Chapter six: expect more weird, things won't be their usual for a while and I know follows are dropping like house flies. You need to understand that we never got a Slytherin perspective and while are OC's have a few tricks up their sleeves they aren't almighty. Not even Dumbledore survived so how much difference can my or Pen's OCs? No much, that I will tell you.
Disclaimer: Evanescent-Penumbra and I (Faded Electric aka AWH) own nothing, we gain no profit. This is merely done for our enjoyment and that of the readers. It is fueled by our mutual love for all things Potter.
Enjoy the weird.
"Sorry I couldn't get here faster, we had to stop at home." The energetic girl sat up and arranged herself properly on the bed, still holding his hand. "Brought friends." she motioned the doorway where he caught sight of Sebastian Noir and none other than Draco Malfoy. "They're staying with me for the hols, had to bring the ferret. Sorry" She looked at Harry as she spoke, and gave him a small smile. Draco crossed his arms and looked away offended. He didn't want to be here in the first place, Black had already scowled at him enough; he didn't need Potter and his little friends laying on more displeasure. Lupin had been happy to see them, strangely enough and it only fed to the contradictory respect he felt for the man. Draco huffed and Sebastian only shook his head, patting the platinum blonde boy on his back before joining Sophia as she motioned for him to enter.
"Promise me no one will try to hex either of them; Draco is my source in the Inquisitorial Squad. He's been giving me information from the start." Sophia's voice was equal amounts stern and hopeful; the others began to wonder how much of that was loyalty to them and how much had to do with her being the ferret's housemate.
"I won't hex either of them. Can't say the same for Ron though." Harry said, jabbing an elbow into his friend's ribs. Ron muttered something vulgar, but didn't move to retaliate.
"Honestly you two!" Hermione scolded, eyeing the two boys with distaste. "You act like third years."
Sebastian let out a snort, and for the first time since he had arrived, the attention was focused on him. "Hello Sebby-kins!" Fred cooed, throwing a large hand over Sebastian's head and ruffling his hair. Sebastian let out an indignant squeak and smacked the older boy's hand away.
"Red-headed demon." He hissed under his breath. He blushed when he heard Jack let out a soft laugh, but blushed even harder when Sophia joined in. He wasn't exactly used to people acknowledging his existence.
"Awh, Sebby!" Fred whined.
"That was mean." George finished, and identical expression of faux hurt plastered onto his freckled face.
"Shut up." Sebastian groaned, pulling his knees up to his chest. Draco moved to sit next to him on the bed, seeming to notice the anxiety building up in the smaller boy. He glanced at Sophia and saw that she seemed to understand what was going on, even if she didn't understand why.
Draco didn't blame her though, no one understood why. He glanced around the room and quickly noticed that Potter was the only one not engaged in some kind of conversation. He caught the emerald eyed boy's gaze, and saw that Potter seemed surprised by Sebastian's current state of anxiety. He noticed that the other boy quickly covered it up, but it was enough to leave him curious.
What could Potter possibly know about the type of abuse Sebastian went through? Draco shook his head and turned his attention back to his friend.
Sebastian had severe social anxiety, which is why he didn't talk to anyone aside from Draco until third year, but even now still refrained from speaking in general.
No one seemed to think anything of it, but they also never thought anything of the fact that Sebastian stood at a hundred and seventy-two centimeters and only weighed about fifty kilos. Or the fact that those scars obviously weren't tattoos, or the fact that he showed up with bruises after every holiday or the way he absolutely despised being touched by anyone he didn't trust.
He was getting angry just thinking about it. He tried to tell his father to see if his power as a ministry official could help, but his father refused to do so on account of the Noir's being 'light' wizards. He went to Dumbledore as well, but the old coot hadn't so much as offered to check into it. He had also tried telling Snape, but the man had only muttered something about headmasters and promises.
He knew Snape wanted to help, he could see it in the man's eyes, but he just couldn't figure out what the headmaster and promises had to do with getting Sebastian out of the Noir's reach.
When he had confronted Sebastian about it, he managed to get what he deemed a semi-honest answer after weeks of half-truths from the other boy. Sebastian had said that he needed to stay in the Noir family because if he didn't then Damien would get a seat in the Wizengamot when the time came.
That thought was enough to satisfy Draco for a while, but he still wasn't sure that was the real reason.
"So what were you talking about before we came?" Draco asked, trying to distract himself from his own distressing thoughts.
Sophia shot a look at Draco as soon as he spoke. "And here I thought you had some tact, Étoile." She joked and linked her arms around Sebastian's and Jack's own arm as she focused on her magic and feelings of comfort. She needed them both to relax, both to avoid a feud between the creature bloods and to get the anxious boy to calm down. She notice him flinch and looked at him, a not quite pleading shine to her eyes, it was hopeful and even comforting. She liked him and trusted him enough to show him where she lived. Sophia offered a small smile to him and tried to loop her arm around his. It was a little tricky, seeing as his arms currently held his legs against his chest.
Jack had no objects and even smiled when he saw he had been right. His sister had latched on to Sebastian and would keep him snugly tucked under her wing, not even a hurricane of Unforgivables could get him out of there or stop his sister from doing something foolhardy and reckless for him. It eased the pain he felt and was holding off until he was alone; his father was dead and had met his maker in a painful and horrible way. He was glad that they were able to remove someone from the pain the lived. His nose knows, or at least smells, some of what the boy next to his sister goes through during the holidays. Hogwarts is the only place he's safe; well, relatively safe. Now he had allies.
"Since Draco's been helping us out I don't really see why we shouldn't tell him." Harry diffused the situation that would have overtaken the room. Sophia sent a pointed look at the twins for their teasing Sebastian and the bespectacled boy wanted to laugh, the glare was familiar but it didn't quite match with her face. It was a look he expected on someone else.
"Soph passed on the information you gave her." Fred spoke up, sticking his tongue out at the girl in question and she only rolled her eyes.
"Oh." Draco said, of course they'd discuss that first. It was the most recent information they had. "Filch is also close to finding wherever it is your meeting. Crabbe apperantly has a brain and thinks it might be near the seventh floor." He added, making good on his role as spy.
"Meaning not only do we have to change the name but we also have to learn and teach Disillusionment charms." Harry interjected. His voice stern and in teacher mode, he felt that profession would suit him better than being an Auror. DADA had always been his favorite subject despite their horrible instructors; well the duel between Snape and Lockhart had been pretty cool until he was called up onto the platform.
"And glacius too, there are a few who don't know those and its fun watching the toad's pets crash into stuff when they can't gain footing or. "Got me out of a tight spot more than once." Jack chuckled; Draco frowned but was thankful that the boy didn't mention he was the one to collide with a suit of armor a few days ago.
"You know, Gred?" George started, throwing an arm over his twin's shoulder in an attempt to get him to stop glaring at Jack and Sebastian for being encased in Sophia's arms.
"What is it Forge?" Fred responded, tearing his eyes away from the Slytherins so that he could properly soak up the attention that was completely focused on him and his twin.
"I think we need to step up our game. We can't have Slytherins getting the upper hand, you know?" George grinned at the resounding groan that broke out from the occupants of the room.
"We always have the upper hand." Draco snorted dismissively, though it was mostly just to antagonize the Gryffindors. They were so fun to mess with because they always reacted.
"Now listen here Malfo-"
"Ron, do shut up! He's just trying to get you worked up," Hermione snapped, sending an irritated eye roll in Draco's direction before turning back to her book.
"But 'Mione, he started it" Ron whined, slouching down next to the bookish witch.
"He always starts it Ron." Hermione said flatly, not bothering to grace the red head with even a sideways glance. "And you always retaliate. And he knows that."
"See, we do have the upper hand." Draco said again, flopping down on the bed and dragging Sebastian backward with him. The black haired boy let out an affronted gasp as he; Sophia and Jack were all pulled backwards, thanks to the link in their arms.
"Upper hand, huh?" Harry laughed, eyeing the tangled mess of limbs that had been four dignified Slytherins only moments earlier.
"Shut up, Harry," Sebastian groaned, looking at the laughing boy with a half hearted glare.
"That seems to be your word of the day." Fred said to Sebastian even as he was glaring at Jack who had landed on top of Sophia in the whole debacle.
"'Shut your blabbering orifice' doesn't sound quite right so I guess 'shut up' will just have to suffice." Sebastian snarked, pleased with the appalled look on Fred's face.
Sophia laughed, her red ribbon was set askew and she wondered about how no one questioned her virtue or reminded her of her gender just yet. She was pretty sure Lupin would if he walked in now. "Slytherin house has traits, some that you might not be so aware of." She spoke as she reset the back of her head on Jack's shoulder. She could feel Sebastian body elbow poking at her ribs but didn't mind; she didn't even care about how Draco's hand rested on her belly.
"Everyone knows about our ambition, cunning and cleverness." She sent Hermione a glance as best as she could from her current position and went back to staring at the green canopy of the four poster bed. The girl cocked her head to the side as she caught the tiny gold splatters in the fabric. Someone had deliberately flecked the Slytherin themed bed with gold ink. That made her smile as she continued; fidgeting slightly when her brother shifted and the back of her head met the bone in his shoulder.
"Those three do give us the upper hand most times but there are others as well, determination, resourcefulness," a smile came over her lips as she thought of her favorite trait. "And mischief." She heard the twins make a noise of amusement.
"And if any of you tells me you do not have one of those traits I will eat a lock of Snape's hair." The thought made her grimace, eating hair or just having it in her mouth was a horrid experience, she didn't even like to bite away an itch in her animagus form. Her disgust was mirrored in the grunts of disgust or "ew"s that sounded in the room.
Jack burst out laughing, "As much as I would love to see the look on his and your face, sis, I don't want you to risk your life by swallowing that." Ron snickered despite himself and Draco gave a snort of laughter.
"Yes, you're much too precious a friend to lose to Merlin knows what brewing percussion Snape has in his hair" Draco agreed with Jack and let slip strategically that it was not just grease that shone in Snape's hair. "Or the oils from that scalp."
Fred seemed to have visibly calmed down when Jack called Sophia his sister. A wizard who was in no way related to a witch and called them their sibling meant they had a strong bond; a coven could be formed if they wished to formalize the bond and gain its full advantages. Granted covens were usually a thing for witches, and genders were not known for mixing.
Hermione was blushing as she observed the girl tangled with her housemates on the bed, how could she act like that? Yes, she was close to Harry and had fallen on top of him plenty of times and felt nothing but how could that girl be so comfortable with other boys? It wasn't something the wizarding society was used to; women usually didn't collapse on a bed with their friends from a different sex. Ron cleared his throat and looked at the teens on the bed, Ginny chose that moment to walk in and her eyes went wide. A gasp was heard and the four Slytherins all looked up. Sophia sent her a smile and Jack gave a wave before collapsing back onto the bed and Sophia snuggled into his shoulder again.
"Um, mind explaining?" the red hair girl said, directing her question at Sophia but Draco answered.
"Get with the times, Ginevra. It's the 20th century and I don't care. Jack is pretty much her brother and Sebastian doesn't give a crap." He said as poked Sophia's stomach sharply and the girl pinched his hand. To Slytherins, especially ones like them, comradery was a high priority. If friendship came it was strengthened to outlast familial bonds, physical affection was an absolute necessity as pureblood families didn't give such simple comforts enough. "The only one who seems to mind is one of the twins."
"I don't even remember I'm a girl around them until I have to pee." Sophia said with a snort, she was always too careless about this. To her she was just a person with magic, no gender or obligations tied to it.
"Still what if Lupin or Mum sees you lot." The redhead girl said with her arms crossed under her chest.
"Then close the door" Harry shrugged and as soon as the door was closed they all felt the wards they had placed before reactivating. Crookshanks still played guard though he was dozing on a cushioned stool.
"I think we're upsetting the lion cubs, snakelings." Jack spoke up. "To comfy to move, though." he added and made a show snuggling into Sophia until he acted as her pillow. The girl was still watching the gold flecks in the canopy.
"I'm sure." Ginny said, rolling her eyes, but taking a seat nonetheless.
Fred looked at the group on the bed with curiosity. Before he was worried about Jack, but now it looked like Malfoy was making moves on Sophia. And Sebastian could be also, though it was true that he looked rather indifferent, even with the girl's arm wrapped around his neck and resting on her shoulder. He wished he was in the bloody Slytherins position.
He held back a groan when Malfoy moved closer to Sophia, at the expense of Sebastian who was now acting as a pillow for the blonde's head. He heard and audible huff released from the scarred boy as he socked the blonde in the ribs. He full out laughed as the blonde landed on the floor clutching his side and glaring accusingly up at his best friend.
"Sebastian, that was cruel." He said in a serious tone, though his facade was broken by the laugh that broke from his lips when he received nothing more than a blank stare from the mix-match eyed boy.
"I know. It keeps me up at night" Sebastian finally retorted after a moment. Draco sobered up because while he knew it was meant as a joke, he couldn't help but think of what actually kept Sebastian up at night. He learned about most of the abuse from the other boy's nightmares. Blaise and Theo knew too, but didn't say anything. Crabbe and Goyle were too heavy of sleepers to hear anything, not that they would be smart enough to figure out how to use the information. "It was a joke, Draco." Sebastian murmured to the blonde, low enough that no one except for probably Jack and maybe Sophia could hear.
"I know." Draco said, trying his best to make his smile realistic. He caught Potter's eyes again and noticed that the boy-wonder was staring at Sebastian. What did Potter find so interesting? Draco really hoped the bugger hadn't managed to figure out Sebastian's secret...or rather the big secret. He didn't know what Potter would do if he found out Sebastian was a vampire, but he knew that he would tell the Weasel and the Bookworm. And he had a feeling Ron would accidentally blab it to someone. He couldn't let that happen. Not to Sebastian.
"So again, are we going to get back to the meeting?" Harry asked, eyeing the Slytherins on the bed. He knew he trusted all of them aside from Malfoy, though given the way he acted with the people around him on the bed he wondered if the way he acted around other houses at school was just an act. He didn't bother pondering that thought anymore as he eyes the room waiting for someone to speak up.
"Well changing everything would be too suspicious, toadface is already aware that the initials are DA" Sophia spoke up once she was properly sitting; Draco falling off the bed seemed to break the spell of comfort that had been crafted. She held out a hand to help him up, she flexed her fingers towards her palm to encourage him to grab it. When he did, she pulled him up and he sat next to Jack.
"Perhaps you could just change the title to Defense Association?" Draco promoted and Jack supported him.
"It fits with our motive and it keeps to the information that was leaked true." The werewolf said; if only to give Draco some credibility. He owed the blond for covering up his monthly absences, the boy probably did it for Sophia but he was thankful nonetheless.
"Would you have to recreate the list or could you just change the name?" Harry asked Hermione, he wasn't too sure about Draco being here but after meeting the Slytherin's father and knowing how much he changed to fit his own father's memory. Well, Harry would give Draco the benefit of the doubt. And hang on, when did Malfoy become Draco in his mind? He was hanging out with Slytherins too much or maybe seeing the blond so carefree was changing that.
"See, Slytherins can save your neck occasionally." Sophia winked at the twins who were currently standing with their sister. Fred blushed and George rolled his eyes, both of them wore matching smirks. She only knew who was who from their scent and a few telling freckles.
"I don't believe we would have to change the list too much, though Sebastian and Draco would have to be added." Sebastian wasn't sure if Hermione realized she had just called the blonde Slytherin Draco instead of Malfoy. He wasn't about to point it out to her either.
"Good then. We can do that." Harry smiled, moving so that he was sitting next to Hermione. Sebastian watched as the other black haired male snatched the book out of her hand and threw it to Ron, who quickly put it on the highest shelf.
"Harry!" The brunette shrieked, punching the boy on the arm before getting up and heading towards the bookshelf. "Ronald, give me back my book." She demanded. Sebastian didn't think she looked to scary with her flushed face and big brown eyes. This sentiment seems to be shared by everyone in the room aside from Ron who was looking pleadingly towards Harry and anyone else that might help him.
"N-no." He said, flushing red at his stutter. "You can have it back when we're done."
"I-"
"Oh, come on 'Mione. You can survive without that book for a few minutes. It's not like you haven't read it a hundred times." Harry said, rolling his eyes at the witch. She let out a dramatic huff before returning to her seat next to Harry, though the boy ended up on the floor a moment later.
"What is it with you fifth years" George started.
"And knocking each other on the floor." Fred finished, a grin on his face as he looked pointedly between Sebastian and Hermione. Hermione at least had the shame to blush, but Sebastian continued looking indifferent, only raising an eyebrow to indicate that he had heard.
Jack rolled his eyes at the twins, "Its fun." The use of Draco's given name registered with the four Slytherins,
"Sebastian wouldn't be a surprise, not after our last Defense class. But Draco is on the Inquisitorial Squad." Sophia hinted at what would happen if his name was added, her eyes fixed on Hermione. "If we put him there and we're found out-" She was interrupted her and she shot him a look, she didn't like being interrupted.
"Umbridge has an idea of where it is you're meeting. Putting me on the list when, not if, you're found out will make me useless in any future situation." His tone grew serious and a flicker of fear showed in his mercury grey eyes. "I know for a fact, that this won't stop here. Its only going to get worse." He left out the fact that he wanted to help as much as he could, he wanted to keep his friends alive and he had somewhat a grudging respect for Dumbledore's Army. The way they had banded together was sneaky and very sly, their determination and mischievousness spoke to his Slytherin sentimentality.
"Right," Sophia said, her head whipped back to the Golden Trio. Harry felt a deja vu sweep through him, he had seen that look on someone else's face before. It was a little hazy, like when you try to remember a dream but he knew that he'd seen it. "Draco can't be on the list, we can give him a galleon. A spare galleon isn't a strange thing to find on a Malfoy." She jested, giving him a smirk.
A knock was heard on the door a second after Crookshank's warning hisses. "Who is it." Harry asked and a Remus and Sirius answered on the other side. "Us, Pads and Moony." The bespectacled teen watched the twins' eyes grow wide and then he looked around the room, everyone either shrugged or nodded. Draco rolled his eyes at the nicknames and gave a snort.
Just as Harry was giving them permission to enter Sophie threw a pillow at the blond. "Étiole, pseudonyms are a lifesaver, how many times do you think we dodged detention when going by Faolán and Lyall?" She threw an arm around Jack's shoulders and pulled him close.
Lupin, who had just opened the door, froze the second 'Lyall' left her lips. He was fast enough to make it seem like his mistreated body twitched, he had the excuse of the full moon approaching to cover up any doubts.
"Why the need for a nomme de guerre?" Sirius asked as he tried not to look around the room and only focus on the people.
"Do you really think Fred and George are responsible for every prank at school?" She gave Sirius a mischievous grin. "You honestly expect them to get into the Slytherin girl's trunks?" She rolled her eyes and Jack continued. "Slytherin's common room is much harder to get into now than before." He remembered the prank they played on Sebastian's brother and rectified. "Granted, we had to cajole some house elves to prank Damian. No other way to access his trousers." The boy shrugged and Sophia made a 'what's to do' gesture.
Sirius could only laugh while Remus held his face in hands. Fred blushed and recovered quickly enough to wink at Sophia who stuck her tongue out at him and turned her face away. She did however gaze at him out the corner of her eye with playful half smile.
"I'll never forgive you for that you did last christmas." Draco said as he rubbed his hands down his face. "Replacing my socks with fondant, why?" He asked them and Sophia shrugged.
"You looked sad, droll, bored. Surprise." The other animagus in the room glanced at his companion and gave him a wry grin. Memories flashed between them and Lupin frowned, all his quills became sugar quills and his books were covered in fairy floss the moment he would touch them and Sirius had been to blame. The dog animagus had given the same reply.
"Anyways, may we know why the quantity of Slytherins had tripled since this morning. Snape didn't explain much. He just waited until you three came up and left." Lupin poked at the tension in the room, he was more than happy to see Sebastian and Sophia here to keep Jack company, he was even surprised Draco was with them. He sent a silent prayer to any beginning God listening to help the boy keep his friends and live past the storm that was surely coming.
May 3Sebastian looked at all the interactions between the different groups of people and had to wonder if he was ever going to get the chance to be that comfortable with someone else. He had Draco, and he was grateful, but he couldn't help wanting a family of some kind. More people to add to the list of people he trusted, which was embarrassingly short. And half of the people he trusted, didn't trust him.
Dumbledore didn't trust him, he knew. He wondered of Dumbledore trusted Jack, but decided he probably trusted the werewolf more than he trusted a vampire. Werewolves were only monsters once a month; he was a monster everyday.
He felt his fangs lengthen at his anger. They always did that when he was angry, which is why he was glad that he had learned how to control his admittedly short temper. He bit his lip and felt the fangs break through the skin on his lip. He tasted the blood, but just as quickly as the wound was made, it healed.
Internal injuries always took longer to heal, as did magical ones. A simple scrape of split lip would heal in a matter of seconds. 'The perks of being a monster' he thought somewhat sardonically. He looked up and caught the looks that Black kept sending Lupin and wondered if he would do anything about it. Harry was looking at his godfather in a similar way, though Sebastian saw that slightly older boy looked more sad than anything else.
He didn't take time to ponder as to why that might be, and simply concluded that it was none of his business and that he shouldn't be so nosey. He bit his lip again, but quickly covered the wound with a flick of his tongue that to anybody else would look like he was just wetting his lips. He saw Jack and Remus look at him almost immediately and figured they smelled the blood.
He wasn't about to show them where the wound was, because it was gone now anyway. Draco didn't even know about his self destructive behavior, and it was easy to keep from his best friends because any cuts, burns, scratches he inflicted on himself would disappear in a matter of seconds, depending on how severe the wound.
He knew it was a bad habit, but it's not like he was trying to kill himself. He just wanted a distraction. He didn't want to think about the war, or his family, or himself. He didn't want to think.
"Hey Seb, are you okay?" He looked up at Draco and sent him a smile.
"Of course. I'm fine." He and Draco shared almost everything, but they didn't need to share what wasn't important.
Draco on the other hand was growing increasingly concerned about Sebastian's behavior. On the outside his friend seemed to be watching everyone just like everyone else who wasn't engaged in a conversation was doing, but unlike Hermione and Ginny, he wasn't doing anything else either. Hermione had gone back to reading her book, and Ginny had gone over to look at the old cut outs of Voldemort in the newspaper clippings.
Sebastian was staring rather blankly at a spot on the wall somewhere between Remus and Sirius.
He looked to Sophia, but saw that she was talking with Jack about some of the pranks they had pulled in the past. Normally he'd join in, but he was too busy trying to figure out what to do with Sebastian. And that was the annoying part, because as much as he loved Sebastian the other boy annoyed him just as much. In that stupid, naive and totally un-Slytherin way of his.
Sometimes he thought the scarred boy should have been put in Hufflepuff. He never really shared any of his problems, and only updated Draco on his home situation when Draco asked first. He just wished that Sebastian would trust him more and actually tell him about his problems. He told Sebastian about all of his, so why couldn't he do the same for his best friend?
He felt himself getting worked up and stressed, and saw that Sebastian noticed it too. He waved Sebastian off, but he wasn't so lucky with the other Slytherins.
Sophia could feel the discomfort coming from both Harry and Sebastian, she knew that feeling the vampire grow uneasy was part of her father's genes. Carefully as she could the girl slid her hands into Sebastian's and gave it a light squeeze, she could smell the blood. Shifting for the first time had changed her senses somewhat. She was sure Black and Lupin could smell it as well, her Head of House had badmouthed the Order member to no end. Letting slip some details she soon pieced together.
Harry caught her holding the calmer Noir twin's hand, he knew she was trying to comfort him and it was not an unknown fact to him that small and comforting physical contact had its own magic. He and his friends were always touching in some way, mostly it was just being crammed in a couch made for two people to sit comfortable and they were three. His friend met her gaze and she gave him a smile that he had thought he dreamt up when he was back in the cupboard. Thinking of that place usually brought back some less than pleasant memories but that smile, it chased them all away and gave him warmth he thought wasn't real. Masheed decided to crawl up his arm and nuzzled his neck affectionately before settling on his shoulders. This was very much real, he was with his friends, with his parents' family and things were changing for the better. At least right now, things were looking better.
Jack was the one to answer Lupin. His answer shocked the two adults and put a smile on Harry's face. "We're the misfits of Slytherin, Soph and I are in the DA." He bumped his shoulder with her's and she bumped him back. "She's pretty much adopted Sebastian and has been friends with Draco since they were ten; he's her informant in Umbridge's ranks. By my guess, she invited them over for the Holidays and Snape decided to drop them all here to get them off his hands."
Sophia glanced at him in warning, he nearly let a very important detail slip and it would be catastrophic if everyone in the room found out. Draco knew and that was already one person too many. The look of dawning comprehension on the adults' and the Golden Trio's faces made her eyes widen slightly and she sent a pleading look to Remus. Hoping her favorite professor didn't ask the question she dreaded and changed the topic.
Lupin filed away every bit of information coming from his possibly newly adopted cub, he saw the look that Sophia sent him and nodded minutely. A more pressing matter needed to be called to attention, the wording Jack had used. He observed these people before him, teenagers, these children who they wanted to shield from the war and both he and Molly worked hard to preserve what little innocence that could be salvaged. His students, just kids who had barely started puberty, had already been thrust into a war. The motivation and things at stake were the same as the one the adults were taking part in, to a lesser level but still it was basically the same objective. To overthrow oppressors and fight for their rights, freedom and family not bound in blood. For the right to live and love, to defend themselves against an attacker and not be tied down by what other's thought acceptable or correct. The young girl with pleading eyes, a plea for her secret to be kept hidden, she had been subjected to the very things Lupin and Jack had been fighting against their whole lives. The very thing Hermione fought against and for the same reason. Her friends, her right and her life.
Sirius wasn't blind; he saw the look the girl sent Lupin. He had seen it on his own face when someone wanted to out him as a pureblood among half bloods and muggleborns, or when the topic of his twisted family could possibly come to the forefront. He had been watching the girl that Jack had spoken so highly of and his heart nearly stopped, she could have been his own flesh and blood. The way Sophia moved and joked with Jack reminded him so much of James and him. He tried to fit the others into their roles as the Marauders; Sophia was a shoe in for his spot. While Jack might be a werewolf, he was definitely the charismatic and noble leader. Sebastian, he screamed bookworm and the only one with common sense. The only person he had a problem fitting was Draco. Sirius had never been as close as the others were with Pettigrew and while he might have been turned into a ferret by Crouch last year and his features said rodent when he sneered, the boy didn't seem to be a rat in this light. The way he interacted showed he was familiar with the others and valued their friendship; he didn't suck up to any of them. He was still a right snob but it was only a possible inside joke or a defense mechanism. Oh, Sirius was well versed in those. He could smell them, see them before a single crack threatened to appear.
"Just how bad is Umbridge." Sirius asked beating Remus to the punch. His fellow Marauder went for another question, a more pointed one so none of the Slytherins could wiggle out of it.
"Has she hurt any of you?" Both adults noticed the flinches around the room, the more violent ones came from Sophia, Harry and Sebastian. Sirius noticed how the girl and his godson hid one of their hands, their dominant hand.
Sebastian saw Sophia hide the hand that wasn't holding his own. He felt somewhat bad about the fact that he didn't have to hide his hand; it had healed without any trace of a scar. The blood quill still hurt though, and in a way to comfort Sophia and calm his own nerves, he gripped her hand a little tighter.
He'd never held hands with anyone before. He and Draco hugged when leaving for the summer and winter holidays, or after a particularly bad nightmare from wither of them, but they never held hands. It was a foreign feeling, but the simple nature of it made Sebastian's stomach tighten up with a mix of happiness and the anxiety that he would mess it up somehow.
He wondered if his hands were too cold for Sophia to hold comfortably because even as a full human his body temperature was only 35°C. He accidentally let a giggle escape from his lips when he thought about the fact that he was literally a snake; he had to be in the sun or in warm areas in order for him to be comfortable. He was perpetually cold and Draco often made fun of him when he showed up to winter classes in multiple scarves and a hat with thick gloves.
"Was that a giggle I heard?" Harry joked, looking at the Slytherin who while trying to remain indifferent had blood rapidly pooling in his cheeks.
"No."
"Denying it won't make it not true, Bash." Draco teased, picking up again with Sophia's nickname for his favorite blood-vacuum.
"Shut up, Draco!" Sebastian huffed before realizing his mistake. He looked at the twins who were already moving into action.
"There he goes-" Fred started.
"With the "shut up"'s." George added.
"Does he even know-"
"Another way to make someone be quiet?" George finished, with a question posed to the entire group.
"He pushed people off bed's too." Ginny added, a blush covering her freckled cheeks as she spoke up. Sebastian let out an indignant gasp, but cut himself off from responding. He decided that anything he said, could and would be held against him.
"So Malfoy, is it true you're going to Pierce's for the holidays?" Ron asked, deciding he may as well try and make nice. He still only trusted the ferret as far as he could throw him, but Harry and Hermione seemed to be making the effort so he would as well. If only to avoid the inevitable lecture from Hermione if he didn't.
"Yes." Draco responded, confusion evident in his voice at the sudden return to the subject of conversation they had passed a while ago. "She invited Sebastian and I so we wouldn't have to deal with our respective families." He added. He figured it'd make him seem a little more trustworthy in the eyes of the Gryffindors if he mentioned that fact that he wasn't overly fond of his family. Sebastian would have no problem with them warming up to him. His family was all 'light' wizards anyway.
"What's wrong with you family Sebastian?" Ginny asked. She didn't know the older wizard as she had no classes with him and was a year behind him as well. She saw the boy stiffen up at her question and was confused as to why, though when she turned to look at Harry she saw something like understanding in her crush's eyes. Did Sebastian's family treat him like the Dursley's treated Harry? No one would tell her about Harry's life there, but she wasn't naive enough to think that he was being treated well there.
"My brother is a right out wanker and my parents aren't...overly fond of me." The black haired boy said. Ginny nodded like she was satisfied with the answer, but she really wanted to know more. Of course she knew about Damien; the boy flirted with anything that moved, but were his parents really that bad?
She shook her head and looked to observe the other people in the room. The people that seemed as unsettled as her by the response were Jack, Harry, Hermione, the twins and the adults. Ron seemed relatively oblivious and Draco and Sophia seemed frustrated and angry respectively.
"So um..." Sebastian trailed off, desperately trying to get the attention off of himself before he either said something rude or managed to do something that would draw even more attention to himself. "What is your snake named, Harry?" While he berated himself for his lame attempt at changing the conversation he was happy when Harry took the bait.
"She's Masheed, a Lux Aqua serpent. I found her in the garden this morning." He didn't comment on how ended up there or why. "I'm going to trust you three, I know Sophia won't tell a soul, but Hedwig isn't really my familiar. She poses as one, its easier for her to fly off than for Masheed to escape." The boy removed the snake from his shoulders and held her in his open hands. I seemed natural for him, he didn't have to guess which direction the snake would move his hand met her slim scaly body.
Sophia chose to interrupt. She knew the bond that was formed between familiars, Pepper was her best friend, but the questions Lupin and Sirius asked were more important. "Not to kill the mood of Harry presenting his familiar, which you can trust everyone in this room to keep secret, but Lupin and Black asked something that I need to answer." She took in a breath and summoned her courage.
"She tried to bind me and take me to the Ministry, thinking I was a werewolf, because I stood up for them today. My current injuries are a welt on my ankle with a few cuts from a stinging hex and cuts from a blood quill. She uses the quill in detention." Sophia stood up and walked towards the center of the room and raised her right hand, her wand hand that would be permanently scared with a degradatory phrase.
"I can't really think of it as something bad because it's my way of life but..." she trailed off as she read the words on her hand."I'm not the only one in the school that has something similar, others in our house have them too." She showed Lupin and Black who were a little to far to read the angry red cuts. "And its true." Black quickly grabbed her hand with both of his calloused ones, delicately but with an urgency that spoke of caring.
She gave them a smile it was small and her eyes were a little wet but it was the truest smile she ever felt, she felt it in her heart as heavy as it was. She spoke past the knot in her throat with conviction. "I stick to my own." Black smiled at her and looked up at her with his blue-grey eyes. She left the 'must' out of her words because she would never need to be reminded to hold her ground to defend her friends and family.
"You did that for me?" She turned to look at the source of that small and shocked voice; the girl removed her hand from Sirius' hold and went to her brother again.
"Always for you, Faolán." She held him close and kissed the top of his head. "I'd never leave you; I'd never leave any of you no matter what. You lot can't get rid of me and I don't care what happens to me as long as you're safe." She pulled away and looked at her brother in the face, he put his hand over one of her's as she cupped his cheek. "I don't care what you are or what they say. No matter what I'm in this till the end."
The boy held her fast and a choked sound came from his throat, he didn't care that other people saw him cry. His sister had been attacked and tortured, his father had died and his friends were in danger; a man could cry, stereotypes be damned. His voice could still be heard even though he had his face buried in the crook of her neck. "You don't have to Lyall, I'm used to it."
"You shouldn't have to be and I'm a stubborn little fuck, I'll do it anyways. For you, for Draco and Bash, heck I'd do it for the Gryffindors." She laughed and moved one of her hands to reach for Sebastian. "We're in this mess and we'll fucking live. I don't fucking care about me, you lot are what matters." Sophia was conscious of the eyes glued to this strange show of affection, Draco even crawled behind them and leaned on her with his back to her shoulder. They knew, all four of them, that dealing with Umbridge would be practice for what was to come. Many would die as the war raged on; they'd lose classmates and friends. Jack had lost his family and they would not allow anyone else to be taken from them.
"You'd really risk yourself for Harry?" Sirius asked and Sophia turned to look at him.
"For The Boy Who Lived? Not a chance." was all she said and the Slytherins rearranged themselves so they were all sitting in a half circle. She held Sirius' gaze and asked "For Harry? The sarcastic specky git who saved me from falling out of a tree?" She looked at Harry and promised with her very soul, "Always." she swore she could see something flash in his eyes and smiled despite herself. "Determination, at your service." She felt her brother sit up and he straightened his back.
The others in the room felt something fill the air around them, Masheed wriggled excitedly in Harry's hands. The snake hissed incomprehensible things at the green eyed teen. Sirius could feel the shift in the air and shivered, he looked at Remus and the man looked back at him with wide eyes. He made to speak but Jack spoke up first.
"You'll need Cunning and Mischief, too." He said and something shifted in the room, the air was less dense with magic and the twins looked at each other with questions growing in their identical eyes.
"Might as add resourcefulness and ambition." Draco spoke up, he was looking at his rival upside down as he was laying in the bed. His head rested in Jack's thigh and he didn't care one bit that he was freaking out Ron Weasley of all people. "After all, how will you lot stay alive if you don't fight to and don't have the resources either?"
"Cleverness and perseverance, all I have to offer but I guess having someone who thinks on their feet and carries on despite things comes in handy." Sebastian looked at them, he didn't want to hide and making it clear where he stood was necessary. They needed to trust him, he wanted to stop being alone. He was a monster every day of the month but Sophia apparently didn't care, she swore she would never stop to keep them safe. He felt overwhelmed but solemn, strangely. In layman's terms, shit got real.
Harry could feel the insecurity pretty much pouring out of the scarred Slytherin and felt the need to go over and comfort him or do something, but at that moment, Draco pulled Sebastian to his side in a sort of half hug. He smiled at their relationship. It was amazing that Draco could at like a right git all day at school, but put him with his friends and he actually seemed human.
He looked at Sebastian again and for the first time noticed how skinny he was. Over the course of the conversation Sebastian had unbuttoned his robe so that he was in simple black jeans and a green t-shirt. He saw that the other boy's ribs stuck out when he was lying down, and that his adam's apple was very prominent as well. He cheeks weren't quite gaunt, but they were pretty close, and his collar bone was very noticeable as well.
Sebastian looked like he did after a summer with the Dursely's. He winced and tried not to remember them, as he thought about what could possibly make Sebastian reluctant to eat at Hogwarts. He thought of anorexia, but immediately discarded it because from the looks of it, Draco would never let him get away with that. And he didn't want to think about what Sophia would do.
Harry thought that maybe he didn't like food, and that seemed to fit the best. Whenever he glanced to the Slytherin table, it always looked like Sebastian was uncomfortable eating. What would cause that though? There was a wide range of food at Hogwarts so it was unlikely the Slytherin disliked it all.
His mind flashed back to the conversation a few minutes ago. Sophia said defend Sebastian as well as Jack and Draco. Jack was obviously a werewolf, and everyone knew the Malfoy's had veela in them...so what was Sebastian. Werewolves ate their weight in food, and veelas were very human in their diet.
Which meant that Sebastian had to be something else. He tried to compile all the facts he knew about Sebastian. He didn't eat much, his family didn't like him, he had a red eye, he was personally victimized by the defense class on magical creatures and he had no scars except for the ones that everybody assumed were tattoos on his cheek.
The theory would've made sense because there was no protruding tissue, but the lines were smudged in certain areas, which is a mistake a tattoo artist wouldn't make.
"Vampire." His breathed out, before catching himself. But it was too late, Remus and Sirius had heard and it looked like Sebastian, Jack and Sophia had as well.
Don't get used to this super late updating, I'm just making sure things make sense and leaving you guys with that small chapter before wasn't too nice. That said, I'm moving and handing the story off too Prongslet for him to update. Meaning I'll be removing it from my account in a few chapters and giving them to him for updating. I'm also leaving tons of chapters for him to update regularly as not to keep our few and precious readers waiting. This will not be put on hiatus until I get internet up at my new home. I don't like stories left on hiatus. I'm a FOB fan, hiatuses do not please me.
Up next: More weird and lots of feels, OOCness and stuff.
Faded (Padfoot) & Pen (Prongslet)