FAMILY TIES

Chapter Eight


Harry came through the fireplace, looking around the large room. He walked over to the floor to ceiling wall of glass and looked down to see the club. There was a stage where a group of people were setting up their instruments, while others were wiping down the tables and getting ready for the night. “What kind of music do they play?” He asked.

“A mixture really. Mostly techno metal. Heavy, but still something to dance or bounce around to,” Bree replied.

“Muggles or wizards?” Ron asked, seeing the large dance floor and the different levels of floors where tables were set up, each level with metal railings around them.

“We get mostly wizards, vamps . . . which know the rule of biting only with permission, and also elven. There’s a few muggle born that come in, but only when they’re with a wizard. The outside of the club looks like an abandoned department store,” Bree said as she waved to a few of her employees. “You can leave your bags here. The shops I want to take you to are just a couple of blocks down.”

The four of them soon walked up to the darkened window store and stepped through the door to see a whole new environment from the innocent looking Diagon Alley shops. The clothes were dark, strappy, and chained. Bree greeted the owners with a warm embrace, then led them to the leather section first. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were told to wait in the changing rooms while Bree and the owner handed them the clothes . . . lots of clothes.

Harry ended up with almost a whole new wardrobe after Bree was done with him, all in dark colors. There were no jumpers or uniform types of clothing in the lot. After several trips to the changing rooms, Hermione ended up buying a punkish kind of plaid skirt for the night, as well as a band shirt. Ron picked up a pair of black jeans that were trimmed with leather and a mesh shirt for the night.


After paying for their purchases, Bree dragged them into the next shop, where they specialized in piercings and tattoos. Harry ended up walking out with a gold hoop through his left nipple that Bree put a tracking spell on, and a flared-horn armband tattoo on his upper right arm.


They got a couple of burgers from a local fast food place and brought them back to Pandora’s where they sat by the large window, watching and listening to the band jam a bit before the club opened. Bree silenced the window, and sat back as Harry told Hermione and Ron about what he’d learned the past few months, and the type of training he had gone through.

“What did you do for fun?” Ron asked.

“Swim, fly, and practiced with the weapons,” Harry grinned. “I liked using the long bow and arrows at night. The quietness of the courtyard and woods were always soothing to me.”

“With what you told us of your training, when did you sleep?” Hermione asked.

“I’ve never really needed much sleep . . . maybe six hours a night was good for me. When I came into my vamp heritage, I find that I only need about three hours a night now.”

“But you still like to lay about in bed sometimes,” Bree teased.

“If I have company,” Harry grinned.

They eventually made their way down to the club, where Ron and Hermione met Rider. They danced more than they drank, Harry feeling energized from the blood that was made available to him from the bar. There was a brief time that Harry had disappeared, but came back out with a drop of blood at the corner of his mouth, doing up his leather pants. Behind him, Rider followed swiping a drop of white fluid from his smiling lips.


The next morning Harry and Bree bid farewell to Ron and Hermione when it was time for them to go home, with a promise to meet at the Hogwart’s Express in a few days.


~*~


At about five minutes to eleven, Harry came through the barrier of 9¾. He had been training with Bree this morning and it had run a little longer than it was supposed to. The train had started to move as Harry grabbed the handle to swing himself into the door of the train. He magicked his trunk and Hedwig’s cage into the cargo hold . . . without Hedwig of course, as she would be meeting him at Hogwarts.

He adjusted his sunglasses and opened the first compartment looking for his friends. They never were able to get the same compartment over the years. He greeted his fellow schoolmates, only the few recognizing him. Even with the glamour on his ears, he was still a breathtaking sight among the junior wizards and witches.


Draco sat with Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, Millicent Bulstode, and Blaise Zabini, looking out the window at the passing scenery. The others talked of their summers, where they went and what they learned. His own summer was painful and eye opening in comparison. It would surprise many to learn that Crabbe and Goyle upheld most of the conversation with a philosophical debate. The two of them were quite smart, but kept the dumb and dumber routine up to keep them out of the death eater ranks.

He was brought out of his musings when the compartment door opened and the talk about him stopped. He looked up to see their reflections in the sunglasses, then to the smirk that curled up the full lips. The newcomer had his arms crossed, leaning his shoulder on the door frame. Draco couldn’t help but like what he saw. On the tall frame he wore a long duster jacket that went down to about mid-calf. Underneath the jacket, Draco noticed he was wearing a snug fitting black T-shirt and a pair of faded well-worn jeans.

“Why if it isn’t the snake pit,” Harry smirked, glancing to Goyle, Crabbe, Millicent, the Blaise.

“Who the fuck do you think you are?” Draco asked getting up to draw his wand.

Harry combed his fingers through his shoulder length hair, and slipped the sunglasses off his nose to slide them into his jacket pocket. “Come now Malfoy . . . I know you missed me,” he grinned, finally looking at the blonde.

As their eyes met, his stomach started to burn, his gums ached with the need for his fangs to come out. ‘Fuck,’ he thought to himself as he realized what was happening. He straightened himself up and adjusted his jacket to cover the obvious bulge in his jeans. ‘Fuck,’ he was aching . . . all over. ‘I gotta get out of here,’ Harry thought closing his eyes.

“Potter?” Draco asked, taking a step closer, surprised to see the hunger and need in the green eyes.

Suddenly the door opened and Ron stepped through. “Harry, we’ve been looking for you,” he said pulling on his arm.

“Yeah okay,” Harry said turning around to look at Ron as he covered his mouth. “See you later Malfoy,” he glanced back over his shoulder.

After Harry left, Draco sat down again. “Well, that was strange,” Goyle said.

“What was strange? Besides that Potter finally grew?” Draco asked.

“Strange that he looks totally different . . . and stranger still that he was wearing weapons,” Crabbe said.

“Weapons?” Draco asked, not remembering seeing them.

“Yeah, didn’t you see the leather strip around his thigh that held a sheathed dagger?” Goyle said.

“Um . . . I’ll be right back,” Blaise said getting up. “Need to use the loo.” He quickly left to find Harry.



Harry sat in the compartment with Ron and Hermione after taking off his jacket, leaning his elbows on his knees as he cradled his head in his hands. “I am so fucked,” he muttered.

“What? Why?” Hermione worriedly asked.

Harry looked up for them to see his fangs gleaming whitely against his lips. “Not sure about playing quidditch this year Ron,” he smirked. “I don’t think I’ll be able to keep my mind on the game when we play against him.”

“Who?” Ron asked.

“Draco,” Blaise said as he came into the compartment and put locking and silencing spells on the door.

“What about Malfoy?” Ron asked.

“He’s your mate,” Hermione voiced seeing the signs. “How did you ever leave that compartment?”

“It was very hard. All I wanted to do was grab him close, kiss him, taste him, drink him,” Harry sighed.

“Why didn’t you?” Blaise asked sitting beside his cousin.

“He hates me, Blaise. I didn’t want to face him,” Harry said. “Gods . . . I’m thirsty.”

Blaise put his arm around Harry’s shoulder and tilted his head to the side. Harry took the invitation and sank his fangs into Blaise’s neck to drink the burn away. “You’ll just have to get him to like you,” Blaise quietly said.

“Entice him with your charms,” Hermione added.

Harry ignored their plans for him as he drank. Once the hunger faded, he licked the wound closed. “Thanks Blaise,” he said by his ear.

“Anytime cousin,” Blaise grinned, then took out a vial of blood replenishing potion. “I should get back. They’re going to think I’m wanking off or something if I take any longer.”

“Hey Blaise,” Harry called out as Blaise was about to leave. “Give him a kiss for me huh,” he smirked, “or maybe not . . . ”

“Yeah, right Harry,” Blaise laughed. “I’m not that crazy to make advances on a vamp’s mate.”

“Not yet,” Harry replied, ‘but soon,’ he thought to himself.



tbc