Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Harry Potter and the Ties that Bind	By : Typa Category: Harry Potter Crossovers > General - Misc Views: 2993 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: It’s the standard: I own nothing, HP is Rowlings, AB is Hamiltons. Nothing in it for me, except perhaps my own amusement.

Chapter List
- 1-Harry Potter and the Ties that Bind
- 2-Welcome to St. Louis
- 1
- 2
Harry Potter and the Ties That Bind

A Harry Potter/Anita
Blake Crossover

Summary: With the fall of
Dumbledore, the rising of the Darkness, and knowledge of the Horcruxes, Harry
is more desperate than ever to find a way to become the hero everyone expects him
to be. Help can come from the most unexpected of places, as can new powers.
SuperPowered!Harry. HP/AB crossover.
AU, Post-HPB, Post Harlequin.

Disclaimer: It’s the
standard: I own nothing, HP is Rowlings, AB
is Hamiltons. Nothing is profiting, except perhaps my own amusement.

Notes: While having read
HP and/or AB books is not absolutely necessary, it will be extremely helpful.
As one might expect, this story will span at least the summer after HPB, and
maybe into the fall, focusing on HP in St. Louis, and the characters in AB,
rather than others from HP; though they will make an appearance. HP is on an
accelerated timeline, so that he is almost 17 as Anita is 28.

Chapter Two: St.
Louis

Dear
Harry,

We’re glad to see that you are doing
well. It’s great to hear that the Dursleys aren’t being right prats! Glad to know that someone’s
treating you nicely! Sorry
Harry, that was Ronald stealing my quill. I’m at the
Burrow now, helping to get ready for the wedding. Are you sure you can’t make
it? We’d be glad to see you, especially since we had planned to go on that trip
with you later.

But that’s
okay, Harry. If you need a break, we’ll be here when you get back! Herm and I
will be ready and waiting for you- we’re all in this together, right?

Like you asked, I’ve been looking into
the initials. Ron and I think we may have found something. Remember how
Snuffles had a brother who was killed in his youth? He looks like a good
suspect. Also, I was wondering if you had any ideas on how to break the toys.
We’ve not come up with an idea yet. We will be sure to keep looking, though… If
only I had access to the Library!

I’m sure Harry doesn’t care about the
library, right mate? How’s the trip going? I’d love to go to America! When we
told Mum that you wouldn’t be coming to the wedding, she practically burst into
tears! Then immediately set about making you this care package, confident the
Dursleys wouldn’t feed you in America, or
something. Tried to tell her that they’re being nice to you, but I think she
just wanted an excuse to send you some food. So, hope you enjoy it!

Strangely
enough, there doesn’t seem to be much new on the Riddle side. (Hermione told me
to write that). Oh,
quiet Ronald. Like he said, there haven’t been any attacks,
which seems really strange. I suppose he’ll be off planning, or
something. Either way, no worries over here!

Here’s to your fun and relaxing summer!

Love,

Hermione and Ron

It had been almost two weeks since Harry Potter and his
relatives had arrived in the United States of
America. After their plane landed in New
York, they had gone to see the Statue of Liberty – Vernon
couldn’t comprehend why a statue was
an important national monument. He loudly pointed out that he had seen better
in museums. Dudley, who had been learning about U.S.
history in school tried to explain its historical significance. Without much
luck – before heading off to see Niagara falls.

They made the requisite stop in Washington
DC, where Harry and Petunia were quite taken
with the Botanical Gardens. Vernon
was impressed with the Pentagon and White House, while Dudley
had discovered fast food. His new favorite thing was the “Double Big Mac with
Fries”, also known as the No. 2 combo. Dudley insisted
on eating at a fast food restaurant for at least one meal per day; his parents
knew it was unhealthy…but they were on vacation, so a little indulgence was
allowed.

By far, Harry’s favorite place had been Walt Disney World. He
was enthralled by the Fairy Tale castles, and amazing special effects on some
of the rides. After seeing some of “The Magic of Disney”, Dudley
had made a few comments along the lines of “Who needs magic when you’ve got
this?” Harry was tempted to agree, especially when he thought of all the
turmoil in his own magical realm. All of the Dursleys had let themselves enjoy
the “Happiest Place on
Earth”. He and Dudley had gone on all of the rides they possibly could while Vernon
and Petunia went to show after show; by the time they had to leave, no one
wanted to go.

They had spent the last four days there, and were now flying
to Missouri to visit St.
Louis, which the travel agent had apparently insisted
was a “Must See” location. She neglected to mention exactly why it was so popular, only suggested
that they take a look around.

Harry looked down at the clouds floating below the plane.
Who would have thought that he would be where he was now? Not him, nor either
of his best friends, it looked like. As he re-read the letter from Ron and
Hermione, he smiled to himself. It looked like they were doing exactly what he
had pictured; hopefully they were having as good a summer as he was.

As the plane descended into the St.
Louis airport, Harry was surprised to see that the
town seemed to be distinctly divided. There were the suburbs, like in any
normal town; the business district; the ‘nicer’ homes; and the ‘clubby’ area.
But there was also a separate section. He noticed that it had a wholly
different feel… there was no physical change- but there was a separation all
the same.

As Harry wondered just what exactly the distinction was, the
plane skidded down the runway, and the announcer’s perky voice washed through
the cabin.

“Welcome to St. Louis, Missouri! Please check all around your seats, and be sure to remove all of your
belongings from the storage areas. We are extremely pleased that you have
chosen to fly AmeriAir, and hope the experience was a
pleasant one. Keep us for your next flight, and enjoy your stay!”

“Come along, Harry! We’ve got to get checked in at the hotel
before we go out for dinner!”

His relatives’ strange behavior had not changed much over
the past weeks. If anything, they only seemed to be more cordial, and he could
almost admit to himself that maybe they had
changed for the better. But he was still unsure. Something seemed too sudden,
too abrupt, and too unnatural about
the quick turnaround.

It seemed his suspicions were well founded.

After checking into their hotel rooms, Harry and the
Dursleys went out for a casual dinner in the hotel restaurant before splitting
off to go to their rooms. Harry considered himself to be extremely lucky –
Uncle Vernon had booked three rooms at each hotel; one for him and Aunt
Petunia, one for Dudley, and one for Marge. The separate
rooms ensured some extra privacy.

That extra privacy turned out to be a blessing, that
evening.

Harry had showered and dressed for bed like he had on all
previous nights. He was exhausted; traveling by plane seemed to wear him out
more than other means of travel. While floo, portkeys, and apparition were
disorienting, there was something just draining
about sitting in an airplane for several hours. Or a car… or most motored
vehicles, really.

The bed beckoned to him, and Harry was just getting ready to
throw himself upon it, when a sealed envelope appeared in front of him.

Harry’s stomach dropped at the suspiciously familiar green spidery
writing and heavy parchment. With shaking hands, he drew his wand from his bag
and checked it for spells. Finding it clean, he plucked it from the air and
withdrew the letter within.

Dear
Harry,

There are so many things I wish I
could have taught you. There are so many things that I regret.

I
regret having to leave you when I did. I regret not beginning to prepare you
sooner. My boy, there are so many things that I wish I could have done.

My time has come to an end, and responsibility
falls to you now, as much as I wish it different. There are other leaders of
the light, but you are their savior, Harry.
Whether they know the truth or not, instinctively, they know. I deeply
regret not preparing you for this burden.

But enough of my regrets. There is nothing
for you to do now, at this very moment, if you have received this as I planned.

Yes, Harry. I knew my death was imminent.
Destroying a Horcrux is a far more dangerous task than accessing one – you saw
some of the effect with my hand. Yet another task falling to
you: Find a way to safely dispose of them.

Back to the matter at hand… Knowing that I
was soon to move on to the next great adventure, I began to write to your aunt.
I must confess, that not all within the letters were as they seemed-

And here I hope you can forgive me for one
of my most heinous crimes yet, dear boy-

Did you notice a change in your relatives’
behavior before they left for America? Did they perhaps behave less
antagonistically towards you? I can only imagine that you spent hours puzzling
over their change of behavior.

Again, I apologize. It is so hard to simply
put the words on paper, when in truth I have been putting so much more onto their letters.

Are you familiar with the Hate Potion? It
reveals the most egregious faults and habits to the drinker using a sample of
the target’s hair, bone, or blood. The use of human samples causes this potion
to be classified as ‘dark’, so you may not be aware of it.

This potion was preposterously easy to
modify- I simply altered it to be absorbed into the skin, and reversed the
effects so that the drinker believes the target to be a wonderful and amazing
person, regardless of their faults.

This potion, I coated the letters to your
family with.

I thought that if I could not be there to
guide you on the rest of your journey, the least I could do would be to provide
you with a few weeks of peace with your aunt and uncle.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, the effects
are not permanent. They should begin to wear off within the next few days,
depending on how much was absorbed. So, I strongly recommend that you leave the
Dursley home before they return, preferably immediately after your birthday. As
you know, your birthday is when the wards fall – It is highly likely that Death
Eaters know of your location.

I hope you are having a pleasurable summer. Enjoy
yourself and remember to live life to the fullest, Harry.

Sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore

As soon as he was
finished reading, the letter burst into periwinkle flames. Dropping it to the
floor, Harry sat heavily on the bed. He supposed that several things were now
evident, after Dumbledore explained what he had done.

Sighing, Harry
cursed Dumbledore’s ability to complicate things even after his death. He was
not eagerly anticipating the end of the potion’s thrall. The Dursleys would be
angry, and rightfully so. And what was he supposed to do until then? Pretend
that everything was running smoothly?

But that was exactly
what he had been doing. Subconsciously,
Harry supposed that he had known something was not quite right in their manner.
It wasn’t all that hard to figure out, really. No one could possibly make that
huge of a turnaround alone…

Harry’s thoughts
wandered back toward what would happen when the effects wore off. If the
Dursleys left him behind, he would be stuck in the United States with no way to return home – he doubted that
they would take the time to toss his ticket at him before they kicked him out. If
they did not leave him behind, the rest of the vacation would be wholly
unpleasant. Harry was unsure of which
option he would prefer.

Then again, there
was another possibility. If the Dursleys chose to give him his plane ticket and
send him back to England, he would be able to meet Ron and Hermione
at Godric’s Hollow. They would be able to get a head start on their Horcrux
Hunt.

But that was
unlikely. Harry supposed that he would just have to wait and see. He would not
have to wait too long, after all.

The next day, Harry
and his unsuspecting family were dining in the hotel lobby when Dudley saw an advertisement for “The Circus of the
Damned”.

While Dudley would normally have been ‘too cool’ for any
sort of circus, he could not resist the idea of special effects involving
zombies, vampires, and werewolves.

The poster featured
a fanged figure standing over all sorts of supernatural creatures; the drawings
were really quite good. Harry personally thought that the actual circus would
be no where near as intriguing as the poster advertised- there was no way that
they could do that much purely with
makeup and special effects.

Harry almost
laughed, wondering if the potion had affected the Dursley’s hatred toward all
things magical as Vernon needed little persuasion. They agreed to meet at the Circus later that
evening after going their separate ways during the day. Petunia and Vernon had planned to spend the day shopping and at
the local museum, while Harry and Dudley were
planning to look at the various shops and arcades downtown.

Privately, Harry was
hoping that he could convince Dudley to
take a look at the ‘separate’ district in town. There was something about it,
the ‘otherness’ that drew him to it like a moth to a flame.

It turned out that Dudley was not that hard to convince.

After spending a few
hours wandering through town, Harry had managed to steer Dudley towards the division. The separation between
the two areas was clear even from the ground; all of the people moving about
kept to their own sides. No one crossed the border. Harry was about to drag Dudley across the invisible line when Dudley stopped suddenly.

“Harry, are you sure
we should go over there? No one else is crossing the street…”

“Why, are you
afraid, ‘Big D’?” Harry asked, sounding shocked.

The pair only stood
on the corner for a moment. All it took was a simple dare and a few jabs to Dudley’s ego, and they were off.

Most of the
businesses were closed, neon signs turned off. Harry was disappointed, he had
hoped to see something more, well, interesting.

There were a few places
that Harry was curious about. A place called “Guilty Pleasures”, and then another
called “The Laughing Corpse” caught his attention. The part of town seemed to
lack its thrall in the daytime. Soon, the teenagers became bored, and moved
back to the rest of St. Louis.

After visiting the
famous St. Louis Arch, the pair went back downtown. There, they spent a while
longer playing video games at a local arcade, but it was soon time to meet Vernon and Petunia at the Circus. They ate a quick
dinner of the classical circus food – Hot dogs, fries, and sodas – before
heading over to the main attraction.

Harry volunteered to
go and get some fried delicacies called ‘elephant ears’ while the rest of his
family found seats. As he walked back to the larger ring he began to get the
feeling that the circus was not the hoax that he had originally thought it was.
If it was, the special effects were the best he had ever seen. His suspicions
were confirmed, though, as he walked past a woman performing with a snake… The
snake was hissing, and she was hissing back.
Harry thought it would be too much of a coincidence for a parseltongue to
be performing at the “Circus of the Damned”.

He put the questions
revolving around the nature of the circus out of his mind as he hurried back to
the Dursleys, not wanting to miss the beginning of the show.

“Look what I’ve
got!” he called as he approached, smiling at them. He knew something was wrong
when, instead of jumping up to greet him, they just stared stupidly.

“What the bloody hell are you doing here, freak?!”
Vernon hissed in anger. Harry looked at him with
wide, confused eyes.

“What? But what do
you mean? You invited me here…” His voice started to waver.

“Why would we do
that? Where’s Marge?” Vernon’s brows furrowed.

Harry looked at the
crowd around them, and smirked inwardly as his eyes began to water.

“You don’t love me
anymore? WHY?!” People were beginning to stare, and Vernon was beginning to redden.

“WHY, Merl-GOD, WHY DON’T YOU LOVE ME?” inwardly, Harry was cackling
madly. His inward laughter was only fueled by his Uncle’s attempt to quiet him.

“Shhhh!
Shut up, boy! Everyone’s looking at us because of you. Just shut up, we’ll talk
after the show!”

Harry shrugged. He’d
caused enough of a scene that people were staring at them, rather than the beginning
of the main attraction. It was not as if he had not been expecting a
confrontation with his relatives. He had simply decided to make the transition
as difficult as possible for them. A bit of payback for the
past 16 years.

Settling down, he
noticed that there was indeed more to the circus than he had originally
thought. A lone man had appeared onstage. Literally,
appeared. Harry was unsure whether he had just been distracted, or if he
had truly popped out of thin air.

The man opened his
mouth, and began to speak. His voice rolled over the crowd like a soothing
caress, promising them warmth, safety, and comfort – things that Harry was sure
no man could give him. As much as Harry wanted to believe the reassuring voice,
he was unable to.

The Dursleys were
not so fortunate, evident by their glazed expressions. Harry amused himself for
a short while by poking and prodding Dudley, to
no effect. Of course, this was a limited source of amusement. He turned his
attention back to the man, who was just introducing the next act.

“And now, ladies and
gentlemen, I present to you…. Melanie! Snake Woman and Snake
Charmer Extraordinaire!”

Stepping out of the
ring to enthusiastic applause, Harry noticed the glazed expression leave the
Dursleys’ faces. They began to come back to themselves as Melanie the snake
woman took to the stage with her multitude of serpents.

They began to weave
together in an intricate dance, hissing back and forth to each other. Harry had
to choke back a laugh as he could just barely make out some of their
conversation.

“Left, go on my left! That vampire wants
symmetry. Symmetry! Is he the one wrapping snakes around his body? No, all he
has is that servant of his…

Stupid mortals… sitting there… staring at us. I’d
like to see them attempt to even hold one of my babies… Idiots.
They wouldn’t know a piece of true magic if it bit them on the ass…Time to show
them a small taste…”

As their twining
ended, the snakes slithered to the floor, while the snake woman began to move
to her own rhythm. Smoothly, scales started spreading over her body,
transforming her from a beautiful woman to a majestic snake.

The audience gasped
and cheered. Most of them, anyway. The Dursleys were
sitting pale-faced, gripping their seats. As one, they turned to look at him in
horror.

“She’s one of your kind, isn’t she?” hissed Aunt
Petunia, sounding almost snake-like herself.

Harry answered
honestly with a wave of his hand, “While I’ve never heard of anyone turning
themselves into a snake before, especially like that, I suppose anything is possible. She might not be a
witch, but a true shapeshifter,” Harry’s eyes glittered with mirth, “Whatever
she is; I can tell you she isn’t human…”

He left them to that
thought as he exited the ring to go to the restroom. This was it… Harry was
giving the Dursleys their opportunity to discuss what to do about him. He had
planned to give them the opportunity to leave him in St. Louis, or their next planned stop, in exchange for
his plane ticket back to England. Figuring that he would be able to have the
date and location changed to meet his needs, or that he would be able to find
someone who could help him, Harry would be just find spending a few days by
himself in America.

As Harry was off
planning his immediate future, the Dursleys were plotting their own quick
escape from the Circus.

“Come on Diddykins,
let’s get out of this place!” Petunia was trying to drag her son away from the
entertainment. A tough feat, when the entertainment consists of a half-naked,
exotically beautiful woman, and the entertainee is a close-to-300-pound teenage boy.

“Vernon,” Petunia whispered, “Are you sure this is a
good idea? What if the boy tells the other freaks that we mistreated him? What if the other freaks get… angry?”

“Petunia,” he
reasoned, “Have you seen that freak’s bird
around anywhere? I believe he’d have a tough time getting it though customs.” Vernon chuckled at her worried expression. “How
about this… We’ll give the boy five minutes to come back from the restroom,
then leave. I’m sure he’s got his stick
on him, he can handle himself.”

The five minutes
passed by quickly – more quickly than most five minutes, anyway – and the
Dursleys had packed up their things and were moving toward the exit.

“But Vernon…” Petunia seemed quite concerned, “Are you sure that we’ll be okay? What if the
freaks find out, and come after us?”

Vernon huffed. He really could not be convinced of
the idea that the rest of the freaks could be bothered to track them all the
way to America just because of one boy.

“Petunia!” He drew a breath to explain precisely why it
would not matter if they left Harry at the circus. But the next act had begun,
and it involved some strange rituals with more shapeshifters and Vernon was ready to leave this place and all its freakishness. He summed up his thoughts
in a few sentences.

“Bloody hell,
Petunia- The boy’s almost seventeen. He’s almost of majority in his world. It doesn’t matter. So stop
worrying about him and his kind… He’s almost of age! Now, let’s
go!”

With that, he
dragged his wife and son out the doors of the Circus of the Damned, leaving his
unknowing nephew behind.

With a general idea
of what to do and how to handle his newly ‘sane’ relatives, Harry made his way
back to the Dursleys’ seats. Or, what had
been their seats. His stomach dropped as he stared at the empty seats. This was
something he had not planned on. Or even thought of.

The Dursleys had
left him at the Circus of the Damned – With no way to get back to the hotel,
let alone back to England. They had left with his plane ticket.

He cursed the
Dursleys as he flopped into his seat to try and think. Why had he not
considered this possibility? He
should have thought to anticipate something like this, considering his
relatives past behavior toward him. He supposed that their false kindness over
the past weeks had weakened his memories of their real feelings.

Harry’s anger began
to rise. All of his undirected rage – at himself, for believing Dursleys would
possibly behave rationally, civilly, like normal
people towards him; at Dumbledore, for dying and leaving him this twisted
puzzle; at Snape and the Death Eaters for leaving him without his mentor; and
at Voldemort, for making his life so fucking difficult – Now had a target to focus on.

Harry was having a hard time thinking, all he could do was feel. Livid
feelings whirled about his head – a small breeze had started to blow around
him. In the back of his mind, he knew that he could have anticipated this. Maybe even had, subconsciously. Harry knew he was being
irrational, but he was just so infuriated,
and had a single focus for his ire.

The remainder of the
acts all passed by in a hazy blur as Harry sat and fumed; he only rose to go
when he noticed the rest of the crowd doing so. As he moved, the crowd
unconsciously stepped away from him, trying to avoid the upset wizard.

As he began
wandering toward the exit, Harry was caught in his own world of fury at the
Dursleys. Not noticing where he was going, he ended up making a few wrong
turns, and did not notice until he was far into the maze of tunnels underneath
the surface. His face scrunched in a mask of confusion, he walked a bit further
while continuing to ponder his own problems.

Harry was fully
knocked out of his stupor when he walked into a much taller frame, and bounced
backwards slightly. While he would undoubtedly have caught himself had he been
fully focused on the task at hand, his mind was elsewhere. Harry was knocked
off balance and fell to the ground.

“Watch it.” He spat,
before remembering his manners, “Er, I mean…sorry,” he huffed out. Picking
himself up and dusting himself off, Harry raised his eyes to meet the
strangers.

He was startled by
what he saw. The man’s face was half covered by his golden hair, but what Harry
could see was strangely pretty for a man.

Smiling, the man
opened his mouth to speak, “Lost, mon ami?” his gaze was compelling, and his voice too seemed
to caress softly, and make promises Harry knew were truly lies.

Shaking his head,
Harry found that he had been staring at the stranger. He frowned, as he chased
away the remnants of the soothing feeling. He realized that most of his
frustration had been chased away as well.

“No, I think I’m
alright… Actually, if you could help me to the exit though, I’d really
appreciate it.”

The blond man’s
smile faltered. He stared intently at Harry.

“Are you sure you don’t need some help?”

Harry looked back at
him strangely. He repeated himself slowly, clearly enunciating his words,
“Could you take me to the exit, please?” His words were stuck as he was
distracted by the man’s piercing blue eye staring at him, the other hidden by a
curtain of hair. “Or, I could, er… Just find it
myself…” Holding up his hands, Harry began to back away from the strange man.

The blond man looked
at him strangely. “I am able to hear perfectly, mon ami. It is
you who is… strange. I shall indeed escort you to the exit of this fine
establishment, but first let me find you some refreshment to go with my
apologies. I should have been paying more attention to where I was going.”

Harry gave a choked
sort of laugh, “It’s no problem, no problem at all, Mister…”

“Asher. Just Asher.” The man supplied. Harry had a sudden sense of déjà vu; recalling
the moment almost six years ago when he had given a similar line to Hagrid. He
smiled as he accepted the man’s hand.

As soon as their skin touched, Harry felt a warm, soothing, tingling
sensation creep through his body. He looked up at Asher, whose face had shifted
into a still mask.

“What are you?”

Asher took Harry’s arm and turned around. The pair moved swiftly into the
bowels of the Circus.

“Erm, are you sure we’re going the right way? I thought the exit was the
other way…”

“Quiet, child. I said I would find you refreshment and lead
you to the exit. That is true. First, though, I feel you must meet with
someone.”

Asher led Harry to a modernly decorated sitting room. The walls were
covered in rich toned silks while the furniture was all black and chrome. Harry
was instructed to sit in one of the plush chairs, while Asher went to speak
with the latest mystery-man.

Asher knocked on the door of Jean-Claude’s office.

“Come in, mon ami,” Upon
seeing his friend’s face, Jean-Claude asked him in a worried tone, “What is it
that ails you, Asher?”

“There is a boy waiting outside. I’ve brought him to meet you. I can’t
quite explain it, but there is something odd about him. You must see for
yourself…”

Jean-Claude looked confused for a moment, before his mask settled back
into place. “But what do you mean…?”

“As I said, it is hard to explain. The boy is not a human, or a normal
one, anyway. He knew I was not mortal either. But he did not know what I was.
He resisted my eyes, seemed to think that I was ‘slow’. That boy is not a
shapeshifter, though, or like Anita.” He ushered Jean-Claude to the small
window that looked out to where Harry was sitting. “Look at him,
he doesn’t look like the others, either.”

As Jean-Claude inspected the boy, he realized that he had to agree. While
the boy appeared to be fairly normal, it was undeniable that there was
something different. While he did hold himself differently, his posture was not
that of a shapeshifter. It was more as if he was constantly on the defensive,
constantly trying to ward off unspeakable evils. But he was also trying to hide
it, and pretend everything was alright.

He sat casually, but as if he would be ready to run at any moment. And
his hand kept straying toward his right pocket… The boy did not seem to notice
the two pairs of eyes examining him, and was slouched in his chair, looking
down.

Jean-Claude supposed that there was not a whole lot that was special
about him, when you just looked at the surface. Sure, he did not sit like a
typical mortal, but there was something else about him… something that he just felt.

Something occurred to him, as he watched. He turned to his friend.

“Asher, how did you meet this boy?”

“We collided outside my office.”

Jean-Claude raised an eyebrow. “How did he get all the way into the
depths of the circus? How did you know there was something… special?”

Asher looked slightly guilty. Trying to divert Jean-Claude’s attention,
he answered the former first, “I cannot say that I know. He has a British
accent. I believe he’s a lost tourist.”

“I see. Did you try to roll him, mon ami?”

Looking even more guilty, Asher nodded his
assent.

“Just how old do you think that boy is? Fourteen?
Fifteen? You know the rules.”

“You have not seen his eyes, they speak of old age. I did not realize at
first… It was just another strange occurrence with the boy. I felt the need to
test him, to test my seduction. There has not been any sort of challenge,
recently.

I had been contemplating the skill it used to take to roll the mortals.
Now, they are willing to drop at our feet. Do you not miss the test of your
skills?”

Jean-Claude sighed. He knew what Asher meant.

“Very well. We shall have a chat about this later. Bring
him in.”

Asher glided back out the door and led Harry back in. Jean-Claude stood
to meet them.

“Hello. Allow me to introduce myself… I am Jean-Claude, owner of this
establishment.”

Harry looked back at Asher in confusion. Why would he want him to meet
the owner of the Circus? Again, taking the offered hand, Harry felt the same
strange, comforting warmth spread through him. He did not trust these people.

“Neville,” he said, “Neville Black.” Uttering a silent apology to his
school friend for the continual theft of his name, he released Jean-Claude’s
hand.

Harry stared at the two men in front of him, eyes darting back and forth
between them. Whatever these two were, it was not human.

“You’re the same. Both of you… What are
you?”

Asher and Jean-Claude exchanged a glance. “You see,
mon ami? I told
you he was different. He can tell.”

Jean-Claude nodded, before moving behind his black lacquered desk. He
smoothed his cerulean silk suit and stared at Harry intently.

“I believe the question, Mister… Black,” he looked at Harry sharply, as
if knowing he was lying, “Is what are you?”

Harry felt his anger creeping back in. Who were these people to crash
into him, drag him through underground tunnels, and then question him? They had
no right to do that. All he was trying to do was get back home.

“I’m nothing. Perfectly normal. There is nothing
bloody different about me. All I was trying to do was get out of this damned
circus, when your friend and I
crashed. Then he dragged me down here
with no explanation. Whatsoever. And
how about those refreshments, hmm?”

Asher started. “Oh, yes… Of course…” He gave Jean-Claude a significant
look. “I shall return shortly.”

Jean-Claude and Harry stared across the table at each other. Harry did
not want to break the silence. Jean-Claude just wanted to study the young boy.
He leaned forward, and the next words out of his mouth were not at all what
Harry had expected.

“Would you care for a cookie, child?”
- 1
- 2
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Harry Potter and the Ties that Bind