Harry Potter The Vampire Lord

Chapter 26

Harry found himself at Hogwarts. It was summer and the grounds were flourishing with greenery and the sun was high up in the sky. Harry looked around, and thought it was quite odd that there wasn't anyone else outside.

"You're dreaming." Came a voice that sounded surprisingly like his own.

Harry turned around and was surprised to see himself, looking at him intensely. Harry groaned. 'Not again!'

"How've you been?" asked the alter.

"Like you don't know. You're a representation of my subconscious, you know everything I do." Harry replied starkly.

Alter smirked. "And do you know why your mind is pulling me out of the depths you buried me and your talents into?"

Harry didn't acknowledge that question with an answer.

"You know don't you? You need your talents, you need to stop holding yourself back!" Alter said forcefully.

"It's not normal! I don't want a repeat of what happened to me first year."

"You were the one who decided to stop hiding! You promised Hermione that you would do so!"

"Why are you asking me this? I know all this already Damnit!"

"So why are you acting the same way as you have been, continually ignoring things that concern you! Look how that ended up."

"Stop . . ." Harry whispered warningly.

"You chose to let Pettigrew live, even though your instincts told you that it wasn't going to end well . . . you ignored the serpentine nature of the voices that you heard in your second year . . . and who was the one who paid the price? . . . Sirius is still on the run . . . and Hermione-" Alter couldn't finish his statement as Harry flung out his left hand at him, sending him flying away.

"DON'T EVER GO THERE!" Harry thundered, his eyes glowing dangerously, his hand still directed at Alter's form threatingly.

"YOU NEED TO FACE THE FACTS! YOU NEED TO TAKE CONTROL!"

Harry woke up abruptly, stifling his gasping breaths. Organizing his memories by his progress in Occlumency had put a stop to his nightmares, but a new problem had sprung up. His mind had made up it's mind that it wasn't doing enough, and took every chance to shove his errors in his face.

Harry knew that he wasn't normal . . . even by Wizarding standards. His Vampirism was another thing that had him even further placed away from others. He had decided right after his first year that it would be better for him if he was to hide his capabilities. He had been scared. Scared of what he might become. Scared of losing his friends. So he had changed himself, made himself as normal as could be allowed. He had slipped a few times, but he was sure that they wouldn't have any consequences.

He couldn't let himself continue this way. He needed to exert himself again.

-X-

Hermione cast a contemplative glance at Harry, tucking a stray strand of her hair behind her ear. The three teens were lounging around in the hall, after another morning of training. They were to begin in their Dueling training soon, and Hermione was excited to finally find out how the spells that she had been researching up until now stacked up against the others. She had a basic idea of what Harry had been studying, but not anything more. It was much more basic than she had come to expect from Harry. Judging by Harry's . . . acquired fondness for theatrics, she had thought that he would have chosen some of the more flashy spells.