There is no black or white, or even shades of gray. There is only difference in opinion. Vampire!Harry, Timetravel, Dark themes, SLASH.
Tearing joy, hopeless hate.
Words abound, boundless fate.
Reach the edge, do not toil.
We cannot see within this coil.
Straight and fast,
Like the arrow.
Mind kept broad,
But eyes narrowed.
Do not stray, it takes too long
Before you know it
We will all be gone.
¤
Deep in the bowels of his fortress, the infamous Dark Lord was contemplating. His mind wasn't on the war he was leading, nor of his enemies, including the dark-haired Potter brat.
Instead, his mind was pondering over a small object in his hand. Lucius had just recently found it in his old Dark Arts artifacts left over form the first war, it had been in the same box that Voldemort's precious diary was placed in.
It was nothing but a small, simple ring of slightly tarnished silver, set with one pale moonstone, so tiny it seemed only a bump in the metalwork. Lucius had proudly presented it to him, along with several other items, but it had been the ring that held his rapture.
There was absolutely nothing magical about it, just a ring. No one but Lord Voldemort knew how treasured it truly was…
Such a deeply buried memory…loss…so much pain, it felt as if life was at an end…
In a sudden rage, Voldemort threw the ring forcefully across the room. It shattered a vase before clattering to a stop on the dungeon floor. He turned away, annoyed at indulging in such reminiscences.
He knew he'd be picking it up in a few minutes, anyway.
¤
Harry Potter paced restlessly about his room at nearly one o'clock in the morning. His hand clenched about a letter, delivered to him an hour ago by Fawkes. It was short and simple, and it made Harry's blood boil with barely suppressed anger.
My Dear Boy,
I can't tell you how sorry I am to say that after the events at the Ministry last year, it is no longer safe for you to leave the house. Voldemort can now attack you without fear of being discovered, and I am afraid that it is simply too dangerous to visit your friends or to transport you to Headquarters. Mrs. Weasley will fetch your supplies from Diagon Alley. A contingent of Aurors will be sent on Sept. 1st to take you to the train.
I will stress that you must not leave the house. The blood wards will only protect you as long as you reside near your dear Aunt. Also, if you receive any letters that are marked from Gringotts, burn them right away! They are cursed letters sent by Death Eaters, and can cause you great harm.
The Order looks forward to seeing you at school. Be cautious, and DO NOT LEAVE THE HOUSE.
Sincerely,
Albus Dumbledore
Harry finally stopped, trembling. There were so many thing wrong with the letter, Harry couldn't count them.
All summer he'd been getting letters from his friends, but they were all terse, with no information about the Order or how their lives were going, not even so much as a 'how are you?'Now he would get no chance for explanations.
He would have to stay in this blasted, accursed house the entire summer, with relatives that hated, overworked, and starved him as much as they dared after Moody's threat.
No leaving the house. No sunlight, no rain. No tiny amount of peace that even a small breath of fresh air could give him. Harry nearly sobbed in frustration. He choked it back though, his mind examining the rest of the letter.
Harry glanced over at another letter with several pages of parchment that lay upon his desk. It was already open, and bore the Gringotts Seal on the outside edge. He knew of it's contents already, having finished it moments before the other letter was delivered.
Dear Mister Potter,
You have been requested to attend the reading for the will of one Sirius Orion Black on the 20th of July. We of Gringotts staff have just been informed of his death, and he expressed the wish that it should be read as soon as possible. We send our deepest condolences for your loss.
Also, expressed in the will is the wish that, should he die, you be emancipated and declared of legal age immediately. Contained in this letter are the documents that will allow you to do so. Simply sign your name and the papers will be transported straight into Ministry and Gringotts files. If you have any questions please address any letters to me, and I will see them attended.
Much Sorrow and Regret,
Ragbloc, Manager of Gringotts Bank, Branch of Britain
Harry seethed. Dumbledore had known about Sirius' will and his emancipation, and was trying to keep it from him! That old codger!
Harry suddenly yelped as the paper he was holding caught on fire and he dropped it. 'Dammit! Vernon might smell it!' He quickly stamped it out, cursing his unintentional wandless magic. He'd found out a while ago that the Ministry couldn't sense wandless spells if they were small, and Dobby had only purposely made his levitation detectable.
Harry sighed and looked at the emancipation forms. If he signed them, he'd be going against Dumbledore's wishes. 'But how long has it been since I cared? And in addition I'll be a legal adult, so he won't be able to control me!'
He grabbed a spare quill from the desk and after reading them carefully, signed in his best handwriting. He was about to turn and give them to Hedwig when the parchments were suddenly enveloped in a soft white glow, then completely disappeared.
"Well, I guess that solves that…" he said to empty air. Harry sat on his bed quickly as he was struck by a sudden realization. "I'm an adult now. I can make my own decisions…" he whispered, wide-eyed.
'But what do I want to do?' he asked himself, 'What path do I want to take?' He already knew he didn't trust Dumbledore. The man had kept too many things from him for his 'protection', tried to smother him in cotton wool while at the same time sending Harry out to fight his battles.
Harry groaned. He even had the sneaking suspicion that the old man had been pilfering from his vault to supplement the Order funds, despite the amount of money he undoubtedly had from his Pureblood lineage and his research grants with Flamel.
Voldemort, his mind paused. The man fought to exterminate Muggles and Muggle-borns, while at the same time ignoring the possible consequences that would follow if he won. Harry could see it clearly, in his mind. Eventually, lines dwindling so that cousins married cousins, then siblings married siblings, followed by horrendous mutations and power overload as the magic within the children's blood grew to be too much.
'I cannot let that happen either.' he decided. 'Maybe…I could call on an old friend…Yes, that's it. I've made my decision!' He snatched a piece of parchment from his trunk (glad the Dursley's had at least allowed him his things) and wrote a few simple lines:
Noir,
I have decided. I accept your offer.
Aspen
Harry finished it with the nickname the other had given him, and smiled. He turned to his trusty owl with a sealed letter. He tied it to her leg, giving her a pat on the head. "Here, girl. Will you take this to Noir for me? You always know where he is." Harry crooned. Hedwig hooted an affirmative, nipping him affectionately before swooping out his open window.
He turned to his bed. 'Maybe I can finally get some rest.' He was asleep almost before his head hit the pillow, and his night was filled with dreams of silver rings that somehow managed to slip through carefully concealed Occlumency barriers.
¤
The abnormally tall man stared at the wand pointed directly in his face. He blinked and looked at it's holder.
"How do I know you're not just here to take me to Voldemort?" the holder questioned, resolutely staring him in the eyes. The man was impressed by the other once again. Few could stand to look into his eyes.
"Come now," he said lazily. "If I had wanted to harm you I would have done it when I first met you five years ago. Or the many chances I've had afterwards." He watched as the other weighed him in his mind, and ever so slowly the wand was dropped to his side.
"You're right."
Emerald green eyes lowered, and he could see them getting suspiciously shiny.
"I heard about what happened." he said quietly.
"Of course you did…the entire wizarding world did." said the other.
"I offer my sorrow. You are not used to those close to you dying."
The green-eyed boy half smiled. "Thank you, that means a lot, and…I've missed you, Noir."
Noir smiled, revealing pointed fangs, and swept the other into a hug.
"Only you would miss a thousand year old vampire geezer, Aspen." He said, breaking the solemn mood. "Do you still remember why I call you that?"
Aspen chuckled quietly as Noir released him. "You said the aspen is the noisiest of all trees, like me." he said quietly.
'Not so much anymore though...' Noir thought.
¤
That was last summer. Now Harry gazed up at the vampire standing in his bedroom, looking as if all the weight of the world was about to be lifted from his shoulders.
"You accepted my offer Aspen. Why?" the gold-eyed man whispered.
His eyes seemed to suck in any light that that entered them, as if hording it all to themselves.
"I…I need my own path now." Harry responded, then looked at the man standing over him. "And you said you wanted escape."
"And for good reason Aspen! Once you do this, there's no turning back. You will be stuck forever..." Noir hissed.
Harry glowered. "First you make the offer, and now you telling me not to do it!"
"Harry, I'm simply making sure this is what you truly want." Pained gold eyes stared down at him. "You will have no escape, none but the one I am taking now. And I ask you again, are you absolutely certain?" asked Noir, his now hard voice leaving no room for untruths.
"Yes." Harry answered simply. His mind was totally made up. The vampire he'd met when he was only ten and befriended stood silent for a moment, then sighed, brushing back dark red hair.
Finally, "Lie down." he said. "This will only hurt for a moment."
Harry obeyed, lying perfectly still upon his cot. The man stood over him, hesitating.
"Aspen." he whispered.
"Yes?"
"Goodbye."
Harry closed his eyes. "Goodbye, Noir."
The last thing he felt was two pinpricks of pain on his neck before there was a sudden whooshing sensation and the world fell away beneath him.
¤
When Harry came to, the first things he noticed were the blood potions in bottles on the table beside him. 'Noir told me about those.' he thought groggily. 'I drink them so I don't have to feed……Noir!' His entire body snapped up, nearly flinging him from the cot with the force of the motion. He scrambled over to a mirror to observe the changes he knew would be there.
He stared into the cracked mirror pane silently. It was confirmed. He was now a full-fledged vampire of the ancient race. The kind that could live under the Sun's cruel wrath.
The only way an ancient vampire could die was by passing his immortality, and his life, onto another. Noir had told him about waiting hundreds of years to find the right person, even passing over the Four Founders, until he'd found him. Harry Potter, merely a child at the time.
Harry stared at his changed appearance. He was no taller, but he'd knew he'd grow. He had slightly longer nails, which he knew should be hard enough to cut through steel if he cared to test it. A few dark, almost blood red streaks decorated the hair he'd allowed to grow to shoulder length over the summer. His skin was several shades paler than it'd been before, but not unhealthily so. He knew he would only start looking sick if he didn't feed for several weeks.
The most prominent sign of Noir's legacy left to him, however, were the golden eyes that stared from his face. 'These could cause problems.'
Harry closed his eyes and concentrated hard, then opened them and sighed when he saw that they'd returned to their normal emerald. He smiled grimly, revealing now pointed canines. 'Okay, no smiling then.'
His best friend was gone.
He leaned his scarred forehead against the cracked glass. "Goodbye, Noir." this time his voice broke.
Harry finally allowed himself to cry for his lost friend.
¤
A/N:
More about Noir will be explained later.
Noir Et Blanc- French for Black and White
This is yet another plot bunny that's come to bite me in the butt. I'm on a bunny binge and I can't concentrate on anything! This fic is yet another product of that, and I can't guarantee when my update will be. They could be anywhere from a day in between to a year or more.
Please review though, as it's very encouraging.