Le Frère de Sang

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GENERAL DISCLAIMER - I do not own any of the characters used.

NOTES ON THE CHAPTER - Harry puts on a brave face in this chapter followed by a few problems in a not so heavenly paradise that is St Louis. There is some characters raging about and again I don’t represent Anita Blake favourably in this story. You have been warned.

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“Wake up Harry. You have half an hour before we need to go. You awake?” I rolled my eyes and moved over to the bedroom door. I pulled it open and gave Richard a smile. He seemed slightly startled to see me awake, and dressed.

“Good morning.”

“Morning. Sleep okay?”

“Yeah, but it’s hard getting back into routine.”

“Mm, is a bit. Well don’t forget to have breakfast, we’ll leave in half an hour and I’ll drop you off at the gate okay?” I nodded in understanding and Richard left walking towards the kitchen. I sighed and turned back to my room double checking my bag for the umpteenth time since I woke up.

It was my first day back at school since that disastrous first day after Blaise had died. I’d been at Richard’s house for two days. The werewolves I’d met were nice. Some like Shang-Da and Jamil hardly spoke but others were talkative enough. Jason was often around but he and Richard seemed to be going through a rough patch. I also discovered that while Richard is part of a triumvirate of power with Anita and Jean-Claude he didn’t get on very well with either of them. He was bitter over Anita and his engagement that went sour and he hated Jean-Claude’s sexual preferences. He was a homophobe.

I lifted my bag onto my shoulder and carried it out towards the kitchen. On the way past the front door I dropped the bag to the floor and then carried on to the kitchen for breakfast. I pulled out a bowl, noticing dirty dishes in the sink, and made myself breakfast. I ate it quickly.

“So you’re completely ready?” Richard asked and I nodded to him. “You okay?”

I looked up to see him frowning slightly at me. I gave him a reassuring smile.

“Yeah, just nervous. It’s going to be a long day.”

“Yeah, tell me about it. Now you are to come to my office after school’s finished, got that? You can do any homework there and when I’ve finished up I’ll bring you back home.”

“I know.”

“Okay then. We’ll leave soon.”

Twenty minutes later we were in his car on the way to school. Fifteen minutes after that I was walking into my homeroom. I took my seat and noticed the teacher gave me a sympathetic look when she entered the class. I sighed and reinforced my mental shields.

Homeroom was dismissed on time and I avoided speaking to anyone by keeping my head down. Throughout the rest of the day people came up to me and offered me their condolences. Blaise’s friends invited me to sit with them, dragged me to sit with them at lunch. I sat there and they talked all about Blaise over lunch. They mentioned how fantastic he was, how handsome he was and how horrible it was that werewolves had killed him. I didn’t bother to correct their assumption. They grossed out at how Blaise had been mauled and the person he was completely disfigured beyond repair as well as having been raped. As they talked I saw Blaise lying on the ground in his own blood. I saw every wound on his body and I saw his partner’s body in a heap by the dumpster. Blood everywhere, over them, over me and over the murderers.

“Excuse me.” They barely noticed me. I lifted my bag onto my shoulder and fled to the bathroom throwing up the contents of my stomach into the white porcelain bowl. I leaned my head against the cubicle.

“Oi?! You alright in there?” I rolled my eyes at the idiot who asked that. I didn’t bother replying. I pushed down the nausea again but it wouldn’t go and I threw up once more as I was hit by another image of Blaise’s body turning to ash and disappearing.

“I’m getting a teacher.” Snitch. I thought but didn’t answer. I leaned my head back again letting my hand find the flush handle and pull it. Footsteps left the room, voices outside talking loudly then silence except for the drip, drip, drip of a tap.

I hadn’t felt this depressed in a week. Perhaps it was because I hadn’t talked to Asher or Jean-Claude in 4 days, had no contact with vampires because I’d been urged to correct my internal body clock so I was awake during the day and asleep during the night. I saw Nathaniel the day I was moving out, he helped my pack but then he left to go home. Jason I’d seen everyday but he wasn’t one of my favourite people in the world.

I had told Nathaniel about what happened when Asher fed from me and explained that it had never happened before when I was awake and that I was really embarrassed by it. Jason had over heard me and then gone on into this long incredibly embarrassing rant about how sex is one of the most important things in the world and that I should have experienced an orgasm with help at least three dozen times already. Every time he saw me he’d enquire as to how I was getting on with reaching the target he set me. It was annoying, I’d had a few nosebleeds too.

“Mr Black?” I heard an old masculine voice say.

“Yes sir?” I forced my voice to work though it came out hoarse and croaky. My breath smelt horribly too.

“Are you okay in there Mr Black? Perhaps you should come with me to the nurse’s office. I’ll call your guardian.”

“No sir.” I pushed myself to my feet and unlocked the door. I slid out into the open and looked at the teacher, it was Mr Laundis.

“You are not well Mr Black, perhaps it was too soon for you to come back. You should go home.”

“No sir, I’ve missed too much already.” I moved to the sink and turned it on splashing my face with cold water and rinsing my mouth out, casting an unnoticible spell to clean my mouth.

“Mr Black…”

“Please sir, I can last two more hours.”

“Very well. But I’d like you to stay with the nurse for the rest of the lunch hour.” I nodded and followed him out of the door.

-

I made it through the two hours until the end of school and walked out of the school grounds and towards the buildings that make up the school for the lower grades. I found my way in through a back entrance, the where about of which I’d been given instructions to find, and found the right door that I needed to enter the science block. I trooped up the stairs and down the corridor to find Richard’s office.

This science block was no different to any of the others I’d ever been into. It smelt like a mixture of different chemicals with the underlining hint of gas and burning. The wooden tables in the older science rooms, the ones that hadn’t been updated, seemed to horde the smells and constantly give them away so the smells were unmistakable. Plastic, at least I assume it was plastic, and metal tables don’t store the smells so much but after continuous use anything begins to retain that smell.

Richard wasn’t in his office and the door was locked. Luckily for me another teacher was passing down the corridor, noticed me and seemed to recognise me. She greeted me warmly enough and let me into Richard’s office before letting me know that if anything was damaged she’d know who did it and that Richard would be back soon. I decided she was the McGonnegal type of teacher; strict but fair and kind underneath the hardened shell of an experienced teacher.

I sat down on one of the spare chairs and pulled out some work. I’d been given homework and, despite understanding nearly everything in my subjects, the homework was hard because I had to access the information and regurgitate it onto the page without it looking like I’d copied out the text book. The text book answers my mind was privy to thanks to the spell helped me understand how Hermione was so knowledgeable. The spell literally copied the books information word for word into your head and not changing the information in any way. Normally you’d read and you would retain what you understood from the text but with the spell you retained everything and you had to think about everything in order to understand. I just can’t get my head around Hermione cheating in such a way. But Blaise wouldn’t have lied to me about it, Hermione might have though.

“Ah Harry. How was your first day?” I looked up as Richard entered the room. He shut the door behind him and carried the large pile of exercise books over to his table perching them on the end before slouching into his chair and pinning me with his eyes.

“Okay I guess.”

“I heard there was a bit of an incident in a bathroom. You were sick but refused medical assistance and you didn’t want me contacted.” Great, first the student snitched on me to a teacher and now the teacher snitched on me to my…landlord? It sounds silly to call him that, I don’t pay him rent. But he isn’t my friend, he isn’t family and he isn’t my guardian, Jean-Claude claimed that title.

“It wasn’t serious. I could deal with it. Just because I threw up I wasn’t going to leave school. I wasn’t going to wuss out of school just because it was hard on me today.” Richard gave me a strange look before leaning forwards in his chair. He really looked like a teacher trying to get a wayward pupil to open up and spill secrets so that he could give them council.

“Nobody would have thought any less of you for having called it quits for the day. You’ve been through a lot.” Liar. The leader of the werewolf group saying it’s okay to back down from something like school because I had a bit of a wobbly. He had to be lying. He was lying. I couldn’t tell him that though.

“But I would have thought less of myself. Besides, I made it to the end of the day no worse for wear.” Richard sighed and nodded his head before giving me a small smile.

“Well, in that case well done. What homework have you got?” Teachers and their homework, they’re all the same.

“Maths. And then I’ve got science and I’ve got an essay to write for Religious Education.” The R.E essay was going to be hard, I hadn’t used the spell on any of the chapters in the book yet and the teacher liked you using quotes from several different places. Perhaps I could just conveniently ‘forget’ to take the essay in and not actually bother doing it. How far could I keep saying I forgot the essay before they try chase me up on it?

“Get started then. When I’ve finished this marking we can go.” I nodded and continued my work. To do the essay or not…Richard has the internet at his house, I could do a web search on the title, print off the information then use the spell on it. I wasn’t going to risk using the spell on the computer screen, no telling the kind of information I’d be bombarded with. Besides the spell can only be regulated by the number of pages you want to absorb, not by how far you have to scroll down to reach the end of the document.

Richard finally finished his marking just as I was finishing the science homework. The only thing left to do was the essay and I had a week to complete it. I’d do it over the weekend, perhaps gather information during the week but only if there was nothing else to do.

We arrived home and I went to the fridge to find something to eat. I found two steaks which were at the end of their sale by date. They’d be gone off by tomorrow so they had to be eaten otherwise it would be a waste. I cooked them and asked Richard what he’d like with his stake. Chips only took fifteen to twenty minutes so I put them in the oven and cooked myself some vegetables. Richard didn’t want vegetables but I was used to Blaise not eating the vegetables I cooked so I ate the lot. I left some chips but Richard easily polished them off. I left the washing up since I’d cooked and went back to my room. Richard was on the phone and some people had just come through the front door so I thought it best to stay out of the way.

-

It had been three months now since moving in with Richard Zeeman. Three months of living with werewolves. Three months of hell at school. I had one month of exams and had started summer school now in an effort to get me up to speed with those of my own age. It had been three months since setting foot in the Circus of the Damned, two months since I last saw Asher, one month since I last saw Nathaniel and three and a half months since Blaise had died.

I threw my school books onto the bed. I was fed up with text books and school work. It’s all I seemed to do these days, even with the spell that transfers knowledge straight from the pages into my brain.

I looked at my clock, thirty three minutes past nine. Richard would be at the school until ten and then he had to go to a meeting with some people he didn’t bother to tell me about. He had been rather cold with me since discovering that I’d got a boyfriend at school. Of course because Richard and I had an argument I became depressed and my boyfriend and I broke up because he couldn’t handle it. Still, there was tension between Richard and me.

Thirty four minutes past nine. Was I back to this again? Staring at the clock and watching time pass? I had nothing else I could be doing. The other werewolves were in the house, probably watching some action or horror movie. I just had my school work and myself. Had Blaise been here we wouldn’t have even considered school work. We would have gone out for the night…

On the chest of drawers was my wallet and inside it my fake ID’s. Of course there was also my special liscence that I’d received in the post on my birthday a few days ago. Gringotts sent it to me. The letter next to my wallet explained everything. It’s an ID card that tells everyone I am of age. Because I am seventeen, of age to the Wizarding world who don’t have to abide by muggle age laws, the card will show any muggle who looks on it that I am legally allowed to have what ever I want. To any American Bouncers on club entrances it would show them I was twenty one, at cinemas I could watch eighteen’s. To bars I could now order alcohol. Wonderful thing magic.

I stood up and picked up my wallet, fingering the card. I hadn’t been dancing for a long time, a very long time. Three and a half months. Last time I’d been clubbing it was with Blaise. I missed the music, the thrum of the people loosing themselves in the beat. The body contact. Just simple body contact, a touch or caress while dancing. I missed it. Richard wasn’t here tonight so I could go and come back quickly, not that he’d bother to check on me anyway. There were other people in the house but they never bothered me nor I them.

I tapped the card again before putting the wallet down. Pulling off my t-shirt I threw it to the floor and yanked open the third drawer down. I pulled out a black silk shirt and summoned my wand. I transfigured the shirt so it was no longer formal, it was revealing and yet it concealed all the vital parts of my chest. It became more like a t-shirt with buttons in random places and slits in random places giving teasing glimpses of skin. I summoned a pair of trousers and got changed. A few more spells later and I picked up my ID card, grabbed a hundred dollars and shoved them in my pocket with a spell that would allow only my hands to touch them.

I paused and looked at the door to my room. Should I let anyone know I’d be gone? They wouldn’t care but wouldn’t it be responsible of me to inform someone of my where abouts? I fingered the ID card. Officially I was above having to tell anyone where I was, nobody was responsible for me except me. They wouldn’t care anyway, even if it was common courtesy to let ones hosts know when you wouldn’t be there and when you’d be returning to them. Should I tell them? Or should I not tell them?

Laughter floated in through he closed door. Not telling them won out but I pulled a scrap of paper towards me anyway and scribbled that I’d gone out for the night and would be back late. I left it on my tidy bed. I’d covered my bases while at the same time let my rebellious side win out. I double checked I had everything and closed the curtains so nobody could see into the room.

Then I apparated.

-

I laughed as I jumped with the crescendo of the music as it reached it’s peak. People around me were laughing with me and we all cheered as the song came to an end, it’s last beats still vibrating through to floor and in our ear drums. The next song came on almost immediately . It also had a dance beat but the tempo was slower than the previous song and had more of a lusty tune. I closed my eyes and savoured it. Blaise loved this song, but not enough to learn what it was called and purchase it.

I moved my body to the beat, swaying my hips and sliding my chest forwards and back letting my body follow the exaggerated undulation several times.

Hands slid onto my waist and I opened my eyes. I gave the girl, Melanie I think her name was, a smile before shutting my eyes again. She wrapped one arm around my shoulders and pressed her body into mine. Our hips were locked together, our chest had space between though. She had one leg between mine, pressed against my left thigh and I guess her other leg was placed behind slightly to help her keep her balance. We grated together, undulating our bodies in a way that hinted things other than dancing. I pushed and she went with it before pushing back and it was my turn to follow. We meshed; call and response too perfect for something between strangers who barely knew each other’s names. But she was drunk on alcohol and I was drunk on the beat, we had a common goal which was to lose ourselves and have a fantastic time.

My hair was half plastered to my neck, my shirt was damp from the intense heat in the room and the close bodies moving, writhing, on the dance floor. The club was packed, Friday night buzz. The heat overwhelming and at times dizzying, but I wouldn’t stop moving.

Then the song ended four minutes later and I grinned at Melanie, in thanks for the dance, and shouted to her that I’d be back in a moment. She nodded and pointed to the floor, she’d wait for me. I moved off the dance floor and headed for the toilets. Inside a cubicle I cast a cooling charm on myself and a cleaning charm that erased the sweat. A spell Blaise had taught me, having been taught it by none other than Draco Malfoy himself, I scoffed, freshened me up. Blaise said Draco taught the spell to him because he said it would work well for Blaise since it didn’t work for Draco. It made you smell of dark chocolate, I loved the smell both on myself and on Blaise. But for a dance club chocolate just wouldn’t cut it so I cast a spell with it to make me smell spicy too, I forget which spell is which though. Chocolate and chillies, chocolate and nutmeg or chocolate and cinnamon. Lucky dip, whatever spell that rolls of the tongue first.

I left the toilets after relieving myself and freshening up then went to the bar. I patiently waited my turn then ordered the usual water. The waitor came back with it and I noticed it was the same on I’d spoken with all those nights ago. I doubt he remembered me.

“Thanks Tony.”

“You’re welcome…wait…” I looked up at him and saw his eyes run over me a look of recognition on his face. “I know you, you’re Harry?”

“Yeah.” How did he know that? I must have told him my name, it was the night that Blaise died and I couldn’t remember my conversation between Tony and me so there’s a big possibility I had told him my name.

“Enjoying yourself?”

“Sure.” I downed the rest of the drink, puzzled. I don’t recall telling him my name. I gave him a smile of thanks and moved back onto the dance floor. When I glanced back towards the bar Tony was gone. Maybe he had to go to the toilet or something.

I found Melanie again and we started dancing. I let the pulse of the music consume me. It swept through my body and I surrendered to it’s will as it sent pulse after pulse of energy through me as the beat vibrated through the floor. It was all consuming. I let my thoughts go and I moved with Melanie auomatically.

The music changed and the pulse changed with it but was ever constant, never leaving me. My body was on autodrive and I didn’t care. I laughed with Melanie as she turned around and did a move where she went down to the floor and came up ass before face, her bum pressing into my thighs before pushing back against my groin. Once there she let her back arch back till her head was against my shoulder but her back arched away from me before pushing her back into my chest. She took my hand and put it on her stomach and we undulated again, her plastered against me. Then someone pulled her away.

“What the hell do you think you are doing?! That’s my girlfriend?!” For the love of…Melanie’s boyfriend was there glaring at me as he shouted. Melanie was glaring at him and tried to argue with him but he was looking only at me. “What the fuck were you doing huh?! Putting your hands on my girlfriend like that? Thought you’d be getting some tonight did you, well not with my girlfriend you won’t be you bastard.”

He went to take a step forwards and I realised I was about to get hurt.

“I’m gay! I’m not interested in her! I’m GAY! G.A.Y! Homosexual! I was just dancing with her!”

“The hell you say!” Great. He was readying himself to lunge at me and I could smell the alcohol on his breath. A hand caught his fist as it came towards me and I spun around to look at the person.

Jean-Claude was stood there looking faintly annoyed but he was holding the boyfriend’s fist back. Why was Jean-Claude here? He looked rather out of place, with his ruffled shirt with long ruffled sleeves. He’d straightened his hair by the looks of things for it lacked it’s usual wave.

“Who the hell are you?!” The boyfriend yelled at Jean-Claude. How did the vampire even get in here? Why did he come here? Why did he stop that fist?

“I…” Jean-Claude paused, possibly for dramatic effect or possibly to enjoy the way the boyfriend froze at the sound of the voice. Jean-Claude spoke without shouting and yet his voice rolled around in the air, licking your body if it stood in the way before rolling into your ears allowing you to hear the words. The voice sent shivers up my spine. “I am his guardian.”

“What the hell?!” I said staring at Jean-Claude. I didn’t think he heard me but from the way he shifted his eyes to me in the next second he obviously did hear. His dark blue eyes peered into me, drowning me in a blue far darker than the ocean though just as cold and fathomless. I tried to tear myself away from the gaze, he couldn’t use mind tricks on me for I was immune but I couldn’t look away.

He released the boyfriend’s hand and turned his body towards me. He held out a hand to me and gave me a look that meant there was to be no arguing.

“Come, Harry.” I don’t know what drove me to do it but I took his hand. Compulsion didn’t usually work on me. I slid my hand into his and felt the coldness of his skin, it chilled my burning skin and sent more shivers through my body.

He turned and walked away, my hand still in his grasp so I was forced to follow. I tried to tug my hand back but I didn’t try that hard. It was feeble to even try to get away, the grip he had on my hand wasn’t hard but it was unyielding. I was going to have to go with him. We walked towards the exit of the club and I kept my gaze on the floor as we walked.

Why was Jean-Claude here? Did he come to find me? Why? He’d not seen me in over two months, why bother with me now? How did he know I was in the club?

We emerged from the doors of the club and the air hit me suddenly making me gasp. I hadn’t realised how stuffy the club had been. The fresh air winded me and I was unable to breath it for a moment before I sucked air into my lungs, gulping up the fresh oxygen untainted by body odour. I released my breath with a ‘phew’ sound and took another.

I stumbled and snapped my attention from the air to where I was being led. I’d stumbled on the curb and my arm was stretched out in front of me as Jean-Claude was several paces in front still holding my hand. It made me feel like a child like this, I wasn’t five years old and I didn’t need anyone to hold my hand! Nobody bothered when I was five and I survived so I didn’t need it now at seventeen.

I tried to pull my hand back, tugging hard but Jean-Claude tightened his grip and hissed over his shoulder.

“You will cease that this instant.” I scowled and tugged again hard for good measure before stopping. I slowed down a little, falling further behind making my arm stretch more. Jean-Claude didn’t alter his pace at all and the strain on my arm began to get uncomfortable. I grimaced in pain and jumped forwards a few steps to relieve the pain in my muscles and joints. I came level with Jean-Claude and tried to match his pace, unsuccessfully might I add. I fell behind again and jogged forwards only to once again fall behind and all this was before we reached the end of the road. We turned the corner and I sighed in frustration.

“Where are we going?!” I called to Jean-Claude, though he was only a few paces in front of me.

“Back to the Circus.” Came the short answer, Jean-Claude’s voice had a sharp edge to it.

“Why?” I asked and frowned. People on the street were staring at us. I scowled at them and took to looking at the floor again. Still Jean-Claude didn’t release my hand, didn’t even lessen his grip on me.

“Jean-Claude! Why are we going back to the Circus?” He didn’t answer and I stubbed my toe on the curb stumbling once again though this time I stumbled onto the pavement instead of into the road. “For heaven’s sake! Are we bloody walking to the circus?! It’s miles away! Would you at least answer me Jean-Claude!”

No answer and I gave a very loud and frustrated huff. We continued walking then a car pulled up besides us and Jean-Claude turned to look at me before he released my hand. I frowned at him and rubbed my hand trying to get the proper amount of blood circulation back into all my fingers, my little finger had started to go numb.

“Get in.” Jean-Claude ordered and opened the door to the car. Inside I saw Anita at the wheel and Asher sat in the back. I pushed the nausea that being around Anita caused and did my best to ignore it. I frowned at Jean-Claude and he spoke again in that terse voice. “Get into the car, now.”

“Geez.” I muttered before climbing into the car. Jean-Claude shut the door behind me and then climbed into the passenger’s seat besides Anita. Anita started driving without a word but handed Jean-Claude a phone.

“Call Richard, I couldn’t get hold of him.” Jean-Claude nodded and fiddled with the phone for a moment before holding it up to his ear.

“Bonsoir Richard…oui we have him…non we shall take him back to the circus…oui, my office.” Jean-Claude said, breaking when Richard obviously spoke, then he hung up the phone without so much as a good bye.

“What’s going on?” I asked looking from one person to the next. My gaze lingered longest on Asher who stared back with an unreadable look on his face. I scowled again and looked away. Was nobody going to bother answering me? I saw Jean-Claude watching me in the rear view mirror. I glared at him. What gave him the right…I gathered my magic to me, preparing to apparrated. Jean-Claude’s eyes flickered in the mirror and then a hand was grasping my arm tightly, too tightly. I looked over at Asher.

“Do not.” He said but didn’t continue. I tugged my arm away but he would not release me.

“What is it with you and Jean-Claude today?! Grabbing me and not letting go! Get off me.” I raised my voice, anger tinting my words.

“No.”

“Let go!”

“No.” Asher said in the same sharp tone but he didn’t put any stress on the word, didn’t raise his voice to match mine, he just kept his voice flat. It was infuriating, both the voice and the fact he refused to let go of me.

“Just shut the fuck up, sit the fuck still and do as you are fucking told!” Anita snarled at me and I jerked slightly to look at her. We were stopped at a red light and she’d turned around in her seat. I could feel her rage just outside my shields. I could feel anger from everyone in the car. Why were they so mad? Why were they here? Why had they been looking for me? Why wouldn’t Asher bloody let go of me?!

I stopped struggling and shouting and looked out of the window. Asher still hadn’t let go of my forearm and I could feel both his and Jean-Claude’s eyes watching me. I scowled and continued looking out of the window periodically yanking on my arm to try to get it back.

When we arrived at the Circus Jean-Claude opened the door and ordered me to get out. Still, Asher did not let go of my arm until Jean-Claude gripped my other arm. I yanked my hand and felt my wrist protest against the violent action. From the burning and the pain in my wrist now I guess I’d done it serious damage. Probably strained it or twisted it. When Jean-Claude dragged me through the circus it made the pain worse. It was all I could do to hide the pain I was feeling behind my mental shields and struggle to keep the tears from the pain away.

Asher walked up to Jean-Claude and put a hand on his shoulder. They both looked back at me and I quickly turned my head away, not wanting to look at them. The grip on my hand loosened and the dragging slowed down, making the pain ease in my wrist. I breathed a small sigh of relief.

We walked through the circus, underground and then to Jean-Claude’s office. Jean-Claude led me to one of the chairs and ordered me to sit down. I sat and crossed my arms. I don’t know whether they thought I’d try to apparrate away or what if they let me go but Jean-Claude moved around to behind the chair and put his hand on my shoulder, pressure on me to stay sat down and a reminder not to try anything. I ignored him and everyone else in the room. I looked at my wrist and rubbed it, testing out the movement. It hurt, a lot. Probably some muscle damage since I could move everything it wasn’t broken. Hurt a lot though. I hugged it against me and waited.

The door to Jean-Claude’s office slammed open and in walked Richard with his two body guards standing slightly behind him next to each other. He gave me a furious glare before stalking over to talk to Anita. Shortly after him came Micah with Nathaniel and Jason followed behind them with Damien. When Nathaniel and Jason saw me they both had the same reaction, they sighed and looked relieved. I lowered my mental shields to peak at their emotions but was so overwhelmed by the anger and the fury that I slammed them back up straight away. Why were they so angry.

“Um…” I said and immediately everyone’s attention was on me, glaring.

“What the hell did you think you were playing at huh?!” I jerked at Richard’s shout. His fury was all in his voice and in his face. His eyes blazed, his body was tensed and he was standing at his full height looking incredibly intimidating.

“What are you on about?” I asked staring at him, frowning. Why was he so mad? It wasn’t like he cared about me. The man barely spoke to me, avoided me at all costs.

“Why did you think it was okay for you to just up and leave like that without telling anybody where you were?! Anything could have happened to you!” Richard raged.

“How are we supposed to protect you if we don’t know where you are?” Anita put in, hands on hips.

“We were worried about you Harry.” I looked at Nathaniel and flicked my gaze up and down his body, he didn’t look like he’d done any worrying. How could anyone do worrying dressed in the tightest trousers known to the imagination and a shirt that hid so little he might as well have not been wearing a top in the first place.

“You can’t be…” I started feeling the anger boiling inside me in answer to their anger.

“We can’t be what? This angry? You haven’t seen angry yet Harry! How could you do something so stupid!” Richard continued, waving his arms around as if trying to prove his point.

“We are your guardians.” Jean-Claude added. “We are supposed to take care of your wellbeing and we cannot do our jobs if we do not know where you are.”

“It was incredibly irresponsible of you not to inform anyone as to your whereabouts Harry.” Asher said. I didn’t spare him a glance, I glared at Richard.

“You can’t expect me to believe you actually give a damn about me! Any of you! Why the hell are you going through all these dramatics, pretending you were worried, when it’s not like you cared enough in the first place?!” I tried to stand up but Jean-Claude’s hand gripped my shoulder tighter.

“What?!” Nathaniel asked quietly, shock written on his face. I sent him a small glare and he shrank back.

“What the hell do you mean?!” Demanded Anita.

“You couldn’t care less about me! Ever since Richard discovered I was gay and dating a boy at school he can barely stand to be in the same room as me! I haven’t spoken to him in months beyond being asked whether I’ve eaten! You never cared about me in the first place.” I pointed to Anita. “If Nathaniel cared so much about me why didn’t he come see me? Some friend he is! Jason, perhaps I could believe him but we aren’t exactly what you’d call friends. Asher and Jean-Claude…well I haven’t seen you in over two months!

“None of you give a flying fuck about me so why are you putting on this show and yelling at me like you do?! And I don’t know why you’re trying to come of as the concerned guardian either Jean-Claude.” I turned my head up so I could glare up at him. He met my gaze head on with his own. “Guardians are supposed to pay attention to their charges. Even the Dursley’s paid attention to me. Sure it was in the form of beating and orders but they were at least there. Where the hell have you been? What you’ve done is called neglect!”

“How dare…”

“How dare I what?!” I yelled at Anita and she walked across the room and slapped me clean across my face.

“Do you know what we’ve been through tonight?! We’ve hunted the entire city to try to find you and you have the gall to sit there and tell us we don’t care about you?!” I felt blood in my mouth and swallowed it down. The slap had cut the inside of my cheek on my teeth. The shock hadn’t made me aware of the pain at first but now it flared up. It felt like one side of my face was on fire. I kept my head to the side, where it had been thrown from the force of Anita’s slap. I’d probably get whiplash in my neck now too.

“Asher and I looked around your old apartment and the school! Nathaniel, Jason, Damien, Richard and Micah looked around the Circus in case you’d tried to find your way back, and at the house in case you’d turn up! Then we found your note. A note. You left a fucking note! It wasn’t even reassureing. You just said you wend out clubbing which incase you forgot it ILLIGAL! Jean-Claude phoned around as many clubs as he could, the rest of us visited them all trying to hunt you down. We couldn’t find you anywhere! You could have been eaten, killed used in a ritual ANYTHING! We’ve been in a panic trying to find you and you accuse us of not caring for you?!”

“If you all cared so much then where have you all been these past few weeks?” I looked over at Asher now and he met my gaze evenly. “Where have you been these last few months?” I looked back around the room and let my eyes linger on everyone. “If you cared so much why did you abandon me in the first place? When you care for someone you don’t abandon them if they have something about them that you disagree with, something you think of as a fault or a weakness. You don’t stop visiting. You don’t ignore them. You don’t use them and push them away. You don’t claim guardianship over anyone lightly but to then pretend they aren’t part of your life is low. I’m stunned you even realised I was gone. I can’t believe that for once any of you decided to check up on me only to not find me there. How did you even find I wasn’t there?!”

“You left your light on…” I turned to look at one of Richard’s guards, I couldn’t remember their names though I’m sure I knew them once. Shang-Da and Jamil weren’t there today so I didn’t know who these two were. “We were watching the television and at midnight your light still wasn’t out so we went to see if you were okay.”

I laughed and raised my good hand to my face to stop the tears that had built up and spilled over. “So…so if I’d turned the light out you wouldn’t have known…a light gave me away…great. You wouldn’t have even thought about me if it wasn’t for the light.” I ducked out of Jean-Claude’s grip, slipping low into the chair quickly so he couldn’t catch me, and stood up.

“I’m going to bed. Don’t worry, I’ll turn my light out and make sure I don’t leave it on so I won’t ruin your evening again.” I walked towards the door, everyone just staring at me. Richard looked full of guilt, as did Nathaniel who was now in Damian’s arms. Jason wasn’t looking at me. I didn’t want to see Jean-Claude or Asher’s faces. I opened the door and stepped through it.

I went down the corridor planning on heading to the exit only to slip into one of the bathrooms. I went over to the sink and washed my face to get rid of the tears. In the mirror I could see my eyes were dull though my cheeks were flushed from the anger and the shouting. I shut my eyes and breathed out. They didn’t care. I opened my eyes again and met my own stare by there were other faces in the mirror too. Two sets of blue eyes, one set darker than sapphires and the other so bright they could put Dumbledore’s eyes to shame.

I looked between the sets of eyes. Jean-Claude stood watching me with a strange look on his face, like he was torn between allowing emotions on his face and wiping his face blank. Asher on the other hand, from his blue eyes came two large red droplets that fell down his cheeks, staining his skin pink and red in the process. His whole face was open now, not half hidden by his hair. His hair was pushed away and the amount of pain elsewhere in him to have made him forget the pain of his scarring hit me like a punch to the stomach.

I turned around slowly and looked at Asher. He stared back and a third droplet of blood fell from his eye and down to his chin before dropping onto his clothing. He didn’t seem to mind. He didn’t break my gaze. I opened my mouth to say something then stopped. What could I say…I’d said everything. I shook my head and looked away.

“I’m sorry.” I froze. Asher’s voice was laden with pain. I slowly looked up at him and tried to read his face for sincerity.

“Are you?” I asked and Asher gasped ever so slightly though vampires needed no air. He turned his face away and his hair swung into his face hiding the scars again. He moved to walk away. Two hands shot forwards, one was my own, the other was Jean-Claude’s. We both caught Asher’s hand, mine underneath Jean-Claude’s. I looked at my hand in shock, my tanned skin against Asher’s cool pale skin. I didn’t want to loose Asher. It hurt so much when he let me go fist time that it would be unbearable for him to leave me now. I looked up at my vampire guardian we shared a look before looking towards Asher who kept his face away and his back to us but he didn’t struggled against our grip. I gave his hand a tug, nothing happened.

“Please turn around Asher.” I said, my voice gentle. I didn’t want to be angry at him, I didn’t want him to leave me. He said he was sorry…he was crying. He was crying, he had to be sincere.

“Mon Ami, s’il vous plait.” Jean-Claude said softly. I tugged their hands again insistently. Asher turned his body towards us but kept his face turned away.

I wanted him to look at me. I’d missed him. Hell, I’d missed Jean-Claude and he hadn’t been around me as much as Asher was. Asher was my friend. Asher was…he was wonderful. It hurt when he left me and now he refused me?

“You hurt me enough when you abandoned me and now you hurt me again by refusing me?” Asher sucked in a breath again and I felt Jean-Claude tense. I kept my gaze on the golden haired vampire. “Don’t you owe me enough to look at me at least?”

Asher did not move. He didn’t turn around, he didn’t acknowledge me, he didn’t look at me. I felt pain in my chest again and I looked away this time. The pain was incredibly. It was like loosing Blaise all over again. I pulled my hand away and wrapped my hands around my waist careful of my bad wrist, the pain spreading through my chest and into my stomach. It was like seeing Hermione and Ron turn their backs on me. It was like being at Remus’ funeral and knowing that the last connection to my parents was gone. It was like watching Dumbledore being put to rest. It was like watching Sirius fall through the veil and all my hope of family falling with him. It was like seeing Cedric’s body and knowing he died because of me. It was like seeing the man who betrayed my parents to their death being free. It was like realising that nobody loved me and that Dudley was perfect and I was a freak.

“How many times must my heart break in my lifetime?” I whispered to myself. I turned my back on Asher. “Go then, the door is right there. You’ll be free of me I promise.”

“Mon Chardonneret.” Jean-Claude started before beginning to speak in French. “You have pined for him as you’ve pined for me when Anita keeps me from you. Nothing is keeping you from our little magician though; there is nothing between you now except the misunderstandings. Do not loose this chance my love.” Jean-Claude paused. “Or did I read it wrong and you don’t actually want him?”

Asher whirled around and stared at Jean-Claude. “Of course I want him but I have done him so much wrong he would not return those feelings.”

“You want me?” I gasped and turned to look at Asher who had turned to stare at me now. Jean-Claude was also looking at me with shock plain on his face.

“You speak French?” I ignored Jean-Claude’s question and kept staring at Asher. The feelings of betrayal and heartbreak were swept away and in their stead were butterflies and anxiety.

“You want me?” Asher spared Jean-Claude a look before he sighed slightly.

“Oui.” The butterflies hit their wings on my ribcage.

“How do you want me?” I asked leaning forwards ever so slightly. “As food? As what? How do you want me?”

“As everything.” Asher answered, his French accent for once showing in his words.

“What’s everything?” I asked taking a step forwards. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Jean-Claude raise a hand to his mouth, what was he hiding? I kept my eyes on Asher. He took in the direction of my movement with a flick of his eyes, he considered the tones in my voice and seemed to grow in confidence.

“As my food, as my lover, as my friend, as my magician and as my companion.” Asher replied and the butterflies inside my stomach moved up to become the air in my lungs and the blood in my heart.

“In that order?” My voice was slightly breathless. Asher gave me a small smile.

“Which would you like to be first?”

“Companion.” I answered, my answer shocking me as much as the reasoning that popped into my head a second later. “Because if that one is first then you have all the others already.”

Asher smiled. It light up his face despite the bloodstains over his cheeks and chin. His eyes sparkled. His lips curved up and it banished away all the worry and the stress. He raised a hand to my cheek and I leaned into it. His touch was cool, he had fed not so long ago. Nobody had touched me in any gentle way for so long. Before today I’d gone weeks without a touch that wasn’t accidental. Just one simple touch, just Asher’s hand on my cheek showed my how desperate I was for touch, for contact.

I raised my hands and gripped Asher’s hand holding it to my face, the exhilaration running through my veins numbed all pain. I closed my eyes and savoured it. Asher used to hold me all the time before. Nathaniel had hugged me all that time ago as well but it was mostly Asher who would spare me small touches. My boyfriend, loath though I am to remember him, the wuss, would hug me or kiss me but never touch me like this. Not this tenderly.

A hand slid onto my hip and wrapped around it as a body stepped closer. I couldn’t feel the body heat but I could feel the proximity. I opened my eyes and looked up at Asher’s face hovering a little way above mine. He’d wiped away the blood stains.

“Let me kiss you.” Not a question but not a statement or a demand either. I could refuse. I didn’t. I nodded against his hand and released his hand. I didn’t know what to do with my hands but holding his hand on me would just make them get in the way. I dropped one hand to hold the hand at my waist. My other hand I did hold Asher’s arm but my wrist hurt so I let it rest on his hand again.

Asher tilted my chin up and leaned down slightly. I watched him getting closer. Something hummed through my body. My magic was practically singing inside me. It came from my core and spread to my fingers and toes making everything tingle. Asher’s hair brushed against my face and I pulled away ever so slightly making a sound of discontentment.

“Asher…if you get to have all of me, do I get to have all of you too?” Asher looked slightly confused. He looked wary, I didn’t wait for his answer. I raised my hand with the injured wrist to his hair and pushed it back behind his ear. “No more hiding behind your hair.”

Asher’s wariness didn’t completely disappear but most of it did. He offered me that smile again and then leaned forwards quicker this time. His lips pressed into mine and my magic flared out of me. I pushed up into his lips and let my right hand trail up his arm and onto his shoulder. My left hand stayed on his hair and I stroked my thumb over the scars on his cheek. I pushed my body up into his again, pressing my lips more firmly against his and this time Asher responded with more passion.

He pulled me against him hard and devoured me. I opened to him but had to grip him hard. He seemed to be here, there and everywhere. His tongue roamed in my mouth, touching every part before swiping several times over my cheek. I gripped him hard, it hurt there from where Anita slapped me. I suppose it was still bleeding. I moved my tongue against his and he danced his with mine before continuing to conquer. He conquered my mouth, his hands roamed in my hair and advanced across my lower back and his body pressed firmly against me. I gasped, my eyes flying open in shock before I closed them again.

My magic buzzed around us and I reached out and threw it at Asher letting it fill him. I felt Asher gasp against me that time. I hummed as my magic roamed with delight. It was like having an extension of my body. Asher conquered me, but I conquered him in a different way. He gripped me to him, my magic danced within him building up a storm that raked through every part of him.

My magic burst out of him and back into me and he gasped again. I sagged against him my magic rushing through me like a hurricane contained within a small area. My legs sagged beneath me and lost their strength to hold me up. I gripped him tighter but let my mouth pull away from his. I panted, desperate to get air into my lungs. I felt light-headed, little pale yellow glitter filling my brain for a moment, before I retained enough oxygen to supply every part of my body. Asher gripped me hard, held me up even while he panted needlessly.

The feeling came back to my legs and I stood, pulling away slightly from Asher. I didn’t look at his face, embarrassed for a second or two while I regained control of my body parts. Then I looked up at him and smiled, reaching up and pressing my lips to his scarred cheek. I felt his mouth curl into a smile and a hand cupped my cheek again. I pulled away.

“You are too much mon petit magician.” I smiled at him. Then I saw something out of the corner of my eye. Jean-Claude was stood with his hand covering his mouth though I could see the smile on his lips. His dark eyes sparkled.

“I am happy for you mon cher, mon petit magicien.” I smiled at him and I felt Asher wrap his other hand around my waist, having removed it from my cheek.

“Merci.” He said.

“Thank you. For saying what you did earlier. I’m sorry for eavesdropping but I don’t regret it.”

“No I don’t imagine you do.” Jean-Claude laughed, humour dancing in his eyes. “When did you learn French?”

“Oh…Third weekend at Richard’s house. I was alone for the weekend so I stayed in my room, cast a spell to transfer all the knowledge from the French book into my head followed by the French dictionary and then spent the rest of my time sleeping off the information rush.” I answered. “I did it because you and Asher spoke French. I was going to surprise you. I guess I did…”

“Oui, you did.” I thought back to the conversation Jean-Claude and Asher had had earlier in French and one bit stuck out in my mind. I’d been told about it but I didn’t realise it was true. Jean-Claude had called Asher ‘my love’. But he had also referred to me as their little magician. He’d said ‘our little magician.’

“Jean-Claude…” I started but didn’t know how to finish. There was no way to bring up Asher loving Jean-Claude and vice versa.

“Oui mon petit magicien?”

“Um…” He walked into that… “Your little magician? I’m yours too?”

“Ah…Mais oui, but we shall see non?” I frowned slightly. That was evasive. I opened my mouth to ask him what he meant but I wasn’t sure I wanted to know so I closed my mouth again and reached around to take Asher’s hand.

“Ow!” I twisted my wrist the wrong way. I pulled it back and hugged it to my chest again. It was throbbing.

“Ah. I had forgotten about your wrist. I apologise for hurting you.” I looked over my wrist.

“Wasn’t your fault. I pulled to hard. But you could have told me what was going on.” My wrist wasn’t swollen that much…well in comparison to the other wrist it was. Damn. I should have copied healing charms from the book into my head, those would have been more useful. Instead the only healing charm I knew was the one to heal small wounds, like puncture marks.

“Come. Let us find somewhere more comfortable and we shall have a look at your wrist.” Jean-Claude said before sweeping towards the door. Asher turned to follow him placing his hand on my lower back and steering me gently.

“Asher…”

“Oui?”

“Why didn’t you come and see me if that was how you felt?” I asked looking up at him while we walked.

“Insecurities.” He offered with hesitation in his voice.

“What insecurities?” I deserved to know, especially with the new flavour to our relationship. I licked my lips. I could still taste Asher on them. Asher noticed the movement it seemed and something lit his eyes. He smiled slightly.

“That you would not want me the same way I wanted you. That you should have a normal life away from complications such as myself. That you should be with mortals your own age not immortals so many years older than you.”

“Oh.” It was all I could say. “Asher?”

“Yes?”

“I’m not normal so I can never have a normal life. Complications are interesting. Be a complication?” Asher smiled at me again and I grinned back. He took my right hand and raised it to his lips to kiss the back of it.

-