In Company of Wolves

Harry had been huddling outside the house since the sun had set; he had been locked out all day since the incident with his uncle. The rest of the day hadn’t been as bad as he had feared, Armand talking with him, and the sun provided a comforting source of warmth. Now, the night was cool, and Harry was growing colder by the moment. He looked up into the dark, smog-covered sky, imagining himself to be at Hogwarts where he could see the bright lights of the stars twinkling above him.

A cold wind blew by and he shivered. At least he didn’t have to put up with the Dursley’s nonsense today. Armand had really helped him there. The snake was still wrapped around his arm, and had been for the majority of the day; this could have been the reason that the door had not been opened. The three Dursleys had been seen pulling back the curtains, only to blanch at the sight of the snake near Harry.

So he had been left in peace, more happiness released in those hours than over the entire time he had spent in that small house over the summer. It was a wonder that the neighbors hadn’t come around to see what the thin, lanky boy was doing alone in the yard, but then fear of Vernon was most likely a common thing in the neighborhood.

“Masssster? Why do you ssssshiver? Are you cold?” Armand hissed; the shivering boy nodded in assent. A serpentine glare was directed once again towards the house that the muggles lived in. Armand was definitely sure now that he absolutely hated the muggles in that house; Harry had been like a dam that had broken, spilling forth everything that he had kept bottled up for years from their treatment.

“Armand?” Harry whispered.

“Yessssss, my Massster?” The silver snake replied.

“Maybe you should wait for me in the bushesssss over there. I’m getting really cold, and if I don’t go insssside ssssssoon I could get very ssssssick.”

“But… Massster…” Armand protested.

“It’sssss all right. I’ve been dealing with them for yearsssss, I’ll be fine.” Harry’s lips were turning blue, his thin body unequipped to deal with the weather even in the summertime. The protective snake had no choice but to agree with it’s irrational human. Reluctantly he left Harry’s arm and slithered into the leafy bushes lining the walkway and out of sight. Harry didn’t have to wait long before the door opened and Vernon dragged him inside.

The door slammed shut on a very determined snake; one way or other, Armand was going to get into that house, whether his Master liked it or not.

“You stupid boy!” A heavy hand followed the hate filled words as it descended on Harry’s already bruised face. His right eye was slowly turning an ugly purple as he cringed from more of the man’s verbal abuse. “You know better than to bring your… weirdness into this house!”

Dudley and Petunia looked on in satisfaction as Harry was beaten again for something he didn’t have anything to do with. Harry took the punishment as well as he was able, whimpering at the more painful blows. Thankfully, since his wife and son weren’t present, Vernon didn’t repeat his degradation, and only hurled vicious maledictions at the poor boy as he dragged his bruised body up the stairs and locked him in his small room.

Harry finally broke down crying, harsh sobs racking his thin frame as he clenched at the ratty sheets of his bed.

“Masssster?” There came a hiss from the window. Harry turned in shock as he saw Armand’s slender form wedge itself in through a crack in the window’s frame. It hadn’t been fixed fully, save for the bars, since Ron Weasley and his brothers, Fred and George rescued him in his second year.

“Armand?” Harry sniffled softly, biting back his tears with obvious effort. The snake made its way quickly to the distraught boy’s side and set about calming him.

“I’d rather die than live one more day in this houssssse.” Harry murmured as his eyes started to close.

“Today… today isssss your ssssssixteenth nameday, correct Massster?” Armand asked. Harry nodded, hesitantly. “The sssssixteenth nameday of a Wizard marksssssss the day that hisssss full potential is revealed. Ssssometimesssss it variessssss, from wizard to wizard, but it isssss generally around that date.”

“What are you talking about?” Harry’s deep green orbs were still swimming with unshed tears as he tried to focus on the serpent.

Armand was about to reply but as he did, the door of the room burst open and the hulking form of Vernon entered. Harry gasped, his seeker fast reflexes catching Armand and tossing him into a dark corner as the solitude of his room was breached.

“Don’t move!” Harry hissed at the snake as he turned his panic stricken eyes at his tormentor.

Armand complied with his human’s wishes, unable to do anything but watch as Vernon stripped the lower half of the boy and proceeded to enter him brutally, drawing screams of pain from him that were muffled by the pillows he was pressed against. The large man thrust in and out of Harry like a rutting pig, grunts filling the silence of the room along with a sickening slapping sound as flesh met flesh.

Right at that moment, however, the clock of the wall began to strike midnight. Armand looked again at his young master, for that was what Harry was now in his eyes, hopefully. Would his power surface now?

As in an answer to that unspoken question, a green haze began to surround Harry’s body, growing stronger as his anger and misery grew to unimaginable proportions. He screamed in anguish as his body started to change, fire coursing through his veins as his bones started to reform. His uncle had his eyes screwed shut, however, and didn’t notice any of the events that were taking place.

His shoulders grew broader, his body filling with an elegance that most body builders would envy, his body aging in mere minutes what others would have to wait years for. But that was not the only change that was taking place. His ears lengthened, tapering into delicate peaks, his canines also elongating into sharp points.

His strength taken away from the transformation he collapsed boneless onto his dirty bed, soiled by an intimacy that should never have occurred, something that defiled the very concept of humanity as Harry’s fat uncle once again found his completion.

This time, however, was slightly different than the rest. From the ashes of Harry’s dignity, an anger fueled retribution rose burning like a phoenix. A odd green light flickered to life softly against Harry’s skin.

“What the devil…” Vernon trailed off, noticing for the first time the changes occurring, or rather the glow that had now engulfed the boy before him. A humorless laugh rose from the form crouched on the bed, semen and blood dripping down his legs.

Harry rose to his feet, his new power lifting him into the air as the two watching this event looked on in horror and mute fascination. Armand had never expected something like this… is appeared that the prophecy of his kindred would be fulfilled sooner than he had hoped.

Green lights shimmered as they were spun around the body of the fae-like creature, hanging limply in the air as his body gathered itself for the final transformation. Vernon backed away, falling over as he scuttled backward from the unknown terror his nephew had become to him.

Two lumps grew suddenly on Harry’s back, moving almost as if they were alive, the skin bubbling and stretching oddly before breaking through the reluctant tissue that barred their path into life. Two shimmering, greenish-black wings stood out wetly from Harry’s back, covered in blood and broken skin and only a foot or so in length.

Vernon’s eyes rolled back in his head as he lost consciousness.