The Unseen

NEW CHAPTER!!! Okay, just a few words before I respond to your lovely reviews. Draco is not in this chapter, but I plan on putting him in the very next one. I promise. After this chapter, things should start rolling along more quickly. I hope you guys will stick around, and my lovely lurkers will become reverent reviewers.

smurphy - James has a sort of sixth sense about him, much like an animal. He can sense danger in ways that even the highest trained wizard or witch cannot. As for Harry's utter stupidity...he isn't expecting his best male friend to be beating the shit out of his best female friend. He's misreading the signs because he isn't expecting anything else. He's never had to be suspicious of Ron before... And the Unseen are going to make a nice splash at Hogwarts. This I promise. And Draco will appear next chapter.

RyGirl824 - I'm sure this chapter will lend some hope for Hermione's terrible situation. James is on her side, and it will be extremely difficult for any harm to come to her under his care. And a suspicious Ginny gives alot of hope for Hermione as well...

paigeey07 - there will be no redemption for Ron in this story. He's a complete an utter ass-hole. But I'm glad you enjoy the story so far.

LolaDiBlack - James is flattered that you think so highly of him, especially since he has such low self-esteem. He has a tendency to depreciate his own worth, and your interest has helped him a bit. He purred when he read your review. ^_^

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James fixed himself a bowl of instant noodles with the help of his magically altered microwave, and sat down on his squishy sofa. He ate in silence, staring at the bowl and nothing else. Today had been a long day. He didn’t like it at all. He had a sneaking suspicion that Uncle Ron had something to do with Aunt Hermione’s predicament. If he found it out to be a fact, he would rip the ginger man to pieces with his bare claws.

He paused in his reverie when he looked up and spotted one of the pictures his mother had framed for him on a table nearby. He allowed a grin to form when he saw himself sitting atop his father’s shoulders, one hand around the man’s forehead, the other holding a cone of ice cream. He was normal in this picture. He looked at the picture next to it, and his grin faded. This was taken after he had become…a monster. He was standing at his father’s side, clinging to his robes. James’ own expression hadn’t changed, but his father’s had. His gaze was slightly darker, a haunted feeling in those brilliant green eyes.

Between those two pictures James' life had been ruined.

It had started off as a normal day. His father had taken him to the park to play, and James was sitting on the swing set, seeing how high he could go. He didn’t really notice the dark-robed man on the bench nearby. When he had jumped from the swings, he had looked up to see his father chatting with one of his old school friends.

The dark-robed man had called to him. James, normally curious, went over to him.

“You’re Harry Potter’s son.” He’d said. Not a question…a statement. James had proudly affirmed the man’s stated. “He’s a powerful wizard.” Again, James proudly agreed. His father was very powerful! “You’d like to be as powerful as your father when you grow up, wouldn’t you?”

James had thought about it. It would be wonderful to be half as powerful as the great Harry Potter! He’d nodded. He was only six, and still had five years before he went to Hogwarts, but he’d already showed some of his magic. Just the other day he’d turned his apple juice into grape juice. It was much tastier!

He’d heard his name. He turned to see his father running towards him, wand drawn, before he felt the strong arms of the dark-robed ma wrap around him, and the tight squishy sensation of Apparition.

He’d been taken to a clearing in the woods. Lots of dark-robed men were there, and one dark-robed woman. She was scary, and had grinned at him evilly. She called herself ‘Bella.’

One of the dark-robed men had a boy with him, the same age as James. The silver-haired boy looked sad, and pressed close to a very large man, whose yellow eyes and sharp teeth were quite frightening to James.

The next week was a bit of a blur. A big painful blur. They had hexed and cursed at James, using spells he had never heard of. They slipped potions into his food and drink. By the time the week was up, he had made the excruciating transformation into the creature he would be for the rest of his life. Then…they let him go. They left him in the clearing one day, each disappearing with the familiar pop of Apparition. And James had been alone. He didn’t really remember how he did it, but all he thought about was getting home, and the next thing he remembered was being picked up by a kind snowy-haired wizard on the side of the road, and taken home.

He looked down at his palms, on which they had carved pentagrams, which allowed him to control his magic without a wand. On the outside of each ankle was a carving of a wing, a carnal representation of Hermes’ winged sandals, which made him extremely fleet-footed. At the base of his throat was the Chinese symbol for fire, which gave him the ability to breathe flames. And of course, his draconic protrusions marred his body. His wings, tail, freakishly large ears, fangs, and claws. He had been called many things by many people…but the one that really hurt was demon. It wasn’t his fault.

He was startled out of his reverie by a knock on the door. Nobody in their right mind knocked on his door. To do so would certainly mean an arse-kicking and a hexing. It was why he was so respected and feared. He went to the door, and wrenched it open, his lips pulled back off his teeth and ready to snap at someone. But he covered his teeth quickly when he saw his Aunt standing at the door, holding her injured arm close to her. Behind her was a familiar face. His name was O’Connell, and he wasn’t a very savory character. James’ gold eyes narrowed at the man, who held his hands up in surrender.

“Caught her out searchin’ fer you. Walkin’ ‘round Knockturn Alley and askin’ fer James Potter ain’t exactly conducive to one’s health…” he said, and then walked away. James ushered Hermione into the room, and shut the door.

“Aunt Mione! You’ve certainly got spunk…I’ll give you that….” He said, and motioned for her to take a seat on the sofa. “What brings you to my….humble abode?” he asked.

“They sent me home….” She started, and James noticed how pale she was. He flicked his fingers, and the tea kettle automatically began to fill with water, and the burner clicked on. “James…it was Ron…he…” but she faded, losing her nerve. James sat down beside her.

“I figured as much…” he said, and she continued.

“I got home, after they’d released me. He started to go again….I asked him to give me a few days to recover, and he agreed. Said he’d hate to kill me.” Here she paused, and gave a mirthless laugh. “I was going to make some food…the skillet was in my hand, and he was hovering over me. I just reacted…I struck him in the head with the pan, James, and then I got my wand from his hiding place and took off. I don’t know if I killed him…” and then she burst into tears. James was unsure of what to do. He didn’t exactly have a degree in comforting women.

His hand tentatively reached out, and he laid it on her shoulder. He gave a squeak of surprise when she launched herself at him, crying against his shoulder. But then his arms rested around her, and he allowed her to cry. She cried herself right to sleep against him.

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When she opened her eyes, she was hit with the smell of food. It smelled so good. She sat up, and rubbed her eyes, realizing where she was. She looked around at James’ flat, studying the furniture and decorations. It was decorated nicely, but not overwhelmingly so. It made her wonder a bit as to where he got the money to decorate. According to Harry, James was a Dark degenerate who liked nothing more than chasing small animals and eating bloody steaks.

Cradling her tender arm closely, Hermione wandered in the direction of the kitchenette. James had made a large spread of fried chicken, creamy potatoes, green beans, and a dessert of vanilla ice cream and chocolate cake.

Hermione practically shoveled the food in her mouth, unaware of how hungry she was. Gods…it could make Molly a bit jealous…. She hadn’t had anything to eat all day, and half of yesterday…Ron complained that her physical complacency with her books was turning her fat…and he had personally warded off the sweets, and set a nasty hex to sting the fingers of anyone but him if they tried to open the cabinet.

James watched her through his thick fringe. She was clearly hungry, and it raised his hackles to think that anyone could –or would – deny someone food. His father had often told him near the beginning of his ‘curse’ that he ate too much, and would make him wait for meals with no snacks between. It was absolute torture for James, and had only ended when his father found him curled up on his bed, crying from the pain of the hunger pangs.

When she had eaten her fill, she felt her eyelids becoming heavy. It had been such a long day…she was so tired.
James stood silently and headed for his bedroom. Wordlessly he used magic to change the sheets on his bed, and a final flick of his wrist warmed the sheets comfortably. He then went to fetch his Aunt, dismayed to find she had curled up on the sofa. A swish of his hands found her Levitating towards the room, and he carefully tucked her away in the warmed sheets. She snuggled under his blankets, and made a soft snuffly sound. He gave a light chuckle, and then retreated to his sitting room to ponder the events of the day.

Such a long day….why couldn’t anything ever be normal for him? But…he supposed if he were normal, he wouldn’t have had such adventures as he’d had already. He wouldn’t be in the Unseen…that was for certain.

The Unseen brought up a whole new set of questions and scenarios. They had been formed shortly after Hogwarts. They had all received short letters, detailing that they needed to be at some off-the-beaten-path clearing in the Forbidden Forest at midnight. James and the other Slytherins had been suspicious immediately, but none knew of the others until they actually showed up. At first they thought it was some sort of stupid prank.

A small rock had morphed into a hologram, and a black-robed figure had risen up to meet them. They could see nothing of him but the glow of his bright blue eyes. He was tall, and his build was rather slender, but other than that they knew nothing of him. He called himself the Master. He told them that they had each been called together for their skills, and their need for redemption. He said the time would come when the world would need them…and they would have to step up and earn their redemption.

Redemption was indeed something that bound them all. The sons- and daughter- of Death Eaters had a rather obvious goal in mind. They merely wanted free of the stigma on their names. Phelan and Romulus wanted to prove that werewolves could be honorable creatures (although in Phelan’s case it was a bit trickier). And James…..James just wanted to have personal redemption. He wanted everyone to know that just because he had a monster’s body, didn’t mean he had a monster’s heart.

Their training had begun immediately. The first order of business had been to become their Animagus forms. It was hard work, but between the group it had taken but a year to accomplish this. It was quite satisfying when they stood before each other in their beast forms for the first time. Perseus had been quite pleased to shake off the rat stigma his father had left him with. The fox was respected much more than the rat….

Then came the missions. They seemed insignificant at first. Sometimes they were sent to spy on people. Sometimes they just prowled the street in order to prevent no-gooders from acting on their impulses. But the trick was…they could only intervene in their animal forms. It was a bit tricky for a crow to chase down a purse-snatcher, but through stealth and trickery they had learned how to be one step ahead of their rivals.

Through their crafty interference, they had been dubbed the Unseen by the papers. Never seen…but their presence was there. Crime had been halved since they were on the streets. The true fear came from James himself, only allowing the occasional gleam from his eyes to be witnessed…enough to scare the piss out of anyone who saw it. Fear could be quite effective as a deterrent.

He groaned when he remembered that he would have to go to Hogwarts soon. Tomorrow was as good a day as any, but he doubted that his Aunt would quite enjoy being left at his flat alone. But it wouldn't be detrimental to her at all. An entire squadron of Aurors couldn't break down James' wards if he didn't wish them too, and they would certainly fry his Uncle Ron like a Christmas goose before he unraveled the first layer.

He sighed softly, and snapped his fingers, causing the sofa to open up into a bed. It was rarely used, to tell the truth. He only used it when Phelan came over to get a reprieve from his father’s quick temper, or his mother’s sharp tongue. Though his father only appeared ever-so-often, and left quickly lest the Ministry find him, his presence was felt long after he left in the form of bruises and scars.

James retrieved a few extra blankets from his linen closet, and bundled himself up a bed. He stripped down to his boxers, though he would have thrown those off too if he hadn’t had a fear of blinding his aunt. He collapsed upon the bed with a low purr, and nestled himself beneath the fluffy covers. He was asleep within minutes, small puffs of smoke coming from his nose as he slept.
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Aww...the perfect picture of a sleeping dragon....just don't tickle him!!

Hogwarts is the venue for the next chapter, and I have a certain blonde god waiting in the wings to make his appearance. Now that you've read the chapter, I would be flattered if you would review.

REVIEW!!