So, here we are for the second chapter of Never Tear Us Apart. But people will notice a number of changes to this story. It was because I felt some aspects of the story were getting overly complicated by turning Harry into a Succubus as well. Instead, Harry and Lilith have something like a familiar bond. However, the revised version of the first chapter wasn't different enough to justify posting a whole new version of it. So, instead of Harry and Lilith both being Succubi, only Lilith, upon gaining a body, is one...though as this chapter will show, Harry's getting something out of the deal other than a powerful partner and lover...

Oh, incidentally, while Harry and Lilith WILL be calling out Dumbledore and the Weasleys on their faults, either out loud or mentally, this WON'T be a bashing fic. Dumbledore and the Weasleys will be on their side.

Oh, and good news for fans of Under the Light of the Shattered Moon: that WILL be eventually published, as I am partway through the 5th chapter. Hopefully, I will publish that fic, and maybe this one, before or around Christmas. No promises, but I'm sure you guys will look forward to it...

EDIT: A guest reviewer asked a few pointed questions, like, with a Dark Creature ward, how could he not tell that a Troll had entered the castle back in the first book? Well, in my own personal fanon, the Troll was one used to guard the Stone, and so was already in the castle. The ward can only tell that a creature is in the castle, not where it is. As for using Legilimency, he wanted to be sure that Lilith was not a threat to Harry or the staff and students of Hogwarts.

NEVER TEAR US APART (REVISED)

CHAPTER 2:

DISCUSSIONS WITH DUMBLEDORE

Harry had been so dazed from that revelation, that when he appeared back at Hogwarts, he found himself being led away by Mad-Eye Moody with little preamble. It was only when he didn't seem to be taking Harry to the infirmary that Lilith, who had been following, took action. She darted in front of Moody, and crossed her arms. "Where are you taking him?"

"Somewhere safe, girl," Moody said.

"For whom?"

Moody stared at her, before he seemed to realise he had never seen her before. "And who are you? Why did you come back with Potter?"

"I am Lilith. And protecting Harry is what I do. We will take him to the hospital wing."

Moody, after a moment, simply drew his wand and attacked Lilith, who dodged the spell. A sickly green spell…like the Killing Curse. "Stop it! She's a friend!" Harry yelled.

Moody cursed, before pressing his wand to Harry's head, grabbing him. "Maybe…but I'm not."

"…Either you're more around the twist than we thought…or you're not Moody," Lilith said. She sniffed, and then, she said, "Harry, that flask…does it smell familiar?"

Harry, who was close to where Moody kept his flask on his belt, sniffed…and found himself grimacing. Memories from second year came back to him. "Polyjuice?"

Realising his peril, he shoved Moody away as hard as he could, and was astonished when the man flew, and smashed his head against a nearby wall, slumping, unconscious. He stared, and then looked at his hands. After a moment's confusion, he shook his head. Priorities first. "That's not Moody." Then, a thought occurred to him. "He must've been the one who put my bloody name into the Goblet of Fire…" He cast a spell, and Moody was wrapped up in ropes. "Lilith, keep an eye on him, I'm fetching Dumbledore!"

He didn't need to go far. He bumped into Dumbledore, Snape, and McGonagall, who all looked very serious indeed. "Mr Potter! Are you all right?" McGonagall asked.

"Not really, no. I just found out my Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher was trying to kill me. So, just another year here," Harry said. "Oh, and he's an impostor."

"I suspected as much," Dumbledore said gravely. "At least once he took you away from us. The Moody I knew would never have done that, taken you away after what you said. But that girl, Harry…who was she?"

"A friend. She happened to be passing by the area I was taken to. Professor, Voldemort's back, I saw him, he…"

"All in good time, Harry," Dumbledore said quietly. "I heard you when you first came back. Is the impostor secure?"

"I've tied him up, and Lilith's standing watch."

"And just who is this friend, Potter?" Snape asked with a habitual sneer. "I've never seen that girl before in my life!"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you. I don't believe it myself," Harry retorted.

They soon found Lilith standing vigil over Moody, and Dumbledore then said to Snape, "Snape, meet me in the DADA classroom with your best Veritaserum. And please fetch a House Elf called Winky from the kitchens. Minerva, would you kindly go to Hagrid's hut, and bring the large black dog there to my office and tell him that I'll be with him shortly?"

The two teachers nodded, and left. As they did so, Dumbledore looked at Lilith. "It appears I am in your debt, young lady. And your name is Lilith?"

"Yes."

"Hmm. How extraordinary. It is a rare Darkstalker who would make friends with a human," Dumbledore mused, with the shock apparent on both Harry and Lilith's faces. "And yes, I know you are a Darkstalker. This castle has a Dark Creature ward to alert me to any incursions from outside the castle, though it does little for creatures coming from within, like a certain Basilisk. I will give you the benefit of the doubt. We'll continue this another time." Dumbledore waved his wand, and Moody was hovering in the air. He soon moved briskly off, Moody's body, along with Harry and Lilith in tow…

The following interrogation of Moody was disturbing. Not that it was Moody, but Barty Crouch Junior, who bragged about his achievements while under the influence of Veritaserum, as well as how his father smuggled him out of Azkaban. McGonagall was asked to stand guard over Barty Crouch Junior, and then Dumbledore led them to his office, where Sirius was waiting. Harry told his tale about what happened (lying about where Lilith came from), Lilith corroborating it, and after they were finished, Dumbledore pursed his lips thoughtfully. After a moment, Dumbledore said, "While I believe most of your story…I can't say I believe the part of Lilith just happening to be there. It seems too coincidental, too much like a deus ex machina, a contrived salvation, to be real. I would like the truth."

Lilith scoffed. "The truth? That's rich, coming from someone who loves to hide the truth from Harry, and send him off to that hellhole with his so-called relatives. And if you dare say anything like 'it's not that bad', I will get angry. Well, more so than I am with you already."

Sirius chortled at Lilith's anger, and Dumbledore's startled reaction to it. "Not a fan of Dumbledore, then?" he asked.

"Let's just say that I am assuming he is a fool rather than malicious in sending Harry back to those…humans." Her sneer would have possibly impressed Snape, had he been present. "So whatever truth he believes I am hiding, he is not welcome to it."

"Very well. In any case, I got the truth through Legilimency," Dumbledore said, sitting back in a manner that could have been considered smug had it not been for the solemn and thoughtful look on his face. "How extraordinary…a single soul with two entities. Not a split personality, but two entities sharing the same body and soul. Though how a Succubus ended up merged with Harry…"

Lilith stormed over to Dumbledore's desk, glaring at him with her crimson eyes. "Look into my mind again at your peril, Dumbledore."

"A Succubus? My godson is bound to a Succubus?" Sirius asked, before crying manly tears. "Oh, Prongs would be so proud! And jealous! I know I am!"

"Not the time, Padfoot," Harry bit out.

"Please!" Dumbledore said, holding up a hand. "Now, this does complicate things somewhat. As long as they are relatively benign, I have little trouble with Darkstalkers, but the Ministry is not so enlightened. Especially as Harry now has her as a familiar."

"What exactly is a familiar?" Harry asked. "I thought Hedwig would have been a familiar."

"Well, you are not wholly wrong. Familiars can be animals, but sentient beings can be as well. There were darker times when wizards and witches bound sentient beings as familiars against their will. The House Elves, I believe, are an unfortunately irrevocable product of that time. However, a proper familiar bond, one entered into voluntarily by the familiar, is one of symbiosis, and given that you are both, effectively, the same being, just with different natures and personalities…Darkstalkers were coveted familiars, though few would deign to do so. Lesser Succubi were amongst the few who did, for somewhat obvious reasons. It is thought that Dementors were Succubi corrupted by dark wizards in order to become more effective weapons, inspiring fear and sorrow rather than lust."

"The upshot is, I am Harry's guardian," Lilith said. "I have been his friend and confidante since before you finally deigned to let him know his heritage. And if he dies, I die too. Which, even if I wasn't well-disposed towards him, would be reason enough to keep him alive and well."

"I can tell. Through my Legilimency probe, brief though it was, I can see the affection and understanding you two share." Dumbledore leaned back in his chair. "You know, my dear girl, your face reminds me a little of a Succubus I once met. She was a little irritated that I was not interested in her, though. Morrigan Aensland, I believe her name was."

Lilith blinked. "Morrigan…I know that name…why do I know that name?"

"Well, while I am not sure how you would know, she is the heiress to her father Belial, the ruler of Makai," Dumbledore said.

"Makai?" Harry asked. He had heard that term before from Lilith.

"Loosely translated, the Demon Realm, though distinct from what most people consider Hell, as it is not a place of punishment for the damned," Sirius explained. "My family's infamous for dealing with Darkstalkers before. Even I've heard of Morrigan and her father, Belial."

"The familiar bond has done you some good, Harry," Dumbledore pointed out. "How do you feel?"

How did he feel? He had been feeling exhausted, and a little shaky, not to mention with some aches here and there…but now he felt good. No, better than he ever did. "…Great," he said a little bemusedly.

"Succubi normally feed off dreams or souls, or else are sustained through physical or mental excitement," Dumbledore pointed out. "But they can also feed off raw magical energy. Lilith is effectively sharing your magical energy…but because she herself is a magical creature, the magic she feeds back into your body is even more powerful, refined, converted into the magical energy of the Darkstalkers. In a way, it almost makes you a Darkstalker yourself. But as that delightful Muggle comic puts it, with great power comes great responsibility."

"And tends to make people think you're either the second coming of Merlin, or the next Dark Lord," Sirius snarked.

"Still," Dumbledore said, "I think we should have Poppy take a look at you anyway, Harry. You have been through a lot, far more than you should ever have had to, and at the very least, some rest and peace will do you a world of good. Lilith, I would ask that you stay in a somewhat human guise. For the time being, we will stick to your story. I would also suggest only telling those you trust absolutely, Harry: as I have said before, Darkstalkers are not kindly thought of in Magical Britain…"

The Weasleys and Hermione were waiting in the hospital wing around a harried-looking Pomfrey. And after Harry was put to sleep by Pomfrey, Lilith was left to face the music, the Weasleys and Hermione. Or rather, their questions.

It was rather irritating to Lilith. Her cover story was, admittedly, somewhat flimsy, especially to those who knew Harry best. Thankfully, Dumbledore was able to confirm it, and she had never been more thankful that these damned sheep took his word as gospel.

But should she reveal herself to them? Her true nature? That Molly Weasley woman seemed like a self-righteous harridan, not actually bad, but she would probably react badly to Harry being bound to a Succubus, or indeed any Darkstalker. And Lilith wasn't so sure about Ron's trustworthiness after that little fit of jealousy prior to the First Task. Bill was a possibility: being a Cursebreaker and well-travelled meant he might be more likely to have a broader mind.

However, the only person Lilith intended to tell, albeit in private, was Hermione. Now, this took considerable thought and consideration. She was immensely loyal to Harry, true, but she had this annoying faith in authority figures, especially Dumbledore and her teachers. Well, save for things like where House Elves were concerned. But Hermione's personal loyalty to Harry was, if not absolute, then stronger than Ron.

However, now was not the time. Lilith knew that she had to find a pretext to speak to Hermione alone, away from the Weasleys. Well, those twins might be helpful as well. Their loyalty to Harry was good too. Enough to weather the revelation that he had a Succubus as a familiar.

Of course, there were other factors at play. How would the Death Eaters react? How would the Ministry? And she had to wonder about Dumbledore's comment, that she resembled Morrigan Aensland. Why did she? And why did that name sound so familiar?

In Castle Aensland, in the land of Makai, its ruler, Belial, was troubled. He frequently was, as is many a ruler. And while this wasn't an important affair of state he was worried about, it was still personally important.

He had felt what felt like a massive surge of power, one that felt like, and yet unlike, his own daughter. His daughter was sleeping in her bedroom (or rather, had been, until the surge of power) when it happened, for once, as he'd sent Lucien and Mudo to check. So he sent them to check the pocket dimension he had stored that third of Morrigan's power…only to find it empty, with a cicatrise, a scar in space-time, leading to the Department of Mysteries in the British Ministry of Magic. Which meant those damned wizards had stolen it, about sixteen years prior.

The power came not from within Makai, but within the human world. Of course, only one with that power would have felt that surge. And as he contained part of Morrigan's power within him…

What to do, then? Belial didn't become ruler of Makai through force alone, though it was a key factor in his ascension. Darkstalkers tended only to respect force, after all. It was how he defeated Demitri Maximoff, or Jedah Domah. But he was also intelligent, too. And while the third of Morrigan's power that had been locked away had been stolen, it didn't necessarily mean by an enemy of Makai.

But what had actually happened? He felt no pull on his share of Morrigan's power, the pull that would ensure that Morrigan would regain that part of her power once she was ready. Had the power become its own entity? Possible, but a disturbing development.

He could not leave Makai, either. His power had diminished. But he could still sense the power, and its rough location: Hogwarts. He decided to send Morrigan to investigate…discreetly.

Or as discreetly as she could manage…

CHAPTER 2 ANNOTATIONS:

So, Dumbledore and Sirius are aware of Lilith's true nature…and Belial now knows that he has a third of Morrigan's power running around on the loose. And Morrigan is coming to visit Hogwarts…oh dear. This can only end well…

No numbered annotations this time…