The Hybrid
Chapter 9
"Hey Zack. Why are you here already?" Ginny asked as she sat down across from the teenage boy. "And where's Dean?" It was lunch, and Zack had been sitting at the table in the Great Hall for over an hour, reading over his potion's text. He had it the next block with Draco, Hermione and, unfortunately, Ron. Ron was sure to be out for Zack's blood by the end of the day.
"Your brother tried to hit me, and I ducked it. He hit Dean instead. Two black eyes and a broken nose. Pomfrey said he'd be patched up in time for Potions," Zack responded.
"My brother did what?" Ginny asked, her face growing red as her hair. She was pissed. "I'm going to kill him!" she hissed, eyes flashing over to the Gryffindor table. Her brother was sitting there, flanked by Seamus Finnegan and Lavender Brown. Lavender Brown, his current girlfriend, was almost sitting in his lap, cooing over the mean looking bruise on his lower jaw. He probably couldn't even talk without it throbbing with pain.
"I think your boyfriend did a good enough job," said Zack, but it was too late. Ginny was already half way too the table, her wand out. Dean, who had just walked into the hall, spotted what his girlfriend was about to do, and intercepted her before she could do anything drastic and get herself in trouble.
Zack didn't even look up as the black boy lowered his volatile girlfriend into her seat across from Zack. Not long later, Luna and Draco flanked Zack, Hermione taking a spot next to Ginny. Serenity was at the Slytherin table, eating with Dahlia.
"So, Ron called you a mudblood, and then tried to hit you. You ducked, and he hit Dean instead. Dean hit Ron back, and Ron now has detention for a month?" Hermione asked, trying to clarify the story.
"Ron is also on probation for the rest of the year. Anymore behavior like that, and he'll be expelled," Draco added. He and Hermione, on their way back from Arithmancy had over heard Ron complaining to Lavender about his punishment.
"Nice," commented Zack. He was still reading his potion's text, knowing Snape was going to start tossing questions at everyone the minute class started.
"I'm going to send a letter home to mom," said Ginny, still seeming ready to kill. As if to emphasize her point, she pulled a piece of parchment and a quill out of her bag and began writing in large, angry scrawl.
"Well, you do that. Come on Zack, Draco, Dean. We have to go to Potions before Snape has a coronary over us being late," said Hermione. While the Slytherin couldn't be touched in class, Snape was notorious for assigning detentions to his own house. To all of those who thought he was unfair, think again.
As expected, Potions was brutal. Zack, having read his book more than once since he'd gotten it, was well prepared but the others weren't. Even Hermione had points taken off for missing questions. All together, Draco had detention for the next week, and Zack had only narrowly missed getting one as well. Hermione had lost 50 House Points, and gained 10. With his wife in her state, Snape wasn't happy, and intended to make everyone feel like him.
"Five nights of scrubbing bed pans for Pomfrey. Why me? It's not my fault I didn't know what Lemon and Sandalwood mixed with Wolfsbane would do!" Draco sulked as they left the room.
"The Sandalwood cancels out the Wolfsbane, and the Lemon turns it into a nice air cleanser," Zack answered. Draco growled an unheard insult at him. "Hey, don't hate me because I read the book."
Draco just glared, but he wasn't really mad. "Whatever Corvin. I have to go to Divination, I'll catch you later." He picked up his pace to a near run, leaving Zack to go to Ancient Runes. That was the nice thing about Hogwarts. There were only, at the most, 4 class periods a day, each one lasting a little more than an hour. Sometimes they had double classes, but not often.
As Zack took the long way around to the Ancient Runes with the Ravenclaws, he suddenly started feeling uneasy. The feeling of unease increased as he came nearer and nearer to the statue of a one eyed witch that held a tunnel, which lead to Hogsmead. Zack approached the statue cautiously, his wand at the ready. With a tap and wave, the witch opened. Zack had expected that at best the tunnel would be empty, and at worst a bunch of Death Eaters would start pouring through. The last thing he expected was for a girl, older than he was, to fall on him, knocking him off of balance. He fell to the ground, his body taking the brunt of the fall, softening the blow to the girl.
The girl made no move or sound as she thumped onto the ground. Zack grunted, the wind knocked out of him. The girl was heavy. Very carefully lifting the girl, Zack placed her head on the floor, with her body straight. She was still breathing, if shallowly. Her face was bruised, and her brown hair matted with half-dried blood. Her clothes were tattered and wreaked of blood and other fluids Zack didn't want to speculate on.
As Zack carefully checked her over for more serious injuries, he couldn't help but think he knew the girl from somewhere. Her skin was naturally dark. She held looks very similar to those of the Patil Twins. Zack froze when he heard the grinding of the witch statue, but looked up to only see that is was closing.
Stepping away from the girl, Zack removed his wands from his robes. "Mobilicorpus!" he cast, training his wand on the unconscious girl. She lifted off the ground, the spell preventing any other injury that could befall the girl. As Zack started to carry her around the hall, he heard the unmistakable grind of the statue again. This time he shrugged it off, thinking it was just the statue readjusting. He continued down the hall, his mind set on reaching the hospital wing.
As he neared the stairs, he heard the soft pitter-patter of feet. The unease was growing in his chest once again. Zack stopped and the sound stopped. Stretching out his senses Zack only found a cluster of rats and Filch's cat nearby. As he was almost ready to continue he felt something sharp connect with the back of his head. It disoriented him, but not enough to prevent him from turning to fight. Standing behind him was a rat like man holding a heavy piece of stone in his hand. Zack recognized him, but couldn't place a name on the face.
Zack, his senses and reflexes dulled by the hit to his head, released the spell on the girl, turning his wand to his attacker. Before he could get a spell off, the rat faced man struck him across the face with the stone, and then again on the side of his head as he hit the ground. The last thing Zack saw before darkness took him was his wand roll into the shadows.
BLAH
"Hey! Draco!" Hermione yelled, rushing to catch up with the blond aristocrat. "Lisa said Zack didn't show up for class." It was almost dinner time, and both were on their was to the Great Hall.
Draco shrugged. "I don't know, he wasn't in the Common Room, so he might be in his room."
"But he skipped class!" Hermione yelled. She was a stickler for the rules, and Zack skipping class was just as bad as killing someone in her opinion.
"Did you bother to look for him in the Great Hall?" Draco asked, motioning to the doors just in front of him. Hermione shook her head, and Draco wanted to strangle her. Trust the smartest girl in the school to over look the most obvious place to look. Draco shoved the door open, holding it for Hermione to pass through. They reached the Ravenclaw table, where Serenity, Luna, Ginny and Dean were waiting for them. Zack wasn't there.
Hermione growled. "Have any of you seen Zack since Potions? He skipped Ancient Runes." None had seen him.
"Maybe Dumbledore wanted him or something," Luna speculated.
"What would Dumbledore want that could keep him out of sight for three hours? Not to mention, Dumbledore is here," Seri responded, pointing to the old man.
"Is there a problem here?" The group looked up to see Holly Evans standing over them. Dahlia was standing slightly behind her.
"We're not sure. No one has seen Zack since Potions, and he skipped Ancient Runes," said Hermione.
Holly raised any eyebrow. Zack was the best boy in his year in her class, it wasn't like him to skip classes unless there was a really good reason. "Well, see if he shows up for dinner. If he doesn't, tell me and I'll talk to the Headmaster," said Holly, worry marring her features. Holly and Dahlia left the Great Hall, leaving 6 worried teenagers.
BLAH
Zack woke slowly. His head felt like it was being split with a blunt ax. Not opening his eyes, he felt his surroundings. He was lying on his stomach, his hands bound behind his back. His legs were bound as well, and a gag stuffed in his mouth. Wherever he was, it was dark and moldy, probably in one of the lower dungeons of the school. There were two others in the room, one of them the female he'd found earlier, and the other the rat faces male. Neither was aware he was awake yet.
The rat-faced man was talking to himself in hushed tones that Zack, even with his advanced hearing, couldn't make out. The man was most definitely insane. As his head cleared, Zack remembered where he'd seen the man before. He was one of the most wanted dark wizards in the Wizarding World, but Zack still couldn't place his name.
Making no sound, Zack started to pull against the ropes. They were definitely magical because he couldn't even get them to loosen. Once again, Zack focused his senses. The girl next to him, whom he couldn't place, was sobbing quietly. She had to have been right next to him.
Forcing one of his swollen eyes open, Zack saw the tear filled brown eyes of the young woman next to him. It was then he knew where he knew the girl from. This was the girl that had fought the Death Eaters in his nightmare the night before, the one that had been taken away to become a slave, or so Zack had thought. Unable to hold his eyes open anymore, he let them slip shut. His right eye was useless, it was almost swollen shut, and when he did get it open his sight was blurry. His left eye was only slight better. While not swollen shut, he couldn't make it focus.
Minutes ticked by, Zack trying to formulate something to do. He would use his Vampire magic, but he needed to use his hands to be able to do it, otherwise it would zap enough energy to make him useless anyway. Transforming was another option, but he didn't see how much good it would do him if magical ropes bound him. 'Where's Kitala when you need her?' he thought.
He was snapped out his thought by sounds of movement from the rat. The movement stopped right over him. "Time to wake up!" the rat squeaked, kicking Zack in the ribs. From the cough and growl issued from Zack, it was obvious he was awake, but the rat went right on kicking, hitting him in the ribs and stomach. Zack felt vomit start to rise in his throat, but pushed it back down.
After several kicks, the rat stopped his assault. Tears rested in Zack's eyes. His breath came in short gasps. Even in his small state, the rat could still kick hard, and Zack was sure a few of his ribs were broken, and there was a possibility of internal damage. The rat moved again, standing at the feet of his two prisoners. Zack heard something swish, and felt his body rise into the air after a few muttered words.
The time between leaving the room that he had started in, and his destination Zack had black out. The next thing he remembered was bright light and screaming. He was upright, with an arm wrapped around his neck, almost strangling him. Opening one eye slightly, Zack saw Snape, McGonagall, Dumbledore, Flitwick and a few others standing about twenty feet in front of him, wands at the ready. He could see the faint blue color of a very advanced shield surrounding them.
"I will let him go, but I want official pardon of everything I've done," the rat faced man squeaked, trying to sound intimidating.
"You killed Lily and James, and as good as killed Harry!" Sirius Black's voice yelled. He was somewhere to Zack's right. The outburst from Sirius also gave Zack's mind the jog it needed. The man was Peter Pittegrew, a Death Eater.
It was then that Zack became extremely pissed off. He'd seen the man torturing countless people in his visions, most of them children. "You mother fucker!" Zack wheezed. The gag was gone, but he was still having horrible time breathing. Zack also noticed that sometime in the period of leaving the room, and entering the Great Hall, Pettigrew had removed the binds on Zack's legs and rebound his arms in front of him.
"I swear, if you don't grant me freedom, I'll kill them both right now!" Peter yelled. Zack heard a loud snarl, and saw his sister half transformed. Her once blue eyes had clouded with black, and her canines and claws had extended. Her tail was visible, twitching dangerously and her ears had taken on a sharp point.
Pettigrew's wand was pressed into Zack's neck. Zack could feel his Vycan side beg to be released, and Zack would have if not for the fact that he was standing in a room full of witches and wizards. It was a small wonder that they hadn't tried to take Seri down yet.
The girl was still sobbing, lying in front of Pettigrew with her face on the floor. Pettigrew had one foot pressed down on her back, probably making it hard to breath. 'He must be pretty strong to be able to hold me up and keep her down,' thought Zack. He was starting to form a plan of action, but it was coming along slowly. If he transformed, there was to possibility that he could loose control to his more animalistic side. Another option was to just fight Pettigrew and hope for the best. The only spell that could do any permanent damage to Zack was the Killing Curse, and even that he wasn't sure of.
All views taken, just fighting seemed like the best option. The only down side was that Pettigrew might try and hurt the girl, in which case Zack decided he would just transform and kill the man. "Asshole, you have three seconds to let go of me!" Zack growled. Pettigrew just gripped his neck harder, cutting off his air supply.
'Oh well, can't say I didn't warn him.' With that thought in mind, Zack sent his foot straight back, not able to see where it connected with Pettigrew. Pettigrew howled in pain, dropping Zack, and hopping a few feet away, out of Zack's kicking range. Pettigrew turned back on Zack, quite obviously pissed off. "Crucio!" Pettigrew screamed, pointing his wand at Zack.
Four things happened. The first was that Zack screamed. It felt like he was being cut apart by molten steel, with his blood providing the heat. The second was that Pettigrew kicked Zack back, which only increased his pain. The third was that Seri leapt at the shield, only to be thrown back into one of the tables, knocked out cold. The final thing was that, between Serenity's attacks, casting the unforgivable for at least a minute and a half, and lack of concentration, the shield dropped.
It took only a few seconds to Sirius and Remus to knock Pettigrew out, and take his wand ending all spells that he'd cast. "ZACK!" Luna yelled, trying to fight her way to her wounded friend. Hermione and Draco were trying to hold her back, while Ginny and Dean helped Seri.
Zack's whole body was racked with the struggle of breathing. He felt like he was drowning and his body hurt everywhere. Snape and McGonagall were at his side in seconds, tilting his body so he was lying on his side. "I…c-can't…breath," Zack wheezed. His body began to shake with coughs, and Zack only had a second's warning before blood started pushing its way out of his mouth.
Zack felt a wand on his temple, and the taste of blood was suddenly gone from his mouth, and his didn't feel like he was drowning any more, but he still didn't feel like he was getting enough air. He tried to talk to the two professors surrounding him, but Snape just shushed him, all but shoving several potions down his throat. The world around him began to spin, everything taking on a purple tinge. The last thing he saw were Snape's concerned eyes looking down at him.
BLAH
"He's my brother and I want to see him NOW!" It had been two days since Zack had been attacked. He suffered multiple broken ribs, a nearly fatal puncture in his left lung, a concussion, some minor nerve damage and a dislocated shoulder. He also had multiple cuts and bruises, but nothing that Madam Pomfrey hadn't already healed.
"If I won't let your mother and father in to see him, what chance do you have?" Pomfrey demanded. It was true. Selene, Michael, Nathan, and Natalie had been at the castle since the night Zack was attacked, yet they hadn't been allowed in. Both parents were more than ready to just barge into the Infirmary, but were trying to respect the school as much as possible.
"Look you old bat!" Seri yelled. Any further ranting was prevented by Seri shoving passed the patron. Seri entered the Hospital Wing spotting her brother immediately. He looked like death warmed over. His already pale skin was almost translucent, the white of the Hospital Wing making him looked even worse. His forehead was tightly bandaged, with a little pit of blood spotted over his right eye. His breathing was shallow and slightly ragged, but it was steady. His left arm was wrapped and braced against his body. Every few seconds, Seri could see his fingers twitching on his blanket. "Zack?" she asked, her voice breaking. She hadn't expected him to look that bad.
He groaned slightly, but it didn't seem like he was awake. Staring at her brother's pale, beaten form, Seri suddenly felt light headed. She had seen her brother hurt on multiple occasions but he'd never, ever looked this bad. Unconsciously, Seri picked up her older brother's free hand, sitting down next to him on the bed. Even after the fire, when he spent months in the hospital, did he ever look this pale. His breathing reminded Seri of a Death Rattle.
Seri felt a hand on her shoulder, but didn't acknowledge the person until their scent hit. "Mum?" Seri asked, turning. Selene was staring at Zack in much the same shock as Seri was. Michael had his arms in an unnaturally tight hug around Selene's waist, his face buried in her shoulder. Nathan and Natalie were perched on the end of Zack's bed, careful not to sit on his legs.
"Mummy? What happened to big bwother?" Natalie asked.
Selene reached over, picking a twin up in each arm. "He got hurt because of a very bad man babies. He was trying to protect his friends from the man, and the man hurt him instead," whispered Selene. It was obvious that each of the family members were in turmoil over what happened to the oldest child in the family.
BLAH
"I don't understand it! He looked almost dead a few days ago, and he still doesn't look any better now! I've never seen him hurt worse than that, and he always bounces back!" Seri vented. Another 4 days had passed since Serenity had lost her patients and broken into the Hospital Wing. Despite the Healer's best efforts, Zack still didn't look much better than he had two days ago.
"Did you ever think that maybe his Vycan didn't react quite right with something Pettigrew might have done to him?" Hermione asked logically.
Seri nodded. "According to Lupin, sometimes some people don't take to unforgivable like others. He's never seen it before, but Lupin and mom and dad think that the Cruciatus Curse might have defused Zack's Vycan healing."
BLAH
Zack was once again sitting in the place he hated the most. Voldemort's torture chamber. He'd been there for days, watching Voldemort and his followers torture and kill people one at a time. Most of the people were Ministry members that had been caught and might hold valuable information. Others were muggles and in one case, an actual Death Eater. This Death Eater was the same one that had, inadvertently, locked Zack in this dungeon. Pettigrew had begged and pleaded and groveled to be forgiven, but in the end he had been torn limb from limb. It was nothing less that what Michael would have had done to the man, but Zack still felt guilty over each and every death he'd seen, including Pettigrew.
Now, more than ever he could feel his rage and despair gathering just under the surface. Never had the rage been this bad, but in his mental prison, he couldn't do anything to help himself. The only thing he could do was pray and hope that he would wake from his own personal hell soon. Of course, after six days he was understandably frustrated and on edge.
Every once in a while, he could hear his mother's or sister's voice echo in his ears. At first he'd thought that they might have been captured and brought to Voldemort's dungeon, but their words to him proved that untrue. Every time he heard them it was with some kind of plea to wake up soon, and Zack guessed that he'd taken a worse hit to the head than he'd realized, rendering him comatose, or very close to it. His body always hurt, and his movement was rather restricted, but it was probably for the best. Les movement meant no transformations, which meant no one finding out about his hellish nightmares.
"Zack, you're going to wake up now." Zack's head popped up from being buried into his knees. The voice was Luna's, unmistakably, but not the cheery voice he knew and loved. She was speaking to him in monotone, the way she talked when others were around. "Zack, you must wake, or I shall parish." It was once again Luna's voice, but laced with heavy sorrow.
From what Ginny had told Zack, Luna had a few problems with depression several years back. Her father had sent her to therapy for months after her mother had died, but it hadn't helped. She'd only improved when she'd gotten close to Ginny, and later Zack. With constant support from all of her friends, she'd returned to normal, but Zack would never forgive himself if she'd gone back into her depression because he did something stupid.
"Luna!" Zack yelled, wondering if Luna could even hear him. He felt a warm pressure in his hand, and squeezed back, wondering if his body responded. From the gasp that followed, Luna had felt the pressure on her hand.
(A/N: Long time, no see. As you all know, school is once again in session. The first week, and I'm already ready for the summer. So, here's the deal. I have Algebra II Honors, English Pre-AP, Chemistry Honors, and Web Design everyday. I have homework in every class except Web Design right now, on a Friday night. I also have Swim practice everyday after school. This leaves me with nil time, so updates may be slow. More or less the only time I can right is late at night after homework, and on the weekends. However, I refuse to pause this story. Hopefully, I'll get an update of at least 2000 words every two weeks. This post was in the ballpark of 4000, so it's all-good. Anyway, all in all my summer was good. How about you guys? Oh, just so you all know, I didn't pass the AP exam. I'm not that disappointed, but I feel like I wasted a lot of time…)
Review responses:
MidNite Phoenix: Thanks.
Applebottoms: Daggers and eggs. There's an idea. I'll have to think about that. How'd you do in the costume contest? I finished the 6th book about a week after getting it. Unlike my friends and cousins, I prefer to take my time reading as I don't like to read things twice, and if I read fast, I only catch about half of what's going on. I still love how I got hold of my book!
Grey8: I don't really like Ron, so more power to me using him as an evil ass, right?
HarrySlytherinson: Don't worry, Ron will get his.
Monkai-cheung: Thanks.
Kenaz Slytherin: Thanks.
HecateDeMort: Thanks.
Silver of Melody: Thanks.
B-A-Hplova22: I'll go with an insane genius, though let me tell you, I'm now officially and forever against Biology. I'm in Chemistry Honors, and I like it so much better it isn't funny. As I'm sure you can already tell, I'm going through all years. This thing is going to be very long when I'm done. Yes, I thought Ron's head snapping was rather pleasant…
Rfknives: Sirius and Remus made an appearance in this chapter, so they are still around. I'll do my best to talk a little about what they've been up to.
Lady Rebecca of the Night Walkers and Element Holders: Thanks. About your thing with the indoor plumbing on your profile, the Greeks actually created indoor plumbing sometime in the B.C. period, not whoever in the 1800s.
Enchantedlight: Thanks.
NamelessHeritic: I don't think so. I may just leave Harry as being dead, or give Zack split personalities.
Chaos kitsune: Thanks.
Inimene: I'm starting to think that myself. Don't be surprised if one day 10 extra chapters show up highlighting the events of second and third year.
Moon: Vycan is just a simple play on words. Half Lycan, half Vampire, get it?
Jabarber69: I love it too.
The Wyrd Sister: Thanks.
Pheonixelemental: I was starting to wonder where you'd disappeared to. I kind of know how you feel about the working all the time thing. I am at school from 7:30 until 2:45, and then Swim practice from 3 until 5, and then whatever else I have to do. It sucks.
Lightsaber209: A little late for that…
Daya the D.A.V.L: Okay, you can be a Vycan, but I get copyrights over the name!
