Kitsune Jewel - did you enjoy the manic catch up? I'm just as excited for year four, and equally I am surprised we made it here!
HuntOfArtemis - Thank you! I blame the movies and their poorly explained timelines personally, though GoF actually ranks as my least favourite movie aside from the tasks to be honest so I don't pay a huge amount of attention to the first half.
Fangirl-friend2 - at 4,750+ words, the last chapter was, to my average 3,500-4,000 aim, actually long! Sorry you feel shortchanged by it.
To review only named 'guest' - thank you! I'm so excited for year four and I love hearing you guys are too.
Apologies for somewhat scapegoating certain characters, I know I'm terrible for it.
Also, sorry if this is a day late. It is Christmas!
-YDHP-
Eventually escaping from the awkwardness of being introduced as the vampires and werewolf student, Vlad and Draco bid Ingrid and her new head of house goodnight - they had all been 'warned' not to let on they knew more about the situation than anyone else. Personally, Vlad thought that ridiculous - it was hardly a secret that Draco was Severus Snape's godson, and the man had essentially adopted Draco. How did they expect anyone to buy the truth - Draco had no idea where his godfather was, or why he had left.
"Weird to be back. Seeing everything through new eyes."
"I know what you mean. Come on, before Harry sends a search party thinking the new professor used us for ingredients."
Something in Vlad was unhappy, but he couldn't work out what it was until they got up to the dormitory. Harry was visibly restraining Lily, who was reared up defensively against Seamus.
"It's all rubbish! You-know-who back? As if!"
"Why would I make it up? Why would anybody?"
"Attention. Boredom. Dumbledore putting you up to it? I dunno."
Vlad didn't need a wand... hell, he didn't need magic to tear Seamus' head off right now, but he pulled it anyway, backing Seamus up against a bed post.
"What is your problem?"
"You believe the rubbish he comes out with?"
Vlad could prove Voldemort had attacked him by simply pulling up his shirt, but then he would have to explain how he survived. He could hypnotise Seamus into believing Harry, or at least not starting a fight, but the other boys might notice his eyes turning golden.
"Yes."
"Of course you do."
The emphasis Seamus put on his reference to Vlad made him distinctly uncomfortable for reasons best not explored right now.
"What do you mean by that?"
Seamus eyed Draco - stood next to Harry and Neville, it was probably obvious how much the two had grown over the holidays.
"Cus he's a bloody home seeker, he's always staring at Harry. Bet he doesn't know you fancy him?"
His stomach roiled, hands sweating and Vlad was fairly sure his heart stopped altogether for at least a minute. Had he been so careless, so obvious to be found out?
"By that logic, you and Dean are in a secret love affair because you two are best friends too, just like Vlad and Harry."
"I'm no gayboy!"
Vlad snapped out of his abject terror - nobody else seemed to believe Seamus - and pressed his wand up into the Irish boys throat. If he wasn't careful, vampiric tendencies would make themselves clear in defence of his mate.
"You want to believe he's not back? Don't blame us when he kills you. Don't blame Harry for your cowardice and refusal to accept facts."
"Oh, this is getting out of hand. Mr Dracula, Mr Finnegan! Why is it always you two?"
"Because he's a nancy for Potter and his lies about You-Know-Who!"
Professor McGonogall - apparently psychically attuned to the fights in their dormitory - looked between them, watching Harry stop Lily poisoning Seamus, which would probably get him in trouble but seemed highly appealing at the moment.
"Mr Finnegan, while you are entitled to believe whatever you like, Hogwarts does not allow for such words of discrimination. If you repeat words of that nature again, you will find yourself in serious trouble. Mr Dracula, kindly lower your wand."
Their head of house knew perfectly well the twisted length of wood in his hand wasn't necessary to Vlad's magic most of the time, so even as Vlad pushed it back into his pocket he kept eyes on Seamus.
"Now, is this going to be an issue?"
"Damn right. I don't want to share a dorm with the liar and the gay boy."
"Detention Mr Finnegan. I warned you. Now return to your sides of the room, and act like the almost-adults you are. This Triwizard Tournament is about making friends, building bridges. You would do well to consider that. I do not wish to have to address this again."
Vlad wasn't too worried about sharing a room with the irate boy, as Harry had Lily to watch over him as he slept, and Vlad had survived a killing curse to the chest - what could Seamus do to him?
Harry working out he was utterly, madly in love with him? That was a far scarier prospect. Luckily, nobody seemed to have believed it, and Vlad half let himself relax as Seamus stormed off into the bathroom. He popped Phantom out of her carrier, received an affectionate lick to the hand and then flipped open his trunk, removing his trusty old backpack first and foremost.
Harry was itching to obtain his basilisk-trunk, Vlad could see but that would be far too obvious right now. McGonogall swept out of the room with only a warning glance in Vlad's direction - if something were to happen to Seamus, he should fully expect to be blamed for it. That didn't stop the idea of feeding him to Samael for threatening Harry being intensely attractive.
Neville and Dean stayed quiet, though Neville offered Vlad a tight smile when he caught the other boys eye. Draco shrugged, meandered to his bed and began rooting through his new trunk - the silver fastenings on his previous one had been too problematic. The trunk outwardly looked identical, but the new hinges and bolts were all platinum instead now. Harry cast sad eyes at Vlad's backpack, then reclined on his bed trying to soothe a clearly irate Lily.
Not the best start to fourth year, Vlad thought, as Seamus stomped out of the bathroom, then yanked his bedcurtains all the way around - though not before he gave Vlad a cursory glare. Vlad changed quickly in the bathroom, brushing his teeth and staring into his reflection to check he didn't look as dangerous as he felt. There was a flicker of red in his pupils, but even six inches from his face Seamus didn't appear to have noticed, so perhaps he had gotten away with it.
The heavy silence had everyone climbing into bed early - even Draco, though Vlad spied his sweet stash as the werewolf ensured he wouldn't risk being hungry for even a minute. Bedcurtains closed, breathing evened out and soon enough only Harry and he were awake. They whispered quietly as they pulled the hefty trunk out, placing it on the side of Harry's bed carefully.
"Where do I put this?"
"Under your bed I guess. Make sure to put the right charms on though. Don't be too long tonight."
Harry nodded, fingers anxiously opening the fastening and he leapt down almost instantly. Vlad waited, and luckily Harry only spent a nerve-wracking fifteen minutes down there before he reappeared.
"He's ok. Says he expects to be fed soon or I'll have a grumpy pet."
"Good. Better get some sleep."
The trunk fit neatly beneath Harry's bed, multiple locking and a mild Notice-Me-Not charm laid over it. It wouldn't make it invisible, just make it likely to be ignored. He heard Lily and Harry hiss quietly to each other behind the bedcurtains, and Vlad did his usual routine of closing and spelling his own. He couldn't sleep, terrified the entire time that Harry would be forming all sorts of opinions about Vlad and his feelings - he hadn't been physically capable of actually denying it when Seamus had said it, which probably didn't help his secrecy.
First morning at Hogwarts, and gossip was abuzz about this upcoming tournament. Vlad thought Dumbledore probably shouldn't have brought up the event so soon - nothing mildly exciting would even be happening for a few weeks yet. Harry treated him no differently, which was probably a miracle. Seamus was silent, scowling and avoided everyone's eyes until he left the dorm.
"For what it's worth, I don't care what team anyone plays for."
"Same here."
"Me too."
Distinctly uncomfortable - half his dorm mates didn't know he was a biter, let alone definitely gay - Vlad could only shrug as though it didn't apply to him anyway.
"I don't care either. Can we go to breakfast now?"
Even as everyone quietly agreed, and Phantom and Lily curled up in their usual manner on either his or Harry's bed together, Vlad didn't quite feel like he had gotten away with it completely.
Somehow, it had not occurred to Harry that he would be met with a sudden backlash over his saying Voldemort had returned. At least, not from people he had thought he could trust, had accepted things about him like his Parseltongue abilities. And given that the news had been circulating for months by then, the sudden anger was surprising. Though, he had to wonder if someone had been influencing his opinions over the summer.
Then he turned it on Vlad, starting on him in a truly bizarre manner. Having all but certainty in regards to Vlad being gay, that bit didn't surprise him much. But to call him out and say he was in love with Harry?
Ludicrous.
Right?
Vlad reacted pretty harshly, but he had always been fiercely protective of Harry. Even when he probably didn't deserve it - like when Vlad had jumped in front of a swarm of dementors for him, when Harry had barely been speaking to him. Like the killing curse he had taken, without hesitation. That didn't mean he was in love with Harry. Vlad was a vampire. That made the idea especially ridiculous.
Why was he even coming up with reasoning? It wasn't true, that was all he needed to think. When Neville brought up a quiet but firm sentence about not caring who was gay, straight or something in between, Draco and Dean were quick to agree. Vlad was slower, and clearly avoiding the topic as he answered before they left the dorm.
The whole school was abuzz with excitement for the upcoming tournament, but Harry was annoyed about the cancelled Quidditch still - this was lessening the amount of years they could consecutively win the Quidditch Cup for Gryffindor. And the idea of a ton more students swarming around the school, it didn't sit well with him.
It was a couple of days before he had a real chance to go and see Samael, taking with him the huge hunk of raw meat the basilisk had been eagerly awaiting.
"Thank you wizard, I have been hungering."
"Sorry for the delay" Samael bit and tore up a chunk, hissing delightedly at the taste "but I can't just stroll through the halls with a massive meat ball then jump into the magical trunk full of mythical serpent any old time."
"I understand. Still, you have my gratitude."
He let the serpent eat in peace, then followed him through the archway from sleep room to 'outside' room. Samael curled himself in a loose sort of circle, letting Harry rest up against his tail so they could talk face to face.
"So, what troubles you wizard?"
"How do you know I'm troubled?"
"Experience. Our bond is a two way connection remember."
Harry had wanted some clarity to his thoughts, something often afforded to him by a conversation with his enormous, lethal pet.
"You always call Vlad my vampire. Why?"
"It is much faster than referring to him as the vampire to be trusted with your well-being, a trait not commonly attached to such a species."
"Is that the only reason?"
"I struggle to understand the nuance of your words. Kindly ask a straight question?"
"Do you think Vlad is in love with me?"
Samael lifted his head slightly, the whole enormous thing tilting to one side and his big yellow eyes filled with confusion.
"I confess, I don't have a comprehension of things like romance. I have very limited contact with humans."
That wasn't really an answer, but Samael had a very good point - what did a basilisk who had spent over ninety percent of the last millennia asleep, and even more alone, understand something like that? Still, Harry wanted some reassurance he and Vlad weren't on very different pages in their friendship. It wouldn't do for Vlad to be... expecting more from Harry in the future, something that could permanently damage their friendship.
"Take a guess."
"He is protective of you, as I would be, as the small snake would be. Is that criteria for love? I know not."
That threw up a stark realisation for Harry - he really didn't have much comparison basis for love. His parents had died young, and while Harry was sure he loved their memories, he didn't really know what it felt like, or should look like. He and Draco said they saw each other like brothers... was that a platonic love? It wasn't the same as he felt towards Vlad. It was so hard to quantify, because Vlad knew him inside and out, secrets and fears not held between them. Vlad had saved his life multiple times. There weren't words for the depths of their friendship.
But all the same, Harry doesn't know that that's what love was like.
He considered Draco and Hermione - they had both expressed sentiments of love for each other, were tactile and close with each other constantly. Vlad was fairly tactile with him, but then Harry was the one who would crawl into bed with Vlad after a nightmare. If that meant Vlad was in love with him, the same would apply in reverse.
Now, that he was certain wasn't true. Vlad was probably gay, but Harry definitely wasn't. He had had a girlfriend and liked that. There he went again, making excuses like he had to justify his own certainties to himself. It was very confusing.
"Wizard? Are you alright?"
"Yeah, sorry, lost in thought. You usually need to sleep after eating, and I should get going. I'll come see you soon, promise."
"Very well. I shall rest. I hope your thought was fruitful."
His mammoth digestive system meant it took a while for the actual hunger to be satisfied, and Samael slept through the first twelve or so hours of it. So Harry rubbed his hand over the scales of his snout, got the gentle bumping against his chest Samael was fond of, and let the serpent go first as they left - Samael for his warmer sleep room, and Harry for normal level ground again. It was an awkward climb - the trunk was on his bed, hidden by his bedcurtains. It was risky, and Harry barely managed not to fall over as he carefully closed the lid, peeked out to check nobody was looking and replaced the trunk, then the charms under his bed.
The tension with Seamus did not ease, though the detention for his homophobic language seemed to have at least deterred him from directly attacking Vlad with words. For now at least.
They had their first Potions lesson that morning, the first with the new professor who seemed to be overall a hit with the other years. Draco was still excited, though Harry suspected there was much more simmering beneath the surface, but also a determination to prove himself as capable without his godfather, or rather to his godfather in the future. He knew from Vlad that the new professors both knew Vlad and his sister were biters, that Draco was a bitten werewolf, and that meant apparently Vlad and Draco could never be paired up for Potions again.
"Good morning boys and girls! I am Professor Regulus Moonshine, and for the thousandth time - no, I don't actually make moonshine, my creation of the Hag Suppression Potion was not fuelled by an illicit love affair, nor do I have any information about the whereabouts of your previous instructor, or why he chose to leave the post. I was asked to take the post, I have. Any more questions?"
Most of the class was stunned into an inarticulate silence, or simply had no questions to ask.
"No? Excellent. Let's begin!"
The missing chunks of flesh gave him an overall rough, damaged appearance, but it was clear very quickly that Moonshine delighted, thrilled, even excelled in the position of teacher. He encouraged questions, interacted with each of them at least once and even Neville had a passable potion by the end of their class.
"Wonderful! Homework is simple - revise your interactions between poisons and their antidotes, much of the curriculum this year will be testing how well you can understand the art of Potions. And no, you can't take the Wit-Sharpening Potion you just made. Off you go students, before Professor McGonogall has my head! What's left of it at least."
They scattered out, heading for Transfiguration unsure what had just happened. Hermione naturally fell into step, hand sliding through her boyfriends as a second nature and Harry wondered for a second if that's what people who thought there was more to him and Vlad expected. Vlad had quite small hands, even though he was taller than Harry, so it probably wouldn't look that different.
Why was he thinking about it again? Shaking the thoughts off like an irritating fly, Harry returned Vlad's tired smile and wondered what had kept him awake last night. With Vlad it could be anything - Phantom licking his ear, pain in his chest scar, reading for fun, bad dreams, homework, sometimes he got absorbed in weird books full of Latin... And he had that vampire test coming up soon, the one Ingrid had already finished with.
"You thought the Potions prof was cool? You haven't had Defence yet have you ickle fourth years?"
Fred and George shot them identical twin grins, not even noticing where George jr (as they called her) sat between them, putting grape jam on her chicken sandwich.
"No. Is Professor Tonks good then?"
He would always be a little confused by the twins' back and forth, finishing each others thoughts thing, he was sure.
"Good? She's brilliant."
"I mean, I miss Lupin too"
"but she's on his level skill wise for sure."
"Anyway, we had better be off."
"Pranks to plan."
"We mean, homework to do. Quick, before Hermione starts telling us off Fred!"
They hurried off before Hermione could pop at them for 'encouraging' rule breaking in the younger students. George Giles needed zero help there, as she was frequently landing herself in mischief too - Harry's favourite for this year was charming one of the suits of armour near the library to explode with glitter whenever someone walked past it. She may have gotten away with it if she hadn't been too tempted to stay and laugh at the results. Poetic justice was probably that her detention entailed cleaning the mess up without magic.
"George. Why do you do such weird things to your food?"
The hesitant question from one of her friends was something they all wondered, but never dared ask.
"Well, why not? Everyone eats the same things, every single day. Never trying new things, which must get super boring. Besides, we have classes involving turning animals into stuff like tea cosies and desks. What's so wrong about pickles dipped in yoghurt?"
Shaking his head, Harry finished devouring his two bacon cheeseburgers for lunch before they had to leave for Defence. The door opened by itself, the class filing in to take their usual seats. The new lady teacher stood silently, a stern expression on her face. When the last stragglers were in and the door slammed behind them, the heavy frown broke into a beaming smile.
"Hello! I am Professor Tonks, but you can call me Tonks. Professor makes me feel old. I am an Auror, currently agreeing to teach here at Hogwarts for this year and that is all you need to know for now. Let's begin the learning!"
They spent only ten minutes flicking through their textbook as a sort of itinary for the year, then Tonks had them all stand up and practice disarming charms and shields. Vlad and Harry had to be very careful not to look too well practiced, Vlad had to ensure he was seen using words and his wand, and Vlad, Harry and Draco all had to be wary of not displaying too much power - their non-human DNA seemed to translate into more power but that was all very much under wraps.
"Wonderful! Some of you don't suck. Right, read the chapter on dugbogs in your textbooks for homework, next class I start teaching you how not to killed instantly by some ferocious dark creatures. Off you go!"
Dugbogs were ugly creatures, with a bad habit of hiding just beneath the surface of earthy ground before popping up to bite a chunk from any passing legs. They had thick, shell-like backs that made most lighter spells simply bounce off. Harry made a mental note to avoid anywhere they had been spotted. Vlad still looked tired, yawning as he greeted Phantom upon their return to the dorm.
"You ok?"
"Mmm. Just stressed a little for Halloween. Tests, new arrivals. Plus, the full is next week. Prepare for edgy Draco."
Harry didn't keep track of it so well, but Vlad had a lunar calendar that he referred to, and Draco was practically a walking lunar calendar now. He caught the amber tint to normally grey eyes, the way Draco ate more hungrily at every meal and the strange way he seemed to smell different, though Harry couldn't quite put his finger on why.
"What's your ''special room' like?"
"Nothing special. With the potion I'm essentially harmless, the room is designed to keep everyone else out far more than it is to keep me in. There's some silver in the door hinges though, the wolf won't go near the door. I'm uncomfortable doing it now."
He was used to Draco referring to 'the wolf' as a seperate being of sorts - it was apparently common among bitten wolves, helped to see their affliction as less making them a monster. At least until the full moon. Remembering his agonized howls before, Harry half expected the whole school to hear Draco Malfoy scream in pain as the full moon rose.
They didn't, however, and Draco appeared back the next afternoon exhausted but otherwise happy to have that moon under his belt. Now just to get through the rest of the year. Simple.
Yeah right, Harry's brain reminded him flatly. When do we get an easy year?
-YDHP-
If you celebrate it, Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays. If not, that's cool but I hope you had a good Decembertime anyway.
I feel like this chapter comes across rushed, but I can't pinpoint why I think that. So if it seems the same to you, sorry!