.
Nathan giggled loudly, and hugged Zack's neck. Natalie did the same to his leg. "It's alright brat. Just don't do it again. You know you could make me, Mione, and Seri late if you take our things," Zack admonished. Since the twins were little, Zack had had them wrapped around his fingers. Neither would do anything if he told them not to, something Seri had never mastered.
"I don't think that's going to matter much if we don't get a move on!" Standing in the doorway was Hermione, dressed to match Seri, but her oxford was instead that of Gryffindor, the badge sticking out on her chest proudly. Her normally frizzy hair had calmed over the years with some help and hair products from Seri, leaving her with softly curled honey hair hanging down past her shoulders.
Zack looked at his watch and swore. It was 10 o'clock and they hadn't even left yet. Tossing his robe into his trunk, Zack sealed it shut, and tossed Hermione her tie. She nodded in appreciation, and set it into place, tucking it into her oxford.
"Seri! Zack! Mione! Are you ready to leave yet?" Selene asked. Zack could tell she was waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs.
"Just about mom!" Zack yelled, shrinking his trunk, as well as Hermione's and tucking them into his pocket. Remus, the werewolf now turned Lycan, had long since removed the trackers on the trio's wands. Serenity followed a few seconds later, tucking her want into the holder on her hip, hidden by her skirt. Within two minutes of 10 o'clock, all three were sitting in Michael's SUV, the girl's in the back, and Zack and Michael in the front. Selene, Natalie and Nathan had already said their goodbyes to the three students.
At ten thirty, Michael pulled up to the drop off of King's Crossing Station. It was once again raining. "We should have stayed at the villa! You could have flooed to the school," Michael commented.
"It wouldn't be the same as riding the train daddy!" Seri objected, carefully removing Artimis from the back seat on Michael's SUV. Kitala, ever the night owl, was curled up in the breast pocket of Zack's shirt sleeping.
"Whatever you say," Michael responded. He and Zack shook hands while Michael gave each girl a hug and a peck on the cheek in goodbye. Hermione, Zack's best friend for almost 4 years, had in every aspect, become part of their family. Her entire family, including her grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, had been targeted by Voldemort and murdered on Thanksgiving Day while over seas with Hermione's Aunt's family. Hermione had been at Hogwarts when it happened, and hadn't been harmed.
The Ministry wanted to cast Hermione into a muggle orphanage, which may or may not have allowed her to continue her magical education, but Zack and his parents wouldn't have it. Little more than a week after Hermione became part of the Corvin family in all but the name. She had chosen to keep her last name as Granger. Even so, Selene and Michael cared for her as if she were their own.
At 10:45, the trio finally got to the wizarding side of the platform. There were people everywhere. Almost every inch of the platform was taken up by parents saying goodbye to children. Weaving through the crowd, Zack created a path for the two smaller girls to walk through. The corridors of the train were, thankfully, less crowded than the platform. By 10:50, the small crew had located the other half of their group.
"Hey Draco. Gin," Zack greeted dropping down on one of the over stuffed seats with Draco. The blond smirked at the raven-haired boy. Somehow, Zack, Hermione, and Ginny Weasley, had all managed to forge a working, if sometimes violent, friendship even if they hadn't managed to quite break Draco of his abhorred feelings toward muggles. When asked why he remained friends with Zack, Seri, and Mione, his only response was that they were the last decedents of a very ancient wizarding family. Ginny was, of course, a pure blood, but didn't hold the same views as Draco did.
Ginny, who was small for her age, had bright red hair, and chocolate brown eyes. At only 5 feet tall, she was very skinny and pale, but still healthy. Each of her friends had little doubt she could hold her own both physically and with a wand. In the current times, if you couldn't defend yourself, you were as good as dead.
In the 4 years that had passed since Zack's first days at Hogwarts, many things had come to pass. Voldemort had been resurrected, Harry Potter had officially been declared dead, and Voldemort's wraith had been unleashed upon the world. The muggles had been led to believe that all the events caused by Voldemort were caused by a cult, which no one could find the roots of. Everyone in the wizarding world knew about Voldemort and his role behind the mass murders of the last few years even if the Ministry hadn't made it official yet.
At Hogwarts alone, the school population had been cut in half. There were few muggle born children left at the school, many of them unknown to all but the teachers. It had become very apparent very quickly that being from the muggle world in any way, shape or form was a weakness. The only people at the entire school that everyone knew were from the muggle world were Hermione, Serenity and Zack. Personally, Zack couldn't care less. Messing with his family was mass suicide and all the wizards knew it.
Draco and Ginny had just started to re-account their summer for Mione, Zack and Seri when the door to their compartment door slid open. Standing in the hall was a young girl, much smaller than even Ginny. Her hair was blond and hung down to her waist in an intricate braid, letting her brilliant green eyes shine.
"Hello, do you mind if I join you? All the other compartments are full," she whispered. It was obvious she was almost painfully shy.
Draco opened his mouth to give the girl a most likely snide comment, but a subtle painful pinching of his thigh from Seri cut him off. "Of course, come on in," Hermione offered with a smile she reserved for the younger students. The girl entered the compartment, struggling to pull the heavy trunk behind her. Zack, being Zack, stood and took her trunk before she could object, stuffing it under her seat.
Draco looked like he wanted to remark on her dingy robes and battered trunk, but didn't say anything, knowing Ginny would most likely kill him. "What's your name?" Seri asked, watching the younger girl like a hawk.
"Dahlia Evans," she answered in her shy whisper. Zack and Mione shared a look, knowing the surname like they knew their own. Harry Potter's mother's maiden name was Evans, and no one of that line was supposed to be left, but the resemblance was uncanny. She had the bright green eyes of Evans line, but the platinum blond of the Dursley line.
Zack chose not to say anything. After all, he hated that whole family, no matter whether they were magical or not. Hermione seemed to sense his change in attitude. "Hey Zack, can I talk to you for a minute?" Hermione asked, pulling Zack out of the compartment before he could say anything.
A short walk later, Zack was forcefully shoved into the girl's bathroom, Hermione casting silencing and locking spells. "You can't hate her," said Hermione forcefully.
"What are you talking about?" Zack asked.
"Dahlia. You can't hate her because she's related to the Dursley's in some fashion or another. She can't help who her parents were, and by legal magical bondage, she is your family!" Hermione growled, poking Zack in the chest.
"What do you mean, legal magical bondage?" Zack asked, paling.
Hermione huffed. "How do you think I'm now considered as good as a pure blood? When you are adopted, your magic becomes laced with that of those that adopted you, making you their child in almost every way. How do you think Dumbledore's protection for Harry Potter worked? Magically speaking, Petunia Dursley is his aunt, legally binding. That makes this girl your cousin, if not in blood than in magic," Hermione explained.
"You're kidding?" Zack asked, disbelief etched into his face.
"No, I'm not. You are this girl's cousin, and as small and shy as she is, you know as well as I do what that could mean," Hermione growled. Zack paled horribly.
With a growl halfway between anger and anguish, Zack punched the bathroom wall, the wall cracking around his fist. "Why the fuck does my life have to be so complicated?" Zack yelled, knowing that no one but Hermione could hear him.
Hermione did one of the few things she felt she could at the moment. She drew Zack into a comforting sisterly hug. Zack had just recently been feeling the mental effects of the years of abuse he'd suffered. Hermione and Seri had been woken on more than one occasion by Zack's intense nightmares. Neither Selene nor Michael knew, as they slept on a different floor of the Spanish villa with Nathan and Natalie.
"It's alright Zack. I don't blame you for how you feel. If I were you I'd feel that way too. But please, don't be mean to this little girl because she might, and you know we don't know for sure, be a magically bound relative. Did you even look at her? How do you know she hasn't suffered the same way you did?" Hermione asked, hold Zack at arm's length.
Hermione was the only person in the world that knew the extent of the damage done to Zack. Zack had refused to tell even his parents where the marks on his body had come from, other than the fact that they had been inflicted by one of the Dursleys. Even Draco, Zack's other best friend, didn't know about the abuse Zack had suffered as a child.
Zack took a deep, calming breath as Hermione had taught him year ago. 'In with the good, out with the bad,' Zack thought, taking in another breath. His eyes were glassy, but wouldn't stay like that for long. "Alright, but no promises I will actually like the girl. After all, she could have a bad personality and make me dislike her like that. Hermione snorted. Trust Zack to figure out how many ways he could hate a person, whether he knew them or not.
(A/N: Hello everyone! Sorry this took so long to get out, but as you all surely know, this is the summer. I've been out doing stuff with friends and family almost everyday since school got out. Tomorrow I'm being pledged to work for my grandfather all week. I get to do landscaping, go me! Not to mention my yard has been passed down to me once again. Ugh, hard labor. O'well, I'm getting a good tan, and my hair is going blond again. Yes, I am a natural blond, no matter what I do to my hair to stop it from being so. Anywho, enough about my rogue hair. I decided to skip ahead a few years. I couldn't think of anything significant to add in until 4th year, so I jumped. I'll probably do a few flash backs, but other than that, my dear Zack is officially a hormonal teenager! Also, I don't want to see one comment about Hermione being too young to start her period or that hormonally unbalanced women don't act like that. I checked my own medical records and asked several of my friends, and most of us entered that part of puberty when we were 11 or 12 and were either very violent, or very sensitive during this time. Also, I fixed the height stuff. Now onto the reviews.)
Review responses:
Bandgsecurityaw: Working on it!
ShAdOwAdRiA: Oi vay…Well, as my dear friend Matt has told me many, many times now, let these fucking hurricanes come, I dare them. He is also the one I had to stop from performing the final summoning before hurricane Charlie. Sigh…and to think my dad wants to move me to Miami.
Wytil: Really? Didn't know that. I don't think I'd want to go live there. I know the place you're talking about. I think you spell it Isla Morada, or at least that's how you say it. I've been to the Sea Base there once or twice, my dad worked form them at one point or another. Have you ever been to the Dolphin Discovery Center? It's off the Seven Mile Bridge. That place is cool. Of course, I may soon know that place a lot better, because my dad got a job offer in Key Largo.
Jbfritz: Thanks.
Pheonixelemental: The only really good thing I can say about my school is that the seniors were gone the first week of May, the day after the AP exam. My AP class had 12 people left in it after the seniors left, and we packed up the classroom, and chilled the last two weeks. I saw the third Star Wars on Sunday for my little bro's birthday, I liked it. I still haven't seen 4-6. The government is very, very stupid. I can't wait to buy my own island in the middle of nowhere with my own defense system, so no one can mess with me. Happy 18th b-day, if I don't get the next chap out before then. You know, you're supposed to have the best year of your life when the day your born lines up with how old you are. I hope you have a good 18th year!
HecateDeMort: Thanks.
Angelkitty77: Thanks.
Japanese-jew: I know that, but I'm feeling kind of lazy. I'll probably go back and fix it, but until then…I know I'm going to sound like a dork, but it's two in the morning and the meaning of INVU escapes me. What does it mean again?
Applebottoms: You know, I have it on good authority from a friend in UK that Dumbledore dies in the 6th book. I know how finals were, I was ready to kill too. I get my report card and FCAT (FagCAT) scores on Thursday. Have you ever noticed that when you cut your leg, it either bleeds a lot, or not at all? I got something caught in the spokes of my bike today and went flying into an intersection, and sliced my jeans and my leg wide open. My leg didn't bleed at all, but then I nicked it with my razor and it bled heavily for like 5 minutes. I know there is some Biology AP answer for this, but it is now 2 in the morning and my brain ceases to work…
DragonArmada: I'm not done yet! Do you really think I'd stop a story like that? God no!
Cado: Thank you! Later!
Raskanii: Thank you!
Enchantedlight: I will!
Isis's Rose: You shall see…
Clutchy: As soon as I finish the next chapter, which I'm going to start in about five minutes because, while I am dead tired, I have insomnia…Sleep is over rated anyway.
Howling wolf1: Thank you.
Slash Goddess Connla: No, actually I didn't. Kitala is actually based on my cats, Gray and Oreo. Oreo is where I got Kitala's attitude, and Gray is where I got her looks. Gray is a Norwegian Forest Cat and looks for fox like than cat like, and he's furry! The flames came from another character that I have in the original version of this story, but traded for Kitala later.
Sarah R Potter: Thank you.
Never Odd Or even: Thanks. If my brain is still working in a while, I might check your C2 out.
Skyshifter: I don't know what I'm going to do with ol' Mally yet. I my stick with the thing I had in LC and make him be either neutral or with Zack. As I'm sure you can tell, there are three sides to all of this. Voldemort vs. Dumbledore vs. Zack. Fun, no?
Anneth10: I'm don't just stop my stories for no reason. I'm too determined of a person not to finish things, even if it takes a while. I tell you what I told everyone else during LC. If I don't update for three months without having told you guys, I'm dead or in a coma.
