Author's Note: Hi, I'm Godlovesme, writer of many a story. And technically I should be writing the next chapters to my other stories, but unfortunately my Father has the laptop, which not only contains the next chapter to my series epic Calgary Goes to Hogwarts, but it also contains the vital works of Waking up in the Hotel, not to mention There's a First Time for Everything. Now normally I could just go downstairs and steal his laptop so I could finish these chapters, BUT my Father is in Calgary, which means that I have no way of getting them. Heh . . . not to mention the fact that we have no internet here in Vancouver. I mean, it will be coming soon, just not soon enough. So in the meantime, I will be writing a new story, and perhaps I will eventually finish the old ones. Ok I'll definitely finish the old ones, but only if you listen to the 'new' Disturbed CD. Thank you Thank you.
Now about this story. . . I don't really know what I have planned for this. I was just watching Bravehart all night and I haven't gotten any sleep. So if this story seems rather odd, it was because I was developing the plot while watching that particular movie. OOH. So without Further ado, I present to you . . .
Extra A/N: for kokoa. I praise you. I would have never caught that. HAHAHAH goes to show that I'm pretty bad at editing. Hahahaha.. that's cause I don't. Pfft bed in the Common Room. Good GOD!
THE DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter.
Now the story:
Savage
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'I was thinking about it, in fact I've been thinking about it for a while. I know it makes me different, I know they wont like it, but I must tell them. They are my family. I owe it to them for putting up with my nonsense after all these years,' Harry thought to himself while lying in his bed in the Gryffindor BOYS Room. It is currently the middle of Harry's seventh and final year at Hogwarts School for Witch Craft and Wizardry, and he was going through a crisis. A dreadful truth that could scar the wizarding world forever. People who looked up at Harry, because he was the one who finally put an end to Voldemort during the war of their sixth year, would look down upon him in disgust. What would they do if they found out? How would they take it? Perhaps they would just accept it, or perhaps not. There was no telling their reaction but the truth of the matter is: Harry Potter likes other men.
In a perfect world, that fact would mean nothing, but this is not a perfect world. This is a world where young boys are worshipped and famous because their parents died horrible deaths, this is a world where dark lords terrorized the earth with their nefarious plots. This is a world where sexual diversity is frowned upon. And nothing could change that. Unless there is a God, but would God let his own creation destroy itself? We don't know, but what we do know, is that if there is a God he isn't helping us make the world a perfect place. He isn't stopping the prejudice that goes on in the world. He let humans create words like Mudblood, or Faggot even.
'Is that what I am? A Faggot?' Harry thought glumly to himself as he stared up at the dark canopy of his bed. Pondering the way of the world is fine, but it isn't helping what had to happen. 'I have to tell them, I can't keep it a secret,'
He had finally figured out that he was not attracted to girls towards the beginning of his sixth year of Hogwarts. After having Cho Chang confuse and betray him, his feelings toward the general Female population changed. Sure he still loved Hermione to death, and he really liked Ginny, but he couldn't make himself feel 'that way' about anyone of that specific gender. Not that he started to like other males like himself at that time. No he realized his preference during the great war, the final defeat of Voldemort.
It was a gradual thing, a brief glimpse of a male torso in the boys shower room would make him tingle, a touch would put him into a brief shock. Eventually he began to analyze these feelings, and no matter how he tried to rearrange them, make sense of them, it all came back to one thing. Harry was gay.
'Today's the day you will tell all, you must be strong,' Harry sighed as he rolled out of bed, straight into the boxer clad Ron Weasley. They fell onto the bed in a jumble, Harry feeling extremely uncomfortable, and slightly pleased, and Ron feeling really pissed.
"Jesus Harry, are you trying to bloody steamroll me?" Ron snarled, extremely put out.
"Sorry Ron, I wasn't looking, I really didn't expect you to be up at this time," Harry blushed, trying to untangle himself from Ron.
"What? You think that I'm a lazy lug getting up at the time I do? You think I can't get up or something? Well go to hell Harry, I've been getting up early recently, not that you would even notice, they way you mope around all day. Well I've tried to help you out, I really have. But I've been getting tired of it. I'm not your little sidekick anymore Potter, I'm a wizard and I am perfectly able to take care of myself Thank you," Ron said as he roughly pushed Harry onto the floor and gathered his stuff up for his shower in the boys shower room.
"Listen Ron, I'm really sorry but I have something really important to tell you," Harry grabbed at Ron's shoulder pulling him around to face him.
"Is it about a Dark Lord of any kind?" Ron asked one eyebrow raised.
"No," Harry shook his head.
"Am I in any danger whatsoever?"
"No,"
"Is it about you?"
"Yes, it's – " Harry began.
"Then I don't care," Ron said dismissively, throwing Harry's hand off his shoulder and slamming the door on his way out.
"Wow, perhaps he already knows," Harry frowned at the slammed door, "I'll go talk to Hermione."
Harry quietly got ready for the day while his roommates slept on, they didn't have to be up for another hour or so. It was hard living in a room with them. It wasn't like he liked them in 'that' way, it just made it hard for him to function with them walking around wearing practically nothing. He tried his best not to stare, and he was sure that if he had been staring he had never been caught. He had managed to create a schedule in which he would be able to avoid seeing them in their room at all costs. He would go to bed extremely late, and wake up extremely early. Not that this did much good for his sleeping pattern, but if he could manage to hide what he was, then so be it. That is why it was such a surprise to find Ron up so early that morning. Sure he had been 'moping' but he definitely hadn't noticed Ron up early. What was his problem?
Harry shrugged as he made his way down to the common room where he was sure he would find Hermione. Luckily enough there she was sitting on one of the couches near the fire, hastily scribbling notes from a huge book on her left. Harry noticed that she seemed a little rushed, but she was probably doing something that would be due in the next month or so, surely it could wait? What he had to say was really very important. He was finally going to tell them.
"Hello Hermione, great morning isn't it?" Harry said cheerfully, trying to put on a brave face while he was trembling in his unmatched socks. This isn't going to be easy.
"Actually Harry it isn't such a great morning as you say, and what did you do to Ron? I just saw him storm pass me and out of the room mumbling something like 'I'm not his fool anymore.' You didn't have a disagreement did you? I really don't have the time to be mending your little squabbles, as I have much more important things on my mind. Anyways, I'm trying to get this finished, and as you can probably see I am quite rushed, so if you would just move along. . ." Hermione motioned for him to leave.
"But Hermione, I have something really important to tell you," Harry protested, backing away from her glare.
"Listen Harry, it can't be all that important, I mean the Dark Lord is dead, you're fine, no one is dying of any evil causes. What could possible be so important?" Hermione crossed her arms giving Harry a I-wont-put-up-with-your-nonsense look.
"Listen it really is important, it's about me. I . . ." Harry began hastily.
"Everything is about you Harry, haven't you ever thought that perhaps I don't care? Lets just get a few things straight, I don't really care what happens to you, I don't really care what you are feeling, and at this particular moment, I don't care about what you have to say, nor do I feel that I have to listen, so I'm just going to turn around and ignore you, alright? Alright." Hermione said dismissively as she took her books to the other side of the common room and sat down facing away from him.
Harry couldn't believe it, what had he done to deserve this treatment? He couldn't think of anything recent that he had done, the only conclusion was that she also knew. She knew and she was disgusted with him. But how did she know? Harry just had to know, and the only way was to ask her.
Harry put on a determined face and started across the room towards Hermione, hoping that she wouldn't lash out at him for disturbing her. Wait a second, why should he be afraid of Hermione lashing out at him? Didn't he defeat Voldemort countless times? Wasn't he the most famous wizard of the whole wizarding world? He saved the world dammit! He was a bloody hero, and this is what he was getting from his most trusted friends? Harry's ego swelled like a balloon about ready to burst. No one was going to treat him like that, and he was just about to tell Hermione that, when she turned around and sighed exasperatingly saying "What is it now Potter? Does your ego need petting?"
Harry's balloon deflated in an instant.
"Listen Hermione, I know you know. What I want to know is 'how' you know. Did Ron tell you? And how does Ron know?" Harry stared at her, defying her not to answer.
"Know what Harry?" She said sweetly, a little too sweetly.
"That I . . . you know. . . er. . . like other . . . uh . . . men." Harry finally managed to get out.
"The famous Harry Potter is. . . a faggot?!" Hermione shrieked loudly, while laughing insanely.
"He's what?" a fifth year said.
"Potter is a freaking pansy boy! Imagine that, the worlds famous hero is a bloody man lover!" Hermione laughed in delight as Harry's face turned a deep shade of red.
"So you didn't know then?" Harry asked quietly, ashamed of himself, and embarrassed of the crowd that was gathering to laugh at him.
"Ha! I never imagined, oh look it's Ron, hey Ron, Harry is Gay!" Hermione beckoned Ron over.
"You're kidding me? Magic Man is gay? What a surprise, I knew there was something wrong with him, I knew he was a bloody pansy, how else would you explain his wussy behavior?" Ron laughed along with the crowd of Gryffindors surrounding them.
"I. . ." Harry started feebly.
"Shut up, no one wants to listen to a Faggot," Ron snarled at a very surprised and hurt Harry.
"Pansy!"
"Man-lover!"
"Brown-noser!"
"Feltcher!"
"GAAAAAAAAAAY!"
/SNAP/
It was too much for him to take, the worry, the humiliation, the hurt, the betrayal. All these emotions bombarded him as the hurtful words bombarded him. Where was God? Why didn't he stop this madness? What had he done to deserve this? Pressure was pushing on him from all sides. There was nothing he could do to stop this pain, so he snapped.
'I cannot stay here anymore,' Harry whispered to himself. His mind dark with despair and pain. Everyone had turned on him for no reason, and then tormented him on the part of himself that he hated most. He couldn't hurt his own friends, as much as he wanted to do so. If he stayed he would live in torture, and would go mad. If he left then he could let the pain drain away, alone. Everyone dies alone.
Turning away from the leering crowd, he walked away from them forever.
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"So did it work?" Ron asked Hermione after they were sure that Harry had left.
"Of course it did, did you see his face? Oh but I felt so bad telling Harry all those awful things! Imagine him thinking we would be angry if he was gay! I just wanted to cry when I looked in his eyes. He truly believed we hated him," Hermione said with tears in her eyes.
"It's ok Hermione, he will feel better once he finds out that it was all an act to get him to stay in his room while we decorate the hall for his party," Ron grinned, waiting impatiently for the festivities to start.
"I can't believe Dumbledore is going to let us have this party in appreciation of Harry! The whole school will be celebrating, even the few Slytherins who are left after the war. It will be such a grand party," Hermione smiled, imagining the smile on Harry's face when he finds out that it was all just an act.
"I just hope Harry doesn't do anything rash, he really did look hurt," Ron said worriedly.
"Don't worry, Harry's not foolish enough to fall for that act completely. He's just a little confused, and hurt about what we said. But he must know that something's up," Hermione reasoned, a tad worried.
"Yah, you're right Hermione, if there's one thing we know about Harry, he isn't a fool. He's the best mate that a guy could every have," Ron grinned widely as they set off to the great hall to watch the preparations.
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Harry turned to look at his room for one last time, the bed in which he had slept in for seven years, the comfy atmosphere, and the beautiful view out the window. He would remember this room forever, memories both pleasant and painful. His possessions lay in a jumble on his bed. He was only taking his broom, a fresh change of clothes, his winter robe, his wand, and a small golden snitch which he had stolen from the school a while back.
He only had two options of escape, he could put on the invisibility cloak and creep down the secret passage way into Hogsmeade, which might be risky if he happened to bump into Dumbledore. Or, he could smash his window, fly as fast as he could to the border of the school, and then when he passed it, he could apparate to some unknown destination. He had to choose quickly, someone might burst in at anytime. Like Ron.
'Speak of the devil,' Harry heard a small creak as the door was slowly pushed open, and a bewildered Ron appeared on the other side. He was holding what looked like a party hat, and usually Harry would ask what that was all about, but in his current situation it didn't seem like the best thing to ask. Not that it mattered, Ron was staring wide eyed at all his stuff laying on his bed. He hadn't seen Harry yet, which was good. But now there was only one option, break the window and fly away as fast as the wind could carry him. He might not make it with Ron being there in the room, but Ron was by Harry's bed, and Harry was by the window. But even if he didn't make it, he couldn't stay. They had hurt him to much. There was no way that he could survive in a school that would say such things to him. They didn't care about him anymore, not even his most trusted friends in the entire world. No if he must do it, he must do it now.
Harry swallowed hard, grabbed his wand and pointed it at Ron and yelled 'Immobulus!' Causing Ron to not be able to move, but still maintain consciousness. "Goodbye Ron," Harry said, a tear rolling down his cheek. But he didn't have time for an emotional goodbye, why was he saying goodbye anyways? He owed them nothing. He grabbed his potion book off his bed, and threw it at the window with all his might. Luckily enough the window smashed open, and Harry jumped onto his broom and soared away from the school as faster than he had ever flown before.
'I must make it off the school grounds before they catch me,' Harry thought panicked to himself.
"HARRY YOU MUSTN'T LEAVE!" He heard Hermione's voice echoing far behind him. He was almost there. . .
"Petrificus Totalus!" Some voice screamed as the spell zoomed towards him. Harry dived towards the ground, just nearly missing the spell that would stop his escape from this prison of pain.
'Almost there, five seconds more,' Harry whispered to himself, as more spells were shot at him. Suddenly he veered off course as a spell hit the back of his broom stick causing it to jerk and throw him off the broom, he started to fall to the ground. But no one could stop him, he had made it past the border of the school grounds. Hastily thinking of someplace to go, he decided to leave it up to fate to where he would apparate to. If he landed in a rock, so be it. He would die. If not, than it was the decision of some unknown force out there, that they willed him to live. Mere seconds before he hit the earth after his great fall, there was a faint 'pop' and Harry was apparated to some unknown destination, not caring whether he lived or died.
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With a groan Harry pushed himself up onto his feet, he had no idea where he had apparated to, but it seemed far from civilization. The only thing that surrounded him were trees. Great big monster trees, menacing looking trees, but it also had an aura of peace surrounding the forest. Perhaps the trees only looked like that to scare away people who would wish to harm this forest. But Harry did not want to do so, so what filled him instead of fear, was peace. The kind of peace where you do not care about a thing in the world, where you are one with nature, where it all seems to just drown away. . . making you numb, making you strong.
Harry took out his wand to perhaps start a fire, or do something to keep him warm, but for some reason his wand was not working. Was it the forest that was preventing him from using his wand? Or perhaps running away from the school like that made his powers disappear. No that couldn't be, he had managed to apparate away from the school, and apparating required certain skill and powerful magic. It had to be the forest. But maybe it was better this way. Starting anew, no magic, just skill and knowledge to keep him alive. Although it was quite unfortunate that he had had no out doors experience whatsoever, well unless you include the time he spent in the Wizarding Army. But then he had more elite persons making sure they had everything they needed to survive while they camped, and they had magic. No this time he was all alone, no magic, nothing.
Harry looked sadly at his well used wand, wishing that there was another way, but there wasn't, he was stranded, and he would survive. Without magic. So he took his wand and grasped it firmly between both hands, and snapped it over his knee. 'There, that was the end of that world. And now I must create my beginning.' Harry grimaced while thinking to himself.
"Ok Harry think, what are the basic needs of a human," Harry asked himself. But it was easy, Food, Shelter, and Warmth/Clothing. So what did he have? He was sure that he had a little knowledge on roots and such, but he had no idea how to go about hunting animals to keep alive. Shelter, well there was plenty of wood around to make a make-shift shelter, at least until he found a cave or something that he could use. And he had once seen a movie where the man had made fire by creating a lot of friction using two sticks, and that eventually created a spark that would ignite on the kindling, and you would have fire. And clothes, well he had what he was wearing, another outfit, and his winter robe. That should keep him for quite sometime, if he kept care of himself. Otherwise he didn't know what to do. Being lost in a great forest seemed rough, but if he played it smart he should survive, at least until he had found some other people who might be able to help him along.
So with that in mind, Harry set off to find somewhere suitable to place his camp. It needed to be somewhere close the vegetation, or berries and such. It also had to be near a stream of fresh water, he might also be able to find fish in it, if he were able to figure out how he would catch them. Hopefully he would find a cave, and be able to stay there, that is, if there are no bears or something already living there. He had sufficient blanketing, all he needed was something soft to lie on. And he would have to try to start his own fire. You can't survive long without fire.
Harry picked his way through the trees, sometimes finding the way impassable, due to the thickness of the trees, but he managed to eventually find a small Clearwater stream, and by the look of it, there were decent sized fishes in it as well. Walking along the side of the stream, he hoped he would find a cave or something useful like that, so that it would make his job so much easier. If not, he would have to spend some time binding wood together to make a large board which he would tilt against a tree, creating like a half of a roof, type shelter.
It wasn't long before he found a small cave. He had no idea what was inside of it, and going inside might not be such a good idea, as he didn't have a weapon or anything. Not only that, but even if there wasn't anything in it now, perhaps there would be something that would be very angry to see Harry sleeping in their home. No the best idea would be to proceed with utmost caution. Praying that there was nothing in there.
Harry tiptoed towards the dark looking cave, one step at a time. He made sure that he avoided small twigs and such, in case they were to snap, and entice any dangerous animals to come out of their caves and kill him. Closer and closer he approached the mouth of the cave, when he finally was close enough to see inside, he breathed a sigh of relief. There definitely wasn't anything using that cave. There seemed to be some small bones in the corner, but what ever had dwelled in that small cave was long gone. It was so small that Harry could see the whole thing just standing at the mouth of it. Which was good, it's not like he had anyone to share it with anyways. So two parts of the criteria were found. He was near water, and he had his shelter. Now for fire, and decent roots to eat.
He walked around slowly looking at the ground for any sign of edible fruits. That was unfortunate because the first time round he missed a small bush of berries, that looked edible. In fact, if he were able to give them name, he would say they were Saskatoon berries. The question is, where do Saskatoon berries grow? Clearly in Saskatchewan, but there must be other places which they grow, they can't all grow in one place. No it's not definite that he was in Saskatchewan, especially sense Saskatchewan was . . . well you know. . . just flat land, and prairie gophers and such. In fact he found it quite difficult to believe, it couldn't be that easy. He pulled off a branch of especially good looking berries, and made another round to look for roots. Luckily enough just by the river banks, he found wild carrots. Big wild carrots that looked so juicy. Perhaps if he found some more at a later date, he could make a carrot stew, but he had to wait for that. First he had to create fire, and then he would worry about what he would need to make stew.
Placing his food on his bundle in his small cave, Harry went searching for the right wood to make his fire. Luckily he found the right type close by, and he started to twirl his stick. After twirling for quite a while, he realized that this couldn't possible work. . . he didn't have any tinder. And without the tinder there was no way that wood was going to catch fire. Harry took the hem of his shirt, and tore off a tiny piece. Carefully unweaving the thread he managed to make a small pile of thread which would be perfect for his tinder. Now back to spinning.
After spinning for a very long time, he managed to create a small spark. Which fell straight onto his tinder, making a small noise. Harry watched as his spark spread through the tinder and died. Crap, what did he do wrong? Then he remembered that he also had to blow on it a tiny bit, that should make the fire. So the next time he managed to make a spark he blew softly on it until it lit the wood underneath on fire, and he carried this piece of wood back into his cave, where he would work hard to keep that blaze awake, because he really didn't have any desire whatsoever to make another fire. So he had all that he needed. Well except for proper bedding, but he remedied that by finding fallen leaves and piling them in a spot for a more comfortable surface to lie on. If he lay on it he would surely go to sleep. . .
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Harry woke up several hours later to find that a) it was raining, b) it was raining inside his cave, c) it was raining inside his cave onto the charred logs that used to be his fire, and d) it was raining on him.
'I really should've made a door or something,' Harry groaned trying to sit up, unfortunately his hand landed on a wet leaf, which slid and made him tumble back onto his soaking wet leaf bed.
Harry's stomach grumbled in hunger, he hadn't eaten his berries and carrots yet. He quickly stuffed them into his mouth, which isn't really a good thing to do, eating to fast is never good for you. Especially eating berries which you only partly knew what kind they were. Now he was on the beginning of having very painful indigestion, and he was freezing cold and soaking wet. There was no way that Harry could go out and find some more wood for his fire, not only would making the fire be extremely draining to his cold, shivering, on the border of getting sick body, there probably would be no dry wood at all. With that in mind, Harry found a miniscule dry spot in his cave, and pulled his wet covering over him and drifted back to sleep. Not a good idea by any count.
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"What is it Kash?" The leader of the Wolf tribe asked Kash, the tribe's medicine woman.
"Look over there Dak, there is a cave. And look at these faint tracks on the ground, they are fading away in the rain, but I have never seen tracks like these before," The medicine woman, Kash, answered, pointing to the cave, and then to the ground leading to the cave.
"We can't go check the cave out, we must find shelter, and perhaps there is a great spirit inside that would devour us if we were to go see," Dak protested, knowing that checking out the cave is exactly what Kash wanted to do.
"Perhaps it is merely a small animal, then we could take the cave and use it for our own shelter, look at the tribe Dak, we have been traveling for three days straight, only catching sleep when we were to weary to move on. We must find shelter now, or the tribe will rebel," Kash pointed to the twenty-some people behind her, all wearily trudging along.
"Fine, we will go look, but if it's a dangerous animal . . ." Dak trailed off.
"Yes, yes, the Spirits will punish me, go on Dak," The medicine woman smiled. She was a small elderly woman, just over 65. Quite older than the usual dying age of the tribe. Most thought she would live forever, she was so lively still. She could keep up with the tribe like every other woman, even though her status meant that if she wanted to stop they all would have to. She couldn't run anymore, but being a medicine woman meant that she didn't have to. She looked like most elderly woman, her long raven hair had turned a startling white color over time, but it only augmented her stateliness, rather than making her look old and withered. Her skin was quite wrinkled, but it only managed to make her look quite wise, and her piecing blue eyes were quite different from the tribe. Most had dark eyes, but her eyes were blue, a gift from the spirits. As medicine woman she tended to the wounded of the tribe, and called upon the spirit world when it was needed. The status of medicine woman was passed down by heredity, making her line the only line of medicine woman in that clan, and to date all the women who were medicine woman had light eyes, contrary to the customary dark eyes.
"Tor, Jav, come here. We're going to go investigate that cave, bring your spears." Dak yelled behind him, calling the other men up. Dak was the husband to Kash, he to was old a withered, but like Kash his liveliness spoke otherwise. The name of Tribe Leader was also passed down by heredity, and each Tribe Leader was married to the Medicine Woman. Usually this would cause a great amount of inter-breeding which brought stupidness into the tribe, but the Tribe Leader always had two wives, one being the medicine woman, and the other being a woman of his choice. This woman would bear his son, and his son would become the next Tribe Leader, who would then marry the daughter of the Medicine Woman. The Medicine Woman was not allowed to have the daughter of the Tribe Leader because that would cause Inter-breeding, as the heir of the Tribe Leader and the heir of the Medicine Woman would have the same genes from their father. So the Medicine Woman was able to choose the father of her daughter, who was not the Tribe Leader. Then the Medicine Woman could bear as many children as she wanted, fathered by the Tribe Leader, as long as the daughter who would take over as Medicine Woman was fathered by someone else.
Dak, Tor, Jav quietly approached the mouth of the cave. They walked slowly and surely, like men who had lived in the forest all their lives. Their movements made no noise at all, which was caused by the young teaching of how to hunt; when they were hunting they could not make noise, lest they warn the prey that they were coming. They moved like men who know how to kill, and know how the forest worked. As they reached the mouth of the cave, they raised their spears and looked inside.
They found a man, dressed in odd looking clothing, coughing in his sleep. He had dark hair like the clan, but he wore strange circle looking objects on his nose, over his eyes. He was lighter than the rest of the Tribe, he was quite pale, contrary to the Tribe's brown skin. He looked very sick, lying in soaking wet cloth, the rain beating down on him inside the cave. They couldn't use this cave for shelter, that was for sure. It wasn't large enough to fit all of them, and even then the rain was able to penetrate the cave. The only question was, why was this man inside? They saw his burnt logs that once held fire, his fire had obviously burnt out. But anyone out here with any sense would've built a door to keep out the rain. His clothing was flimsy, he would need furs. Not that it really mattered what he did wrong, they would have to leave him anyways. He wasn't Tribe, so they couldn't help him. Mustn't let Kash see him though, she would want to help him.
"What is it Dak? What's inside the cave?" Kash asked from behind them. She to was adept at coming quietly and they didn't hear her approach. She approached once she saw that there was definitely no dangerous beasts inside, curious as to what was inside the cave.
"Nothing Kash, just turn around and go back, no need to look in the cave," Tor, the other man, told her.
"No really I want to see," Kash looked over his shoulder to see the man, who was very sick, lying soaking wet on a pile of leaves. She quickly rushed into the cave.
"No Kash, he isn't Tribe, we can't help him." Dak protested and tried to hold her back.
"That's foolishness Dak, he needs my help or he will die, have you no heart at all?" Kash asked him, tears welling in her eyes. He always fell for the tears.
"Oh please Kash, don't cry. You know that it is against custom to help him. He would slow us down anyways, we must think of the Tribe!" Dak tried harder to stop her from helping the man.
"What is happening over here? Why have we stopped?" Dak's other wife Wen came up to the cave, "Oh that poor dear, Dak we must help him. He looks like he is going to die."
"Now Wen, I'll have none of that, and Kash, you should know better, we cannot help him. Think of the Tribe!" Dak's voice got more persistent, even though he knew that he would have to give in, there was no way he could stand up to both his wives.
"Oh shoo Dak, we're going to take care of him, go make something to cover this opening and bring us some of the dry wood we brought, I think it's in the Otter skin with Dar." Kash pushed Dak out of the cave, while Wen pushed Jav and Tor.
"Jav, go bring the women, we will need their help to," Wen told Jav quickly, glaring at the groan he let out. The tribe was very tired, but they couldn't just leave that man to die. Even if it was against custom, the fact that they found him meant that they should help him. The Spirits led him to them.
The women quickly gathered around the cave, wondering what they could do to help this man. He was still sleeping which was good, if he woke up then it would be difficult to work around him. They saw that the cave was getting increasingly more wet from the rain, the only thing they could do to that was to fashion a cover to go over it, but that wouldn't dry the place up completely. The only thing that would was a fire. That would also help the man's wet clothing, he would need it dry if he ever was to come out of his sickness. They would also need some tea to take away some of the fever, and they would need to feed him. For that they would also need fire. They men were building a cover for the door, and the children were using small pieces of cloth to push out the water of the cave, and to soak it up.
When the cover came, the floor of the cave was almost dry, the women huddling around the cave created a temporary barrier to the rain. They themselves were not wet or cold because they were wearing beaver skin hooded cloaks, with a fur interior to keep them warm. With the cover on, all seven of the women were able to fit inside the cave. Their body heat managed to heat up the cave a tiny bit, and the man gave a contented sigh in between his moaning and groaning. Dar brought in some of the wood he was carrying, and the women hastily built a fire by banging two rocks together to create a spark, and then blowing on the kindling to start a fire. Dak immediately went to work trying to help the man. She felt his forehead, and he definitely had a fever. The only way to help him was to rid him of his wet clothing, and to cover him with a warm bear skin.
The woman all came over to figure out how to get the man out of his clothing. His clothes were held closed by small round things that went through holes. They immediately went to work on that, and managed to get half his top undone before they got annoyed, and just cut the things off. They pulled his shirt off to find a well muscled young man, he looked like he would have the perfect stealth for being a great hunter, like her husband Dak once was, and what her Secondary Son will have once he reached manhood. He shivered at the coldness of the air, but it was quickly heating up, due to the fire that was now blazing. They pulled off his pants, and left on the loincloth looking article of clothing, not revealing what men found embarrassing for women to see. They hastily wrapped him in the bear skin and placed him nearer to the fire. They swept the soaking leaves out of the cave, and found that it was no longer raining. The children were playing by the stream, and the men were constructing cone like structures for shelter, knowing that the women would not leave until the stranger was well, and that could take quite awhile.
The man woke up every so often, and asked hazily where he was, they were surprised that he spoke the same language as them, but then again the magic of the forest had it's own language of it's own. It made every human in the forest understand each other, even the Tribe of the Buffalo, who lived in the prairie. While they were in the prairie, they couldn't understand a single word that the Tribe of the Buffalo said, but in the forest they could understand completely. The magic of the forest was such a wonderful thing.
Each time he woke up they shushed him, and murmured comforting words. These calmed him and he managed to get back to sleep. He slept fitfully for a whole day, each women taking turns watching him, and making him drink tea each time he woke up. He kept forgetting they were there, or who they were, which was normal considering that he was sick, and he ate the Daku Berries, notorious for the way they made people forget things. It was a full three days before his fever broke, and he started to sleep peacefully. The next time he awoke he would be better, and they would be able to leave. Although Kash knew that if they left him alone, he would get sick again, and probably die. This couldn't happen. So she went to see Dak.
"I know what you're going to ask Kash, and the answer is no," Dak stared her straight in the eye before she even muttered a single word.
"Am I that predictable?" Kash smiled.
"Yes, and there is no way that he can. He is an outsider, we cannot take him along with us," Dak told her straight off.
"Dak, I know there are ways," Kash told him.
"That is only if he was from a different tribe before. It hasn't been done in about a hundred years. Not many people want to switch tribes." Dak tried to point out. It was a custom in the Tribes, that if a person wanted to switch tribes, if it were a man he would have to defeat the strongest man in the tribe in a duel, if it were a woman she would have to present a great gift, whether it be a skill that none of the women in the tribe possess, or she would five the tribe something that they needed quite badly. Either way it hadn't been done in years. Clearly this man did not belong to any tribe, or else he wouldn't be in such bad shape, so perhaps that meant that he could not compete to join the tribe. If he didn't join the tribe, there was no way that he could come along with them.
"The law does not state that he has to be from some other tribe, to enter our tribe." Kash pointed out, seeing the loophole in the situation.
"In his state he couldn't defeat a child!" Dak protested.
"When he awakens I will ask if he is willing to try, if not then we will leave him, if he does then you will have to choose the man to fight him." Kash stated, not giving any leeway for him to protest. She quickly turned and walked to the Man's cave to be there when he awoke.
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Harry Potter awoke from a very strange dream filled with strange looking women, and distasteful tea. The last thing he remembered was falling back to sleep after waking up and finding that his fire was burnt out, it was raining, and he was very hungry. Then nothing. He looked down and found that he was wearing no clothing at all, save for his boxers. How did that happen? Not to mention the fact that he was totally dry, along with his cave, there was a fire blazing brightly near him, and there was a cover on his door. He had no idea how this happened, nor had he any idea what time it was.
Trying to sit up, he realized that for some reason he was very, very weak. His shoulders and joints ached, in fact, it felt like every part of his body ached. Probably from lying on the stone floor. Looking down he realized that he was laying on a furry animal skin. Where in the world did this come from? This was very strange. Perhaps he should try and find his clothing. But try as hard as he might, he was unable to find a single item of his clothing. By this time he was very annoyed, and very worried about what had happened to him. How much time passed? Why were there women in here, or did I dream that? If there were women, what were we doing? Since I am clearly naked. And the tea? Why would anyone serve something so awful? Luckily enough for Harry, a person who could answer all his questions happened to come through his wooden door.
"Ah good, you are awake, we feared that you would sleep forever." A kindly old women smiled at him.
"Hello. . . I'm sorry, but could you tell me who you are?" Harry asked politely, not sure what he should say to the woman.
"Of course, I am the Medicine Women of the Wolf Tribe, but you may call me Kash." The women answered.
"Ahh, of course, the Wolf Tribe. Erm. . . What's the Wolf Tribe, and why are you here?" Harry was now really confused. The Wolf Tribe?
"Very good questions to be asking, and ones that I can answer. What is the Wolf Tribe? We are one of many Tribes here in the forest, you have the Snake Tribe, the Mountain Lion Tribe, the Eagle Tribe, the Badger Tribe, our Tribe, and many, many others. We are now off to our annual Tribe meeting, where the new Tribe Council will be appointed. Which means that a new Tribe will be elected as leaders to the other Tribes. It's not really like electing though, the Tribe's follow a pattern, and our particular Tribe, which is very strong, and powerful, is chosen every five years, we were already chosen this year, and we are going to the meeting to pass on the leadership. To the Mountain Lions, I think it is. . ." Kash trailed off.
"Oh, so that's why you're here, your traveling to this meeting, yes. . . it all makes sense. But what are you doing 'here'" Harry gestured around his small cave.
"Oh of course that's what you meant. Sorry to bother you with all that yapping," Kash blushed.
"No, no problem at all," Harry smiled politely.
"Right, well as we were passing we came upon this cave. We wanted to investigate it in case we could stay here for a night since traveling got very weary after a while. When we looked into the cave, we found you with an intense fever. It was freezing cold and raining. You were going to die if we didn't help you. So we stopped and set up camp, knowing that it would take a few days to cure you. So we took you out of your wet clothes, and we cleared the water out of your tent. Then we heated a fire, and we've been giving you tea regularly, and feeding you proper food. You don't remember any of this because you were extremely sick, and also because you ate the Daku Berries, which cause great forgetfulness. It has now been three days, and now you are well. You should take it easy though, it will take a little while for you to recuperate your strength," She explained to a very surprised Harry.
"Three whole days?!" Harry gasped.
"Yes three whole days. But what I came in here to ask you, apart from seeing if you were well, was if you would like to join our tribe, uhh-."
"-Harry"
"Yes Harry. You see we noticed from your cave, that you did not have quite the 'experience', shall we say, to stay alive in the forest. You clearly did not know how to get food, you didn't have a cover to your cave, and well, you obviously didn't have enough supplies to survive, at all. So, if we took you in. . . well we could teach you all you need to know to survive, we could supply a nice wife for you, and well, you'd have people there with you. I know that being alone for a while isn't the best thing." Kash explained.
"I could really join your tribe? Just like that?" Harry asked incredulously.
"Well . . . no, not just like that. There are certain requirements, you must understand," Kash looked down at her lap, a little embarrassed that she had to 'burst his bubble'
"Oh. . . like what exactly?" Harry asked, he knew it was to good to be true.
"Well, in order to join a tribe, a male must defeat the 'Alpha Male' as you would say, in the tribe in a duel. Now you look like you could take the men, if you are quick and alert, but in your condition it is a great risk. We must leave soon, so your only chance would be now. But we're not even sure if you would even want to join. . ." Kash trailed off, clearly waiting for an answer to see if he wanted to join or not.
"Well, you see, I came from a 'Tribe' I think you could say, and I was kicked out, due to some of their 'prejudices'" Harry blushed.
"Predjoodisses? What are those?" Kash asked, one eyebrow raised.
"It's like, hating a Tribe of people, because their eyes are lighter." Harry said, awkwardly.
"Hmm. . . and what did they hate you for?" Kash asked expectantly.
"Well. . . they hated me because. . . I . . . like men," Harry looked away, waiting for her to say the usual insults.
"Well that's nothing strange, I like men to," Kash said, her eyes twinkling.
"No, but I like them, like how a man should like a women," Harry told her, not believing that he actually had to explain it, surely it was clear?
"Yes, I know what you meant Harry. That is nothing strange, we don't have any of that in our tribe at the moment, but we used to. It's normal. Some men like men, and some women like women, it's the way of life," Kash smiled gently, patting him on the back.
"So that will be okay? Then I would love to try and enter your tribe," Harry smiled brightly. Soon, if he is able to defeat what they threw against him, he would have a family again. This was something he didn't think he would ever have again.
"I will go tell Dak, the Tribe Leader. I will send Wen in with some food for you," Kash stood up gracefully and walked out of the cave. Seconds later a different elderly women walked through the door carrying what looked like a wooden cup of tea, and a bowl of soup.
"Good day, I'm glad that you're feeling better. I heard from Kash that you are going to try and enter our Tribe. I really hope you get in, I'm Wen by the way," This elderly woman smiled kindly, as she sat down and handed Harry his tea. Harry took a sip of the tea, grimacing at the bitter taste.
"Thank you for the tea Wen," Harry smiled graciously.
"Oh your very welcome, I'm here to make sure that you are strong enough to go through with the Joining Ritual. I brought you some of our Soup, which will make your aches diminish, and you will be less fatigued." Wen handed him the bowl.
"Yes, Thank you," Harry smiled again, not sure what to say. . . or how to eat his soup, he was not given a spoon. He looked a Wen expectantly, but she showed no sign of giving him a spoon, so he shrugged and raised the bowl to his lips. The soup tasted awful, but he felt so much better instantaneously. Luckily it was not as bad as the polyjuice potion. Wait, he shouldn't be thinking about that. That life was dead. He was on his own now.
Harry quickly finished his soup, and gave the bowl back to Wen, who was still sitting there smiling at him.
"Sooo. . ." Harry said.
"Oh yes, sorry, about your uhh. . . clothing. We didn't know what to do with it, so we packed it up and put it in a bundle, which is out side the door. But I must tell you, that clothing isn't sufficient to stay out here at this time of year. You will surely freeze. We had Gret make you some new clothing. Like every item of clothing used at this time of year, it is made of beaver or otter skin on the outside, which is resistant to rain, and it has soft rabbit fur on the inside to keep you warm. It is soft and supple, and easy to walk in. Here are your pants, and well, unfortunately the men do not wear tops in our tribe, so we didn't really think to make one. But we did make you a cloak, of both of the same materials, it will wrap around your torso nicely, so you need not be cold." Wen smiled, handing over the articles of clothing.
"Wow, thank you very much Wen, and thank. . . Gret was it? As well. But I really would like to keep that clothing, it's the last thing I have from where I left," Harry thanked her, and made sure she knew that it was NOT okay to get rid of his: 'flimsy clothing.'
"Oh your welcome dear, think nothing of it. By the way where did you come from?" Wen asked curiously.
"Oh, well I grew up in little Winging with my aunt and uncle, but when I turned eleven I spent most of my time. . . I think some where in Scotland. I really don't know where it was. Well. . . maybe not Scotland, but yah. . .somewhere else, at Hogwarts." Harry tried to explain. It was funny that he didn't know where Hogwarts was. He had never thought to ask, he bet Hermione asked. . . wait . . . no. Do not think about them.
"Hogwarts?!" Wen's eyes widened in surprise and fright.
"Yes, . . Do you know it?" Harry asked excitedly.
"It is in a legend, from our beginning. At a young age, we are taught the story of our beginning. We do not really know if it is true or not, but this is what we learn. A long, long time ago, there was a man in the shape of a snake, he was called Salazar Slytherin. He had the trust of many of our ancestors, and he loved him like his people. For a while, he was the master of a castle of great magic, along with three others, a lion man, a raven women, and a badger man. But they betrayed him and made him angry. This made his people angry as well. So he led the people here, in a forest where no foul magic could be used against him. His people were to be his army, whom he would use to banish the three evil masters away from his castle, but he died early on from loneliness for them. He had been with them so long, and had accomplished so much, that he died longing for them. When he died, he left his people without a master, and they were lost in this forest. Without any magic, they were unable to find their way out. So they made a council and made the customs, so that they could live on, until they had the chance to play out their masters plan. That was a thousand moons ago, and we were his people. We fashioned ourselves under the name of the Pure-blood army, and divided into many tribes, twenty to be exact. When Salazar Slytherin died, he left twenty sticks of wood, their use now unknown except to the Tribe Leader and Medicine woman, but he said that when the time came, we would be able to take back what was rightly ours, and our people would breed the strongest magic-wielders alive. Each Tribe-Leader carries around this stick, for the day when we will be able to use them, until then, they are useless pieces of wood!" Wen laughed, enjoying telling the story to the stranger.
"My god, Salazar Slytherin was gathering an army of pure-blood wizards. They would be stronger than any other wizard. They must be! And the sticks of wood, they must be wands! And the forest, it prevents the use of magic or the wands. . . I can't believe this, I leave one life, to come to a new one which is directly connected the old one. By the way, how many people are in all the tribes together?" Harry asked Wen, there couldn't be more than a hundred or so.
"Ah, well this is only a miniscule part of the Wolf Tribe. We find it is easier to travel in smaller packs, to the great meeting. In the whole Wolf Tribe there are. . . six thousand throughout the forest. Only about a thousand are traveling to the meeting, the other five are watching the land and such. All together with all the tribes, there are approximately 120,000 people, although more accurately since last count-in: 122,974. We try to keep the members of the army accurate." Wen smiled, deeply amused at the surprised face of the stranger.
"And do any of you know how to use a wand?" Harry asked, afraid.
"A wand?" Wen asked.
"He means the Sacred Stick," A man said from the doorway.
"Oh! Hi Dak," Wen smiled sweetly.
"Yes, each Tribe Leader knows how to wield the wand, it is the duty of the Medicine Women to learn, and the Tribe Leader. We teach it to the next Tribe Leader, and the next Medicine Women. We are the only ones to know how. But before all of the Army knew how, many, many years ago." Dak explained.
"So that's forty people who know, and twenty wands. . . I thought you meant that all. . . 122,974 people knew how to use it." Harry sighed, relaxing for a while.
"No, nor are there enough wands to go around, but we were given a secret from Salazar Slytherin, the woods around us prevent the use of magic inside, but the trees themselves make extremely strong wands, that create shields that protect the wielder of the wand. If we were to fashion 122,974 wands, and then teach all 122,974 people. . . well. . . we would be able to take our land back." Dak told Harry.
"With wands like that, you could do it with a hundred," Harry frowned.
"You are lying," Dak said sternly.
"No, unfortunately I'm not. There aren't many wizards left in the world, and they wouldn't be able to stand up to the wands that you are talking about. Of course, you wouldn't be able to take out all the wizards of the world, that would take time. But you probably could take out Hogwarts. But that wouldn't be wise, since it is still a school, and an essential one if we want wizards, who are not in this forest, to survive. At the moment the wizarding world is very weak, with the Great War, many of our people died." Harry looked sad for a moment, remembering the death of many of his friends, like Fred and George, who died so valiantly in the war.
"No, we would not take out their world while they are weak, that is dishonest. We would wait until they were worthy adversaries, but if what you said is true, then we should be able to take over after a few years. We must give this news to the council, then we can start training troops. But that is not why I'm here. I'm here because Kash told me that you would like to join out tribe," Dak stated to Harry.
"Yes, I would like to join," Harry tried to look confident, and strong.
"Well then, you will need to get ready for the ritual, but I must warn you. The reason this ritual hasn't been done in so many years, is because it's a wizarding duel."
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Author's Note: Well. . . finished the first chapter. Pretty slow, but perhaps it'll pick up in the next chapter. I would not know, I haven't wrote it yet. Currently 4:22 in the morning, still waiting for our internet to work. The guy's coming on Friday. So, this'll be posted on Friday, not that I know why I'm saying this, as it doesn't really matter to you.
OK, now if you would like to make any suggestions to the plot and such, or you would like to comment, or flame, or try to make me write Calgary goes to Hogwarts like I'm supposed to. . . well then you can go to hell. Hahah lol. No kidding. You can review. If you don't feel like review. . . well I'm not forcing you to do anything.
Hmm. . . how did you like the whole Pureblood Army thing? I thought it was pretty cool. I kind of have a plot going, but it's not all that cool and such, you know? Well. . . yah, whatever. I only have half the story thought out.
So, next chappie, expect to see a wizarding duel, a big meeting with lots of people, some decisions are made, some very mean people come back, and. . . well. . .hmm what else should I put? This is kinda a guideline for me, for the next chappie. It's being thought out as I go. . . Oh. . . perhaps I shouldn't put the meeting thing, it kinda gives away a certain fact, but that fact was obvious. Harry never. . .uhh not going to say it.
Hmm. . . if you read Shogun, you will find that there are approximately 10,000 words in the first chapter. I did the same with my words. There are about 9,801 words in this chapter, excluding the first Author's note, and this one. And yes, I kinda did count the words in the first chapter of shogun. Heh. Loser me. But I was at the beach, what else is there to do? Did you know that this Author's note is reaching four hundred words? Freaky. I gotta stop with the word count thingy.
In the general wordliness of me, I would like to say that the Disturbed CD is a very cool CD. I don't know how this relates to the story, but something I said in the story about the forest, like how it 'making you numb. . . making you strong' well it's kinda like a song on the CD. I was listening to the CD while I wrote it of course.
Watched Lost Souls today, totally freaked me out, not sure why. I think it's cause it was kind of believable, in a weird sort of way. It managed to scare me, Kim thought it was a joke, so did Evan. Well whatever, they can go to hell. I'm freaked out by that Princess Monoke movie. The Forest God seriously freaked me out. And when they cut off it's head. . . shiver scaryness. Of course. . . I live in a rain-forest, so it's kinda freaky walking around, expecting the forest thing to just pop out of nowhere. Creepy. It's starting to get light out. Perhaps I should go to bed?
Did I tell you that I thought of this story while watching Bravehart? I think I did. That's interminably sad. Father should be coming soon with his laptop. Yay! Go Daddy Go! Heh. Fun fun fun.
Hmm what else to write about? To tell you the truth, I'm trying to see if I can write one thousand words of crap. I doubt it. But I can tell you this: Kim and I went to play tennis today. Wow. . . you really needed to know that. I don't want to go to the beach. L But It's unavoidable, well at least I don't have to get a job like Kira, AHAHAAHAHa. . . instead I have to go to the beach. AHAHAHAHHAHA.
Alright, I'm going to finish off this Author's note, by thanking everyone who helped me write this chapter.
1) N/a
2)N/a
3) N/a
That's right. . . NO ONE HELPED ME! BOO HOO HOO. I should go to bed. Too many pillows on my bed. Not enough room for me. I wonder if they can hear my typing from the other room. That would be funny. I type pretty loud.
Alright, this time this is the end. So I end by dedicating this chapter to . . .
Alex.
Why? Because she's probably pissed off that I didn't write a Calgary Goes to Hogwarts chapter instead. AHAHAHA. Heh, perhaps she has stopped even checking for new chappies. I haven't wrote one in . . . forever. Ahahahahah. Oh and if there are people waiting for Waking up in the Hotel, well. . . I promise to write one, as soon as I read the last one over again, cause. . . I forget what I wrote. HEH BYE!
BQETTSUMETIRLBCHIAS! KISS KISS! LOVE FROM VANCOUVER! 10,901 words.
Now about this story. . . I don't really know what I have planned for this. I was just watching Bravehart all night and I haven't gotten any sleep. So if this story seems rather odd, it was because I was developing the plot while watching that particular movie. OOH. So without Further ado, I present to you . . .
Extra A/N: for kokoa. I praise you. I would have never caught that. HAHAHAH goes to show that I'm pretty bad at editing. Hahahaha.. that's cause I don't. Pfft bed in the Common Room. Good GOD!
THE DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter.
Now the story:
Savage
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'I was thinking about it, in fact I've been thinking about it for a while. I know it makes me different, I know they wont like it, but I must tell them. They are my family. I owe it to them for putting up with my nonsense after all these years,' Harry thought to himself while lying in his bed in the Gryffindor BOYS Room. It is currently the middle of Harry's seventh and final year at Hogwarts School for Witch Craft and Wizardry, and he was going through a crisis. A dreadful truth that could scar the wizarding world forever. People who looked up at Harry, because he was the one who finally put an end to Voldemort during the war of their sixth year, would look down upon him in disgust. What would they do if they found out? How would they take it? Perhaps they would just accept it, or perhaps not. There was no telling their reaction but the truth of the matter is: Harry Potter likes other men.
In a perfect world, that fact would mean nothing, but this is not a perfect world. This is a world where young boys are worshipped and famous because their parents died horrible deaths, this is a world where dark lords terrorized the earth with their nefarious plots. This is a world where sexual diversity is frowned upon. And nothing could change that. Unless there is a God, but would God let his own creation destroy itself? We don't know, but what we do know, is that if there is a God he isn't helping us make the world a perfect place. He isn't stopping the prejudice that goes on in the world. He let humans create words like Mudblood, or Faggot even.
'Is that what I am? A Faggot?' Harry thought glumly to himself as he stared up at the dark canopy of his bed. Pondering the way of the world is fine, but it isn't helping what had to happen. 'I have to tell them, I can't keep it a secret,'
He had finally figured out that he was not attracted to girls towards the beginning of his sixth year of Hogwarts. After having Cho Chang confuse and betray him, his feelings toward the general Female population changed. Sure he still loved Hermione to death, and he really liked Ginny, but he couldn't make himself feel 'that way' about anyone of that specific gender. Not that he started to like other males like himself at that time. No he realized his preference during the great war, the final defeat of Voldemort.
It was a gradual thing, a brief glimpse of a male torso in the boys shower room would make him tingle, a touch would put him into a brief shock. Eventually he began to analyze these feelings, and no matter how he tried to rearrange them, make sense of them, it all came back to one thing. Harry was gay.
'Today's the day you will tell all, you must be strong,' Harry sighed as he rolled out of bed, straight into the boxer clad Ron Weasley. They fell onto the bed in a jumble, Harry feeling extremely uncomfortable, and slightly pleased, and Ron feeling really pissed.
"Jesus Harry, are you trying to bloody steamroll me?" Ron snarled, extremely put out.
"Sorry Ron, I wasn't looking, I really didn't expect you to be up at this time," Harry blushed, trying to untangle himself from Ron.
"What? You think that I'm a lazy lug getting up at the time I do? You think I can't get up or something? Well go to hell Harry, I've been getting up early recently, not that you would even notice, they way you mope around all day. Well I've tried to help you out, I really have. But I've been getting tired of it. I'm not your little sidekick anymore Potter, I'm a wizard and I am perfectly able to take care of myself Thank you," Ron said as he roughly pushed Harry onto the floor and gathered his stuff up for his shower in the boys shower room.
"Listen Ron, I'm really sorry but I have something really important to tell you," Harry grabbed at Ron's shoulder pulling him around to face him.
"Is it about a Dark Lord of any kind?" Ron asked one eyebrow raised.
"No," Harry shook his head.
"Am I in any danger whatsoever?"
"No,"
"Is it about you?"
"Yes, it's – " Harry began.
"Then I don't care," Ron said dismissively, throwing Harry's hand off his shoulder and slamming the door on his way out.
"Wow, perhaps he already knows," Harry frowned at the slammed door, "I'll go talk to Hermione."
Harry quietly got ready for the day while his roommates slept on, they didn't have to be up for another hour or so. It was hard living in a room with them. It wasn't like he liked them in 'that' way, it just made it hard for him to function with them walking around wearing practically nothing. He tried his best not to stare, and he was sure that if he had been staring he had never been caught. He had managed to create a schedule in which he would be able to avoid seeing them in their room at all costs. He would go to bed extremely late, and wake up extremely early. Not that this did much good for his sleeping pattern, but if he could manage to hide what he was, then so be it. That is why it was such a surprise to find Ron up so early that morning. Sure he had been 'moping' but he definitely hadn't noticed Ron up early. What was his problem?
Harry shrugged as he made his way down to the common room where he was sure he would find Hermione. Luckily enough there she was sitting on one of the couches near the fire, hastily scribbling notes from a huge book on her left. Harry noticed that she seemed a little rushed, but she was probably doing something that would be due in the next month or so, surely it could wait? What he had to say was really very important. He was finally going to tell them.
"Hello Hermione, great morning isn't it?" Harry said cheerfully, trying to put on a brave face while he was trembling in his unmatched socks. This isn't going to be easy.
"Actually Harry it isn't such a great morning as you say, and what did you do to Ron? I just saw him storm pass me and out of the room mumbling something like 'I'm not his fool anymore.' You didn't have a disagreement did you? I really don't have the time to be mending your little squabbles, as I have much more important things on my mind. Anyways, I'm trying to get this finished, and as you can probably see I am quite rushed, so if you would just move along. . ." Hermione motioned for him to leave.
"But Hermione, I have something really important to tell you," Harry protested, backing away from her glare.
"Listen Harry, it can't be all that important, I mean the Dark Lord is dead, you're fine, no one is dying of any evil causes. What could possible be so important?" Hermione crossed her arms giving Harry a I-wont-put-up-with-your-nonsense look.
"Listen it really is important, it's about me. I . . ." Harry began hastily.
"Everything is about you Harry, haven't you ever thought that perhaps I don't care? Lets just get a few things straight, I don't really care what happens to you, I don't really care what you are feeling, and at this particular moment, I don't care about what you have to say, nor do I feel that I have to listen, so I'm just going to turn around and ignore you, alright? Alright." Hermione said dismissively as she took her books to the other side of the common room and sat down facing away from him.
Harry couldn't believe it, what had he done to deserve this treatment? He couldn't think of anything recent that he had done, the only conclusion was that she also knew. She knew and she was disgusted with him. But how did she know? Harry just had to know, and the only way was to ask her.
Harry put on a determined face and started across the room towards Hermione, hoping that she wouldn't lash out at him for disturbing her. Wait a second, why should he be afraid of Hermione lashing out at him? Didn't he defeat Voldemort countless times? Wasn't he the most famous wizard of the whole wizarding world? He saved the world dammit! He was a bloody hero, and this is what he was getting from his most trusted friends? Harry's ego swelled like a balloon about ready to burst. No one was going to treat him like that, and he was just about to tell Hermione that, when she turned around and sighed exasperatingly saying "What is it now Potter? Does your ego need petting?"
Harry's balloon deflated in an instant.
"Listen Hermione, I know you know. What I want to know is 'how' you know. Did Ron tell you? And how does Ron know?" Harry stared at her, defying her not to answer.
"Know what Harry?" She said sweetly, a little too sweetly.
"That I . . . you know. . . er. . . like other . . . uh . . . men." Harry finally managed to get out.
"The famous Harry Potter is. . . a faggot?!" Hermione shrieked loudly, while laughing insanely.
"He's what?" a fifth year said.
"Potter is a freaking pansy boy! Imagine that, the worlds famous hero is a bloody man lover!" Hermione laughed in delight as Harry's face turned a deep shade of red.
"So you didn't know then?" Harry asked quietly, ashamed of himself, and embarrassed of the crowd that was gathering to laugh at him.
"Ha! I never imagined, oh look it's Ron, hey Ron, Harry is Gay!" Hermione beckoned Ron over.
"You're kidding me? Magic Man is gay? What a surprise, I knew there was something wrong with him, I knew he was a bloody pansy, how else would you explain his wussy behavior?" Ron laughed along with the crowd of Gryffindors surrounding them.
"I. . ." Harry started feebly.
"Shut up, no one wants to listen to a Faggot," Ron snarled at a very surprised and hurt Harry.
"Pansy!"
"Man-lover!"
"Brown-noser!"
"Feltcher!"
"GAAAAAAAAAAY!"
/SNAP/
It was too much for him to take, the worry, the humiliation, the hurt, the betrayal. All these emotions bombarded him as the hurtful words bombarded him. Where was God? Why didn't he stop this madness? What had he done to deserve this? Pressure was pushing on him from all sides. There was nothing he could do to stop this pain, so he snapped.
'I cannot stay here anymore,' Harry whispered to himself. His mind dark with despair and pain. Everyone had turned on him for no reason, and then tormented him on the part of himself that he hated most. He couldn't hurt his own friends, as much as he wanted to do so. If he stayed he would live in torture, and would go mad. If he left then he could let the pain drain away, alone. Everyone dies alone.
Turning away from the leering crowd, he walked away from them forever.
----------=---------
"So did it work?" Ron asked Hermione after they were sure that Harry had left.
"Of course it did, did you see his face? Oh but I felt so bad telling Harry all those awful things! Imagine him thinking we would be angry if he was gay! I just wanted to cry when I looked in his eyes. He truly believed we hated him," Hermione said with tears in her eyes.
"It's ok Hermione, he will feel better once he finds out that it was all an act to get him to stay in his room while we decorate the hall for his party," Ron grinned, waiting impatiently for the festivities to start.
"I can't believe Dumbledore is going to let us have this party in appreciation of Harry! The whole school will be celebrating, even the few Slytherins who are left after the war. It will be such a grand party," Hermione smiled, imagining the smile on Harry's face when he finds out that it was all just an act.
"I just hope Harry doesn't do anything rash, he really did look hurt," Ron said worriedly.
"Don't worry, Harry's not foolish enough to fall for that act completely. He's just a little confused, and hurt about what we said. But he must know that something's up," Hermione reasoned, a tad worried.
"Yah, you're right Hermione, if there's one thing we know about Harry, he isn't a fool. He's the best mate that a guy could every have," Ron grinned widely as they set off to the great hall to watch the preparations.
--------=-------
Harry turned to look at his room for one last time, the bed in which he had slept in for seven years, the comfy atmosphere, and the beautiful view out the window. He would remember this room forever, memories both pleasant and painful. His possessions lay in a jumble on his bed. He was only taking his broom, a fresh change of clothes, his winter robe, his wand, and a small golden snitch which he had stolen from the school a while back.
He only had two options of escape, he could put on the invisibility cloak and creep down the secret passage way into Hogsmeade, which might be risky if he happened to bump into Dumbledore. Or, he could smash his window, fly as fast as he could to the border of the school, and then when he passed it, he could apparate to some unknown destination. He had to choose quickly, someone might burst in at anytime. Like Ron.
'Speak of the devil,' Harry heard a small creak as the door was slowly pushed open, and a bewildered Ron appeared on the other side. He was holding what looked like a party hat, and usually Harry would ask what that was all about, but in his current situation it didn't seem like the best thing to ask. Not that it mattered, Ron was staring wide eyed at all his stuff laying on his bed. He hadn't seen Harry yet, which was good. But now there was only one option, break the window and fly away as fast as the wind could carry him. He might not make it with Ron being there in the room, but Ron was by Harry's bed, and Harry was by the window. But even if he didn't make it, he couldn't stay. They had hurt him to much. There was no way that he could survive in a school that would say such things to him. They didn't care about him anymore, not even his most trusted friends in the entire world. No if he must do it, he must do it now.
Harry swallowed hard, grabbed his wand and pointed it at Ron and yelled 'Immobulus!' Causing Ron to not be able to move, but still maintain consciousness. "Goodbye Ron," Harry said, a tear rolling down his cheek. But he didn't have time for an emotional goodbye, why was he saying goodbye anyways? He owed them nothing. He grabbed his potion book off his bed, and threw it at the window with all his might. Luckily enough the window smashed open, and Harry jumped onto his broom and soared away from the school as faster than he had ever flown before.
'I must make it off the school grounds before they catch me,' Harry thought panicked to himself.
"HARRY YOU MUSTN'T LEAVE!" He heard Hermione's voice echoing far behind him. He was almost there. . .
"Petrificus Totalus!" Some voice screamed as the spell zoomed towards him. Harry dived towards the ground, just nearly missing the spell that would stop his escape from this prison of pain.
'Almost there, five seconds more,' Harry whispered to himself, as more spells were shot at him. Suddenly he veered off course as a spell hit the back of his broom stick causing it to jerk and throw him off the broom, he started to fall to the ground. But no one could stop him, he had made it past the border of the school grounds. Hastily thinking of someplace to go, he decided to leave it up to fate to where he would apparate to. If he landed in a rock, so be it. He would die. If not, than it was the decision of some unknown force out there, that they willed him to live. Mere seconds before he hit the earth after his great fall, there was a faint 'pop' and Harry was apparated to some unknown destination, not caring whether he lived or died.
------------=---------
With a groan Harry pushed himself up onto his feet, he had no idea where he had apparated to, but it seemed far from civilization. The only thing that surrounded him were trees. Great big monster trees, menacing looking trees, but it also had an aura of peace surrounding the forest. Perhaps the trees only looked like that to scare away people who would wish to harm this forest. But Harry did not want to do so, so what filled him instead of fear, was peace. The kind of peace where you do not care about a thing in the world, where you are one with nature, where it all seems to just drown away. . . making you numb, making you strong.
Harry took out his wand to perhaps start a fire, or do something to keep him warm, but for some reason his wand was not working. Was it the forest that was preventing him from using his wand? Or perhaps running away from the school like that made his powers disappear. No that couldn't be, he had managed to apparate away from the school, and apparating required certain skill and powerful magic. It had to be the forest. But maybe it was better this way. Starting anew, no magic, just skill and knowledge to keep him alive. Although it was quite unfortunate that he had had no out doors experience whatsoever, well unless you include the time he spent in the Wizarding Army. But then he had more elite persons making sure they had everything they needed to survive while they camped, and they had magic. No this time he was all alone, no magic, nothing.
Harry looked sadly at his well used wand, wishing that there was another way, but there wasn't, he was stranded, and he would survive. Without magic. So he took his wand and grasped it firmly between both hands, and snapped it over his knee. 'There, that was the end of that world. And now I must create my beginning.' Harry grimaced while thinking to himself.
"Ok Harry think, what are the basic needs of a human," Harry asked himself. But it was easy, Food, Shelter, and Warmth/Clothing. So what did he have? He was sure that he had a little knowledge on roots and such, but he had no idea how to go about hunting animals to keep alive. Shelter, well there was plenty of wood around to make a make-shift shelter, at least until he found a cave or something that he could use. And he had once seen a movie where the man had made fire by creating a lot of friction using two sticks, and that eventually created a spark that would ignite on the kindling, and you would have fire. And clothes, well he had what he was wearing, another outfit, and his winter robe. That should keep him for quite sometime, if he kept care of himself. Otherwise he didn't know what to do. Being lost in a great forest seemed rough, but if he played it smart he should survive, at least until he had found some other people who might be able to help him along.
So with that in mind, Harry set off to find somewhere suitable to place his camp. It needed to be somewhere close the vegetation, or berries and such. It also had to be near a stream of fresh water, he might also be able to find fish in it, if he were able to figure out how he would catch them. Hopefully he would find a cave, and be able to stay there, that is, if there are no bears or something already living there. He had sufficient blanketing, all he needed was something soft to lie on. And he would have to try to start his own fire. You can't survive long without fire.
Harry picked his way through the trees, sometimes finding the way impassable, due to the thickness of the trees, but he managed to eventually find a small Clearwater stream, and by the look of it, there were decent sized fishes in it as well. Walking along the side of the stream, he hoped he would find a cave or something useful like that, so that it would make his job so much easier. If not, he would have to spend some time binding wood together to make a large board which he would tilt against a tree, creating like a half of a roof, type shelter.
It wasn't long before he found a small cave. He had no idea what was inside of it, and going inside might not be such a good idea, as he didn't have a weapon or anything. Not only that, but even if there wasn't anything in it now, perhaps there would be something that would be very angry to see Harry sleeping in their home. No the best idea would be to proceed with utmost caution. Praying that there was nothing in there.
Harry tiptoed towards the dark looking cave, one step at a time. He made sure that he avoided small twigs and such, in case they were to snap, and entice any dangerous animals to come out of their caves and kill him. Closer and closer he approached the mouth of the cave, when he finally was close enough to see inside, he breathed a sigh of relief. There definitely wasn't anything using that cave. There seemed to be some small bones in the corner, but what ever had dwelled in that small cave was long gone. It was so small that Harry could see the whole thing just standing at the mouth of it. Which was good, it's not like he had anyone to share it with anyways. So two parts of the criteria were found. He was near water, and he had his shelter. Now for fire, and decent roots to eat.
He walked around slowly looking at the ground for any sign of edible fruits. That was unfortunate because the first time round he missed a small bush of berries, that looked edible. In fact, if he were able to give them name, he would say they were Saskatoon berries. The question is, where do Saskatoon berries grow? Clearly in Saskatchewan, but there must be other places which they grow, they can't all grow in one place. No it's not definite that he was in Saskatchewan, especially sense Saskatchewan was . . . well you know. . . just flat land, and prairie gophers and such. In fact he found it quite difficult to believe, it couldn't be that easy. He pulled off a branch of especially good looking berries, and made another round to look for roots. Luckily enough just by the river banks, he found wild carrots. Big wild carrots that looked so juicy. Perhaps if he found some more at a later date, he could make a carrot stew, but he had to wait for that. First he had to create fire, and then he would worry about what he would need to make stew.
Placing his food on his bundle in his small cave, Harry went searching for the right wood to make his fire. Luckily he found the right type close by, and he started to twirl his stick. After twirling for quite a while, he realized that this couldn't possible work. . . he didn't have any tinder. And without the tinder there was no way that wood was going to catch fire. Harry took the hem of his shirt, and tore off a tiny piece. Carefully unweaving the thread he managed to make a small pile of thread which would be perfect for his tinder. Now back to spinning.
After spinning for a very long time, he managed to create a small spark. Which fell straight onto his tinder, making a small noise. Harry watched as his spark spread through the tinder and died. Crap, what did he do wrong? Then he remembered that he also had to blow on it a tiny bit, that should make the fire. So the next time he managed to make a spark he blew softly on it until it lit the wood underneath on fire, and he carried this piece of wood back into his cave, where he would work hard to keep that blaze awake, because he really didn't have any desire whatsoever to make another fire. So he had all that he needed. Well except for proper bedding, but he remedied that by finding fallen leaves and piling them in a spot for a more comfortable surface to lie on. If he lay on it he would surely go to sleep. . .
--------------=-------------
Harry woke up several hours later to find that a) it was raining, b) it was raining inside his cave, c) it was raining inside his cave onto the charred logs that used to be his fire, and d) it was raining on him.
'I really should've made a door or something,' Harry groaned trying to sit up, unfortunately his hand landed on a wet leaf, which slid and made him tumble back onto his soaking wet leaf bed.
Harry's stomach grumbled in hunger, he hadn't eaten his berries and carrots yet. He quickly stuffed them into his mouth, which isn't really a good thing to do, eating to fast is never good for you. Especially eating berries which you only partly knew what kind they were. Now he was on the beginning of having very painful indigestion, and he was freezing cold and soaking wet. There was no way that Harry could go out and find some more wood for his fire, not only would making the fire be extremely draining to his cold, shivering, on the border of getting sick body, there probably would be no dry wood at all. With that in mind, Harry found a miniscule dry spot in his cave, and pulled his wet covering over him and drifted back to sleep. Not a good idea by any count.
-----------=-----------
"What is it Kash?" The leader of the Wolf tribe asked Kash, the tribe's medicine woman.
"Look over there Dak, there is a cave. And look at these faint tracks on the ground, they are fading away in the rain, but I have never seen tracks like these before," The medicine woman, Kash, answered, pointing to the cave, and then to the ground leading to the cave.
"We can't go check the cave out, we must find shelter, and perhaps there is a great spirit inside that would devour us if we were to go see," Dak protested, knowing that checking out the cave is exactly what Kash wanted to do.
"Perhaps it is merely a small animal, then we could take the cave and use it for our own shelter, look at the tribe Dak, we have been traveling for three days straight, only catching sleep when we were to weary to move on. We must find shelter now, or the tribe will rebel," Kash pointed to the twenty-some people behind her, all wearily trudging along.
"Fine, we will go look, but if it's a dangerous animal . . ." Dak trailed off.
"Yes, yes, the Spirits will punish me, go on Dak," The medicine woman smiled. She was a small elderly woman, just over 65. Quite older than the usual dying age of the tribe. Most thought she would live forever, she was so lively still. She could keep up with the tribe like every other woman, even though her status meant that if she wanted to stop they all would have to. She couldn't run anymore, but being a medicine woman meant that she didn't have to. She looked like most elderly woman, her long raven hair had turned a startling white color over time, but it only augmented her stateliness, rather than making her look old and withered. Her skin was quite wrinkled, but it only managed to make her look quite wise, and her piecing blue eyes were quite different from the tribe. Most had dark eyes, but her eyes were blue, a gift from the spirits. As medicine woman she tended to the wounded of the tribe, and called upon the spirit world when it was needed. The status of medicine woman was passed down by heredity, making her line the only line of medicine woman in that clan, and to date all the women who were medicine woman had light eyes, contrary to the customary dark eyes.
"Tor, Jav, come here. We're going to go investigate that cave, bring your spears." Dak yelled behind him, calling the other men up. Dak was the husband to Kash, he to was old a withered, but like Kash his liveliness spoke otherwise. The name of Tribe Leader was also passed down by heredity, and each Tribe Leader was married to the Medicine Woman. Usually this would cause a great amount of inter-breeding which brought stupidness into the tribe, but the Tribe Leader always had two wives, one being the medicine woman, and the other being a woman of his choice. This woman would bear his son, and his son would become the next Tribe Leader, who would then marry the daughter of the Medicine Woman. The Medicine Woman was not allowed to have the daughter of the Tribe Leader because that would cause Inter-breeding, as the heir of the Tribe Leader and the heir of the Medicine Woman would have the same genes from their father. So the Medicine Woman was able to choose the father of her daughter, who was not the Tribe Leader. Then the Medicine Woman could bear as many children as she wanted, fathered by the Tribe Leader, as long as the daughter who would take over as Medicine Woman was fathered by someone else.
Dak, Tor, Jav quietly approached the mouth of the cave. They walked slowly and surely, like men who had lived in the forest all their lives. Their movements made no noise at all, which was caused by the young teaching of how to hunt; when they were hunting they could not make noise, lest they warn the prey that they were coming. They moved like men who know how to kill, and know how the forest worked. As they reached the mouth of the cave, they raised their spears and looked inside.
They found a man, dressed in odd looking clothing, coughing in his sleep. He had dark hair like the clan, but he wore strange circle looking objects on his nose, over his eyes. He was lighter than the rest of the Tribe, he was quite pale, contrary to the Tribe's brown skin. He looked very sick, lying in soaking wet cloth, the rain beating down on him inside the cave. They couldn't use this cave for shelter, that was for sure. It wasn't large enough to fit all of them, and even then the rain was able to penetrate the cave. The only question was, why was this man inside? They saw his burnt logs that once held fire, his fire had obviously burnt out. But anyone out here with any sense would've built a door to keep out the rain. His clothing was flimsy, he would need furs. Not that it really mattered what he did wrong, they would have to leave him anyways. He wasn't Tribe, so they couldn't help him. Mustn't let Kash see him though, she would want to help him.
"What is it Dak? What's inside the cave?" Kash asked from behind them. She to was adept at coming quietly and they didn't hear her approach. She approached once she saw that there was definitely no dangerous beasts inside, curious as to what was inside the cave.
"Nothing Kash, just turn around and go back, no need to look in the cave," Tor, the other man, told her.
"No really I want to see," Kash looked over his shoulder to see the man, who was very sick, lying soaking wet on a pile of leaves. She quickly rushed into the cave.
"No Kash, he isn't Tribe, we can't help him." Dak protested and tried to hold her back.
"That's foolishness Dak, he needs my help or he will die, have you no heart at all?" Kash asked him, tears welling in her eyes. He always fell for the tears.
"Oh please Kash, don't cry. You know that it is against custom to help him. He would slow us down anyways, we must think of the Tribe!" Dak tried harder to stop her from helping the man.
"What is happening over here? Why have we stopped?" Dak's other wife Wen came up to the cave, "Oh that poor dear, Dak we must help him. He looks like he is going to die."
"Now Wen, I'll have none of that, and Kash, you should know better, we cannot help him. Think of the Tribe!" Dak's voice got more persistent, even though he knew that he would have to give in, there was no way he could stand up to both his wives.
"Oh shoo Dak, we're going to take care of him, go make something to cover this opening and bring us some of the dry wood we brought, I think it's in the Otter skin with Dar." Kash pushed Dak out of the cave, while Wen pushed Jav and Tor.
"Jav, go bring the women, we will need their help to," Wen told Jav quickly, glaring at the groan he let out. The tribe was very tired, but they couldn't just leave that man to die. Even if it was against custom, the fact that they found him meant that they should help him. The Spirits led him to them.
The women quickly gathered around the cave, wondering what they could do to help this man. He was still sleeping which was good, if he woke up then it would be difficult to work around him. They saw that the cave was getting increasingly more wet from the rain, the only thing they could do to that was to fashion a cover to go over it, but that wouldn't dry the place up completely. The only thing that would was a fire. That would also help the man's wet clothing, he would need it dry if he ever was to come out of his sickness. They would also need some tea to take away some of the fever, and they would need to feed him. For that they would also need fire. They men were building a cover for the door, and the children were using small pieces of cloth to push out the water of the cave, and to soak it up.
When the cover came, the floor of the cave was almost dry, the women huddling around the cave created a temporary barrier to the rain. They themselves were not wet or cold because they were wearing beaver skin hooded cloaks, with a fur interior to keep them warm. With the cover on, all seven of the women were able to fit inside the cave. Their body heat managed to heat up the cave a tiny bit, and the man gave a contented sigh in between his moaning and groaning. Dar brought in some of the wood he was carrying, and the women hastily built a fire by banging two rocks together to create a spark, and then blowing on the kindling to start a fire. Dak immediately went to work trying to help the man. She felt his forehead, and he definitely had a fever. The only way to help him was to rid him of his wet clothing, and to cover him with a warm bear skin.
The woman all came over to figure out how to get the man out of his clothing. His clothes were held closed by small round things that went through holes. They immediately went to work on that, and managed to get half his top undone before they got annoyed, and just cut the things off. They pulled his shirt off to find a well muscled young man, he looked like he would have the perfect stealth for being a great hunter, like her husband Dak once was, and what her Secondary Son will have once he reached manhood. He shivered at the coldness of the air, but it was quickly heating up, due to the fire that was now blazing. They pulled off his pants, and left on the loincloth looking article of clothing, not revealing what men found embarrassing for women to see. They hastily wrapped him in the bear skin and placed him nearer to the fire. They swept the soaking leaves out of the cave, and found that it was no longer raining. The children were playing by the stream, and the men were constructing cone like structures for shelter, knowing that the women would not leave until the stranger was well, and that could take quite awhile.
The man woke up every so often, and asked hazily where he was, they were surprised that he spoke the same language as them, but then again the magic of the forest had it's own language of it's own. It made every human in the forest understand each other, even the Tribe of the Buffalo, who lived in the prairie. While they were in the prairie, they couldn't understand a single word that the Tribe of the Buffalo said, but in the forest they could understand completely. The magic of the forest was such a wonderful thing.
Each time he woke up they shushed him, and murmured comforting words. These calmed him and he managed to get back to sleep. He slept fitfully for a whole day, each women taking turns watching him, and making him drink tea each time he woke up. He kept forgetting they were there, or who they were, which was normal considering that he was sick, and he ate the Daku Berries, notorious for the way they made people forget things. It was a full three days before his fever broke, and he started to sleep peacefully. The next time he awoke he would be better, and they would be able to leave. Although Kash knew that if they left him alone, he would get sick again, and probably die. This couldn't happen. So she went to see Dak.
"I know what you're going to ask Kash, and the answer is no," Dak stared her straight in the eye before she even muttered a single word.
"Am I that predictable?" Kash smiled.
"Yes, and there is no way that he can. He is an outsider, we cannot take him along with us," Dak told her straight off.
"Dak, I know there are ways," Kash told him.
"That is only if he was from a different tribe before. It hasn't been done in about a hundred years. Not many people want to switch tribes." Dak tried to point out. It was a custom in the Tribes, that if a person wanted to switch tribes, if it were a man he would have to defeat the strongest man in the tribe in a duel, if it were a woman she would have to present a great gift, whether it be a skill that none of the women in the tribe possess, or she would five the tribe something that they needed quite badly. Either way it hadn't been done in years. Clearly this man did not belong to any tribe, or else he wouldn't be in such bad shape, so perhaps that meant that he could not compete to join the tribe. If he didn't join the tribe, there was no way that he could come along with them.
"The law does not state that he has to be from some other tribe, to enter our tribe." Kash pointed out, seeing the loophole in the situation.
"In his state he couldn't defeat a child!" Dak protested.
"When he awakens I will ask if he is willing to try, if not then we will leave him, if he does then you will have to choose the man to fight him." Kash stated, not giving any leeway for him to protest. She quickly turned and walked to the Man's cave to be there when he awoke.
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Harry Potter awoke from a very strange dream filled with strange looking women, and distasteful tea. The last thing he remembered was falling back to sleep after waking up and finding that his fire was burnt out, it was raining, and he was very hungry. Then nothing. He looked down and found that he was wearing no clothing at all, save for his boxers. How did that happen? Not to mention the fact that he was totally dry, along with his cave, there was a fire blazing brightly near him, and there was a cover on his door. He had no idea how this happened, nor had he any idea what time it was.
Trying to sit up, he realized that for some reason he was very, very weak. His shoulders and joints ached, in fact, it felt like every part of his body ached. Probably from lying on the stone floor. Looking down he realized that he was laying on a furry animal skin. Where in the world did this come from? This was very strange. Perhaps he should try and find his clothing. But try as hard as he might, he was unable to find a single item of his clothing. By this time he was very annoyed, and very worried about what had happened to him. How much time passed? Why were there women in here, or did I dream that? If there were women, what were we doing? Since I am clearly naked. And the tea? Why would anyone serve something so awful? Luckily enough for Harry, a person who could answer all his questions happened to come through his wooden door.
"Ah good, you are awake, we feared that you would sleep forever." A kindly old women smiled at him.
"Hello. . . I'm sorry, but could you tell me who you are?" Harry asked politely, not sure what he should say to the woman.
"Of course, I am the Medicine Women of the Wolf Tribe, but you may call me Kash." The women answered.
"Ahh, of course, the Wolf Tribe. Erm. . . What's the Wolf Tribe, and why are you here?" Harry was now really confused. The Wolf Tribe?
"Very good questions to be asking, and ones that I can answer. What is the Wolf Tribe? We are one of many Tribes here in the forest, you have the Snake Tribe, the Mountain Lion Tribe, the Eagle Tribe, the Badger Tribe, our Tribe, and many, many others. We are now off to our annual Tribe meeting, where the new Tribe Council will be appointed. Which means that a new Tribe will be elected as leaders to the other Tribes. It's not really like electing though, the Tribe's follow a pattern, and our particular Tribe, which is very strong, and powerful, is chosen every five years, we were already chosen this year, and we are going to the meeting to pass on the leadership. To the Mountain Lions, I think it is. . ." Kash trailed off.
"Oh, so that's why you're here, your traveling to this meeting, yes. . . it all makes sense. But what are you doing 'here'" Harry gestured around his small cave.
"Oh of course that's what you meant. Sorry to bother you with all that yapping," Kash blushed.
"No, no problem at all," Harry smiled politely.
"Right, well as we were passing we came upon this cave. We wanted to investigate it in case we could stay here for a night since traveling got very weary after a while. When we looked into the cave, we found you with an intense fever. It was freezing cold and raining. You were going to die if we didn't help you. So we stopped and set up camp, knowing that it would take a few days to cure you. So we took you out of your wet clothes, and we cleared the water out of your tent. Then we heated a fire, and we've been giving you tea regularly, and feeding you proper food. You don't remember any of this because you were extremely sick, and also because you ate the Daku Berries, which cause great forgetfulness. It has now been three days, and now you are well. You should take it easy though, it will take a little while for you to recuperate your strength," She explained to a very surprised Harry.
"Three whole days?!" Harry gasped.
"Yes three whole days. But what I came in here to ask you, apart from seeing if you were well, was if you would like to join our tribe, uhh-."
"-Harry"
"Yes Harry. You see we noticed from your cave, that you did not have quite the 'experience', shall we say, to stay alive in the forest. You clearly did not know how to get food, you didn't have a cover to your cave, and well, you obviously didn't have enough supplies to survive, at all. So, if we took you in. . . well we could teach you all you need to know to survive, we could supply a nice wife for you, and well, you'd have people there with you. I know that being alone for a while isn't the best thing." Kash explained.
"I could really join your tribe? Just like that?" Harry asked incredulously.
"Well . . . no, not just like that. There are certain requirements, you must understand," Kash looked down at her lap, a little embarrassed that she had to 'burst his bubble'
"Oh. . . like what exactly?" Harry asked, he knew it was to good to be true.
"Well, in order to join a tribe, a male must defeat the 'Alpha Male' as you would say, in the tribe in a duel. Now you look like you could take the men, if you are quick and alert, but in your condition it is a great risk. We must leave soon, so your only chance would be now. But we're not even sure if you would even want to join. . ." Kash trailed off, clearly waiting for an answer to see if he wanted to join or not.
"Well, you see, I came from a 'Tribe' I think you could say, and I was kicked out, due to some of their 'prejudices'" Harry blushed.
"Predjoodisses? What are those?" Kash asked, one eyebrow raised.
"It's like, hating a Tribe of people, because their eyes are lighter." Harry said, awkwardly.
"Hmm. . . and what did they hate you for?" Kash asked expectantly.
"Well. . . they hated me because. . . I . . . like men," Harry looked away, waiting for her to say the usual insults.
"Well that's nothing strange, I like men to," Kash said, her eyes twinkling.
"No, but I like them, like how a man should like a women," Harry told her, not believing that he actually had to explain it, surely it was clear?
"Yes, I know what you meant Harry. That is nothing strange, we don't have any of that in our tribe at the moment, but we used to. It's normal. Some men like men, and some women like women, it's the way of life," Kash smiled gently, patting him on the back.
"So that will be okay? Then I would love to try and enter your tribe," Harry smiled brightly. Soon, if he is able to defeat what they threw against him, he would have a family again. This was something he didn't think he would ever have again.
"I will go tell Dak, the Tribe Leader. I will send Wen in with some food for you," Kash stood up gracefully and walked out of the cave. Seconds later a different elderly women walked through the door carrying what looked like a wooden cup of tea, and a bowl of soup.
"Good day, I'm glad that you're feeling better. I heard from Kash that you are going to try and enter our Tribe. I really hope you get in, I'm Wen by the way," This elderly woman smiled kindly, as she sat down and handed Harry his tea. Harry took a sip of the tea, grimacing at the bitter taste.
"Thank you for the tea Wen," Harry smiled graciously.
"Oh your very welcome, I'm here to make sure that you are strong enough to go through with the Joining Ritual. I brought you some of our Soup, which will make your aches diminish, and you will be less fatigued." Wen handed him the bowl.
"Yes, Thank you," Harry smiled again, not sure what to say. . . or how to eat his soup, he was not given a spoon. He looked a Wen expectantly, but she showed no sign of giving him a spoon, so he shrugged and raised the bowl to his lips. The soup tasted awful, but he felt so much better instantaneously. Luckily it was not as bad as the polyjuice potion. Wait, he shouldn't be thinking about that. That life was dead. He was on his own now.
Harry quickly finished his soup, and gave the bowl back to Wen, who was still sitting there smiling at him.
"Sooo. . ." Harry said.
"Oh yes, sorry, about your uhh. . . clothing. We didn't know what to do with it, so we packed it up and put it in a bundle, which is out side the door. But I must tell you, that clothing isn't sufficient to stay out here at this time of year. You will surely freeze. We had Gret make you some new clothing. Like every item of clothing used at this time of year, it is made of beaver or otter skin on the outside, which is resistant to rain, and it has soft rabbit fur on the inside to keep you warm. It is soft and supple, and easy to walk in. Here are your pants, and well, unfortunately the men do not wear tops in our tribe, so we didn't really think to make one. But we did make you a cloak, of both of the same materials, it will wrap around your torso nicely, so you need not be cold." Wen smiled, handing over the articles of clothing.
"Wow, thank you very much Wen, and thank. . . Gret was it? As well. But I really would like to keep that clothing, it's the last thing I have from where I left," Harry thanked her, and made sure she knew that it was NOT okay to get rid of his: 'flimsy clothing.'
"Oh your welcome dear, think nothing of it. By the way where did you come from?" Wen asked curiously.
"Oh, well I grew up in little Winging with my aunt and uncle, but when I turned eleven I spent most of my time. . . I think some where in Scotland. I really don't know where it was. Well. . . maybe not Scotland, but yah. . .somewhere else, at Hogwarts." Harry tried to explain. It was funny that he didn't know where Hogwarts was. He had never thought to ask, he bet Hermione asked. . . wait . . . no. Do not think about them.
"Hogwarts?!" Wen's eyes widened in surprise and fright.
"Yes, . . Do you know it?" Harry asked excitedly.
"It is in a legend, from our beginning. At a young age, we are taught the story of our beginning. We do not really know if it is true or not, but this is what we learn. A long, long time ago, there was a man in the shape of a snake, he was called Salazar Slytherin. He had the trust of many of our ancestors, and he loved him like his people. For a while, he was the master of a castle of great magic, along with three others, a lion man, a raven women, and a badger man. But they betrayed him and made him angry. This made his people angry as well. So he led the people here, in a forest where no foul magic could be used against him. His people were to be his army, whom he would use to banish the three evil masters away from his castle, but he died early on from loneliness for them. He had been with them so long, and had accomplished so much, that he died longing for them. When he died, he left his people without a master, and they were lost in this forest. Without any magic, they were unable to find their way out. So they made a council and made the customs, so that they could live on, until they had the chance to play out their masters plan. That was a thousand moons ago, and we were his people. We fashioned ourselves under the name of the Pure-blood army, and divided into many tribes, twenty to be exact. When Salazar Slytherin died, he left twenty sticks of wood, their use now unknown except to the Tribe Leader and Medicine woman, but he said that when the time came, we would be able to take back what was rightly ours, and our people would breed the strongest magic-wielders alive. Each Tribe-Leader carries around this stick, for the day when we will be able to use them, until then, they are useless pieces of wood!" Wen laughed, enjoying telling the story to the stranger.
"My god, Salazar Slytherin was gathering an army of pure-blood wizards. They would be stronger than any other wizard. They must be! And the sticks of wood, they must be wands! And the forest, it prevents the use of magic or the wands. . . I can't believe this, I leave one life, to come to a new one which is directly connected the old one. By the way, how many people are in all the tribes together?" Harry asked Wen, there couldn't be more than a hundred or so.
"Ah, well this is only a miniscule part of the Wolf Tribe. We find it is easier to travel in smaller packs, to the great meeting. In the whole Wolf Tribe there are. . . six thousand throughout the forest. Only about a thousand are traveling to the meeting, the other five are watching the land and such. All together with all the tribes, there are approximately 120,000 people, although more accurately since last count-in: 122,974. We try to keep the members of the army accurate." Wen smiled, deeply amused at the surprised face of the stranger.
"And do any of you know how to use a wand?" Harry asked, afraid.
"A wand?" Wen asked.
"He means the Sacred Stick," A man said from the doorway.
"Oh! Hi Dak," Wen smiled sweetly.
"Yes, each Tribe Leader knows how to wield the wand, it is the duty of the Medicine Women to learn, and the Tribe Leader. We teach it to the next Tribe Leader, and the next Medicine Women. We are the only ones to know how. But before all of the Army knew how, many, many years ago." Dak explained.
"So that's forty people who know, and twenty wands. . . I thought you meant that all. . . 122,974 people knew how to use it." Harry sighed, relaxing for a while.
"No, nor are there enough wands to go around, but we were given a secret from Salazar Slytherin, the woods around us prevent the use of magic inside, but the trees themselves make extremely strong wands, that create shields that protect the wielder of the wand. If we were to fashion 122,974 wands, and then teach all 122,974 people. . . well. . . we would be able to take our land back." Dak told Harry.
"With wands like that, you could do it with a hundred," Harry frowned.
"You are lying," Dak said sternly.
"No, unfortunately I'm not. There aren't many wizards left in the world, and they wouldn't be able to stand up to the wands that you are talking about. Of course, you wouldn't be able to take out all the wizards of the world, that would take time. But you probably could take out Hogwarts. But that wouldn't be wise, since it is still a school, and an essential one if we want wizards, who are not in this forest, to survive. At the moment the wizarding world is very weak, with the Great War, many of our people died." Harry looked sad for a moment, remembering the death of many of his friends, like Fred and George, who died so valiantly in the war.
"No, we would not take out their world while they are weak, that is dishonest. We would wait until they were worthy adversaries, but if what you said is true, then we should be able to take over after a few years. We must give this news to the council, then we can start training troops. But that is not why I'm here. I'm here because Kash told me that you would like to join out tribe," Dak stated to Harry.
"Yes, I would like to join," Harry tried to look confident, and strong.
"Well then, you will need to get ready for the ritual, but I must warn you. The reason this ritual hasn't been done in so many years, is because it's a wizarding duel."
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Author's Note: Well. . . finished the first chapter. Pretty slow, but perhaps it'll pick up in the next chapter. I would not know, I haven't wrote it yet. Currently 4:22 in the morning, still waiting for our internet to work. The guy's coming on Friday. So, this'll be posted on Friday, not that I know why I'm saying this, as it doesn't really matter to you.
OK, now if you would like to make any suggestions to the plot and such, or you would like to comment, or flame, or try to make me write Calgary goes to Hogwarts like I'm supposed to. . . well then you can go to hell. Hahah lol. No kidding. You can review. If you don't feel like review. . . well I'm not forcing you to do anything.
Hmm. . . how did you like the whole Pureblood Army thing? I thought it was pretty cool. I kind of have a plot going, but it's not all that cool and such, you know? Well. . . yah, whatever. I only have half the story thought out.
So, next chappie, expect to see a wizarding duel, a big meeting with lots of people, some decisions are made, some very mean people come back, and. . . well. . .hmm what else should I put? This is kinda a guideline for me, for the next chappie. It's being thought out as I go. . . Oh. . . perhaps I shouldn't put the meeting thing, it kinda gives away a certain fact, but that fact was obvious. Harry never. . .uhh not going to say it.
Hmm. . . if you read Shogun, you will find that there are approximately 10,000 words in the first chapter. I did the same with my words. There are about 9,801 words in this chapter, excluding the first Author's note, and this one. And yes, I kinda did count the words in the first chapter of shogun. Heh. Loser me. But I was at the beach, what else is there to do? Did you know that this Author's note is reaching four hundred words? Freaky. I gotta stop with the word count thingy.
In the general wordliness of me, I would like to say that the Disturbed CD is a very cool CD. I don't know how this relates to the story, but something I said in the story about the forest, like how it 'making you numb. . . making you strong' well it's kinda like a song on the CD. I was listening to the CD while I wrote it of course.
Watched Lost Souls today, totally freaked me out, not sure why. I think it's cause it was kind of believable, in a weird sort of way. It managed to scare me, Kim thought it was a joke, so did Evan. Well whatever, they can go to hell. I'm freaked out by that Princess Monoke movie. The Forest God seriously freaked me out. And when they cut off it's head. . . shiver scaryness. Of course. . . I live in a rain-forest, so it's kinda freaky walking around, expecting the forest thing to just pop out of nowhere. Creepy. It's starting to get light out. Perhaps I should go to bed?
Did I tell you that I thought of this story while watching Bravehart? I think I did. That's interminably sad. Father should be coming soon with his laptop. Yay! Go Daddy Go! Heh. Fun fun fun.
Hmm what else to write about? To tell you the truth, I'm trying to see if I can write one thousand words of crap. I doubt it. But I can tell you this: Kim and I went to play tennis today. Wow. . . you really needed to know that. I don't want to go to the beach. L But It's unavoidable, well at least I don't have to get a job like Kira, AHAHAAHAHa. . . instead I have to go to the beach. AHAHAHAHHAHA.
Alright, I'm going to finish off this Author's note, by thanking everyone who helped me write this chapter.
1) N/a
2)N/a
3) N/a
That's right. . . NO ONE HELPED ME! BOO HOO HOO. I should go to bed. Too many pillows on my bed. Not enough room for me. I wonder if they can hear my typing from the other room. That would be funny. I type pretty loud.
Alright, this time this is the end. So I end by dedicating this chapter to . . .
Alex.
Why? Because she's probably pissed off that I didn't write a Calgary Goes to Hogwarts chapter instead. AHAHAHA. Heh, perhaps she has stopped even checking for new chappies. I haven't wrote one in . . . forever. Ahahahahah. Oh and if there are people waiting for Waking up in the Hotel, well. . . I promise to write one, as soon as I read the last one over again, cause. . . I forget what I wrote. HEH BYE!
BQETTSUMETIRLBCHIAS! KISS KISS! LOVE FROM VANCOUVER! 10,901 words.