A/N finally finished it! This took far too long. I really have no excuse for the delays other than 'there was no real driving force forcing me to work on it' not that I don't enjoy it - I love writing this story - but I was at a mental block and I couldn't think how to continue so I just left it for ages. Turns out that leaving a story at 5 (admittedly long) chapters for four months with no progress on the next chapter is the way to reach 11k reads and 314 votes!!! (At time of writing this) thank you guys so much!! I love you all!! ❤️❤️❤️ Seriously though, your comments are what keeps me going. In fact, reading what you guys thought is what prompted me to actively find a way to continue the story. Thank you so much, all of you! And I hope you continue to enjoy!
Summary of previous chapter:
The kids discover the truth about Hela. Maya and Sharpe talk about her situation. Maya asks Snape if he's a vampire, he then yells her out of his classroom. Sharpe punishes Snape for his actions. The students find out that someone is covering for Snape's classes and they prefer him to the real thing. We discover that McGonagall is a low level member of the Creature Clan. Lupin has his suspicions of Harry and meets the Clan Kids, joining their group. Hermione talks with McGonagall and visits the shadow realm in her dreams. We learn that McGonagall is familiar with the shadow creatures.
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Trigger warning: mentions / references to torture, self harm and suicide. Not detailed descriptions, just people acknowledging that it happened.
Word count: almost 7300
——37—— Normal PoV
Maya was having a very hard time; she felt constantly thirsty, alert, and ready to fight anyone who dared look at her wrong. There was a monster inside, a rash, ravenous, raging monster. Peter could see her agitation and tried to comfort her, but with her mouth just millimetres from his neck the urge to feed kept building up. She soon found herself unable to pull away.
She barely took note of the others leaving the room to give her some privacy (She would later find out they thought she was shaking from crying), before feeling her fangs lengthen, tongue pressed against her lips trying to force its way out. Her traitorous jaw slowly pried itself open before catching onto his skin, pulse rapidly increasing beneath her drooling mouth.
There was a distant sound next to her ear, a voice? It sounded afraid. Good. The more fear, the faster the heartbeat, the more food for her. Her meal tried to push her away, too late for that. She couldn't resist any longer, and bit in, finally giving the monster its meal and blacking out in the process.
——38——
Deep down, in the darkness of the dungeons, her master suddenly felt a wave of satisfaction and fear wash over him, shortly followed by a sense of delight and fullness. This needed attending to.
It was times like these that he became grateful he had helped build the castle, for even now it recognised him and lead him down the fastest route it could.
Easily entering the Hufflepuff common rooms, Sharpe quickly made his way to the dorms. Following his own instinct he entered through, quickly closing the door behind him. There was a boy on the floor, desperately trying to push His off his neck. Even in human form, Sharpe could smell the blood leaking from the wound, the same blood he had been tasting in his mouth for the journey here. The boy looked up pleadingly, afraid.
Sharpe stepped forward, wrapping his arm around His and whispered in her ear. "Let go." She instantly obeyed the order and he could freely drag her away from the boy. He didn't even need to look to know what a sight she must be; blood dripping from her mouth, fangs visible and bloody, face contorted in a snarl - this was the monster now, the girl was long since gone.
"Sit down and drink." He pulled her to the floor and practically shoved his wrist in her mouth, an offering she gladly accepted. The boy just stared in shock, clutching his still bleeding neck. After making sure she wouldn't move, Sharpe took out a blood replenishing potion from his pocket, offering it to the boy who hesitantly accepted it.
They sat there for a while, the boy still trying to wrap his head around everything. Sharpe noticed she was starting to slow.
"Faster, don't savour it. This is a necessity not a luxury, do not become a gourmet." She easily obeyed, eventually unlatching her jaw from its prey once properly satisfied, her dazed gaze focused on nothing in particular. Sharpe waved his wand to clean her up. "Sleep." He hissed, eyeing the boy's reaction as she fell limp in his arms.
He was terrified and confused, as anyone would be, but still held concern for his friend. Sharpe easily picked her up, laying her down on the bed, before casting a rather dark version of the silencing charm - one designed specifically to prevent secrets being spilled - on the boy.
"You will not speak a word of this, understand?" He got a jittery nod in reply.
"You will guard her secret with your life, and help her adjust to it. It will take time and effort, but it must be done if she is to survive. Don't let her feed from anyone - I have sent a package with this mornings mail to deal with that. If it is an emergency then she may have a sip from you, but nothing too great.
"She actually wanted to trust you with her secret so please, don't break that trust. Forgive her for the actions of the monster within."
——39——
Peter returned to the dormitories after breakfast. He'd just received a package addressed to Maya and was intending to leave it on her bedside before she woke up. Luck was not on his side.
"Peter..." He froze in the doorway, staring dumbly at his best friend. "I- I'm really sorry for earlier... I didn't know what was going on, it was like I was watching someone else... and I blacked out just after everyone left. I... did S—" She paused, confused.
"Did S—... did S-omeone... come in here..?"
"Yeah, it was Snape, you bit him too- but he told you to so it's fine!" He rushed to reassure.
"Snape?" She murmured. 'But it tastes like Sharpe... could he be the person impersonating Snape? Why would he do that? Was it because of what he said to me..?'
"Anyway," Peter continued, "Snape sent this for you." He handed over the package, watching as Maya carefully tore it open.
It was a small box, much like the private mail boxes you can buy from Gringotts. There was a letter attached.
'Every morning you will find your meal in here, it has privacy charms so only you can see what's inside.
Be careful, S'
Despite how he was still trying to wrap his head around the situation, Peter managed to remember they had a class to get to, and while one quickly hurried off to potions, the other used their spare time to practice the sun protection charm.
——40——
The shadow creatures were surprisingly appalling spies, particularly today. Luna, Hadrian, McGonagall, even Anthony and Draco noticed them. So did Hermione, who quietly observed the figures out of the corner of her eye. She'd been seeing them everywhere this morning, watching, never doing anything, just watching. If she didn't know any better she might've assumed they were tricks of the light, but if that dream last night was real, then there was a whole other world right next to this one that no one knew about. It was truly fascinating, and she intended to raid the library for research. Perhaps they could help defeat Voldemort? Perhaps they were the spirits of the dead, maybe with untold knowledge, maybe reincarnation was real and Professor Dumbledore was watching over her-!
That last thought left as quickly as it came. And Hermione found herself wondering why she was so sure that it wasn't the case. Deciding to puzzle over it later, she began to work through the textbook. Page 219, hedgehog to pincushion. 'A very useful spell, I'm sure.' She paused again, 'where did that come from? I'm not normally that sarcastic, and I don't believe that every spell we learn will be useful to everyone but it's still good to learn them... hmm.' She sat there, questioning the origin of the intrusive thought.
——41——
'Luna stop intruding in people's thoughts!'
'Don't worry Hadrian, she'll never figure it out and besides, can't have her getting too irrational now can I?'
Hadrian just sighed.
——42——
————————————————————————trigger warning: mentions/references to torture and the after effects————————————————————————
After an uneventful lunch and dinner where Hermione raided Hogwarts' library and Hadrian raided of his many mansions, Sharpe finally returned to his humble abode. The halfblood was asleep, chained to one of the walls of his cell. His body had regrown as expected, his wounds had scarred and the brandings were as bold as day on his pale complexion. Thanks to the spell he wasn't malnourished yet so all he needed was some clothes before he could be returned to the school; clothes, and a firm warning.
A firm punch to the gut to wake him up worked wonders and Sharpe took great pleasure in the quivering of his prey. After a fair and strongly worded warning, he summoned the boy some clothes before throwing him through the floo once he was dressed, relishing the silence as he tumbled into his office. 'At least he knows when to keep quiet.' He then left for the cells closer to the surface to stock up on food for Maya.
——43——
As soon as the floo was cut off, Snape finally let himself relax. He eventually stood up and made his way over to his desk - well, crawled his way over really - before climbing into the seat. Gathering his bearings, he tried to go through some of the essays, but his hands wouldn't stop shaking, he jumped at the slightest sound and couldn't focus enough read properly. Slamming the parchment down on the desk and startling himself in the process, he slowly brought his hands to his head, focusing on breathing.
A flare of bright green flames startled him from his stupor. Flailing his arms wildly, unsure what to do with them in the face of his master, he accidentally knocked all three stacks of parchment and essays onto the floor, the paper floating with forbidden grace all around the room. He shakily tried to magic them back up again but punishment seemed unavoidable; his hands shook too much, he could barely make a sound and his concentration was non-existent, his mind running too fast and too slow at the same time.
Eventually he gave up, slamming his wand on the table and resting his head in his hands which twitched in his hair, his breathing erratic.
His visitor paused to observe the room for a few seconds as Snape had a nervous breakdown. Once his breathing was better they softly spoke up.
"Severus..." he visibly jumped, and gasp-shouted in surprise, clutching onto desk for dear life, eyes wide and terrified, skin paling even further (if possible).
"Wh- whe-" He paused for breath, eyes darting around the room for his master. "When -di -d you- you get h- here?" He croaked. His master was no where to be seen, did they even come here? Were they invisible?! What was Minerva doing here?! Was she here on his behalf?!
"Just before your papers fell on the floor."
"P- papers? What papers!?" As his panic rose even further McGonagall carefully tried to calm his hyperventilating.
"The papers on the floor. Here, let me help you." She levitated them back on to the desk, noticing as he flinched at her wand. She asked if he was okay.
"I- I'm fine. I'm fine. -ine, okay?! I- I- I'm fine..." He took a shaky breath.
"Will you be fit to teach tomorrow?"
Snape paused, his eyes glossed over, his voice became monotone as if imperioused or under Veritaserum. His breathing slow and silent, body suddenly frozen still.
He looked and acted like someone who has long since been resigned to their fate, like they are numb to suffering, beaten beyond repair, brainwashed into submission; a broken soul.
"I'll be fine Minerva, I just need rest." She gazed unsurely at him. He didn't move.
"I'll see you in the morning, then it is my judgement whether you teach or not, if you aren't fit for it - and I WILL be bringing Poppy to check you - then you will not be teaching for the foreseeable future, not until we are both sure you are well.
"One of the other staff will cover for you, I'm sure. I know they'll understand." He nodded absently in reply. She sighed, deciding it best to leave him be for now. "Rest well Severus." And headed back to her office for a glass of firewhisky.
——44——
By the morning Snape was back to his usual self, almost as if nothing was ever wrong. When McGonagall mentioned last night, he dismissed it as nothing. She had Poppy scan him before breakfast.
"As he said Minerva, he is completely healthy, as healthy as the day he was born." She remarked jovially.
McGonagall suddenly had a flashback to Sharpe's words to her earlier that week—
A dark grin split across his face when she asked about Severus' physical condition.
"He has one yes... a physical body I mean. Well, the beginnings of one at least."
—and quickly got a horrible feeling.
——45——
Come Monday, Snape was back to his lessons, much to annoyance of all his students.
Every time someone had nerves to ask what happened he just dismissed it and shouted at them to get on with their work. It was a lesson with the third years and one gossip-loving girl continued talking anyways.
Severus was pacing and repeating how "that's enough!" and to "stop asking irrelevant questions and get on with your work!"
This went on for quite a while (the only reason he hadn't sent anyone out or even given out a detention was because what happened last time was still fresh in his mind) until, one remark hit a particularly sensitive nerve; "Are you jealous that he makes your body look more handsome than you do sir?"
Snape paused. As did the entire class. "Can we have him again sir? Will he be back another time soon?" Everyone in the room was frozen at the sight of their potions master in the beginning of a panic attack. His hands were twitching and shaking almost as much as his breath.
"Cos no offence sir, but it's no secret that everyone prefers him to you."
A whisper of snickering drifted around the room until the students began to notice the change in demeanour; statue like, but shivering, eyes glazed over but fixed on something unseen. Once he had been like that, unmoving, for over ten seconds, Anthony nervously walked up and waved his hand in his face. He received no reaction, eyes still glossed over.
Other students tried a different approach, "Sir? Sir!?" Nothing.
"Does anyone know how to look into minds?"
"Are you kidding? He is one of the best Occlumens in the country, no way can we get through."
"Right now he looks brain-dead, I'd say his mental defences aren't likely to be any good." The people watched as Luna performed the spell on Snape, then projected it to the class.
————————————————————————further warning, mentions of self harm, suicide and Sharpe generally being a bully————————————————————————
Instantly the room was filled with a haunting voice, echoes of insults and how worthless he is, "You're unloved- no wonder no one noticed you'd gone- no one cared- be grateful for your life- you certainly don't deserve it- cut yourself one more time and I'll make sure that blade goes through your heart instead-!" just to name a few. Despite the horror of the students, the voice continued;
"You hurled yourself off a cliff, you stabbed yourself with a goblin sword, wore a cursed necklace for a month, clawed your own heart out, and now you send the killing curse at your own head. I am truly disappointed in you, halfblood, I thought you were smart. After all these attempts you still fail - as usual - yet you don't seem to get it do you?" Everyone listened on in barely concealed horror.
"That thick skull of yours too dense to grasp this simple concept? Perhaps I should crush it for you maybe then you will understand; you can never escape me, even in death, I will always be there, to haunt you, you can never be free," The monster chuckled evilly, drawing a handful of whimpers from the observers, "so why bother trying? It will only prolong your suffering. And you don't want a repeat of Lily now do you? Do you still love her?" Gasps of horror, "Even after Potter stole her away? You never deserved her, you don't deserve anything.
"Be grateful for the life I allow you to keep, most don't get that luxury."
———————————————————————— both trigger warnings over————————————————————————
Shell-shocked, Luna ended the spell, Snape still oblivious to the whole ordeal.
The class got on with their potions work without another word. 20 minutes later and Snape snapped out of it, glancing at them with fear written across his withered face, before pulling up his mask and going to his desk to finish grading work.
Luna placed everyone in the class under an unbreakable vow to never utter a word, before silently protecting the poor professors' mind from invaders. She was going to have to have a very stern word with Sharpe later.
——46——
Lunch was a tense event; two nerds were in their various libraries, while the other years loudly questioned why the third years were staring mutely at Snape, a haunted sadness or pity in their eyes. The Slytherins meanwhile were mostly plotting revenge against whoever dared bully their head of house. Those who could manage to be emotionally detached from the situation were wondering A) how Luna could perform Legilimency, B) how Snape had supposedly and repeatedly defied death.
That evening, Luna decided to pay a certain 'friend' a visit. As he turned to glare at her for barging into his office without notice, she pulled her fist back and slapped him across the face, her godly strength and rage combined knocking him unconscious. Quickly reviving him, she pushed him to the ground, forcing him to cower in the corner like Snape had with Maya and he had with Snape. For the first time in 250 years, she shed her mortal skin, revealing the grey glow of her true form in all its blinding glory.
A grey orb floating in the centre, mist swirling around it, tendrils reaching out into the surroundings, burning everything they touched. Millions of bright lights appeared in the haze, like the glowing eyes of an angel. Light and dark, every colour imaginable - and plenty that weren't - swirled around her. Pure, untamed, wild magic. Power in its truest form, the energy crackling through the air setting Sharpe's own magical core alight. Drawing from his energy, Magic spoke with her true voice, her words echoing around Sharpe's head as her booming voice spoke directly into his thoughts, drowning out all his senses.
"Sharpe! You dare harm one of Life's children? One of my children?" She couldn't get him in trouble for that, and they both knew it, but it was a good place to start.
"Th- they are my property, I chose them before they were even born, I own them! By magical rite, I am his master! I can treat him how I wish - that is my choice! I have that right! Death decrees it so!" True, born-vampires do have magical ownership over the human they have chosen to replace.
"But did you truly have to be so harsh? And you didn't even bother to protect his mind from invaders, what if someone went looking and found out about you? Then what?" He didn't seem like he knew how to defend that last point.
"I'm not the worst out there you know, in fact I'm one of the kindest! I let him live out his life as himself, I haven't kept him in a cage 24/7 every day of his life since birth unlike some of my kind! He's an adult now, and he's still alive! That's more than most in his situation! I'm one of the kind ones!" Magic was loosing the fight, but she refused to let him off easy.
"True... But Maya-"
"Is mine to protect." He growled. "And he hurt her. So I hurt him. It was entirely my right - heck! It was my duty to do so!" Magic sighed. There was nothing she could do. Death had made the rules in his favour, and neither Life nor She really cared that much about Snape. But it was the principle- no. That's a human thought. A human perspective... oh gods! She's gone native! Since when did she care about human suffering? Damn that Fate, probably laughing her ass off watching this.
She needed to regroup. Center herself. Meditate, and return to her true nature (or as much as she could get away with while still passing as human). So, she froze time - as you do - and drew from the cores of every magical human, creature, and plant in the world. It took a while, but that was good, it meant that not only did she get the boost of energy but also had time to tidy up her mind a little. To recover her true self.
By the time she was finished she felt much less... irrational. Much more calm, and detached. Much better, can't have her getting too concerned with human lives now could she?
Much to the vampire's surprise, she thanked Sharpe for helping her with a personal issue, before floating through him - almost completely draining him off his magic in the process - and reapplying her human skin. After glancing back to see the creature sprawled in pain on the floor, clutching his chest where his magic had just been stolen, she returned to the castle before anyone could notice her absence.
——47——
Over the week the students eventually calmed down and got back into routine. Snape's flashbacks became less frequent and less easily triggered much to the relief of everyone in the know.
Maya kept practicing and eventually could consistently perform the protection spell, even teaching it to Peter just in case. The next few weeks were relatively uneventful for the students of Hogwarts, the full moon came and went, Moony got closer to his pack and they had a wonderful night of running and laughing at the exhaustion of humans, the shadow creatures continued to show their home to Hermione - she nearly spoke with one once, but woke up just a moment too soon (much to her annoyance).
Ron had been spending his days wondering about his best friend. Things just didn't seem to add up, and he finally plucked up his Gryffindor courage and asked him.
"Harry mate, can I talk to you a minute?" The pair found an empty classroom and warded it upon entering. "It's about what happened at summer... so, y'know that letter I sent you during summer?"
"It was from your mother?"
"Y- yeah... uh, you were right to decline - though I don't know how you did considering the compulsion charms I'm sure she put on it - because she wanted to continue what Dumbledore started; she wanted to mother you and make you fall in love with Ginny and control where you go and who you talk to and- and- look, I'm really sorry about her..." Hadrian nodded mutely, relieved Ron was on his side of the conflict.
"I mean, you found a way of tricking the tracking charm into thinking you were in a volcano so I guess it wasn't too hard to get rid of the other charms for you then was it?" They both have a half hearted chuckle.
"Uh, look man, I'm really sorry I never told you this sooner, but my mum is obsessed with finding out where you live and taking you into our house and under her control. And- I don't want that to happen but she's already mad at me because I keep 'forgetting' to ask you where you live, and- I just don't know what to do, man, but I'm really sorry for dragging you into this and-"
"Ron." Hadrian placed a comforting hand upon his friends' shoulder. "It's okay. You're right, the compulsion charms were disabled before I even opened the letter-" He had felt the remains of the charms but it was as if the bird who gave it to him had removed them herself. "And while I'm not entirely sure about the volcano..."
'Luna..?'
'Wasn't me.'
'???'
"- I do know that she is likely under compulsion charms herself, probably from Dumbledore. If I could let the authorities know, then perhaps they can just check and make sure? If not then that can at least put her under watch to make sure she doesn't try and kidnap me or something. And if she is then they can be removed and you can have a much more peaceful home life." Ron nodded his reply gratefully, as the two boys left the room and headed for the owlery to write the letter.
——48—— The Burrow
Molly Weasley was startled from her housework by a knock on the door. Behind it were three aurors.
"Molly Weasley? We have a few questions we'd like you to answer." Startled, she began ranting about how they couldn't just barge into her house and make demands. The aurors glanced at each other, noticing the clear signs of a manipulated mind - one that couldn't think very clearly and was quick to jump to irrational conclusions at the slightest provocation. It could be just her personality of course, but given what she was like years prior and the ex-headmaster's tendencies...
Confiscating her wand, they provided a piece of enchanted parchment (provided by the goblins for a 'small' fee) and ordered she perform a blood test. The results were worse than expected;
Name: Molly Victoria Weasley
Age: 44 years old
Potions and spells applied:
Loyalty to - the light, Albus Dumbledore, the greater good.
Compulsion to obey - Albus Dumbledore
Compulsion to forgive and forget - Albus Dumbledore
Ignorance to abuse and malnutrition of others
Compulsion to control - Harry Potter
Obliviate - cast multiple times
All potions administered by Albus Dumbledore.
All spells cast by Albus Dumbledore.
Immediate removal recommended.
"Looks like the old fool had a much firmer hold than we thought..." They quickly provided the neutralising potion to the frozen woman. "A common sign of control - when they're unable to handle new situations without orders."
As soon as she was purged and had recovered from several minutes of tears, Molly began work on a letter of apology to Harry Potter; she had a lot to answer for.
——49——
It was Wednesday the 13th of October, almost a month had passed since Maya had been bitten that fateful night. Recently she had taken to exploring the edge of the forest at night, making sure to be back in time for breakfast of course - though she had mastered the sun protection charm by now so didn't need to worry too much.
Occasionally she had glimpses of a group of creatures with glowing eyes; two seemed to be animagi, one could fly, and one was attempting to become an animagus. They were all children while the fifth creature was an adult and smelled like a werewolf. Speaking of smells, she recognised them all as students in third year - even knew their names - and the adult as Professor Lupin. From her foggy memories she concluded that Luna had been the one to save her from the vampires.
Tonight was no different, and she could hear the group coming her way. Moving to intercept them, she made up her choice.
"Um, excuse me." They all stopped and stared at her. "Uh, hi. Um, I know this is a pretty exclusive group - you being friends and in the same year and all - and not forgetting you Professor - but I was wondering if perhaps I could join you - I know that I don't really know any of you - and that I'm a - a vampire - and all - but I assumed - since you have a werewolf in the group already - that perhaps you might accept me - and miss Lovegood - thank you for saving me back there - you probably saved my life..."
They started at her for a moment watching as she became more nervous with each passing second. Eventually Malfoy huffed.
"It's about time you came to us little vamp. We've been waiting for you to ask-"
"So you'll let me join!? Oh thank you Draco- sorry! Malfoy! I'm sorry! I didn't mean - it's just that Anth- sorry, Goldstein! -And Lovegood and Potter - you're all in the same year - though I've heard you and Potter aren't very close - enemies apparently - So is something going in there or-?"
"Maya!"
"Y- Yes?"
"*sigh* We have code names for a reason."
"Huh? Wha- oh- Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't realise- I-"
"Miss Perkins," The man began, taking off his mask as he spoke.
"Professor?"
"You can smell us can't you?" She nodded in reply. "So can I, just not as well as you though, but thank you for confirming my suspicions."
"Mhm.... uh... I'm.. really sorry..."
"It's okay Maya, you didn't know." Hadrian also took his mask off, knowing she would see him despite the gloom of the forest. "Just remember to use our code names from now on okay?"
The group then went around introducing themselves; Luna was featherclaw, Hadrian was Scythe-
"Because you look like the grim reaper with that mask and cloak on." The rest of the group started dumbly, Draco muttered about how even he didn't get that at first.
Anthony was Noir because Luna had Seen that his animagus was a creature covered in black, and Draco was Dragonpaw as a combination of his animagus form and his actual name.
"'Never tickle a sleeping Draco', very good life advice!" Draco merely chuckled at Anthony's warning.
Finally, Lupin was Moony for obvious reasons.
After much discussion they eventually settled on Countess for Maya, with a pale mask with blood red eyes (as opposed to the Ruby red of Draco's). They then continued as they were, running around the forest, greeting their allies and friends, and eventually coming to rest by the lake.
The group ended up sleeping - as most creatures did - in a pile on the ground. Anthony and Draco clinging suspiciously strongly to each of Hadrian's arms, with Luna and Hela roosting either side of his head. And that was how a moderately embarrassed Maya found herself.
Hadrian was the only one awake (being biologically unable to sleep would often do that) and cracked open a glowing yellow eye upon realising that Maya was still standing. He then nudged Draco awake since he was the more agreeable of the boys and nodded in her direction. Sighing, Draco turned onto his back and groggily beckoned her over. She gingerly lay on the floor.
"Wait, it's soft and springy, like a mattress." Draco snorted.
"We may be creatures but we aren't uncivilised." He responded, slowly pulling her head to rest on his chest, one arm wrapped loosely around her while the other was still intertwined with Hadrian's. Leaning his head back against Hadrian's shoulder, he drifted off towards sleep.
"I... I can hear your heartbeat..." She merely got a mumbled 'mmh' for a reply. "It's... calming. Thank you."
——50—— The morning after
The forest shook with a high pitched scream. Every member of the Clan jolting awake, only to see Draco nursing his arm and Maya wiping a suspicious red liquid from her mouth with a guilty look on her face.
"WHAT THE F*** WAS THAT FOR!!!"
"I'm sorry-!"
"YOU BIT MY F*** ARM OFF!!! I'LL BE IN ST. MUNGO'S FOR WEEKS- NO, MONTHS!!!"
"It was just a little n-"
"A LITTLE NIP, A LITTLE NIP!!! I COULD'VE DIE— oof... ow... hey, that hurt y'know!" Luna had whacked him on the head.
"Now that you've finally shut up, Maya, can you please explain what you were doing."
"Well..." The girl stammered, suddenly finding the grass incredibly interesting. "I usually wake up early to drink so no one notices... I could feel- and hear- your heartbeat- and you were so close- your smell- I guess I just forgot myself... I'm sorry!" She hung her head in shame, shuffling backwards away from the group.
"Uhh... you were just thirsty? Acting on instinct?" Maya looked up in question at the hesitant blond, nodding slowly. "So... you weren't trying to eat me?" He smiled shyly at her shocked look before offering to his wrist, newly healed thanks to a sly Episkey from Anthony. Maya just looked at it questioningly.
"Go on, drink. Just don't drain me all right? I need to be able to get to breakfast without fainting." He added, grinning encouragingly. Hesitantly, she took it, and positioned her jaws around it before extending her fangs and piercing through his skin. She drank hungrily for about ten seconds before carefully letting him go. She thanked Anthony as he spelled her clean as well as re-healing Draco.
"Well, I can safely say that is one of the weirdest things I have ever felt." Draco admitted as the group made their way back to the school. "Like... I could feel it being sucked out of me! It was so weird!"
"It was delicious by the way..." A small voice added.
"Damn right it was! It is only natural that I would have the most delicious blood of us all! After all, I am a pureblood from an extremely wealthy family! My lineage goes back for generations of the purest of purity! I come from a noble and most ancient house! The house of Malfoy! All you peasants better get on the ground and kneel before my purity!!!"
Draco continued to mock the purebloods for the rest of the journey, much to the amusement of his friends and the curious forest dwellers.
——51—— Time skip to October 31, The day after the full moon
It was the first Hogsmeade trip of the year, and Hadrian was unable to go as he was an orphan and couldn't get his parents permission because they were dead and until he died he couldn't go visit them and ask and when he did he would become a full dementor and lose his human form and so he won't be able to go to Hogsmeade anyway as he won't even be able to go to Hogwarts and-
"Hadrian, we get it, you're annoyed. Besides, what does it matter? You're going to sneak out there anyway-?"
"Yes, but Anthony it's the principle!"
"Now that Brian's gone, why not ask McGonagall if the rules can be changed?" Luna had been more agreeable now that the old headmaster was no longer looking over her every decision.
As everyone else was handing in their permission slips, Hadrian casually approached McGonagall, an innocent look upon his face. He subtly made himself look smaller and younger than normal and cast a couple sneaky charms to aid in his act.
"P- Professor..?" She turned to him, her face softening immediately. "I- I don't have anyone to sign the Hogsmeade permission slip... an- and I was really looking forward to- really hoping to go- and me and my friends- we organised the whole trip- where we were gonna go- and- and- and I really don't want to miss it- Please Professor, please can't you change the rules! I- I don't think it's fair! I don't have my- a- any more- and- an-" He sobbed quietly, unable to continue.
The professor's heart broke seeing that poor boy in front of her. If only his parents wills had been read, if only he had gone to some other family, perhaps this could have been avoided entirely.
Once again cursing Dumbledore and his 'greater good', she comforted the poor child, promising to look into the matter and try all she could to update the rules to accommodate for people like him.
Confident that she would do as promised, Hadrian plodded away, back into the castle. He immediately ducked into an alcove and melted into the shadows, before heading carefully outside to 'join' his unknowing friends for the ride.
Unsurprisingly, half of its occupants could tell something was off... just none knew quite what.
"It's the shadows, Anthony. The shadows with a thousand eyes." Luna leaned in close, "They see all. You can't hide from a shadow, to try is to be blinded from reality itself."
The only way to guarantee a lack of shadows was to be surrounded on all sides by light - which isn't exactly a realistic idea in the long term - and also carries a high risk of blinding yourself. Overall, not too bad, as far as life lessons go.
'Why thank you Hadrian.'
'Always happy to please thee, my Lady.' Hadrian responded, mentally bowing to a nonexistent crowd.
Still, he kept an eye on Anthony's aura sensing capabilities and Hermione's keen sense of observation and general nosiness, the latter of which was firmly believing he was just another shadow creatures watching her.
——52—— Hogsmeade
Once they had arrived, Hadrian snuck off to a darkened corner to re-merge back into the mortal world and find his friends. He subtly nodded to Draco whilst making up his excuse for being there. A hidden passageway? Yes, that would probably work.
'Where to though...' He glanced to his left. 'Ah, Honeydukes, perfect.' He looked back around the square, searched for where his friends were. 'Why is Draco looking at jewellery?' Luna just snickered in the back of his mind. Something about 'so soon', 'heads over heels' and 'beating the Christmas rush'?
Ignoring her as best as he could, Hadrian headed straight towards Zonko's joke shop to reunite with his three companions and the resident deity. True to the nature of the building, he snuck up and scared the living daylights out of them.
After giving his excuses for sneaking out, the group made their purchases and headed out for some more shopping. They split up and decided to meet in a couple of hours by the fence overlooking the shrieking shack. Those two hours passed a lot faster for Anthony than they did for Hadrian though, with the latter blaming it on the former clinging to his arm. If you didn't look that hard you might even mistake them for being glued together.
'The twins did that once - the Weasleys - they used a spell to glue their arms together. They somehow managed to turn it into a prank on everyone else rather than themselves which was rather impressive considering... And it wasn't even that much of a handicap in the quidditch match - you'd almost think they'd been practicing...'
Filing that in the 'random stories by Luna' section of his mind, Hadrian and Anthony reunited with everyone else by the fence. Discussion turned to the legends of hauntings and ghosts.
"They say," Ron began, "that's the most haunted place in Britain. Anyone who goes in, never comes out. They say you can hear screaming at night - especially around the full moon, when evil forces are at their strongest! But even creepier, they say that just before the screams, you can hear someone playing the piano. You wouldn't think it's terrifying, but trust me it is!"
"As creepy as that sounds Ron, I don't believe a word of it. I mean really? Ghosts?" Hermione scoffed.
The other three ravens found themselves wondering whether to remind her that they live in a haunted castle or not. Sadly - or perhaps thankfully - they were interrupted by Draco and his gang barging past them to stare at the sight, mocking it as they went. Only one person noticed Luna staring serenely at the slytherin's new bracelet which he kept in his back pocket. She turned back to Anthony, chuckling at his expression.
"What? Oh, hehe, not for me, no. But I'm sure someone will find it pleasing to admire, perhaps even touch..."
As his expression became even more comical she realised that the poor boy had no idea about the bracelet. Her grin only got wider in response.
——53——
After an unremarkable confrontation in which the two 'leaders' noses became less than an inch apart several times in three minutes, the group headed to the Hog's Head inn. There were whispers all around, shockingly easy to listen to given the noise of everyone else. Luna may or may not have had something to do with that.
Word was that Sirius Black had been sighted in a nearby village. A known innocent man who thought himself a wanted convict. This could only end badly.
"How can you tell the difference between light and shadow?" Hermione sighed.
"In light you can see things and shadow is the absence of light so-"
"Flyneedles hum in the light." The girl paused, before shaking her head in exasperation. Ron asked what a flyneedle was.
"Invisible lines that make up the fabric of the universe. If you can manipulate them properly, you can warp reality to your will. They're needle thin and seemingly float in place (and some races believe tiny insects crafted them at the dawn of the universe), hence the name."
'And you can see them?' Hadrian wondered.
'When I want to. The universe is made of cubes that can be moved around with relative freedom if you're careful. The width of each is about halfway between a foot and a metre. There are no gaps, and the only warping exists because of gravity. Everything is set in place, stable, as all things should be.
'If I wanted I could swap them around, if I wanted I could turn them solid so you could stand on them. But I won't.'
'Why?'
'Because there's people around, idiot!'
——54—— Hogwarts
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful, the Clan met up that night and spent most of it staring at the stars; though Hadrian would argue that Anthony and Draco spent more time staring at everyone else than up at the sky. It was strange, they seemed to notice what the other was doing but not what they themselves were doing.
As November dawned the kids all went their separate ways into the castle (Luna flew right up to the tower, transformed, the leaned out the window to smile down at them, patronisingly, like the omnibenevolent goddess she was), and so they all made it to breakfast at separate times to help avoid suspicion.
As luck would have it, every Ravenclaw was currently in the great hall. Finishing their food, a little first year remembered they had forgotten their potions textbook and ran back up to the dormitories. She eventually managed to reach the knocker, took one look at it, and screamed.