Have an early update, because Chosen Two hit 11,000 views today and I am thrilled! (Shut up, I remember being hugely excited when it first hit 100.)
-YDHP-
"Hermione must be torn, a week of no lessons so she can catch up on missed work, but won't get any new work. How are you not bored yet Vlad? You like school work as much as Hermione." Flicking a stray Bertie Botts bean at Harry, Vlad resumed chewing on a licorice wand (the Weasley twins must have raided an entire sweet store to 'thank' the two for saving Ginny). "Because someone has to sort your snake speaking out, which fills the time. Now come on, you need to get a handle on this." Harry randomly slipped into parseltongue, and while the boys in their dorm knew about it, Harry had to control it before classes started again.
Vlad was mostly just happy Harry appeared to have forgotten, or perhaps never managed to hear how Vlad had declared he couldn't live without him when Harry got bitten by Samael. "Right. What do I say?" "Uh... Read this." The two were in Bertrands living room of his quarters, the vampire down in Snapes quarters to give the two a workspace for Harry to hiss freely. Harry took the "Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them" from Vlad, sighed and started reading. It was a concentrated effort not to just let his mates voice wash over him, focusing to ensure Harry actually kept speaking English.
"Stop." Harry fell silent, turning the book over to show where he was reading from when Vlad noticed him hissing. "So far, it's mostly talking about or looking at pictures of anything reptile that sets you off. Still, keep trying. Think about other stuff, try not to picture the snake." Harry tried again, making it through one paragraph but hissing again by the second. "We've been at this all afternoon!" "I know, we'll stop when it's dinnertime and go see Hagrid or something after?" This appeased Harry, who kept on with the reading until it was admittedly dinnertime. "Its getting better, you couldn't read anything snake related in English a couple of days ago."
Surprised when Harry hugged him, Vlad forced himself to respond in a friendly, not clingy manner. "Thanks Vlad. You must get bored listening to me read and talk over and over, I appreciate this." Swallowing back a well of emotion, Vlad shrugged and smiled tightly. "What are friends for?" He hurried to walk out ahead of Harry so his friend wouldn't see Vlad's mouth twisting with repressed feelings, dropping down next to the Weasley twins at the Gryffindor table and letting them draw him into conversation. Anything to shake off the desire to blurt out to Harry how much he adored hearing his voice, being around him, making him laugh or smile. Loathe as he was to admit it, Vlad thought the summer holidays may be a welcome break from constant Harry-overload wearing his sanity thin. Even as the idea of six weeks away from Harry twisted tight in his stomach.
"You ok Vlad?" "Mmm, food stuck in my teeth." He made a show of dislodging something with his tongue, then focused back on his vegetables and not on Harry. "We're gonna go see Hagrid, you guys wanna come?" Hermione nodded in agreement, but the others begged off for various reasons - the Weasley twins said they weren't allowed that close to the forest except for lessons. "What did you do?" "Vladimir, how dare you accuse us of such things!" Smirking as he swallowed some chicken, Vlad eyed their guilty faces. "Actually, let me guess. Ingrid dared you to do something stupid like go find something dangerous in there for her." "Maybe. I admit to nothing." "Me either." Finishing his glass of juice, Vlad stood and indicated he would be outside waiting for the other two.
"What's got your fangs in a twist Vladarella?" Ingrid had apparently followed him outside, even more surprising was her lack of entourage. "Nothing, just been a rough couple of months and I'm wary of accepting it's all ok now. By the way, what did you tell the twins to do in the forest that got them in trouble?" Ingrid didn't let him completely sidestep the topic, she wasn't stupid but she did indulge him with an answer first. "Told them the first to find that flower that looks like blood in the moonlight would win. They didn't ask what they won until after they got caught. Their prize was detention." Shaking his head, Vlad couldn't help but chuckle. "You really are evil." "Well, one of us has to be. So what's biting your neck?"
"I told you, its been a rough couple of months." "So it has nothing to do with Potter and the fact you two probably haven't been apart other than to sleep or shower since you crawled out of the chamber?" He couldn't remember expressly telling Ingrid about Harry, but she was definitely smart enough to work it out if she had been watching them. "I don't know what you mean." "You know perfectly well what I mean." Blissfully, he was saved the trouble of coming up with a scathing, deflective response by a bunch of Slytherin first-and-second year boys coming out to follow Ingrid. "Why are you hanging with a Gryffindor?" "I'm her brother you frogspawn. Go away." The shorter two backed away, the others looking at the two closely for familial resemblance before falling silent.
"I will leave you to your fan club, Hermione and Harry are here now." Ingrid looked to weigh up the pro's and cons, deciding corrupting small children was more fun than going to Hagrids and Vlad overhead "who fancies doing something really interesting for me?" in her usual drawl as they headed off. "Dare I ask?" "With Ingrid? Best not to." Hermione diluting the intensity of Harry's presence helped, and Vlad surmised he would just have to get through this week before classes started back up and he would be fine. That didn't stop him being nervous about the next few days, but Hagrid enthusing over their visit and being free helped Vlad relax that evening. "Thanks fer provin' me innocence kids." "No problem Hagrid, you should never have gotten the blame to begin with. Not that I approve of Aragog, what with him trying to eat me and all."
"Sorry bout tha'." Waving him off, Vlad drank some of his huge mug of tea and scratched Fang behind the ears. The drooling hound was quite fond of all of them now, since they had taken turns coming to feed him and let him out on the grounds while Hagrid was... away. Waving his hand over his robes to clean the residual dog off them as they left, Vlad knew he had to resume his private lessons now everything had cooled off. They still had items on the 'to do list' - How to deal with Samael, and what to do about Draco's mother and inheritance now his father was locked up in Azkaban, and this was all while they had exams to study for and classes to elect for. Vlad didn't really want to take up Care of Magical Creatures - so many species of creature would know he wasn't human. But Harry wanted to, and ultimately Vlad was sure that's where he would end up.
He did draw the line at divination. "I am not taking up psychic study, it runs at the same time as Arithmancy so I couldn't take it anyway." "Don't take Arithmancy then?" Vlad rolled his eyes. "I'm taking Ancient Runes, the two go together in advanced magic." Harry sighed, flicking through the lists of classes they could take. "I'm not taking Muggle Studies, I grew up in muggle life. It would feel like cheating." Vlad nodded, already sure he was taking Arithmancy and Ancient Runes, wishing he could drop History Of Magic as it was so dull. "Anything you're planning to drop after OWLs?" Vlad tapped his quill against the table, biting his lip as he thought. "Probably Herbology and Potions, it'll get tricky for me. Definitely History of Magic, but I know I'll be sticking with Charms, Transfiguration, Defence and Astronomy. Assuming I pass my OWLs well enough to take them as NEWTs that is."
Harry hummed in thought, weighing up Divination and Healing classes. "Unless you genuinely think you're psychic Harry, stick with Healing. Madam Pomfrey would love to teach you how to patch yourself up. Ingrid loves that class, and she doesn't use that word lightly unless it's followed by 'causing pain and misery'." His friend glared, but checked off the Healing over Divination and continuing down the list. "I bet you guys a galleon Vlad's list and Hermione's list are identical." Tossing an empty ink bottle in Seamus' direction, Vlad shrugged. "What are you taking then?" "Muggle Studies, Care, Divination, same as Dean. Might take Healing, depends how many classes a week there are." There was a sense of surprise when Draco said he too was taking Muggle Studies, though Vlad was genuinely proud of his friend for that.
"I'm taking Runes and Arithmancy too, I have to decide between Care of Magical Creatures and Healing or my timetable will be too full." Vlad, finished with his list, twisted to look over at Draco. "Well, it depends on what you want to do with your life. Healer? Dragon handler? Potions master like your godfather? I would recommend Care over Healing if you plan to go into Potions, just because you'll learn healing potions anyway but knowing the properties of animals would allow for better new development in Potions?" Draco's blond eyebrows creased in thought, looking down at the list again. "Are you not taking Healing?" Vlad shrugged, looking at his list. "Nah, I already have private tuition to keep on top of too."
Neville was sat on his bed by himself, surrounded by a dozen letters advising him from various family members. "Neville? You with us?" "I don't know what to do!" Harry shoved the letters aside and sat next to their friend, making Vlad fill with affection as Harry tried to calm the anxious boy. "Never mind all this. It's no good taking classes you won't use, or at least enjoy. We all know you'll end up in Herbology careers somewhere, so you don't need Runes or Arithmancy." "My gran said..." "Your gran isn't the one taking the classes. You are. Choose for you." Neville chuckled shortly, looking at the pile of letters from his relatives. "You don't know my gran. But you're right, I do need to choose for myself." Nevilles confidence was still shaky at best, but they had made definite progress with the boy since they started at Hogwarts.
March brought the thawing out of Hogwarts, spring finally making a tentative step towards sunshine that melted away the chill. Harry was sat down by the lake with his friends, watching Vlad out of the corner of his eye. Something seemed to weigh on him, but not all the time. For instance, right now he and Seamus were trading jinxes and laughing as they keeled over in the grass or sprouted rainbow coloured hair. But only yesterday, Vlad had been staring into a book looking utterly forlorn, and Harry couldn't work out why, or what changed his moods so fast.
"Oi, maggot breath!" Ingrid's voice cut through the joyous laughter of the Gryffindor boys, Seamus and Dean instantly smoothing their hair and grinning at Ingrid. The Weasley twins dramatically prostrated themselves on the floor before Ingrid, which did win an amused chuckle from her. "What's up sis?" "Do I need a reason to insult you?" Vlad pretended to think about it, then grinned. "No, but you generally have a reason for coming this close to a bunch of lions without a shield charm up." Ingrid opened her bag, revealing Phantoms furry head. "She hasn't left me alone all day, kindly explain to her she should stop or end up as potion ingredients." Phantom went over to Vlad happily enough, scampering up his trouser leg and perching on his shoulder.
"You wouldn't anyway, you like her too much." "Don't test me. I'm going to leave before your sense of goodness and joy infects me." Harry could only laugh at the exchange, and the disappointed looks on the boys faces that Ingrid hadn't acknowledged them. "I told you guys, I'm not setting you up with my sister. For one, you're children. And two, if she was interested you would know about it. So get over it." Seamus and Dean sulked for about five minutes over that while Vlad sat playing with Phantom on the grass, so Harry decided to liven things up by hexing them both. Then putting up a shield charm and watching the two curse each other senseless, providing plenty of distraction so Harry could keep an eye on Vlad. What was with him?
As March drifted past, Easter holidays approaching, Harry jumped as a deep voice crept up behind him. "Mr Potter?" Turning around, he found Bertrand. "Surely you can call me Harry by now?" "Harry, then. A word?" Following the vampire down to Snapes quarters in silence, Harry wondered what this was about. That wonderment was solved almost instantly though. "Ah, Mr Potter. We have a solution of sorts for your... Pet." "Right? What is it?" Snape didn't seem keen to put Harry out of his misery, continuing at an almost painfully slow pace with the conversation. "Clearly, we cannot leave him here. Nor can we just release him into the wild, I'm not even sure the serpent would survive British wilderness with it's temperature sensitivity and sheer size." Harry already knew this, waiting for the part where they had a plan.
"Beneath my home, there is a sort of cavern system. I believe the size sufficient for your serpent, Samael." Bertrand was offering to house a sixty foot lethal serpent in his home? That was a new one for Harry. "Right. How exactly would we get him there without anyone noticing? He is hardly inconspicuous." Tapping his foot impatiently, Harry waited. "The school holidays approach, and after the scare earlier on with Samael almost every student is going home for the holidays. Once there is almost nobody to notice, you will open the chamber and we will portkey the basilisk. This is terribly illegal, so shouldn't be shared with anybody you understand?" "What about Vlad? If he finds out I went down there without him I will get so many lectures."
A look Harry didn't totally understand passed between the two older men, then they nodded at each other. "I'll inform Vlad of the plan during our lesson this evening. We might need his extensive powers anyway, it will take some moving to displace a sixty foot snake. But nobody else." Harry nodded, happy now Vlad wouldn't be kept in the dark - it never felt right lying to his friend. "How do we get back to Hogwarts after that though? Because you'll need me there to settle Samael in and translate." "We will worry of that when the time comes. Now, back to school with you." Harry took the dismissal, heading back out into the sea of students moving towards their next classes. Harry supposed he couldn't complain about lack of adventure now, an illegal transportation of a wanted creature plenty of excitement for the upcoming school holiday.
Harry had also resumed joining some of Vlad's extra lessons again. "Any new changes to report?" Shaking his head at Bertrand, looking at the still odd-feeling scar on his arm. "Not that I know of. Lily told me I smell different, but that's about it. Maybe a growing taste for red meat, but I liked that anyway so I can't just say that isn't normal appetite changes for a twelve year old boy." "True. Alright then, finish your reading while Vlad does his hypnosis practice, then we shall call it a night." Hypnosis sounded odd, especially when Vlad was only twelve and nowhere near 'transforming' into a vampire. The book he was reading was one Bertrand had had to translate for him, as half of it was in Latin and then so many things had happened, that Harry hadn't had the chance to finish it.
"Hey, I think I have an idea why Vlad and Ingrid can't hurt each other or even affect each other much with their weirdo magic." "Charming Harry." Bertrand, Vlad and Ingrid all leaned over to read the thing Harry was pointing to. "Twin magic pools, compatible magic?" "Yeah. You said Your extra power stuff is different, maybe that's because you guys have like, separate magical sources for it. And whatever it is, it's compatible with the other, so you can't use it against each other because it's designed to be used with each other?" "Actually, that kind of does make sense." "Excellent work Harry. I think we are done for tonight. Ingrid, same time tomorrow, Vlad same time the night after." The three left, Ingrid hugging Vlad and sort of-not quite smiling a little at Harry before she took off towards the dungeons. "Sounds weird huh? Having a whole extra magical stash in here somewhere." Vlad indicated his body, looking a little surprised still.
"Guess so. Still, you're powerful either way. Own it pale face." "It is not my fault I cannot get a tan!" Vlad glared, but he never seemed to stay mad at Harry and softened a minute later. "Kitchens? I need sugary pastry and I need it now." "Works for me." They had their seperate invisibility tricks down to an art now - Harry was under the cloak and Vlad charmed invisible within thirty seconds as they wound their way down to the kitchens. The elves were as happy as ever to see them, plying them with a ridiculous amount of food, and high pitched squeals of laughter when Vlad finished one flask of pumpkin juice before they even left. "You'll turn into a pumpkin one day!" Vlad shrugged, smiling brightly as they prepared to disappear to get upstairs again. "Worth it, that stuff is addictive." Whatever had been bugging him before seemed to have evaporated again, leaving Harry confused but happy Vlad was his cheery self again.
-YDHP-
There's only a few more chapters to Year Two left, and Year Three and Four will be a seperate upload when that time comes. Partly to break it up, partly because Year Five and Year Six will probably *cough* require a ratings change and so two year blocks seem the best solution for that.