The Hybrid

Chapter 7

"What took you two so long?" asked Draco as Hermione and Zack returned to their compartment. Dahlia was still there reading a tattered muggle book, almost as if she wished not to be noticed.

Zack scanned his mind for a good excuse, but Kitala once again saved him the trouble. "They had to get me food. Mione forgot to give me breakfast this morning," Kitala growled, poking her head out of Zack's front pocket. With another growl, she leapt from Zack's pocket to his shoulder. Then she spotted Dahlia.

With a leap impossible for any other animal her size, Kitala jumped from Zack's shoulder, to Dahlia's hands, knocking the book to the floor. Dahlia squeaked in surprise, shooting back into the seat. "Is she a relative of your Zack?" Kitala asked in parseltongue. Dahlia's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"What do you mean a relative?" she responded, also in parseltongue. Zack stared at the smaller girl in surprise and horror.

"No! You have got to be shitting me!" Zack was horrified. There wasn't any other way around it. The girl was definitely related to him in some shape or form. Until now only two people could speak parseltongue, three if you counted Kitala. Now, the number was up to 4, and there was no possible way the girl could have gotten the gift of serpent tongue from anyone but Zack.

"Zack!" Seri yelled as Zack's eyes rolled up into the back of his head. The only thing that stopped him from hitting the floor was Hermione and Draco catching him.


"Zack! Wake up!" Zack felt something sharp connect with his face. Eyes shooting open, he came face to face with Seri and Hermione. With Vycan inspired strength, Seri pulled Zack off the floor. Ginny, Draco and Dahlia weren't in the compartment, and the air hummed with silencing and security charms.

"What the fuck was that about?" Seri demanded.

Zack just brushed the younger girl off. "Nothing you need to worry about," he responded.

"Bullshit! If Hermione knows, than I damn well have the right!" Seri yelled. She was furious.

Zack looked to Hermione, who shrugged. "Fine, if you want to know so much. That kid is Harry Potter's cousin, and seems to be a parselmouth. I'm magically bonded to these people through adoption. If they wanted to say, find Harry Potter they could through her blood, and that's just the start of it! I also know beyond any shadow of doubt that she is the product of Vernon and Petunia Dursley, two people that abused me for the first several years of my life! If you have the right to know about this, than I can damn well trip out as much as I feel like!" Zack yelled. He was starting to hyperventilate.

"Zack, calm down! You're getting too worked up!" Hermione cooed, rubbing the younger boy's back in circles. Zack either didn't hear her, or ignored her as his breathing stayed at the same accelerated rate.

"Watch out Mione," Seri warned. Removing her wand, she cast an inaudible charm on her fingers. She then placed her now frosty fingers on the back of Zack's neck. As it was quite warm in the compartment, the cold touch shocked Zack out of his state. "Now that you're back with the living," Seri drawled. Over the last years, the girl had grown to have quite an attitude, something that kept most people at arms length. The girl was also a wiz with a wand, never hesitating to curse someone if they messed with her, including her brother.

Zack shook his head, trying to clear it. "Thanks Seri," said Zack, rubbing the lingering cold on his neck away. "Shit, what am I going to tell Draco and Gin? Neither of them knows I'm a parselmouth."

"We can either tell them the truth, or lie. You also can't forget about Dahlia, she's going to want to know too," Hermione reasoned.

"3 calm years, and then this! Someone has it in for me," Zack growled, standing from the floor. "Bring them back in. I need to ask Dahlia about some stuff," Zack ordered.

Seri and Hermione unwove the spells around the compartment, and slid open the door, revealing a curious Ginny, a confused Draco, and a frightened Dahlia. "He'll explain everything to you later," Seri whispered to Draco and Ginny. The two nodded.

"Dahlia, who are your parents?" Zack asked, cutting to the chase. Hermione and Seri had reconstructed all of the security spells.

"I-I don't have any parents. I'm an orphan, I w-was from birth." The girl looked ready to cry. "B-but I know their names. Vernon and Petunia Dursley. T-they died," she whispered.

Zack swore. "Nice. Well, I'm Zachary Corvin, your first cousin magically speaking. I'm your mother's nephew by magical adoption," said Zack, rubbing his temples.

Draco and Ginny didn't say anything, both knew what magical adoption was and what it entailed. They also knew that Dahlia had to be related to Harry Potter. After all, how many people in the Wizarding World had the last name Evans? Excluding Professor Holly that was.

Professor Holly Evans-Snape was the current Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts, and had been since half way through Zack's 1st year. She was young, only 8 years older than Zack, and had started teaching almost directly out of Hogwarts. She had married Professor Severus Snape the previous year, despite the 12-year age difference.

Holly, as she insisted her students call her, was the coolest professor at Hogwarts. She was always generally cheerful and talkative, with a strange love for a muggle drink called Coca-Cola. She also loved muggle rock music and had a charmed MP3 player to play music of her choice within Hogwart's walls, something once thought impossible. How Snape lived with the woman was anyone's guess. She was also a muggle born.

Dahlia nodded, not asking any questions. "No comment?" Ginny asked.

Dahlia shook her head, no. "It doesn't surprise me. I'm discovering a lot of family I never knew I had," she said with a shrug.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

Dahlia shrugged, curling her legs into her chest, resting her chin on her knees. "Professor Evans-Snape is my big sister, my parents first born. They knew we were witches when we were born, and abandoned us. She didn't know until the Headmaster sent her to the orphanage to get me for the train last night. I'm supposed to live with her and Professor Snape when school lets out for the summer," Dahlia explained in an innocent manner only a child could have. Also like a child, Dahlia had given Zack, Hermione and Seri a lot of information without having to ask the girl for it. Children had a tendency to babble.

"While I pretend to understand those other comments, how is it that you are related through magic to Dahlia? I was under the impression that Selene and Michael were your real parents," Draco stated.

Zack nodded. "Don't worry Draco, I'll explain it to you, Gin, and Luna when we get to the school. I don't feel very secure talking about any of this stuff." Draco nodded in acceptance, knowing that Zack would tell him when the time came.

A knock came on the compartment door, startling the occupants. Seri and Hermione took down the security wards at break neck speed. Sliding the door open, they all breathed a sigh of relief. Luna Lovegood, a clever, if sometimes slightly oblivious, blond Ravenclaw stood at the door. Her penetrating blue eyes swept the compartment, only to land on Zack.

As their compartment was only made to seat 6, there was nowhere else for Luna to sit, so the only slightly younger Ravenclaw quickly propped herself in the expecting Zack's lap, her skirt rising higher on her legs than her father probably would have liked. Luna, for all of her good intensions, was very pretty and someone many boys had their eyes on, including Zack.

Zack however, had the advantage of the fact that Luna was his sister's best friend, a fact he tried not to exploit too much. Of course, when you lived on the same floor as you sister in the overly heated climate of Spain, you tended to see things you otherwise wouldn't, such as Luna in a bikini, or her nightshirts. He also had the fact that Luna liked him back, something he'd discovered only in the beginning of the summer.

Of course, Zack wasn't ready to start dating the blond yet, as she, while only a month younger than he was, wasn't ready. That didn't stop him from enjoying her sitting on his lap however. After all, he was a teenage boy!

"Hello everyone. How are you this fine afternoon?" Luna greeted, even though the afternoon was anything but 'fine'. The storming had only gotten worse since they'd left the station. The sky was completely dark except for the lightning that occasionally lit up the sky.

Everyone responded nicely, not wanting to upset the blond. Her magic did very interesting things when she was angry, and Zack had a suspicion that she had Veela blood, even if there couldn't be much of it. "Wonderful. Has anyone heard about the latest research on Abominable Dust Bunnies?" Zack chuckled slightly while Luna just grinned.

While Luna could be quite oblivious, she knew how to hold her 'less-than-sane' image. For example, carrying around her father's magazine, The Quibbler. While most of it looked like absolute rubbish, select articles were actually very well put together anagrams and puzzles. True to Luna's father's quirkiness, some of the articles had to be read upside down and backwards for them to make any sense. It was no small wonder the girl had grown to be a genius, figuring out puzzles that her father left for her like those in The Quibbler.

"So, are we all agreed? We'll meet in the room after the feast?" Hermione asked. The room was the room of requirements, something Seri had discovered in second year while she and Zack combed the castle for the Chamber of Secrets.

Everyone agreed, except Dahlia, who had no idea what any of the group was talking about. "Dahlia, everything you heard in this compartment needs to be kept quiet. Can you do that?" Hermione asked as if she were talking to Natalie or Nathan. Dahlia nodded.

"I-If it's all the same, I'd like to keep reading my book now," she whispered. Everyone watched in concern as the girl picker her book from the ground, and continued reading. There was something wrong with the girl, and each of the group was determined to know what it was.


"Gods, I hate that girl," Serenity growled as Zack escorted she and Luna to the Ravenclaw table. As per yearly tradition a girl named Cho Chang decided to try and pick a fight with Luna and Seri. Cho was the Seeker for the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, and world-class bitch, at least where other girls were concerned. She also didn't pay a lot of attention to goings on unless it directly affected her.

Seri had once told Zack that on her first night in the Ravenclaw tower, Cho had tried, key word, to intimidate all of the younger Ravenclaws into being her servants. It was for this reason that the otherwise beautiful Asian girl had a slightly crooked nose and was currently bawling her eyes out somewhere. The tears were curtsey of Zack, who didn't care for the Seeker anyway.

"Thank you for standing up for us Zachary. That was a very kind thing for you to do," said Luna in her spooky monotone voice. Zack hated it when she switched from her soft, melodious voice to the monotone drawl she used when around others.

"No problem Luna. I really don't like Cho either, so we're all in the same boat. By the way, when do you plan on making us more of your wonderful pies?" Zack asked, drastically changing the subject.

Luna shrugged, taking her seat at her house table. Seri sat on the other side of her. "I don't know. The next time I can invade your pocket kitchen I suppose. Unless you have more issues about my invading your dormitory Zachary?" Luna asked.

Zack shrugged. Over the last years, many things had come to pass, including his getting his own room. Dumbledore in his wisdom decided that having a vampiric werewolf, in his words of course, with the other students was an accident waiting to happen.

Flashback

"Mr. Corvin, Professor Dumbledore would like to see you in his office." Zack glanced up from his meal to see the dour form of Professor Severus Snape hovering above him. "Now, if you please."

Zack nodded, standing from his unfinished supper. "I'll meet the two of you in the library. Draco, be respectful," Zack warned. Draco grudgingly nodded, whispering something inaudible. Hermione however, seemed to have heard the comment, and slapped Draco on the side of the head, messing up his well-oiled hair. Draco just grumbled some more.

Following Snape out of the Great Hall, and through the winding corridors to reach the Professor's office, Zack wondered about what the old man wanted. When they reached the gargoyle, Snape muttered the password so that Zack couldn't hear it, and strode away before Zack had even made his way onto the moving staircase.

Upon reaching the top, Zack was met with a very interesting sight. Sitting at his desk was a ghost white Dumbledore, with his mother and father sitting in chairs across from the old man. "Shall I even ask what is going on?" His mother shook her head no.

"Please, sit down Mr. Corvin," said Dumbledore, his voice more unsteady than Zack had ever heard it.

"Now, about the return of my men?" Michael asked, obviously continuing the conversation from earlier. "I believe there are three of them."

Dumbledore nodded. "Of course Mr. Corvin, Severus should be returning with the three momentarily. If you don't mind, I would now like to discuss with you your son, and while we're at it, your daughter as well," said Dumbledore.

"Very well," responded Michael. "What of them?"

"I do not believe it is in the best interest of the students for a vampiric…werewolf to be roaming the school." Michael cut him off.

"Neither Zachary nor Serenity are in any way a threat to your students. For the record, they do not need blood to survive, as their own bodies are more than capable of providing the nutrients their bodies need, where as Vampires cannot. Also, they are NOT werewolves. Werewolves are controlled by the cycle of the full moon, a Lycan has no such restriction."

Dumbledore nodded, seemingly taken down a peg or two by Michael's corrections. Zack felt bad for the old man, he obviously had already witnessed Michael's formidable temper. "I-if you don't mind my asking, if what you say is true, then can't traditional werewolves become Lycans, and gain the ability to control their transformations?"

Selene jumped in. "No, they cannot. A Lycan and a werewolf are two different species. To turn a werewolf into a Lycan is like turning a vampire into one, it simply can't be done." Zack tried not to snort, knowing that that was complete bullshit. Selene sensed this and gave her oldest son a scathing look.

Dumbledore was obviously more perceptive than he looked, and gave Zack a meaningful look. "Zachary, Serenity, Nathan and Natalie were all born with both. They were never turned, which is why both the vampiric side and the Lycan side can coexist. There bodies are perfectly balanced, and there is no battle of the two sides, which is what would happen to anyone bitten by both. The transformations would kill them from the inside out," Michael explained.

Dumbledore nodded, looking at Zack in slight awe. Zack wondered if he should feel bad that his parents had just told one of the biggest lies he'd ever heard to his Headmaster. The fact of it was that Michael was the first turned, and then he'd turned his children. He also knew that Remus Lupin was going to be turned into a Lycan. Werewolves were too dangerous to keep around without that bit of control.

"Well, that being the case, I think giving young Mr. Corvin his own room would be the best course of action. Miss. Corvin will receive the same next year when she attends. Mr. Corvin, you still have all of the privileges of the other students, and access to the common room, but you must stay in your own room. Under no circumstances may anyone room with you without my permission. If I find there are other students in your rooms without my knowledge, you will be expelled," Dumbledore said sternly.

Zack nodded. "Yes sir. So you are aware, Hermione Granger and maybe Draco Malfoy will be in my room a lot, and I will not seek out your permission to have my friends in my room everyday. If it is anyone besides the two, you will be alerted," Zack said, leaving no room for argument.

Dumbledore nodded, seeing no sense in making the boy come to him everyday just to tell him his closest friends would be in his room. There was also the fact that the powerful young man made him very nervous. After all, the boy was the impossible, yet wasn't affected by it in any way. "Very well, I will be off having your rooms arranged. I'll leave you three to catch up," said Dumbledore, standing and leaving the office.

After several security charms Zack turned to his amused parents. "You two…"

End Flashback

"Feel free I guess. I'll talk to the old man about everyone chilling in my room. It's never been a problem in the past, so I don't think it will be now." Zack ran a hand through his shoulder length hair. His mother had insisted he leave it down, and it was driving him nuts. He hated when his hair got in his eyes.

"Great. Now, shoo! The sorting is going to start in a few minutes. Go sit with Draco," Serenity ordered, giving Zack a playful shove in the direction of his table.

Zack saluted her. "Sir, yes sir!" He left for his table, leaving his giggling sister and crush behind.


Zack hadn't paid any attention to the sorting until the name "Evans, Dahlia!" was called. He watched as the very small girl made her way to the Sorting Hat. He saw her bright green eyes, so much like those of Lily Evans and Holly Evans, flash with fear as the hat enveloped the top half of the little girl. He watched as her hands gripped her dress pants tightly. She was probably the only girl in the school not wearing a skirt.

After a few seconds, the Hat still hadn't made its decision. Zack wondered if it was as torn about her sorting as it had been about his. The last thing he expected, however, was for the Hat to finally yell out, "Slytherin!"

Zack started at the girl in complete shock. Dumbledore, even with his nerves of steel, knocked his chair backward in surprise. All Zack saw of it was the Headmaster's scraggily white hair-covered legs sticking up in the air, and that's all he needed to see. Dahlia, blushing bright red, made her way to the Slytherin table. She made an attempt to sit with the other first years, but was quickly shunned by the 'Junior Death-Eaters of Europe' group, as both Zack and Draco had taken to calling them.

Eyes rimming with tears, Dahlia started to make her way to a deserted corner of the table. Zack, with his conscience ruling his actions, light grabbed the girl's arm as she walked by. Shoving Draco over, Zack quickly made room for the petite girl between them. There was something about the girl that made his protective instincts rise up, much like when around Serenity or Hermione. Maybe it was his Lycan sense of 'Pack' causing him to behave like that. Whatever it was, he didn't fight it as Dahlia gave him a sad smile, taking the seat between Draco and himself.

The sorting continued, and not as soon as Zack would have hoped, ended. Even with Voldemort in the height of his newest reign of darkness, the student population continued to get larger every year. While McGonagall put the Hat back where it belonged, Dumbledore, having righted himself, stood for his yearly speech.

"Welcome everyone, to another wonderful year at Hogwarts. Due to Mrs. Snape's present condition, which I'm sure many of you know about, she won't be teaching all of her classes this year. Professor Richard Flash will be taking over years 4 through 7, as well as first through third year classes after the Winter Holidays.

"Also, as I'm sure most of you know by now, the Forbidden Forest is off limits," Dumbledore continued. His eyes landed on the Weasley twins, followed by Zack and Serenity. The two siblings had been caught on more than one occasion running around in the forest during the full moon. Well, in reality they'd only gotten caught at it once, but Zack was sure Dumbledore knew of at least 5 of their trips into the forest, even if he didn't say anything.

Following Dumbledore's look, Hermione shot both Zack and Serenity a scathing look. Hermione, on her own request, had never been turned and thus did not have the powers Serenity and Zack both had in spades. It always bothered her that Zack and Seri could go into the forest and come out alive and well, but she couldn't. As a result, she more or less forbade either of them from entering the forest. It lasted for all of two seconds, but she didn't know that.

"Now I have only a few words to say. Bibidi, Babadi, Buu!" With that, the tables filled with food, and everyone dug in. As Zack took a bite of Roast Beef from his well laden plate, the only thing he could think was, "My and Luna's cooking is better."

(A/N: Hi everyone! How are you today? I'm good, but I seriously think there is something about my friend Matt and me being on the beach together. Every time I go to the beach with him, something happens. From lightning to sharks, it's always something that could end my life. Today, it was a waterspout. For those of you that don't know, a waterspout is a tornado that spins in the water. Lucky for Matt, whom has taken the fault for this event, I had spotted the cloudbank and got out of the water. It was cool thought, from the window of my truck, driving down the beach. There were many pods of Dolphin out today, as well as a pod of Pilot Whales. All in all, it was an okay day. I know several other things have happened over the last weeks that I'm sure you guys don't care about, but I can't recall them at the moment. Too tired. I hope you guys liked the chapter and I'll have the next one up as soon as possible.)

Review responses:

Grey8: This is the reason why I love Zack being part wolf. He has to protect and respect Dahlia because she is part of his family, if only through magic. So, even if he really can't stand her for some reason, he'll stay around her and watch out for her anyway, which keeps her in the story. Draco doesn't accept Hermione just because she is adopted. That's just his front. He respects her for reasons I'll give later.

KittenRebecca: Thanks for pointing that out. I guess I'm so used to calling him James from my first story that I got them mixed up. I fixed it, so it should say Zack now.

HecateDeMort: Thank you.

Wytil: A kid, at 8? I have a rule. No kids that, in age difference, could be your siblings. I've never been to Arizona or New Mexico, but I do have family over that way. I've heard about that Hotel. They had a special about it on either the Discovery Channel or TLC. I love old places like that, but I don't know if I could do with the ghosts. I can't even go into Cemeteries without flipping out. A friend and I were riding around in some of the back roads behind my school, and I almost was sent flying backwards when I saw the headstones. Dead people and I just don't mix well.

Merle Elendil: I'm not totally skipping. I'm going to go back and highlight areas that are important. I just thought four years without Voldemort and all his problems would be kind of boring.

Angelkitty77: I'll get them out as fast as I can!

Japanese-jew: Wow. I guess you learn something new everyday. Or maybe it's just me…

MidNite Phoenix: Thanks.

ShAdOwAdRiA: Books and a flashlight? Ha! My family is really into camping and all that great stuff, so I had my trailer and my generator. Okay, let me rephrase that. My parents had the trailer and a generator. I had my laptop, a fan and my XM radio. My phone never went out, so I had dial-up the whole time. Lucky me.

Enchanedlight: Will do.

ZeonReborn: I haven't decided yet.

Writeright: I kind of played with the math a little. From what I figure, they never gave Petunia's age, so in my story she's 12 years older than Lily, who is 20 at the time of her death. At the age of 22 Petunia had Holly. For reasons I'll explain later, but some people may spot, Petunia knew she was a witch, and the kid went up for adoption. At 31, Petunia has Dudley, who she knows is normal. Shortly follows, at 33, Petunia had Elizabeth, also normal. At 34 she had Dahlia, whom she knew to be a witch and whom also went up for adoption. All children were too young to remember Dahlia's birth. It all does, or should work out. Also, it's good to know I'm keeping you entertained.

Applebottoms: No, can't kill Dumbledore at the moment. Wait for the book. I'll be in the Keys when it comes out so at 12:01 AM on the 16 of July, K-mart can expect to be ransacked. I don't think I'll read it till I'm on the way back from the Keys though. What is normally a 7-hour drive is an 18-hour drive with my family.

Arsenal- I could have sworn I did that. Okay, I'm going to reload chapter 1 so EVERYONE knows what the deal is with this story.

Goddess of the Black Rose: Well, you'll be happy to know I'm not going to skip most of that stuff. I have a little blue Cambridge notebook that sits on my desk and has everything I need to remember to add in written in it. I hoped you guys would just assume he came back with the Sorcerer's Stone because of the deal with the attack on Zack's house and the deal with Quirrell, but I guess I need to clarify. And no, the first three years don't happen. I'm hoping to get away from J.K.'s track and tinker with the story line on my own.

Bandgsecuritiyaw: Thanks.

Shazia Born confused: In some cases, when abused at a young age, it's locked away in the mind. In Zack's case, he formed a mental block against it so that he knew it happened, but wasn't really aware it was him that it happened to. As he's getting older, the mental block is starting to wear down, but not any faster than he can handle. Plus, that isn't the big reason anyway.

Sarah R Potter: Thank you.

Stratagemini: Yeah, I kind of got the feeling that wouldn't work, so I'm thinking of other ways to escape the personality profiles of the houses, and I think I have a good solution.

SlythsRule: Crossovers are great, but only when well written.

GreyGranian: Thanks.

Kirallie: I haven't decided yet.

Kenaz Slytherin: Thanks. Yes, this is a crossover with Underworld, which is a great movie. There is supposed to be a sequel out soon. After I load this, I'm going to reload chapter 1 with my disclaimer and crossover announcement.

Shadow: Thanks. I love Kitala. She's my favorite and based on a cross of my strong, and sometimes mean, personality, and my cousin's, whose name is incidentally Shadow, lightly insane, but loveable persona.