The Unseen

Ah....the meeting is finally here: Huzzah!

smurphy - Yes, the Sorting Hat usually does have some pretty good advice from time-to-time, if the people will listen to it. It's been around for a long time, and with age comes wisdom. Draca was indeed a Gryffindor...which I'm sure was a shock to her whole family. ^_^ I'm sure the students will like James when the get to know him better...

distinctlyME - Why yes...yes I did write the Sorting Hat's song. And thank you...it makes me feel all tingly when people like my work. *_* Oooh...I do wonder if maybe at some point in the story if Fenrir will confront Phelan about his alliances? Hmm...who knows?

AeraVale - I'm glad you like the concept of James. He was actually an original character in my very first story if you'd like to read it: The Malfoy Chronicles. It was my first story...so it's not the best I've written...but I thought it was pretty good. You should have totally done your story. I love James dearly, and his character fascinates me. And as for the Draca and Hermione scene....there might be a bit more about that a little later....

Lady_Winterhart_Z.C. - James absolutely adores your review! And I agree with you. Screw the world...as long as there are a few faithful fans to our hunky half-breed, he'll be all right! And I'm sure once he gets into the classroom he can wow the kids with some real razzle dazzle!

LolaDiBlack - yes...the carrot is now dead and rotting in the earth. And there was so much you said in your review! All such wonderful comments. Fenrir is quite a beast...and he won't stop being one as far as I'm concerned...And I'm glad the Hat got you intrigued..that was my hope. Well... I hope you enjoy this update.

RyGirl824 - Finals are the exact reason it took me until now to update. SO I understand. As long as you review this chapter I'll be happy. &_&

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James tiptoed through the hallway, the soft soles of his boots not making a sound against the stone floor. He was out of the castle in record time, and his feet flew over the ground as he headed towards the Forbidden Forest.

As soon as he was deep enough into the forest for coverage, he shifted to his dragon form, and took off through the dense forest. His claws overturned leaves and dug into the ground. He heard the lonesome howl of a wolf not too far ahead.

Damnit, Phelan….stop howling at the moon! It’s only half tonight! He thought, annoyed, as he approached a small clearing.

The majority of them were already in the circle, their beastly forms making for an odd sight in the middle of the forest. Phelan was happily gnawing on what appeared to be a bone of some sort, and Orion was chasing his tail. Weirdos.

James took his place at the head of the circle, and his large horned head swung around to see who hadn’t arrived. It seemed only Aden was missing. He’d invited Aden and Perseus to tag along on this meeting, because although they weren’t teaching, they still would be needed if a confrontation were to occur. Perseus was sitting beside Tobias, who was lounging as if he owned the forest.

James sighed in annoyance, and plopped down on the leaf-strewn forest floor. He picked a leaf up between his claws, and held it up in front of him. A puff of breath incinerated it immediately, and he was bored again. He so hated it when members were late.

But as the minutes dragged on and on, he looked around to see very worried expressions –well, as worried as animals could get- on the faces of the Unseen. He shifted to his human form, and the others followed suit.

“It’s not like Aden to be late.” Draca said softly. “I’m worried.”

Tobias frowned. “He probably just got caught up somewhere. Let’s go ahead and start the meeting. If he’s not here in twenty minutes then we can go check up on him…” he said. There was an unsure mumble of agreement. No one really wanted to abandon one of their own like that.

So the meeting began. James was the one to relay what the Sorting hat had said.

“Well I think the curse and the ‘beast inside’ is talking about James.” Phelan said. James scoffed.

“Hi, pot! My name is kettle….” He snapped. “It could be talking about you, you fluffy bastard!”

Tobias snorted. Those two always came up with some gods-awful names for each other.

Phelan gave a small growl. But he was silent, because he hadn’t thought of that. He had automatically assumed the hat meant ‘magically induced’ curse…not one that he was born with. Well…that’s what he got for assuming.

“Well that hat obviously knows something’s going on…it said the darkness could keep its draw, and light would have to rise up. Is that us?” Draca asked. “Are we really Light?”

“Well we’re not Dark…that’s for certain…and that’s the exact reason we formed this damn group.” Perseus growled.
James nodded. A soft breeze stirred the fringe on his forehead, and suddenly his head snapped up. He sniffed the wind, and his eyes dilated.

“Phelan…Romulus…do you smell that?” he asked. The two stuck their noses into the air and inhaled deeply. Phelan looked toward James, his yellow eyes a bit wide.

“I smell blood…and I smell Aden.”

The group jumped into action. James shifted forms, his wedge-shaped head going into the air like a dog sniffing prey. He set off into the forest, his head raising ever so often to keep the scent. The others followed behind him, allowing his strong senses to lead them to their friend. It didn’t take long to find him.

Aden was sitting at the base of a tree, his head limp against his chest.

James shifted back to his human form, and ran to Aden’s side. The others gathered around, watching as James lifted Aden’s head. He gasped when he saw his face. There was a long gash traveling from his hairline down his face into the collar of his shirt, and blood was dripping from his nostrils and running from his mouth. James reached over to touch Aden’s arm, and jumped back when something prodded his fingers.

He reached out again, and pulled Aden’s loosened shirt cuff aside.

“Holy fuck.” Tobias said softly. There was a tangle of barbed wire wrapped around Aden’s forearm winding and knotting up to his elbow. Whoever did this had a lot of time, a lot of malice, and used a signature-spell to prevent the removal of the wire by magic. It would have to be removed by hand. James gingerly checked Aden’s other arm, and was dismayed to see it was also tied with barbed wire. The wire was tied so tightly on both of his arms that his fingers were starting to turn purple. James experimentally plucked at the loose end of wire, but when nothing gave way, he sighed.

“He needs to go to St. Mungos.” He said softly, and stood from his kneeling position. “We can’t all go…it will raise suspicions. I’ll take him…” James added. “The rest of you disperse and depart…go back to the school. Perseus…you go home. I’ll need you to check in on him tomorrow.”

The Unseen parted slowly, their hearts burdened by their friend’s predicament.

~~

James carried Aden in his arms like one would a child. He walked into the Emergency Ward at St. Mungos, and went to the desk.

“My friend needs help. I think he was attacked.” James said to the receptionist. She didn’t look up, but sighed loudly. She reached underneath the table, and slapped a clipboard with several forms attatched on the counter.

“You and everyone else, bub. Now fill out the papers.” She said. James blinked.

“I don’t think you understand….he’s bleeding like a stuck pig. I don’t have time to stand around here filling out paperwork like this is a gods-damned survey!” James snapped. The receptionist looked up, and gasped when she saw James. Her eyes flicked down to his blood-soaked friend before settling back on his face. She reached out and withdrew the large stack of papers, and pulled a single sheet from a drawer.

“Name?” she asked. James snarled. She looked up, her eyes wide. “Look…I’m trying to help! What is his name?”

“Aden.” James said. The receptionist’s quill wrote quickly, and she paused, waiting for James to continue.

“Aden….what?” she asked. James sighed.

“Dolohov.”

The name alone was enough to make the receptionist stop dead, as well as several other patients in the waiting room to look up. Then the whispers started. And James could hear them all.

“…Dolohov’s boy.”

“…he was a Death Eater.”

“…Harry Potter’s half-human son.”

“…strange that they’re together.”

The receptionist cleared her throat, and put the quill back to the paper. She asked James a few more questions, which he answered to the best of his ability, before a Mediwitch came back to take Aden off to get the barbed wire removed.

James was sent to a room to wait for his friend. He gave a vicious snarl when he saw the room they were sending him to. It was nothing more than a hole in the wall. The pain was peeling near the ceiling, the floor looked like it had seen cleaner days, and the bed smelled as if someone had died in it and had been left for several weeks. He promptly marched right back out the receptionist and started to make a fuss.

“You can’t just put him in a crap room because you don’t like his last name!” James hissed. The receptionist recoiled.

“Sir…that was our only open room…” she started weakly.

“Bollocks! That is a load of shite and you know it! There are better rooms than that. And I swear by the fires of hell if you don’t put him in a better one…” James trailed off, the hair on the back of his neck prickling. His tail was completely stiff, and his wings were starting to spread. He was going into striking mode, and although the receptionist didn’t know that exactly, she knew that there was one pissed-off half human standing in front of her.

“Sir…you can’t….you c-can’t threaten me…” the woman whimpered. James’ gold eyes flashed, and several vases of flowers in the lobby and along the counter shattered, the water and flowers falling to the floor. The receptionist screamed.

“Okay! Okay!” she said, and left her seat, rushing back through a door.

James turned away from the desk with a huff, and decided to wait in the waiting room for news from his friend. He sat down in one of the chairs, his breath coming in short angry puffs, accompanied by short bursts of smoke. A woman sitting nearby him stood up and moved, dragging her coughing little boy with her.

It was several hours before James heard anything from the nurses. When he was finally retrieved to see his friend, he was nearly having conniptions. Loud, angry conniptions.

He was led back down another hallway, and back to a normal-looking room. Last room they had…humph. Aden was sleeping in the bed; his forearms wrapped neatly in clean white bandages, and the side of his face bandaged as well. James went over and took a seat near his bed.

“When you wake, mate…I’ll be right here. I want to know what happened. Did someone do this to you? If they did….I’ll kill them…” James said softly.

“You won’t be doing anything of the sort.”

James whirled towards the door and stood immediately when two men in Auror’s garb walked into the room.

“We got a complaint about a rowdy half-human.” One of them said, a nasty tone to his voice. “So we were sent in to subdue him. Now…we can do this one of two ways…The easy way…” he said, and pulled out two sets of shackles. “Or the hard way…” and the other Auror drew his wand. James frowned. He took a step towards the Aurors, his hands held up in submission.

“Look….let me explain…I was just trying to help my friend. They were trying to put him in a shitty room…just because he’s-”

“Dolohov’s boy…I know who he is.” The second Auror said. “Looks like someone got him good. It’s no less then he deserves…” he added, looking down his nose at Aden. James saw red. Raw magic started swirling around him like silver sparkles, or Muggle glitter, and the two Aurors drew their wands.

James stared at them hard for several tense minutes, before the shimmering waves died down.

“Look…he’s my friend. I don’t care if you like him or not…imagine what you’d feel if you found a friend in such a condition. Just…just let me walk out of here and I won’t cause a scene…” James said softly.

“And why should we do that?” the first Auror asked.

“I need to be at Hogwarts to teach in the morning.” James said. The two Aurors looked at each other, and then at James.

"Which post?" one asked.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts." James replied meekly.

“That post always was cursed…” the second Auror eventually mumbled. But he sighed. “Look…” he continued. “I know your father…so if you’ll leave right now without a fuss, we won’t take you in. I suppose I can understand causing a stink for a friend’s welfare…but you have to control your temper…you’re considered a magical creature…and as such we could have legally pumped you full of tranquilizers and hauled you off to the Dangerous Creatures section of the Ministry.” He said. James nodded, though he was a bit horrified by the revelation.

“So that’s it, then?” the first Auror asked, a bit disappointed. “We’re just going to let him go?”

“Yes, Boggs…we are…” he said, and gave the other man a significant look, as if to tell him to back off.

“Fine!” Boggs snapped. James sighed, and gave one last longing look at the sleeping Aden before he followed the Aurors from the hospital. He’d have to come back another time to see Aden.

One thing was clear to him: whoever did this to his friend would pay…and pay dearly.
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So....we had a little bit of discussion from the Unseen, and some violence on Aden. Now the question remains: was it random violence? Or was it something more? Tune in next time to find out....same Dragon time, same Dragon network!

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