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Many A Mind And Blood	By : dra6on Category: Harry Potter AU/AR > Slash - Male/Male Views: 3063 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and no money is made with this

Chapter List
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MANY A MIND AND BLOOD by dra6on

Chapter 2. Wolf

Incubi are sexual creatures that feed on the emotions and energy released during sexual acts. The acts performed can vary and the incubi themselves can abstain from release as they only feed on the energy produced by their partner, though testimonies claim Incubi can bring indescribable pleasure should they actively participate. It is a known fact virginal humans are the best source for the sexual energy incubi feed on but no evidence has been presented on the magical nature of humans having any effect on the quality of said energy. It however has been proven than claiming a virgin creates a bond between the human and the Incubus that can only be broken by death. Usual by the death of the human as Incubi are extremely demanding partners and human endurance is not enough to bear the strain caused by the Incubus’ needs.

It has also been proven that while Muggle lore describes incubi as hunters of women, they do not have any clear preference. It has been discussed that the quality of the sexual energy is the only affecting factor and only Incubi can discern the difference between humans. Their female counterpart Succubi have neither shown any preference. The exact differences between males and females are discussed further on page 208.

Harry flipped the page to the description he’d only scanned earlier.

Incubi are humanoid creatures that can pass for human even through the closest of inspections. In their natural form they however are entirely evolved to bring the greatest pleasure to their partner and thus coax them to produce more energy the creatures feed on.

Incubi are ancient creatures that have existed for thousands of years, no knowledge of their origin remains. Though they are magical creatures, their abilities to use wand have never been confirmed and their natural magical abilities reach their peak during feeding. As it was often necessary for the Incubi to make a quick escape they evolved to have leathery wings on their backs that erupt from beneath their skin. They also have a tail that is split on the end and the incubi are capable of controlling the splits like fingers. Also the thickness and length of the tail is changing, possibly controlled by the Incubi themselves.

As the tail, also the tongue of the Incubus is split – similar to that of snakes – and the creature has shown excellent control of the separate ends. Some discussion has been made on healthy and well-fed Incubi being more muscular and entrancing than their less successful brethren but nothing has been proven. In the 13^th century an incubus was caught in London that had…

Harry closed to book and looked around. The clock on the wall claimed it was two o’clock on Monday morning but he was not tired. Snape’s blood was still thrumming in his veins and giving off energy, making it impossible for him to sleep. It had been four days since then and tomorrow was the full moon. He had already prepared a room for him in the deepest part of the dungeons he could find. It was moist, mould was growing on the walls and it was doubtful even the house elves had been in that part of the castle in hundreds of years. Harry had cast strongest spells he could find on the walls and even coated the door in silver. Everything would be ready for tomorrow.

Rubbing his eyes Harry put the book down on the table, his eyes scanning all the other titles. He’d read everything the room had to offer on his inner creatures, some even Slytherin’s original texts of Parseltongue. He was as prepared as he could be for tomorrow but it was the unknown in the list that had him worried. The fact that he had dominant genes from one unknown source and two unknown recessive genes had him extremely worried because it meant they were either species so old and obscure no one had ever even heard of them or so horrible they couldn’t be even considered. He didn’t know which option he preferred.

Also worrying was the fact that the blood detection potion – a relatively new invention – had classified him as a shapeshifter that was a more advanced form of a metamorphagus. But no matter how hard he tried, he could not change into different human forms, only animals and not even magical ones. This made him, according to an obscure volume written in archaic English, a true therianthrope. As born werewolves were called lycanthropes, also the rarer weres such as cats and dogs were called cynanthropes and ailuranthropes respectively, if the ability – or curse – was inherited and not infected. This brought a whole new set of problems, most which threatened Harry’s life.

The adolescent wizard sighed and waved his wand, Banishing the books to their spots on the shelf. Seconds later the Room morphed itself into a cosy living room from the previous magical creature library and Harry sank deeper into the soft couch he was sitting on and closed his eyes. He’d have Transfiguration in seven hours and he’d do well to get some sleep but honestly did not know how. The vampire had been content the last few days and Harry hadn’t lost control even once but the wolf was turning even more vocal the closer it got to the full moon. Next night being the first of the three full moon nights had the wolf whining and growling at him. The animal was begging for Harry to go outside and just run in the night and the wizard’s will was crumbling by the second.

Harry crossed his legs on the couch and tried to sleep but of course without success. The wolf was winning as they both did not need sleep with the energy of the magical blood and the wolf had no qualms of using all that time to whine and complain to him. Harry sincerely hoped he could just cast the wolf out of his mind and strangle the creature with his bare hands – that’s how annoying the whining was beginning to be.

Seven hours later he was grumpily sitting in the Transfiguration classroom and tried to pay attention while ignoring the urge to jump up and howl. Thank the gods McGonagall only spoke for eight minutes after which she gave out matchsticks and told them to non-verbally transfigure them into the biggest animal they could manage. Harry started by swishing the matchstick into a needle in remembrance of their first ever lesson but then concentrated. He remembered an awful lot of spells and was anxious to find out exactly how far he could expand his magic. But this was not a good place for that.

The matchstick turned into a mosquito, a fly and a mouse easily. Harry went through each transfiguration many times non-verbally. When he started on a toad he faked his trouble. The toad had wooden legs or eyes until he deemed enough time to have passed for him to succeed. A tap of his wand later and a replicate of Trevor the toad was sitting quietly on his desk. He looked around and saw Weasley was still having trouble with the mouse transformation while Granger and Su Li were changing the colours of their owls. Harry kept whirling the wand in his hand while watching the others and their varying successes. He was quite satisfied with the toad but was quite certain he could at least turn the matchstick into a fully grown Labrador but preferred not to make a big deal out of his abilities.

He was relieved when half way through the lesson McGonagall levitated big boulders in front of them and told to turn them into the smallest animal they could manage. Harry sighed and got to work. This was just too easy and he was starting to rethink his decision to stay here. The classes weren’t challenging enough and he was simply bored. He’d spent the entire weekend alternating between research of his magical heritage and looking for the castle’s magical centre but had had to admit defeat with the centre. Besides, the Founders had been bound to hide it well since it was heart of the wards as well and most likely could only be accessed from the Headmaster’s office. The search had been stumped when even the Room hadn’t opened to his destination. He’d soon run out of projects to take up his free time.

Harry was again the first one to leave the class room as he was quite certain McGonagall was looking to speak with him if he gave her the chance. He was not up to a heart to heart talk with his Head of House. Especially not now that the full moon was so close and his emotions so volatile.

The wizard made his way to the library to do some light reading. He was careful to keep away from the dark texts because he could sometimes feel eyes on him and way quite certain the ghosts and portraits informed Dumbledore of his movements. That was why he liked his quarters so much. There were no portraits anywhere near that place and it had already been warded against ghosts as all of staff’s personal rooms were designed to be private. Here in the library he was under constant scrutiny and could do nothing about it.

He was in the process of reading about goblins when light steps alerted him to someone approaching him. He closed his eyes and took a long sniff, recognizing the basic scent of Luna and also the jumble of emotions she was these days. The girl’s father had died in the spring after getting hit by an unknown curse in the battle against Voldemort and there had been nothing the St. Mungos had been able to do except prolong his life by a couple of months. Harry had only found out when the Quibbler printed an obituary and at that point he’d been busy with his own life.

“Hi Luna,” he called out as the girl appeared from between the shelves. He smiled as he saw the weird feather-bottle cap necklace and the different paired knee socks. The girl was definitely in a league of her own.

“Oh, hi Harry. I was looking for my other left shoe. The Nargles seem to have hidden it once again.”

Such loneliness and apathy accompanied the statement that Harry’s brows shot up. Luna was suffering in silence but her mask was perfect and there was not a single outward sign of her pain. He wanted to get up and hug her. Then he thought what the hell and did just that.

From closer on Luna smelled like daffodils and bubblegum and Harry inhaled deep his nose buried in the girl’s blond hair. She was surprised by his hug, he could tell, but soon returned the gesture. When Harry showed no sign of letting go, confusion became more prominent in the jumble he was sensing and when he picked her up and settled her across his lap as he sat back down it turned into gentle appreciation.

“I’m sure the shoe will find its way back to you,” he said and was glad that the wolf settled down and paused the whining so that he could concentrate on the girl in need of comforting.

“It usually does. It is kind of weird though. They didn’t last year care for my things but this year I’ve already had to search for my tie and socks as well. At least Wackspurts seem to have left you alone for now.” She tilted her head. “Maybe it’s because of your change. You faced Voldemort and out of respect they are giving you time to be in peace.”

“I’m sure. My brain hasn’t been fuzzy in a while though there has been a lot of growling and whining...” The wolf yipped in indignation.

“Oh.” Luna seemed to contemplate his words and shifted to better position. Harry was casually keeping her in place with other arm around her waist and the other on her thigh and she’d slung her left arm around his neck. He had to bite his cheek when the girl’s squirming turned the flow of his blood downwards. “Father did have theory of wolf spirits haunting their descendants. Do Potters have wolf ancestry?”

Harry laughed and was gratified to feel Luna slowly calming down even if the mentioning of her father had brought such a bang of pain that Harry had stop himself from rubbing his chest. He quickly sobered. “I am sorry I never met your father. His articles were interesting.”

He hated to feel the pain in the girl that had come with him to the Department of Mysteries and been his friend for so long. How could he have assumed Luna too would regard him with disdain after last year? She was nothing like the Weasleys and Granger.

“Daddy would have loved to meet you.”

“I’d like to go with you to his grave. You can introduce us?” Harry tried to coax a smile out of the girl and this just did it. Luna graced with a gentle smile and hugged him tight.

“Thanks Harry.”

“And I’m sorry I haven’t talked to you.” Harry sighed. “I got caught up in figuring out my life – not that it’s an excuse – and this thing with Granger and Weasley...”

Luna grew solemn and looked at him seriously. “You are not friends anymore? I noticed you don’t spend any time with each other and you haven’t been sleeping in the Gryffindor tower. I’ve never before had friends fighting with each other. Not that I’ve had even friends before.”

Again with the brutal honesty. Harry hid his wince and gently kissed Luna’s cheek. He wasn’t flirting, he was comforting, but it wasn’t his fault some flirting techniques definitely worked in this kind of situation. “I am your friend. I won’t ever again assume that you also turn on me when everyone else does.”

Luna was positively bewildered and Harry looked away to hide the smile that was threatening to break through his mask. At least with the empathy he gained higher understanding of people and it was relieving to know that Luna too was just a human despite all her oddities.

The bell rang for dinner and they jumped at the sound. Harry hadn’t realized the time and when Luna got up he let her go. The girl smiled at him and hesitated. “Do you want to eat with me?” she asked surprisingly shyly.

“Sure.” Harry quickly took his bag and sent the books flying back to the shelves. He and Luna made their way to the Great Hall talking about classes. She had done quite well in her OWLs despite the circumstances and was taking Charms, Care of Magical Creatures, Ancient Runes and Astronomy. She loved CoMC and kept talking about the unicorns they were starting to study. There apparently were no unicorns in Ottery St. Catchpole where she lived.

Sitting in the Ravenclaw table Harry felt many eyes on himself and the wolf was starting the growling again. His annoyance was affecting the animal and he wanted to howl his supremacy for all to hear and witness. Need not say, Harry tried his best to pay attention to Luna but it was becoming exceedingly difficult the closer it got to the sunset.

Luna seemed to notice and Harry hurried to reassure her. “It’s not you. It’s the... I’ll be fine in a couple of days.”

“Do you need to go?” she asked and Harry was glad to take the way out. He was starting to feel claustrophobic. He saw Snape watching him as he made his way out of the Great Hall but didn’t waste another thought on the git. It hadn’t been this intense a month ago but then again he’d been in his own house then and alone. He was the only werewolf in the castle and this was his territory but there were so many unknown factors with hundreds of young humans involved. He ended up in his quarters pacing around and when he threw the table against the wall in a mighty crash that sent splinters flying all around he knew he had to get to the room in the dungeons as quickly as possible.

Unfortunately the night had already fallen and Harry’s route to the dungeons took him by the windows. The light of the moon touched his face and Harry froze. Unlike with vampire and sunlight, this touch did not burn. It was like caress that freed something inside of him and the wizard felt the transformation bubble out knowing he was only minutes from changing. His arms were already starting to ripple when he Banished his clothes to the nearest broom closet and threw his wand in after them. Then he waited dressed only in his skin as the wolf washed over his mind, overthrowing the human momentarily. His bones reformed and spine twisted, his face erupted into a snout and the pain had him whimpering. Harry wanted to howl out his agony into the night but with the last shred of his humanity held onto his silence. Black fur grew to cover him – a shining coat in the silver light of the full moon – and he knew he was invincible.

The wolf and human were one and together they pushed open the window and jumped outside. They landed on the ground in a crouch and sniffed, taking in the surroundings. It was quiet on the grounds but the night was full of smells. They smelled the different creatures invading their territory but only because they allowed it. This was their area, here they were the rulers. But they could feel the forest summoning them and their brothers and sisters were already calling out to their mother on the sky.

Nothing stopped them from starting to run, the strong paws pounding against soft grass, and as soon as they reached the cover of the forest and mighty howl erupted from them. The forest grew silent as the newcomer announced his power but soon other nightly noises joined him.

Harry felt himself gain control the longer they were in the forest. The wolf was content but then again Harry was fully indulging in his instincts and running on the wet floor of the forest. The air smelled of autumn but Harry was not cold. He ran in the moon light chasing pixies and doxies that showed their faces from time to time. He smelled centaurs but left them alone knowing even he might not survive that encounter unscathed.

Some stupid rabbit had been a fool to choose a bad hiding place and Harry caught it easily by surprise. He was fast and the trees blurred around him as he ran. The rabbit never had a chance. He fed on the flesh and the vampire stirred in the background as the smell of blood permeated the air but the wolf was quick to growl the creature of darkness into submission. This night belonged to it and no other creature was going to steal it even if they were forced to share the same body.

Harry was almost amused.

His head snapped up at the humane scream that tore into the night air and he howled to find the location. Three separate yowls answered him and Harry broke into a run towards south where three of his brethren had cornered a prey. When he got there he knew why the scream had sounded so familiar.

Of all the people Malfoy was huddled against the roots of a tree while four werewolves fought over the right to have the first bite. A sniff told Harry that these were all under the effect of the Wolfsbane but that it had been of bad quality and the humans were losing control. Maybe it was something about this moon. It was much stronger than the earlier had been.

Malfoy reeked of fear and he was shaking uncontrollably against the tree. Harry could actually hear the clatter of his teeth from his spot and over the noises of the fighting werewolves. This was not a clearing in itself, just a spot where the trees were growing loosely, and Harry easily went around the four fighting and growling werewolves to take a closer look at his school nemesis. Surprisingly the blonde was still conscious and squeaked in fright when Harry entered his line of sight. He tried to scramble away but Harry gave out an annoyed growl. The boy froze.

Harry lowered his head keeping his eyes locked with Malfoy’s stormy grey ones and smelled his leg. Bad. Malfoy had been bitten. From Harry’s chest a dangerous rumble erupted and finally the four realized another had arrived and this one was too close to the prey. Immediately the four banded together and started snapping their jaws, growling and yipping. Harry looked them over calmly and growled, a protective note in the mighty noise. But the four were too far into their animalistic selves to heed the warning and the wolfsbane had mixed their senses as normally any animal would have known not to stand up against Harry, especially when he was in wolf form.

Like with Snape the world seemed to slow down while Harry stayed normal. If wolves could have smirked, a bystander would have seen a mighty smirk on the black wolf’s lips as it tensed its hind legs and bounced on the other four.

They never had a chance against a hybrid werewolf with vampiric speed.

Harry was careful not to kill any of the wolves but he sent two barrelling against a tree and snapped the legs of the two others. He was in a protective crouch in front of Malfoy before the attackers even started whining and whimpering from pain. He growled warningly and the wolves started dragging their damaged bodies away from him. He did not move a muscle until they were out of sight. Then he turned his head to regard Malfoy.

The blonde was staring at him in terror and shaking uncontrollably. Harry took a step closer and the shaking grew to the point it looked like the wizard was convulsing. His left leg was covered in blood and Harry wanted to do something about it. But why should he bother? This was Malfoy, the brat deserved everything he got.

No one deserves to become a werewolf, a small voice said at the back of his mind.

Well Harry sure as hell wasn’t showing subservience to the brat, of that he and the wolf were of same mind.

An idea brewing, Harry sniffed the air and immediately knew they were not far off from a stream. Now the only problem was how to get Malfoy there. The blonde was starting to calm a little when Harry hadn’t moved at all for minutes but he was still terrified. For Harry the forest was bright and welcoming but he knew that Malfoy only saw darkness and possible dangers.

“Y-yo-u-u h-h-hav-v-ve t-tt-tak-taken-n Wolfs-wolfsbane?”

At least the blonde had got enough wits together to understand he wasn’t acting like the others had. Harry nodded knowing in his current state it’d be impossible to explain his situation. The wolf growled at the back of his mind at the mention of the potion meant to restrict it.

“C-can y-you take m-me to Hogwarts?”

Harry nodded again and the blonde attempted to stand up. His left leg wasn’t holding at all but Harry kept his distance knowing Malfoy was hardly in a position to understand an offer of help from a big black wolf even if he had remembered Wolfsbane. A quick search produced a thick branch and he took it to the pale wizard wagging his tail.

“T-thank you.”

Harry bounced to left and turned to look expectantly behind him. With slow steps and grimacing all the time Malfoy made to follow him. They travelled thus for nearly a quarter of a mile when they finally reached the stream and in Harry’s opinion not a moment too soon. The wolf was becoming anxious at the slow travel. It was meant to run free and fast and they were doing this for a person who wasn’t even pack. Harry knew he should probably give the reins to the wolf for the rest of the night just to placate it. As soon as they got the brat out of here.

“I can’t get across,” Malfoy complained standing at the bank of the six and half feet wide and a foot deep stream. Harry rolled his eyes and playfully bounced on the brat. Screaming the boy fell into the stream and started splashing around as if he was in danger of drowning. Harry stepped on top of him and to stop him from moving growled. The blonde quieted immediately.

Ignoring the questions and whimpering Harry inspected the bite marks on Malfoy’s leg. They were still steadily bleeding and colouring the water crimson. Whichever of those werewolves had done this had gotten a good hold. Still ignoring Malfoy’s shouts Harry started licking the wounds and cleaning them. He let the water wash away the blood and saliva when he was done and sniffed again. Malfoy was still going to be a werewolf.

Can we infect? Can we make others like us? he asked silently but the wolf didn’t know. With nothing to lose Harry searched for the vampire inside him and felt his canines lengthening and sharpening even more from before. Making sure Malfoy couldn’t move under his body weight the vampiric werewolf sunk his teeth into the already ripped flesh on the wizard’s calf.

The taste was incredible. A dozen times better than Snape and it was already being affected by the werewolf virus and Harry’s werewolf form. Another plus was that Harry was in control and he could genuinely enjoy feeding off of someone as hot as Malfoy instead of Snape. He continued drinking until he no longer could taste the faint trace of the virus in the boy’s blood and then stopped, licking the wounds closed. He tried to tap into his magic to send healing energy into his rival and asked his own magic to override the magic of Malfoy’s attacker.

He did not know how successful he was – only time would tell – but when he looked behind him he found Malfoy staring at him in horror. “You turned me!” he shouted accusingly and Harry moved off him and let the boy see a very disturbing sight of a wolf rolling its eyes. The blonde’s eyes bulged out, but when he scrambled up and realized his leg wasn’t hurting anymore he seemed to calm down significantly. He was so deep in thought that Harry had to snap his jaws to get the brat’s attention. The wolf gently took a hold of the terrified boy’s sleeve while he was distracted and started leading him towards Hogwarts and safety.

It took an hour for Harry to get Malfoy on the school grounds. The blonde jumped at every sound and it didn’t help that many creatures inhabiting the forest gathered to follow them. Harry wanted to growl at them to leave them alone but couldn’t without scaring Malfoy. He didn’t know how much the brat could take before he snapped and Harry didn’t want to be anywhere near when that happened. At some point the brat started to mumble about his wand and pulled in another direction but Harry didn’t allow him to leave. The wizard in wolf form lost count how many times his companion stumbled and fell and soon the pale hands were covered in scratches and if Harry knew Malfoy at all his current robes would be burned instead of cleaned.

Malfoy seemed to be in shock and Harry had to escort the boy all the way to the Great Doors. The wizard wasn’t reacting to anything and Harry sat on his haunches wondering what to do. He could go and get Hagrid... Shouldn’t the wards inform someone if a Dark creature entered the grounds? He let his tongue loll out and watched as the boy stared into nothingness. This was worrying but Harry didn’t want to be the one to snap the brat out of his shock.

The wolf was circling in his mind. They both wanted to be in the forest and the animal didn’t want anything to do with this. Harry happened to agree with it on that. He backed away slowly and rose to his hind legs letting out the loudest howl he could. He could actually hear people screaming inside the old castle and lights came on in Hagrid’s hut and on many windows casting light on the grounds. Harry turned and ran.

oooOOOooo

The rest of the night passed calmly. He let the wolf take control and sat in the back of his mind. When the day started to break Harry went to retrieve Malfoy’s wand before returning to the grounds. He turned human and transfigured some clothes for himself from leaves, only ending up in a white tee and shapeless trousers because the wand wasn’t working properly for him. At least he got clothes.

It seemed the entire school was awake even though it was only after six. Teachers and prefects were patrolling and Harry travelled through the shadows hiding and evading. Malfoy’s blood had his vampiric side excited and his vampiric powers at their strongest. He didn’t know exactly how he did it but he seemed to melt into the shadows whenever he needed to hide. The first time he was sure MacMillan would see him and demand what he was doing out of dorm barefoot but the boy just walked past him without seeing anything. He got to the broom closet and discarded the makeshift clothes happily.

The wizard twirled the blackthorn wand in his hand on his way to his quarters. He’d have to give it back and soon. Merlin only knew how much he’d be panicking if he’d lost his wand. If Malfoy was panicking about his wand on top of the fear of becoming a werewolf it was no wonder the brat had gone into shock. But he hardly could go to the Infirmary now that it was probably milling with curious students.

Harry spent the morning in the Room of Requirement stretching his aching muscles. The transformation had again been painful and he wished the werewolf magic would allow him to just phase into the wolf form. Then he wouldn’t even have to worry about clothing because little concentration and his shapeshifter magics kept the clothes with him even if he wasn’t wearing them in animal form. No unnecessary worrying about appearing naked and wandless when he turned human. It was a serious disadvantage and one he had no control over.

But he could prepare himself. This moon had caught him off guard but at least he had kept his mind completely even if the others hadn’t. He ended up reading a book on moon phases but didn’t find anything that explained the moon’s strong effect. Perhaps it had just been the unfamiliar environment. And last month he had shut himself into the cellar of his house and hadn’t taken any chances on any of the three nights. Perhaps even he couldn’t escape the call of the moon if he allowed himself hear and see it.

The wolf inside him was again anxiously pacing and waiting for the moon to rise. Harry had already decided to run in the night instead of shutting himself in the room even if it meant all that work to reinforce the room in the dungeons would be wasted. Maybe he could use it for something else... Or maybe it could be a safety precaution for future incidents. Who knew what those unknowns could do to him. If he found out a way to unlock his different creature heritages.

Apparently werewolf, vampire and therianthrope had been so easy to recognize because of their strong basic instincts. Werewolves of course had to turn during full moon and vampires lived on blood. Harry had no explanation why the therianthrope had taken control of him when he’d wanted to get away from Regan on his birthday. Perhaps it could have any of the other five but their natures had probably clashed. So far he hadn’t found any evidence that dryads and amors looked anything but human and incubus and siren would not have been what he needed at that moment. Remembering a sketch of an attacking siren Harry shuddered and hoped he wouldn’t become like them in the future. They looked even worse than enraged veela.

Actually according to one his books veela had come to existence when incubi and succubi bred with sirens.

Harry sighed and asked the Room for a shower and only inside realised that his mouth was still bloody from eating the rabbit and drinking from Malfoy when the water turned red. He washed himself thoroughly and with the perfect opportunity jerked himself off. He noticed with a bit of shock that he had grown again and as he worked on himself his erection swelled into a size he hadn’t definitely been on Sunday when he’d last done this. Incubi were famous for their size and some texts claimed their erections to be cool to touch but Harry couldn’t feel any difference in temperature – though the sudden change made it feel like he was working on someone else. Only the touch he himself was feeling told him otherwise. Was it the knowledge of his Incubus inheritance that was affecting him or was the sexual creature also starving in his abstinence? Shit, he couldn’t know. It could even be both.

Satisfied, ready and refreshed the young man stepped out of the shower water droplets still shining on his skin. The Room provided him with soft towels and he was in the process of drying himself off and contemplating on unlocking his incubus self when the door bounced open and exited voices cut off in shock.

Why me? For once couldn’t it be someone else? Harry asked the silence and calmly wrapped the towel around his hips before turning to look at the students disturbing his peace. He cursed his luck under his breath.

Granger was beet red and staring at the floor in discomfort and, yes, lust. Harry felt smug knowing even she could now fall for his lure. He might have actually taken advantage of the situation if he hadn’t been for the presence of one angered Weasley. Though it would have been fun to have one over Hermione, it wasn’t worth facing Ron.

“Give me five minutes and you can get the Room.” He turned and grasped his wand. Of course it wasn’t going to be that easy.

“Harry!” Hermione squeaked. “What are you doing?”

“Taking a shower, what does it look like?” Unable to resist the temptation he let the towel pool around his legs and put on the dragonhide pants without bothering with undergarments. He shook his head causing water drops fly in every direction and ran his hands through his hair making it stick wildly in every direction. Two very choke-like sounds followed his performance.

“What are you doing!?” Weasley demanded angrily and Harry looked up, a picture of innocence. Hermione looked mortified but it was nothing compared to how she was feeling. Her emotions were an interesting mix of shame, confusion, awe, mortification and lust, the latter being most prominent. Even Weasley was being affected by his changed looks and that seemed to be the source of his anger. Harry rolled in laughter on the inside but couldn’t help wondering at how easily he’d turned his back on the two. A week ago he’d been wanting to still come clean to them and wanted their help but now he enjoying the freedom and independence and did not care at all what they thought of him.

His amusement still high the brunette stepped into his shoes and gathered his other clothes and belongings. “All yours. Remember to lock the door.”

There was a definite bounce on the wizard’s step as he left and only paused on the sixth floor to throw the school robe over his naked torso. It was lunchtime and apparently the Golden Duo had wanted to use the break for a quickie. Knowing Weasley he would probably spent the time now raging and raving at everything and the thought of denying Ron his pleasure raised a smirk on Harry’s lips as he walked the empty hallways. He was still in high spirits when he entered the Infirmary though the antiseptic smells tickled his more sensitive nose. The wolf couldn’t wait to be away from here. Only that Malfoy wasn’t alone as he’d thought. Snape was there, and Harry sobered immediately and the wolf sprang into attention at the possible threat.

“Mr Potter, ten points for whatever it is that has caused you to come to the Infirmary.”

Snape was sitting in a chair next to the bed where Malfoy was resting. By the steady rise and fall of the blonde’s chest Harry knew the boy was asleep, and Madam Pompfrey was nowhere to be seen. Additionally, Snape’s hand had instantly flown to his wand with Harry’s entrance.

Slowly, so as not to aggravate the man anymore, the young wizard reached into his robes and drew the blackthorn wand out. Snape’s eyes widened ever so slightly as recognition settled in and he swiftly caught the wand as Harry threw it in his direction.

“He was lucky I couldn’t resist the call of the moon. The others would have definitely eaten him. And do teach him not to let go of his wand.” His last berating words came out almost as a hiss. Snape regarded him calmly.

“How do I know you are not the one responsible for his attack? You and Mr Malfoy are hardly on the best grounds.”

“I told you, I don’t lose my mind. And ask him when he wakes. I was the black wolf that saved him.”

His good mood completely ruined, the adolescent wizard left the Infirmary and completely missed the appreciative look his departure received from the Potions Master.

In comparison the rest of the full moon period passed in peace. Harry did spend the both remaining nights in the forest and let the wolf lead. At school everyone was high-strung about Malfoy’s attack and the Slytherins were sprouting anti-werewolf agenda for anyone willing to listen and that included about everyone. Harry wanted to strangle some people, especially Parkinson because she was more concerned with milking the attention than she was actually about Malfoy.

On Thursday morning the entire school seemed to sigh in relief when Dumbledore announced Draco Malfoy was awake and recovering. No werewolf had come forward and confessed to attacking him but nobody really expected that. Harry was just glad it all over with and he didn’t have to walk on his toes around everyone because their subject of talk had him almost growling. But when Aurors and Ministry officials arrived in the afternoon Harry grew worried.

“I heard one of the Aurors say they needed to comb through the forest to find the fifth wolf. Something about it being special.”

“No one’s saying anything about what happened to him. But what is the Ministry doing here?”

That was what had Harry extremely worried. He grew so anxious that after Potions double – where he had been the only one along with Granger to actually finish their potion – the adolescent wizard threw his invisibility cloak over his shoulders and made good use of his knowledge of the castle’s secret passageways. No one paid attention as the wall slid open in Pomfrey’s office and Harry snuck into the main room.

It was cacophony of noises in the room and should he have been in his wolf form his ears would have been pressed tightly against his skull. Malfoy was insisting on something, Snape was slashing at the Aurors and the Ministry officials were trying to do their best to control the situation. At some point Scrimgeour had also arrived and was speaking with Dumbledore in the corner. Pomfrey was consulting with another Healer.

The situation could have been comical had Harry not been so anxious to find out what had the officials so nervous. Carefully he walked closer to Dumbledore and Scrimgeour, and hid behind a curtain to avoid detection by Dumbledore’s spectacles.

“The public is going to want answers, Headmaster. Do you expect me to give them nothing?”

“Ah, but there is nothing to give. Mr Malfoy is fine. Are you certain you do not want a lemon drop?”

“No thank you.” There was a strain in Scrimgeour’s voice and Harry deduced he’d been trying to get a clear answer out of Dumbledore for a quite while already. He felt for the man because juggling around Dumbledore was one of the most tiring things he’d had to do in the past. “Mr Malfoy was attacked and as the Head of the Malfoy family he carries a lot of influence. The public need to know we are safe even with Voldemort still out there. I must insist on installing Auror guards around the school.”

”Mr Malfoy was not attacked on school grounds. If you read through Auror Shacklebolt’s report you will find he was returning from Three Broomsticks where he’d arrived via floo from visiting his mother.”

”Yes, I am quite aware. It does not change the fact that should there been guards they could have come to his aid. Now it was through pure luck that a Wolfsbane administered werewolf was there and willing to help. You must realize the chances of that happening again.”

Harry drifted away when it seemed the discussion would escalate into a full debate where the Minister would do everything in his power to reinforce his influence in the school and Dumbledore would fight it off. The Boy-Who-Lived would be happy if he never again had to speak to a politician but it was unlikely.

Popfrey and the Healer seemed to be excited that none of their scans showed any sign of the virus and Malfoy kept on insisting he had been bitten but that the wolf had healed him. He seemed to realise his efforts to make everyone listen were futile and quieted down to fume in silence as Harry watched from beside the wall. He had recovered from the shock but still looked tired and this noise level was doing nothing to ease him. Then Harry had to wonder why he was worrying about the Slythering prince. Yes, the blonde tasted delicious and was one of the hottest people in the castle but Harry did not choose his partners just based on that. His summer affairs had all been one-nightstands with Muggles, both male and female though his dominant nature had led him to favour women. It was easier when there didn’t first have to be a ten minute debate about positioning that Harry won – with the use of magic or without.

While the arguments raged around him Harry observed Malfoy and considered. He’d spent the entire May trying to find Voldemort and finally given up when he the vague feeling he had of the Dark Lord’s location disappeared as soon as he got within fifty miles. Besides, Moldyvoldy only had Bella and Wormtail with him anymore and he wasn’t even in the country. The battle had nearly destroyed him and it would take some drastic measures for Voldemort to rise again and even then he no longer had the ability to make more Horcruxes.

The dead had ensured that.

But Lucius Malfoy had fallen to Killing Curse in the heat of the battle and Draco had become the Head of the family on his birthday. The final battle had been the last time Harry had seen his rival before meeting him on the train two weeks ago and the brat had matured during summer. Not only had he grown physically but his eyes told everyone that they were facing an adult instead of the spoiled rich kid the boy had been before losing his father.

Had the blonde’s personality been any different Harry might have seriously considered seducing him but he doubted he could stand the brat for long. They had too much history and obliviation was not a possibility in his case. Besides, Harry could always find someone willing in London, especially now after his birthday.

Merlin, was it the vampire or the incubus igniting these kinds of thoughts?

He listened until Pomfrey descended from her excitement and realized her patient needed her and emptied the room. Only Snape was allowed to stay and that only because even Pomfrey did not dare to stand up to his chilling stare. Harry waited as people filed out and only when Pomfrey had administered Dreamless Sleep for Malfoy and ventured to her office did he emerge from beneath his cloak.

“Snape.”

The man whipped around and Harry found himself being held at wandpoint. Again.

“This is getting kind of repetitive, Professor.” Harry ducked under the wand and shifted to the opposite side of the bed and bent over, sniffing Malfoy profoundly.

“What are you doing?!”

Harry straightened his back and pinned down the ex-spy with his serious gaze. “I am checking if he’s infected. I can’t smell any wolf in him so it means I managed to reverse the infection. Do you think I’d go through the trouble of dragging his sorry ass to a stream and curing him only to let these Ministry imbeciles undo my work?”

Snape seemed to recoil and Harry basked in the knowledge that he’d managed to get beneath the man’s skin. “He was really bitten?” the Potions Master asked in a subdued voice that Harry had never before heard him use.

“Yes. When I heard his scream there were four fighting over the right to eat him.” In sleep Malfoy looked younger and it was disconcerting not to sense any emotions from him. Harry knew it was because of the potion but it oddly made him feel like the blonde was dead – not a pleasant feeling to have. “I drove the others away,” he continued the story. “Amazingly Malfoy realized I was in control and followed me. I cleaned him, drank the infected blood and healed the wounds. I wasn’t sure if it worked.”

“That’s all you did?” This was professional interest, Harry could tell. Should Snape discover the cure for lycanthropy he’d become famous and rich and he’d be recognized. Something Harry had learned the man thirsted for.

“I might have somehow overridden the infection’s magic with my own but I can’t explain it any better than that. It shouldn’t have any effect on him.”

“And how would you know?” There it was, the biting tone Harry had been expecting.

“I have studied. I didn’t beat Voldemort last time with luck only. It took some sacrifices and I didn’t do those without knowing exactly what I was getting myself into.” He listened for Malfoy’s pulse and found it unnaturally slow, a side-effect of the Dreamless Sleep potion. The brunette sighed and ran a hand through his hair. It was getting long and there was a tangle forming but there wasn’t a single person around he’d trust with scissors near his head.

“Did they ask about the wand?”

“You do not need to know, Mr Potter. I suggest you leave.”

“You aren’t at all curious? About me being a vampire, a werewolf?”

Snape was silent but when he took a seat Harry followed suit and sat down on an available chair casting privacy and proximity wards. He didn’t want to be overheard.

“I assume this has something to do with your heritage? That is how you came to be a...”

Harry nodded. And then for the sake of old times he had to add, “This doesn’t mean I suddenly begin to trust you. You simply can’t tell anyone my secrets and I could use a second opinion.” Harry felt the ire rising in the man and started on his explanation before the Potions Master could explode. “I turned into a wolf after midnight on my birthday. I discovered my vampiric traits when I attacked a Muggle who’s living with me.” He hesitated but since Snape couldn’t tell anyone and he really wanted some second opinions... “And I’m an empath.”

Snape jerked in surprise but his face showed no change. Harry felt the man’s emotions become more distant but did not disappear.

“I can still feel them – Occlumency seems to be of little use against my ability. I can feel you trying to hide them but no human can stop themselves from feeling anything. I still know that you’re angry at me, terrified, worried, anxious and uncomfortable.” The young man smiled. “Also you seem to love Malfoy. For whatever reasons... I do not know.

“But I checked this all with a blood heritage detection potion. I’m not showing the complete list to anyone, no matter how sure I’d be of their silence. The Vampire and Werewolf have me the most worried because-“

“Potter, no studying in the world would make it possible for you to brew that potion. The some of the ingredients are extremely rare, one of them being hellhound blood... and...” He seemed to remember what Harry’d been doing when he was waking up. “No matter what you do to try to convince me I do not believe you to be capable of that.”

“Believe what you want. I’m still not telling you. But I got a theory about how I became like this. Want to hear?”

Snape graced him with a chilling glare. “I doubt I can avoid it.”

“So... I think the Killing Curse I bounded back to Voldemort unlocked some of my heritages that normally wouldn’t have surfaced. Many old families have at least one magical creature in their ancestry. I’m pretty sure Blacks and Malfoys have veela blood. Because Voldemort was a parselmouth that ability activated immediately. Everything else I got when I came of age. I also carry many recessive genes but for whatever reason some of my genes were stronger and now I’m some kind of a hybrid. What do you think?”

The man considered. Malfoy turned in his sleep, his face now towards Harry. The brunette glanced at him and licked his lips unconsciously but turned back to Snape when the older man answered, “It is a plausible theory and the only one you have, I assume. Parseltongue, empathy and vampirism are all hereditary but it is extremely rare for lycanthropy to pass unto descendants. I believe there are only fifteen recorded cases in history.” He paused. “How did you know what to do with Draco?”

Keeping in mind this was a distraught godfather he was speaking to, Harry replied civilly, “I didn’t. I smelled he wasn’t completely infected and the blood flow from the wounds had been constant. It didn’t cost me but it could save him. And whatever you might think, I do not have a hero-complex. I just do what I can and at that moment I could help him.”

“He owes you a debt now.” Snape was expecting some kind of reaction and Harry looked at him. Sometimes the empathy simply confused him more instead of helping.

“I suppose he does...” Harry thought it over in silence only broke by the blonde’s steady breathing. “But so do many others. I saved Ginny from the Chamber and Pettigrew from Lupin and Sirius.” Harry ignored the sneer on Snape’s face at the mention of his godfather. Thinking about Sirius still brought him painful memories. “Not to mention last year. I suppose adding Malfoy to the list doesn’t matter because I’m not going to cash them in. Except Pettigrew. The rat dies the moment I lay my eyes on him.”

Silence fell into the Infirmary and finally Harry got up and brushed his clothes. “I better go find out if the Minister got his way. I doubt it but Scrimgeour holds promise. At least he isn’t so awed by Dumbledore that lets the old coot to tell him how to do his job.”

Snape did not answer as Harry vanished beneath his cloak and left to find out about the situation.

He couldn’t get anywhere close to the visitors because everyone in the school seemed to be intent on discovering the reason behind the sudden Ministry overtake of the castle. Harry paused in front of a window and watched in amusement how a steady stream of owls kept leaving from the Owlery and he reminded himself to pay another visit to Hedwig. He did see her during the breakfast but she deserved better than a few pets every morning, especially when Harry had the ability to even fly with her.

The rumours regarding the Ministry workers kept flying even faster than the owls could depart but it was impossible to find anything for certain. Harry tried to talk to Shacklebolt but the big dark skinned man dismissed him with a wave of his hand and Tonks hadn’t been part of the teams sent to Hogwarts. Completely fed up with everything Harry retreated to the library. The silence and familiar smell of books soothed his emotions and he calmed down enough to actually concentrate on reading.

Coincidentally the first book he picked was about Astronomy and Harry settled with it thinking at least he could use the knowledge to show interest in Luna’s school subjects. He had read maybe twenty pages when nervous jumbles of emotion distracted him and he looked up to see four of Gryffindor first years. Someone out there just had to hate him.

“Uh... Sorry, sir, but could you help us with our homework?”

Isn’t that Granger’s job? Harry nearly asked but held his tongue at the last second. The little ones were nervous to begin with and it wouldn’t do to go lashing out at them simply because he was having a hard week. The firsties had apparently decided he was approachable and it wasn’t like he had anything better to do with his free time. Except research whether or not he was turning into monster and designing the warding for Grimmauld Place and preparing for the next rite and...

“Sure, have a seat.” The four kids sat down and took out their DADA books and writing equipment. Harry held back a smirk, of course it was Snape’s subject they needed help with. The man expected everyone to be a genius.

“Now, what don’t you understand?”

The kids were named Keisha, Max, Kevin and Robin and they were all muggleborns, Keisha and Robin actually coming from the same orphanage. Harry ended up doing all of their homework with them and explaining some future topics and they listened with rapt attention to everything he said. From homework the discussion turned to Hogwarts and magic in general and Harry recognized himself in all of the kids. They were so eager to learn and knew nothing of the prejudice against muggleborns. They just loved magic and were so exited Harry had to hush them a couple of times because Pince was shooting the group annoyed looks. The adolescent wizard felt himself relax for the first time in days. Children were so easy to be around with their straightforward feelings. And these children showed what they felt.

“Harry, what’s Necromancy?”

He hesitated and cast a privacy ward before answering. “Did someone put you up to this? Why do you want to know?”

Robin, who’d been the one to ask the question, looked at her friends but they didn’t come to her aid. She swallowed and continued like a good little Gryffindor. “The others were talking about newspapers and how you do something that’s called Necromancy and how it’s Dark...” She swallowed again. “And Dark is bad but you don’t seem like a bad person.”

Harry took a moment to gauge out their feelings but they seemed only genuinely curious, albeit slightly nervous. “I don’t practise Necromancy. It is an extremely Dark branch of magic that involves raising dead people to do your bidding.”

“You can bring people back from dead?” Keisha sounded hopeful and Harry knew why. She too had lost her parents.

“No, Keisha. Just their bodies, and there wouldn’t be a trace left of the people they were when alive. Seen any zombie movies? They’d be like that and they would rather try to eat you than hug you. I don’t know much about Necromancy except that Voldemort used it in the first war when the death count rose so high he had lots of bodies to... raise.”

Harry leaned back in his seat. “What I did was summon the spirits of those that had died because of Voldemort and ask them – nicely, mind you – if they would help me. It took six months and some refused while others tried to take control of my body. In the end I gathered enough allies that we were able to fight Voldemort.” He saw the looks on all their faces and shook his head. “No, I can’t do it again and no, I can’t summon individual spirits. Those people have died and they deserve their peace. I was only allowed to do that because so many of the spirits carried a grudge against Voldemort and I am tied to the Afterworld because of the Killing Curse I reflected on that Halloween.” He smiled. “I gave a long interview that was published in the Quibbler because Prophet was being very anti-Boy-Who-Lived due to me telling them that Voldemort still wasn’t dead. I can bring it to you if you’d like to read it. I think I’ve still got a few copies around.”

“I’d like to read it,” Max peeped up. “But it’s horrible that the paper can just do that. My parents say you must have faith in the Government and the Queen and they always read papers when they say that.” He nodded very self-importantly.

“But obviously they don’t want the bad guy to be alive so it’s like in those history stories where they always kill the messenger of bad news.” At the weird looks he was receiving Kevin continued defensively, “My Dad teaches ancient history in London.”

Harry sighed. “You’re going to learn that Wizarding society is pretty backwards when compared to the muggle society. Do you want to know why we have the International Statute of Secrecy? Because most pureblood witches and wizards are terrified of muggles. They outnumber us and should there be a war, we wouldn’t stand a chance.

“That’s why Voldemort was such a big problem. Muggles came very close to finding out about us and even his followers have second thoughts about revealing the existence of magical world. Voldemort alone might be able to survive through a war against muggles but his followers are just ordinary magical folk, no stronger or weaker than the rest. Now that he’s on the run the people want to think he’s gone for good and go back to their lives instead of preparing for the future. Voldemort is not going to just die without attempting to gain power once again. He’s addicted to power and he can’t live like the rest of us. To him life without power is no life at all.”

He was pretty surprised to notice none of the kids had flinched or shuddered at the mention of the feared name. Perhaps Voldemort was starting to lose his influence as someone who-must-be-hyphenated. Harry grinned inwardly.

They talked some more but it was getting late and the kids were starting to yawn. So Harry walked them back to the Gryffindor tower without a second thought. Only when the kids paused to let him go in first did he realize his mistake. He’d come and got his things last Friday and the only things he’d left behind in his trunk were broken quills and useless trinkets. Not that anyone knew that, besides the other seventh year Gryffindor boys.

There was a short pause in conversation and eyes turned to the entrance when Harry came through with the first years. He met the curious gazes with solemn eyes that had people blushing and turning away. The lust factor was definitely running high in the common room and Harry suspected it had something to do with Granger. It had been what? Seven hours? Granger should have learned in six years not to say anything to Lavender and Parvati if she wanted it to stay private.

“Hey Harry!” Colin, now in his sixth year, waved at him and Harry answered with a half-hearted smile. He said good night to the firsties and walked up to his old dorm room. It was empty and he took his time to look around. The place was a mess. When you put five teenage boys without direction in the same room one couldn’t expect the place to stay tidy. Harry had noticed even the house elves only cleaned the place once month and extensively only on holidays.

If there was something he missed, it was the view. Though Owlery was always there when he wanted to lose himself in the scenery it wasn’t the same. Since the first night when he’d sat here and looked over the lake Hogwarts had felt home and this dorm was part of that feeling. He didn’t like the fact he’d let Ron drive him away from here but it was the people that made home and these people did not bring him that feeling. These people did not trust him, did not believe him. They only had expectations but were not willing to listen to him, his opinions. Harry James Potter did not matter. The Boy-Who-Lived mattered. The Boy-Who-Lived was the saviour of the Wizarding world and sometimes it felt like he was a separate person from Harry James Potter.

Harry took one last look around the dorm, knowing he wouldn’t come back there if he could help it. He shrunk his trunk and pocketed it already concentrating on the image of the black owl he’d turned into when flying with Hedwig.

A minute later that same owl flew down the Gryffindor tower and towards Owlery where the human hoped his owl friend could make things better once again.
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Many A Mind And Blood