Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize. Everything mage related, I do, along with everything you don't recognize outside of this series.
"Talk"
'Think'
Writing
Flashback
Parseltongue
Author note/excuse/announcements: Sorry this took forever, but it's the longest (and last) chapter. Sniff... This is the first fiction story I have ever finished except for this one at school that was about three pages long at the most. I've been really busy. In fact, I should be working on my Spanish project... Oh well!
Poll results: the majority was the summer being in the sequeal with the school year (I think...) but I was sitting in study hall one day and came up with this absolutely wicked plot for a summer fic. That and I don't quite have the plot for Seventh Year together in my head yet...
Here you go, the last chapter of What We Don't Know: Year Six
In this chapter you will experience:
The joys and cons of Imperio Metal in the minds of crazed half-veela and half-vampires.
More about Danny's vampire side of the family that was already revealed in the Outtakes. Yes, I am that evil to make those who didn't read it regret it. :-P
The conference
Part of Easter Break
And much, much more!
Chapter 49
Resolutions Are So Last Century
Harry was sitting at a secluded table at the library. Ginny was going to kill him for skipping lunch, but he didn't want to be there while Dumbledore announced that he was teaching next year. He was so nervous about that… What if no one wanted to take his classes? At least he had time to finally read that damn book that mentions Imperio Metal…
Harry knew that he had to figure out a way to destroy the effects before Tuesday, three days from now. He had a notebook opened next to him and a plain old pencil in his mouth. He was chewing on it from a very bad habit he had since he was little. 'Hm… according to this, Imperio Metal works by absorbing the Master's magical energy and manipulating it to force the victim to obey. We might be able to remove the energy. If I can remove magical energy from people, I should probably be able to remove it from a stupid piece of metal.' Harry scribbled it down for future reference. Who knows, he might be able to prove his worth as a teacher if he finds a way to negate the effects of one of the most dangerous, illegal metals existing today.
Harry heard someone else enter. He wanted solitude, so he was going to move to the Room of Requirement. He could get food there too and not get killed by his girlfriend and friend who just happened to be a girl. Harry carefully snuck upstairs and entered the room. A comfortable chair with a large, spacious desk was the main features of the room. Harry sat down as a plate full of extra-cheese pizza and a relaxing cup of tea appeared on the desk. He couldn't wait until he got his own office. Dumbledore told him that Harry could start furnishing and preparing the office by Easter Break.
Harry massaged his temples when he read that it was impossible to remove Imperio Metal unless the consent of all of the victim's masters was given. Harry could probably overpower Voldemort's influence, but he couldn't remove the Imperio Metal. The book said that it is assumed that the instant the "master" touches the Imperio Metal a password is set subconsciously by the master. Harry closed his eyes and sighed. This was such a mess…
His eyes snapped open when a thought struck him. He pulled a shrunken mage book out of his robe pocket and flipped through once he restored it to its normal size. It was a more advanced spellbook that contained spells he couldn't even do yet because he didn't have his scepter. Mages didn't get a focus until they hit their magical maturity. There was a spell that found and activated passwords! …but he would need a mage focus to cast it. Great… Oh well, Harry would have to find a way to become his own master and just wait out until he hit his Climax of his magical maturity.
While Harry was thinking about it, he figured he might as well write down the differences between the mage's and wizard's magical maturity. Harry pulled his notebook towards him and started to write.
"Coming of Age and Climax: What's the Difference?"
While there are many differences and similarities between mages and wizards, one of the most major subjects that differ yet are similar is magical maturity. For those who don't know, magical maturity is when a young magic-wielder fully comes into the gift of magic for the first time. Magical maturity also marks the beginning of adulthood for many races. Most, if not all, magical beings become more powerful than they were before. There is a reason why wizards are considered adults at seventeen for that is when the majority hits his or her magical maturity or Coming of Age
For wizards, it happens gradually over the period of a week. It feels like a period of growing pains. It is so gradual though that almost everything happens on the witch's or wizard's seventeenth birthday, but this is about mages, not wizards.
For mages, this is not the case. As I already discussed earlier, all mages are part elf. This becomes apparent when the mage's ears start to become pointed. This signifies that his or her magical maturity has started to begin. It takes place over a period of sometimes even a year. Depending on the element, the mage's eye color, hair color, skin tone, and more may change gradually.
The most amazing phenomenon from the mages' magical maturity is basically a huge chain reaction. The mage's body starts to store magic for the creation of the scepter, the mage version of a wand. The scepter is pure energy and is able to be called whenever and may take any shape desired. The creation obviously takes more energy than what a mage has to spare within the body. As more and more energy is built-up and more and more power is enquired, the body will soon need an outlet for the energy to form the scepter and let all of the mage's abilities out. This is called the Climax
The Climax is the mage term for the release of the stored energy. In a spectacle of lights, the energy literally explodes and forced the spare energy out of the body. The pure magical energy forces the mage's stored energy to bind together to form his or her scepter. While it may look cool to spectators, it is very painful and creates magical backlash. How dangerous it is depends on the power of the mage. An Elite could destroy the building they are in if not strong and reinforced—like Hogwarts.
As I'm currently writing this, I have not gone through my Climax. I am still in the middle of my own magical maturity. It's an amazing feeling, having all the energy you can want absorbed into your body. I can feel the magic bubbling at my fingertips; sometimes it gets overwhelming, and I just want more. I admit that I'm a little frightened about going through Climax because from what I've heard, it really hurts. It's simply one of the phases of the mage lifecycle that can't be avoided, no matter how much some of us wish it was.
Harry read over his rough draft and thought it wasn't half-bad. Serenity would probably edit, revise, add what she knows to it, and probably rip it apart and insult it during the process once he gives it to her; the section of that chapter would be a decent length then. Harry put his notebook down and started to eat his precious pizza. Boy, he loved this stuff.
After finishing his pizza and tea, Harry gathered his books, notebooks, and writing utensils, leaving the secluded room. Harry was about to go down the steps to see if he could do anything to his new classroom and office when he heard voices. "Where is he? Harry must be around here somewhere! We looked all over the place! He is so dreamy; he'll be the best teacher ever. We have to sign up for his classes, Lav! Why oh why did we sign that petition?"
Harry gulped. It was Parvati and Lavender. Oh dandy. "Hi, Harry," a feminine voice cooed as Lavender Brown climbed up the stairs with Parvati behind her.
"I have a girlfriend, you know," Harry stated immediately.
"But you could do so much better," Parvati purred and attempted to undo his gold and green tie.
"No thanks. Looks are not everything. I learned that from my sister who is luckily at home probably snogging my best friend. Mi is prettier than you two anyways. I prefer naturalness, if that is a word." Harry turned the other way and snuck into a secret passage. This could get annoying.
He walked into the library with full intents on studying for his NEWT. Hermione had of course somehow managed to tell Serenity when she realized that the lightning mage wasn't taking studying serious enough for her liking. Harry got a howler from his sister this morning screaming at him about how if she found out that he wasn't studying that she was going to make him regret it. Hermione had a smug look on her face the whole time.
"Oh, so you listen to Serenity but not me?" someone whispered behind him. Harry turned around to see Hermione staring at him with the same smug look from that morning.
"Have you ever been the subject of an angry veela's ire? You don't want to. Have Danny show you the scar he has on his chest from when Serenity threw a fireball at him while menstruating. Make sure Vix isn't in the house though because I doubt her veela side will appreciate having another girl seeing her mate's chest. It's really funny watching them deny to the other about how possessive they are. Well, Serenity actually stopped hiding but always made it seem like she was simply teasing him a little. Danny was mentally throwing a fit to me because Serenity had left a note saying that she was buying milk at the store that is basically across the street and how worried sick he was when he could only watch in a horrified anxiety as she crossed the street."
"Are you serious?"
"Unfortunately, no. It happened yesterday. I hate to imagine how bad it would be if Serenity wasn't perfectly content planning and researching instead of actually fighting, Danny wasn't willing to obey almost all of her commands, Serenity wasn't so clingy and likes being cuddled up in his arms, and Danny wasn't perfectly happy being used as a chair. Then, there would be more problems because vampires and veela crave certain things."
"I already knew that, Harry. Veela crave protection, affection, and a bit of obedience while vampires have the irresistible urge to protect his or her mate no matter what while showering them with love. This makes veela very clingy and bossy and vampire protective and love struck. I really do feel bad for you at times…"
Harry shrugged as his girlfriend sat down across from him. "I don't really mind as long as they don't start making out while I'm there. I'm just worried about the fact that Serenity desperately wants children; I read somewhere that veela start having the desire to have children about a year after they chose a mate. It hasn't even been quite half a year yet, but I will definitely be able to tell if Serenity stopped talking to Danny about children in the more distant future to now. He had finally accepted the fact that if he wanted to keep Serenity, he would have to get over his desire to not have children. Danny thinks that adopting Mindy will be enough. You see, he basically raised her and seemed to be a little scarred from potty-training someone when he was only eleven or something like that."
Hermione shuddered and dragged Harry by the ear to the Defense section. "Do I need to send an owl to Serenity again with Hedwig?"
"No!"
"Just making sure… Did you get the Seventh Year books yet?"
"Mi, I ordered them yesterday afternoon, that isn't physically possible."
"Too bad…"
Harry rolled his eyes behind her back. He had to stop befriending know-it-alls…
Serenity and Danny exchanged mischievous looks as they entered the Leaky Cauldron. "Did I tell you that I like your shirt, Ren?" Danny innocently asked with a smile.
"Oh good, I hoped you would." She had gotten a shirt air-brushed that said, "Danny's little vixie. Sorry gals, but he's mine."
"Did you get a size smaller than you need on purpose?"
"Yep, I had to go into the kid sizes. It's so short that I don't have to worry about it being fitted."
"Yes, that is a tad short, dear. I thought you didn't like showing skin."
Serenity shrugged and grabbed her boyfriend's hand. "I don't mind showing my stomach so much now. What's the point of getting your bellybutton pierced if no one can see it?"
"Why are you asking me?" asked the vampire as he let go of her hand in favor of picking her up. "There, I can kiss you now without you going on your toes and me bending my head down."
"You need to shrink, dearie."
"No, you need to grow."
Serenity stuck her tongue out at him and snuggled in his embrace. "I love you."
"Love you too—what is Leon doing here?"
"…what?" was her confused answer.
"Leon, he is over there."
"Oh… Doesn't he live in the middle of nowhere in Italy?"
"Yeah, that's why I'm so confused. I'll be right back, Vix, okay?"
"Fine… I'm pouncing on your back in five minutes. Kissy!"
Danny smiled and sat her down at one of the back booths. They shared a kiss; Danny hugged her lovingly and strode over to his half-brother. Danny snorted when the editor from Witch Weekly was trying to get an interview, thinking that Leon was Danny. "I am not Danny Riddle," Leon snapped while accenting his Italian accent.
"Hi, bro," Danny said with a small smirk.
"Thank you! See, I am not him when he's behind me!"
"Br-bro," the reporter said with horror. Danny sighed when he realized that she had assumed that they weren't half brother but full brothers.
"We have the same mother. He's my bastard of a father's stepson. He is eight years older than me or something like that."
"Eight and a half."
"Well, excuse me, Leon. I save you from the reporter and this is how you repay me?"
"Be quiet, you imp."
"Why does everyone say that?" Danny whined. The reporter snuck away from the now bickering brothers.
"I wonder why."
"What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in Italy?"
"Land of the people who are half there that speak Italish?"
"Stop making fun of a six-year-old who didn't get a proper education the day before her birthday. What are you doing here before you make me pound your head in?"
"You're my younger brother; I'm the one who's supposed to be threatening to beat you up."
"Leon…"
"Mom wanted to meet me here for some reason. I think Grandma is coming too…"
"In that case, I have to convince Ren to go to Hogsmeade instead."
"Gee, thanks. Nice to know our family means so much to you, Danny."
"So sorry, you people were the ones who abandoned me to an orphanage that was later shut down for possibly mentally abusing and underfeeding the orphans. The big group of people running away that I helped organize is what caused the police people to investigate to see why so many kids ran."
"Ah, my poor, little grandson," an all too familiar voice cooed. Danny was just barely able to dodge his grandmother babying him again.
"Uh, right. I have to, uh, make sure Serenity isn't killed by rabid reporters…!" Danny ran to where Serenity was sitting. "Ren, my family is here."
"What?!" Serenity's face read disbelief all over it.
"Mother, half-brother, and grandmother."
"Why?"
"Hell if I know."
"Ah… you two are so adorable," Danny's grandmother cooed. She had followed Danny.
"You have issues, lady. First you hate me; now you're cooing over me," Serenity stated without hesitation. Danny snorted and hugged his little veela gently. "Pick me up, s'il vous plaît?"
"…what?"
"Pick me up, please!"
"English, it only is my first language," Danny stated and picked his girlfriend up lovingly. Serenity smiled innocently and kissed him gently on the lips. Grandmother's eyes were lit up with joy.
"Run?" Danny softly whispered in Serenity's ear.
"Like hell," was Serenity's response. Danny quickly put Serenity down and wrapped an arm around her.
The two teens suddenly let go of the other and sprinted out of the pub. The elderly vampire was left to just blink a few times. Leon bit his lip to keep from laughing at his brother's antics. Grandma was going to be rather annoyed with those two.
Danny and Serenity went into the Weasley's prank shop after looking to see if any of Danny's relatives were to be seen. "…in reality, this would be the first place they would look," Serenity muttered.
Danny shrugged and looked at the fireworks. "Those look dangerous."
"Do you want to just-?" Serenity stopped when the door opened and there were Danny's relatives.
"There you two are! Dawn, you were right," Grandmother said.
Fred and George came out from the backroom. "…did the pale people convention come in town and no one told us?" the two said while splitting the words up between them.
Serenity shrugged and said, "I don't know, but I don't want part in it. I am not pale in the least. I don't care if I wake up every morning with a really pale person holding me."
"Hardy, har, har, lovely," Danny sarcastically replied. Serenity brightly smiled at him and hugged his waist.
"You know you love me!"
"I just have to figure out why."
Grandmother's eyes were shining with joy. She had seen the dark silver lines on the veela's rleft wrist above a tattoo saying "pixie". She walked quickly to the small girl and pinched her cheeks saying how cute the lass was. The elderly vampire ignored the shocked look on her face.
Serenity swatted her hands away and clung to Danny. "Can we leave, please?"
"…gladly," Danny answered and warped out of the store. His grandmother was left to stomp her foot on the ground in annoyance.
Harry sighed as he woke up in the Slytherin dorm. It was his first day of classes with everyone knowing what he was capable of. Or at least they have a better idea…
Harry sat up and ran his hand through his ruffled hair. He reached over and grabbed his golden, square-framed glasses and put them on. Nott was pulling his neatly folded clothes out of his dresser, and the other four boys were still fast asleep. "Wake up, Blaise!" Harry shouted right in Blaise's ear.
"I didn't do it, Mommy!" the boy shrieked.
"Dude, there are no girls in this room. Stop yelling for your mommy," Harry stated and threw a pillow at his head.
"You just sleep in here so you can hit me in the head with a pillow, don't you?"
"Yep! There's no Danny around to hit on the head for snoring like an elephant."
Shadow crawled out from under Harry's Slytherin bed and said in Harry's head, 'Be nice to Master!'
"Shut up, you mutt. Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, get your bloody, lazy arses out of bed." Harry rolled his eyes and stepped back when none of them got up. He smirked lightly and shot water at the three, young Death Eaters. Harry laughed and ran out of the dorm without changing.
"POTTER!"
Harry turned back and shouted, "I told you to wake up, Malfoy, but you wouldn't listen!" Harry turned around with his slightly broad shoulders shaking with laughter. His eyes widened considerably though when a few flashes went off in his eyes. There were reporters in the Slytherin common room taking pictures of him, and he had forgotten to put a shirt on. That was probably why he was freezing though.
"Mr. Potter!" many of them were shouting.
Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He managed to calm himself down enough to ask, "Do you mind? It's early, and I'm shirtless. I need to get dressed." Harry turned around and jogged back upstairs.
"What's the matter, Potter? Lose your confidence?" Draco said in an attempt to taunt Harry.
"Nope, there's a bunch of reporters out there, and I think Witch Weekly is going to be filled with pictures of me without a shirt on again. Hopefully Serenity doesn't find out and holds it over my head for the rest of eternity like she did last time…"
"I'll be sure to tell her then," Blaise drawled with a smirk.
"You wouldn't dare!"
"Watch me."
Harry scowled and pointed his wand at Blaise, "So sure about that? Remember how long it takes me to disarm you? What was it? Less than a minute if even?"
"Uh, right… My lips are sealed?"
"They better be. Excuse me as I do a vanishing act." Harry pulled his invisibility cloak out of his trunk and put it
on. Draco and Theodore looked at the cloak with jealously in the brief moments they could truly see it. Harry reappeared a few seconds later; the boy seemed a little embarrassed and started to get dressed.
"Nice hair, Potter," Draco stated with a smirk.
"Every time I pull it back, Hermione messes it up. I gave up after a while. If I leave it messy, Hermione doesn't nag me about how she likes my hair spiked better… I swear I'm going to wake up to her looming over me with scissors…"
Blaise snorted and said, "Sheesh, I'm going to start calling you Mad-Eye."
"Thanks, Blaise thanks. I have both of my eyes though neither work as well as I'd wish they did."
"Anytime, Harry." Harry scowled and flipped him off. "Now that wasn't nice."
"Congeniality isn't a necessity."
Harry slid next to Hermione and slid an arm around her. "Morning, sunshine."
"Good morning, hooligan," she replied with a teasing smile.
"You tell me I have self-esteem issues, and then you go ahead and insult me all the time!"
"It's fun insulting you though."
"Gee, thanks, Mi."
Hermione smiled and scooped food on his plate. "Eat, or I'll feed you again."
"I can't eat that much though…!" Harry whined.
"Too bad, you're skin and bones."
Ginny sat next to him and gave him a look. She said, "Do I need to call Dan? He seems to be the only one you'll listen to when it comes to your eating habits. I guess you want another, lovely howler."
Harry's eyes grew wide; the young man immediately started to eat what was sat before him. "Well, that sure scared him," Hermione commented and added a muffin to his plate before eating herself. "Harry, get your hand away from that coffee. You need it like you need a hole in the head."
"It's decaf!"
"Oh, go ahead then," Hermione replied with a bit of relief.
Harry took a deep sip and said with a smirk, "I lied; it's regular. Yum!"
"Harry, put it down!" Ginny practically yelled.
Harry smiled brightly and chugged the whole thing. Ginny sighed and stood up. She muttered, "I'm going to warn Blaise… We should make an announcement that we're going to have a hyper Harry Potter on our hands. Have fun in classes with him, Hermione." Harry continued to smile like a maniac.
'Coffee, coffee, coffee!'
'…who gave you the caffeine?'
'Harry did! Harry told Mi-Mi and Gin-Gin that it was decaf!'
'I am very glad that I am in London, and you are somewhere in Scotland.'
'Harry is happy that Danny is happy!'
'Good for you, Jamie.' Harry whistled and started to eat.
"What do you mean he tricked you into getting caffeine?!" Blaise's voice cut through the air.
"Hermione let him!"
"Mi, is you in trouble?"
"…I think so, Jamie."
"I will protect you!" Harry stated and hugged her tightly.
"That's very noble of you."
Hermione held her hyper boyfriend's hand firmly as he bounced up and down with his books in his leather bag swung on his shoulder. If she thought Harry didn't like staying still before, that was nothing. "Come on, Harry. We have to get to Transfiguration."
"We get to see Professor Kitty!"
"…Harry, don't call her that to her face."
"Why not?"
"She'll take points off."
"So…?"
"The Professor would probably also give you a detention."
"…what else is new?"
"Ugh, just come on."
"Okay!"
Hermione made sure Harry sat down before telling her favorite professor what was wrong with the fidgeting mage. "Professor, Harry got his hands of caffeine, and he doesn't handle it very well because of how small he is. He's really hyper…"
Hermione was wondering if it was her imagination when Professor McGonagall paled. Hermione sat down next to Harry when the bell rang. Blaise Zabini was sitting on Harry's other side cautiously. He gave her a small glare though Hermione wasn't sure if it was because she was a Gryffindor muggleborn or was the one who let Harry have coffee.
"Today, we will be going more in depth with animagus transformations. You will discover your form today in class if you have one. There are two ways to discover your form, but the easiest is through a potion. It is also the only painless version."
"The other version really hurts!" Harry interrupted with a giddy smile.
"I already implied that, Mr. Potter. Will you please be quiet?"
"…maybe."
Harry had managed to keep his mouth shut for the rest of the explanation by doodling on his parchment where he was supposed to be taking notes. Hermione only let him get away with it because he was already an animagus. In fact, he was oddly quiet until Professor McGonagall started to pass out the potions. "Harry don't need one," he stated. Harry had such a lovely habit of talking in third person while hyper.
"May I ask why not, Potter?"
"Harry already animagus."
"Really, would you care to show the class?" McGonagall asked, knowing he would probably do it in his current state of mind. She already knew he was a white lion, but she had to find a way for the Wizarding World at large to find out. The mage stood up and morphed into a lion on the smaller size with bright, emerald eyes.
"Ah, you're so cute!" Hermione cooed and patted his head. Harry jumped on the table and curled into a ball. He already knew about animagi, so he decided to take a nap in his animagus form.
"Mr. Potter… Mr. Potter! Potter, wake up!" Harry opened his eyes and growled softly before falling back asleep.
"…I can just wake him up after class is over, Professor. I need to pay him back for hitting me with a pillow this morning," Blaise stated.
"I don't even care anymore. Now, I will call you all to my office one by one, and you'll take the potion handed to you. You will turn into your animagus form temporarily, and I will record it for you. Miss Davis, if you would follow me?"
Hermione sighed and stroked her sleeping boyfriend's fur. "This is going to take awhile…"
Blaise snorted and snapped back, "Try being last for everything; at least your name is at the beginning of the alphabet. Why did you let him have caffeine?!"
"…he said it was decaf," Hermione said a little meekly. She knew that she had done something stupid for believing her caffeine-addict boyfriend.
"You actually believed Harry? Harry, the person who will do almost anything to get his hands on caffeine?"
"I know it was stupid. Shut up!"
The two continued bickering until Hermione was called in. She gulped and took a sip of the potion as directed. Professor McGonagall raised an eyebrow and said, "Dolphin." …maybe that's why Hermione couldn't feel her legs.
Harry was awake and in his human form when Hermione walked out. "So…?"
"How do you even know what is going on? You were asleep!"
"Blaise told me."
"Oh… A dolphin…"
"That will come in handy for swimming. Ouch! Stop hitting me…!"
"You deserve it."
"…so?" Harry whined.
"Harry, stop being a big baby."
Harry stuck his tongue out at her.
Serenity glanced at the library window and opened it when she saw Hedwig fly towards the house. The snowy owl flew in and gracefully dropped two stacks of papers on top of the book she was reading. A sticky note was attached to one of the two stacks that said, "READ ME FIRST!!!!!!"
Serenity carefully tore the wrappings off and started to read. "Hm… Harry does have a working brain after all. I'll have to see if his idea will work. Now I just have to pry Danny away from Mindy. Birthday girl or not, this is more important," she muttered to herself.
She sat the stack down and headed downstairs where Danny was. It was almost Mindy's bedtime anyways. "Mins, you need to go take a bath, kiddo. Night," she heard Danny kindly say.
"Okay, Daddy! Nighty night!"
"Danny!" Serenity said.
"Yeah?" he asked as his head poked out from the other room.
"Come to the library now."
"…okay."
Serenity sat on the desk she was working at as Danny claimed the actual chair. "Harry found a way to overpower the Imperio Metal, maybe."
"Oh."
"Danny, hold it out."
"Wait, you're trying it on me?!"
Serenity gave him a look and snatched his right arm. "Dreno," she softly muttered. Red light flew out of the band and into the jar Serenity had grabbed. "Now for the crowning moment…" She tightly grasped it and focused on inserting her magical energy. Her eyes lit in joy when the silver cuff glowed gold for a moment.
"Why aren't you taking it off…?" Danny asked. Serenity agreed with Harry when he wrote that he doubted they could without a different spell but yanked on the bracelet.
"Harry was right; we can't get past all of the defenses, just the ones that make us obey Voldie. Let's see if it really worked, shall we, dearie?"
"What, you just-!"
"Take your shirt off!" Serenity chirped. Danny pouted but removed his t-shirt. She jumped off the desk and onto his lap. "Should I let you do mine?"
"Yes."
"Too bad, Dan. You have to figure out what I just did and become your own master for lack of a better wording. You're not allowed to take control of the Imperio Metal on my wrist, either." Danny tried to grab what he figured out was the notes Harry sent.
'Harry!'
'Yes?'
'Ren took control of the Imperio Metal, won't take her control off me because she said I had to do it myself, isn't giving me the notes on how to, and won't let me take control of hers! This isn't fair!'
'I can't do anything, Dan.'
'Damn it!'
Serenity snatched the stapled together parchment and held it to her chest. "I'll let you try to figure it out tomorrow. I have at least three whole hours with you under my control though! Sorry, dearie, but this is just too good to pass up. Come on." She held her hand out expectantly. Danny sighed as he was forced to grab her hand. He was so going to get her back for this tomorrow…
"Meanie…"
"No insulting me."
"Sorry, Ren."
"No calling me Ren."
"Sorry, dear."
"I don't like that tone."
"You didn't do yours."
"I'll do that after I lock you in our room and run into a room where you can't hear what you need to do. Oh, I have a good idea! No touching any Imperio Metal until tomorrow morning! I feel smart!" Danny sulked as his girlfriend skipped into their room. Serenity jumped on the bed and repeated the process she had used on the bracelet adorning Danny's wrist to hers. She clicked her fingers and patted the spot next to her. Danny took the hint and sat down next to her. Serenity smiled and pecked him on the cheek.
"Darling, why are you doing this to me?"
"…because I can, and I know you won't do anything that I can't stop…?"
Danny pouted and lunged at her with full intents on tickling her. "Serenity!"
"No. Down!" Serenity shouted. Danny stuck his lip out again and settled with picking her up. "Good boy," Serenity cooed. Yes, Danny would have his revenge, and it would be sweet. "Hm… Get our coats, dearie. We're going out. Oh, wait… you need a shirt. Damn…"
Serenity rummaged through his side of the closet and threw one of his new shirts at his head. "Let me guess, I can't button it?" asked Danny rather sarcastically.
"Yep!"
The next morning, Danny carefully snuck out of bed before Serenity woke up. He grabbed Harry's notes and read through them. 'Ah man, you need to use Dreno, and I never have used that spell before… Oh well. Now to plot how to best get back at lovely… Maybe I'll just give her a taste of her own medicine. But how to best do this… Hm… I can trick her! Yes! That will prove that I'm not a complete moron!'
Danny did the spell process of overpowering Serenity's control and slipped back in bed next to Serenity. She started to stir and sat up. "Wake up, dearie," she muttered and shook him a little. Danny sat up and grabbed her arm.
"Dreno," he whispered.
"Hey, stop it!"
"Don't have to listen anymore." Danny forced his magic into the band; the tell-tale black glow told him it worked. "Payback, love, payback. I get to make up for my three and a half hours of freedom lost to you."
Serenity stuck her lip out cutely and gave him puppy eyes. "Dearie…"
"No and no touching Imperio Metal stuff. Uh, yeah… Hm, didn't really think I would actually get this far." Serenity crossed her arms with a pout as strong arms picked her up and placed her on Danny's lap.
"…meanie."
"No insulting me," Danny mocked in a very good imitation of her last night. "Come on, breakfast time. We're eating, and then I get to choose what you wear for once. This is going to be fun."
"Yeah, for you."
"Exactly, that was my point. Go make breakfast, and bring the stuff for us up here, okay?"
"…yes, dearie," Serenity muttered broodingly. How did he trick her? This was so wrong!
Danny smiled smugly to himself when Serenity walked out with a big ol' pout on her face. She was acting as if he was going to make her do some of the things she made him do. Serenity had dragged him to a hair salon and made him re-do his streaks. Sure, he got to pick out the color, neon blue, but he wasn't happy when Serenity took him to a tattoo/piercing place and made him get his ear pierced. Danny fiddled with the silver-colored hoop in his left ear lobe absentmindedly as he thought. At least his parents would probably throw a fuss about it…
Danny walked into the bathroom and leaned towards the mirror, staring at his hazy reflection. It was hard to tell if he had gotten all of the eyeliner from last night off… He decided to take a quick shower after he ate while Serenity was getting dressed.
Speaking of her getting dressed… Danny smirked to himself when he opened Serenity's drawers. Danny didn't care if she called him a pervert for his smirk widened when the drawer he opened was her underwear drawer. "I wonder if she still has that skimpy bikini someone bought her for her birthday last year?" he muttered to himself. His question answered himself when Danny found said red bikini top. "Bingo!" Danny opened her side of the closet and rummaged through it. "Doesn't own skirts my arse…" he muttered to himself again when he pulled a denim miniskirt out.
"…honey?" a voice came from the other room. Danny pulled a blouse out quickly and went into the next room.
"On the table, precious." Serenity put the tray containing toast, eggs, plates, a pitcher of O.J., glasses, and all that other stuff needed for breakfast on the table. Danny smiled tenderly and cradled the girl in his arms. He pulled a chair out with his foot and carefully pushed it to the table with Serenity clinging to his neck. "There we go!" chirped Danny as he sat down with Serenity snuggled in his arms. Serenity realized a little too late that her boyfriend had decided to feed her.
"Dearie, I'm full…!" Serenity whined ten minutes later.
"Oh, fine. Let me finish eating." Serenity buried her head in his chest causing the vampire to roll his eyes and peck her cheek. One arm was wrapped around her and the other had a fork in it.
When the vampire was done, he stood up with the veela still in his arms. "Come on; time to get you out of my boxers."
Serenity stuck her lip out and said, "What if I like being in your boxers? I like your underwear."
"And I like yours, but that's beside the point."
"…when did you see my panties?" she squeaked out.
"Going through your drawers, and lo and behold, a sexy girl's underwear!"
"You went through my underwear drawer?!"
"So?"
Serenity crossed her arms with a pout, knowing that she couldn't do anything. Her eyes widened slightly when she saw what was laying on the bed though. "Danny, please tell me you're joking!"
"Nope, change while I'm in the shower. Oh, and call me horny if you must, but no buttoning the blouse all the way."
Serenity pouted again when he closed the bathroom door and the sound of running water became apparent. Grudgingly, she changed into the rather scanty clothing only Danny would want her to wear. Oh well, seeing him with his ear pierced was worth it. She shouldn't have chickened out on making him get her name tattooed on his arm though…
'Okay, how do I put bikini tops on…?' she thought as she carefully tried to tie the string in the back in a bow. She hated to admit it, but she would probably have to have Danny tie it for her.
Stupid, horny vampire… he was having way too much fun with this. Serenity pulled the blouse on and buttoned the middle two buttons carefully. The veela took her locket off the vanity and put it around her neck. Serenity smirked lightly and put a picture of Danny from last night in it after she took the old picture of him out.
Serenity flopped on the bed and started to read while she waited for her mate to get out of the shower. She closed her eyes and sighed when she saw her underwear drawer open and a bra strap hanging out. He actually had the nerve to look at her underwear…
"Hiya, gorgeous," a drawling voice said about ten minutes after the shower turned off. Serenity looked up to see Danny leaning against the door with his hair sopping wet.
"Uh, Danny…"
"Yes, my love?"
"…will you tie my bikini top in the back?"
"Sure, but you have to take the blouse off."
Serenity hesitantly took the blouse off well aware of the eyes looking at her intensely. Danny gently undid the strings and retied it tightly. "Thanks…"
"No problem, Ren. Wow, who knew you actually had cleavage under all those clothes you wear?"
"Me…" Serenity answered automatically.
"Crap, right… Imperio Metal…" Danny wrapped his arms around her lovingly and stroked her face gently. Serenity leaned into his touch with a low rumble. "There, that's where I think you belong, cuddled in my arms purring your pretty head off, lovely. The fact that you look all sexy makes it even better."
Serenity whimpered in protest but was too preoccupied with purring and rubbing her head against Danny's chest. A dreamy look started to adorn the vampire's face. Serenity was starting to worry that he was enjoying this too much for it to be healthy for her. She finally got sick of being petted and swatted his hand away. Danny looked down at her rather sternly and started to rub her back. Serenity tried to whack his hand away again, but he grabbed it and firmly said, "No."
Serenity wasn't sure if it was just her when his touch started to become more soothing, and Serenity found herself having trouble staying awake. Her eyes kept drooping until they closed softly and a small head leaned on Danny.
Danny smiled to himself when he pulled his sleeping veela hybrid as close as he could to him. He was completely in control, and, as much as he hated to admit it at times, he loved every second of it.
While he normally didn't mind the fact that Serenity was basically in charge of their relationship and even him, it was a little depressing knowing that someone smaller and younger had completely conquered him without even trying. It didn't help that Serenity was constantly trying to convince him of things he didn't want to do and then would actually go out of her way to force him to do whatever she wanted.
Danny was considering what he was doing now a taste of her own medicine. Serenity had really crossed the line last night and disrespected his rights… Let's see how she liked being forced to do whatever he wanted. Danny just had to resist the temptation of bonding her to him when she was under his control. It was getting harder and harder because whenever he tried to forget about it, Danny would remember that Serenity wanted to wait.
Danny sighed and picked the sleeping girl up tenderly. He slipped the blouse on her and buttoned the middle buttons up carefully so he wouldn't wake her up.
'Hm… What to do? What to do?' Danny suddenly smiled brightly and pulled his sketch pad out after putting Serenity down. He would finally get the chance to draw a decent picture of the love of his life…
Danny had a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that she was still getting the better end because he was currently covered in more hickeys than before, and Serenity had taken great joy in groping his bum last night.
Danny sighed softly and pulled one of his sketchpads out and some pencils. He was in denial with himself about how enjoyable last night had actually been for him. He was a little disgusted with himself with how at ease he was with little freedom. It was like his brain was telling him that it didn't matter what situation he was in as long as Serenity was happy with him. Frankly, it was creeping Danny out. 'I'm not getting anywhere… Maybe I should just wake her up, so we can go out somewhere.'
Danny gently shook the blonde awake and whispered, "Wake up, my love," in her ear. Light brown eyes looked sleepily up at him. Serenity sat up and wrapped her arms around him. "Did you brush your hair, dear?"
"…no," was her answer. Danny snorted and got her brush from the bathroom.
"On my lap, darling." Serenity hopped on his lap happily. Danny rolled his eyes. He knew she loved it when he did her hair for her. "What do you want me to do with your hair?"
Serenity seemed ponderous and said, "Can you put it in a ponytail, please?"
"Sure."
"Yay! Thanks, dearie! I love you!"
"I love you too, lovely. Now stay still." Serenity stopped moving and let Danny gently run the brush through her long hair. He brushed the blonde locks back carefully and held it with an elastic band. "There you go, Renny." He hugged her tightly.
"Thankies!"
"You're always welcome. Eh, I guess you can change out of the bikini top… I want to go out somewhere, and I'm the only one who's allowed to see your cleavage, lovely." Serenity scrambled off his lap, grabbed something out of what Danny now knew was her underwear drawer, and rushed into the bathroom.
Danny smirked to himself. He just had an awesome idea. …but he should probably check to see if it would work. Danny opened the drawer that Serenity kept her nail polish and cosmetics. He grabbed black and red nail polish out and set it on the vanity.
"…dearie, what are you doing?" Serenity asked as the half-veela walked out of the bathroom.
Danny smiled brightly and stated, "I decided that you have to paint your nails black and write, 'I love Dan,' on your nails. Draw a heart instead of writing out 'love' though." Serenity rolled her eyes, but the girl rolled her sleeves up and started. Danny sat on the vanity and watched happily.
"I think you should paint your nails black too."
"Why would I do that?"
"…it would drive your parents mad?"
"That isn't enough. Keep painting your nails."
Serenity stuck her lip out cutely. "Ah, pwease?"
"No."
"Pooey…"
"Why did you stop?"
"I need to wait for the first layer to dry, silly."
"Oh…"
A few minutes later, Serenity put the cap on the red bottle and wiggled her fingers in Danny's face. "There, happy now, dearie?"
"Yep! Come on, let's go somewhere."
"Don't we have to go in an hour or so for the conference?"
"So? It's at Gringotts. I know how to get there."
"Oh, okay." Serenity grabbed his hand and followed him out. Her eyes widened with glee when she saw that they were heading towards a Starbucks. "Yay!"
"You're getting half-decaf, darling."
"Okay! Yay!"
"I feel like I'm going to regret this…"
"Yay!"
"…you can stop anytime now."
"Yay! Okay, I'm good."
"Thank you."
"Hey, dearie…?" Serenity whispered with her half-decaf mocha in hand. They were sitting outside on a bench.
"Hm…?"
"When are you going to let go of your control?" she whispered softly.
"Never."
"Wh-what?"
"What if I like you like this? You can't hit me, scream at me, control me, etcetera, etcetera." Serenity's lip started to quiver. She was currently terrified of the person who she normally thought would always protect her. Danny noticed her fear and lifted her onto his lap. "Sh… I'll do it when we get home, okay love?"
"Why not now?"
"That would look suspicious."
"…okay."
"Of course, I won't do it until you swear you won't take control of me."
Serenity stuck her lip out further and reached for her coffee. Danny laughed and handed it to her with ease.
"Dearie, can we get Harry something?"
"It's going to be half-decaf even though someone will probably take it away from him."
'Har, do you want anything from Starbucks? It's going to be half-decaf though.'
'Will you get me a mocha? Those are yummy.'
'Okay. We'll buy it right before we leave for the conference. Do you know why it's happening?'
'I have no idea.'
'Oh, maybe I'll get to annoy my parents at least… Serenity made me get my ear pierced!'
'You're are acting like it's bad for a guy to have his ear pierced.'
'It isn't. I just didn't want one! She scared the crap out of me because she didn't tell until later that it was just painted silver and not real silver. I thought she was trying to kill me!'
'Right…'
'What time is it again?'
'Two, well, if you're talking about the conference, of course.'
'Oh, okay. Thanks! See ya soon, bro.'
'You too. Will you leave me alone now? I am trying to study! I have to take an exam people a year or more older than me normally take next week!'
'Oh, sorry.'
"Harry wants the same thing as you."
"Okay! I'm hungry! Can we get a cookie or something?"
"If you want to, Vix."
"Okay, I'll be right back."
"Kiss first."
Serenity leaned forward and kissed him on the lips before skipping back into the coffee shop.
Danny closed his eyes in exasperation when Rita Skeeter showed up, spotted him, and slid into the seat Serenity had been occupying until he had made her sit on his lap. "Ah, Mr. Riddle. What a pleasure seeing you here. Whatever are you doing here all alone?" Danny really didn't like that tone she was using. She had better not be flirting with him again…
"Get out of my mate's seat."
"Mr. Potter is here? Shouldn't he be at school?"
"Wrong definition, woman."
"What do you-? Oh my… I didn't know vampires still had mates."
"Why do you think my mother puts up with my father?" the teenager snapped.
"…dearie, what's going on?" Serenity was standing there holding two cookies and blinking confusedly.
"Skeeter started bugging me and is sitting in your seat."
"Leave," Serenity snarled. She obviously saw the middle-aged woman a threat.
"I just want an interview."
"Get away from MY mate," she quietly snarled. Her eyes flashed a warning gold.
Rita stayed her ground until she saw a spark of flame in the girl's hand. She slipped away quickly. Serenity smugly smiled and plopped down in Danny's lap. "Thank you," Danny muttered in relief. He really didn't want to deal with Skeeter currently…
"My dearie…" muttered Serenity. The veela clutched his neck tightly and peppered his face with kisses. Danny smiled easily and hugged her, which pulled the blonde closer to him.
"And you're mine, I know, love."
"Stupid, bloody slut…"
"Now that's not very nice, darling."
"I don't care! She was flirting with you even though she's like as old as your mother."
"How do you think I feel?"
"Disturbed."
"Right… Imperio Metal… Oops."
"It's okay, dearie, as long as you promise to never go anywhere without me again."
"Serenity…"
"What?"
"Ugh, never mind." Veela were so possessive sometimes…
"I got you a cookie!" she suddenly chirped.
"I see that."
"It's peanut butter chocolate chip!"
"That's nice to know."
Serenity broke a piece of and said, "Open your mouth, dearie! The choo-choo train wants to get through!" Danny rolled his eyes but opened his mouth. Serenity grinned cutely and put the chunk in his mouth. "Yay!"
Danny suddenly glanced at his watch and gulped. "Uh, hurry up. The conference starts in thirty minutes…"
Serenity stopped trying to feed him and started to feed herself.
Serenity and Danny sprinted down Diagon Alley and slid to a stop in front of the bank. "This is your entire fault, you know," Danny stated. Serenity decided at the last minute that she needed to use the Ladies' Room. The two teenagers were now running late.
Serenity stuck her tongue out and calmly opened the door. "We're fashionably late." Danny rolled his eyes and jogged in.
Danny and Serenity were immediately shooed into a secluded conference room where an annoyed Harry, Ellie, and Ginny seemed to be waiting for them. "Sorry, Serenity had to go potty," Danny said as he handed Harry his coffee.
"Thanks, mate!"
"It's half decaf," Danny immediately said when he saw the girls' faces.
"Oh, come on. Almost everyone else is here…" Ellie muttered.
"Hey, I told you it's Serenity's fault!"
Serenity stuck her tongue out at him and asked, "Can you carry me?"
"Hm, I guess so scamp." Danny picked her up easily and tickled her chin. Serenity squealed in laughter and tried to swat his hand away.
"…dearie!"
"Get over it."
"Sorry we're late. I had to piss real quick before we left…!" announced Serenity when they entered the room.
"…you really didn't need to share that, sis…" Harry muttered.
"Yeah I did."
"I think you're the only who cares."
"So? They should care."
"Ahem," went Voldemort as he pointedly cleared his throat.
"What? You're not my father," Serenity stated.
"…stop rubbing that in my face, Ren," Danny muttered.
"Stop calling me Ren, dearie."
Danny stuck his tongue out immaturely and sat as far away from his father as possible with Serenity on his lap. Harry snorted and sat next to him. Harry rolled his eyes when he saw Danny start to "slyly" scoot his chair to an angle that would make it impossible for him to get out; the vampire was obviously a little paranoid. "Nice hair, Dan. I'm going to laugh when all of your hair falls out from all of the times you've dyed, streaked, and highlighted it."
"…don't even kid about stuff like that, Jamie!" Danny whined after he seemed content that there was no way that Harry or Serenity was going to leave his sight.
"You are so vain!"
"Am not…"
"Hey, Dan, your hair is sticking up in the back."
Danny's eyes widened in horror and his hands flew up to fix his hair. "Where?!"
"Ha! See, you are vain!" The half-vampire lowered his hands quickly and seemed to be making sure that Serenity was firmly trapped on his lap.
Serenity chimed in with, "At least he's sexier than you and probably a better kisser."
"What I lack in looks compared to him I make up in brains, something he seriously lacks," Harry stated in defense for himself.
"Shut up, four-eyes. Hey, where's Shadow?"
"…he was here, but I don't know where he went."
Of course, Shadow chose that moment to warp into the meeting room. 'Master…! You are here…!'
'Hey, boy. Was Jamie eating?'
'Yes.'
'Okay, thanks for watching him. Do you want to come home with me or stay with Jamie?'
'I want to go with Master.'
'Okay, Shadow.'
'Hey, Master…'
'Yes?'
'Why do those people smell like you over there?'
'They're my parents.' Danny realized he made a mistake when the once dead wolf ran towards his parents.
"Dante!" Voldemort shouted.
"What?" Danny snapped.
"Is there any reason why there's a wolf breaking into my mind and saying I smell like its 'Master'?"
"…uh, I wasn't performing illegal necromantic rituals in my backyard. Nope, not me…"
Dawn gave a short, barely noticeable laugh. Voldemort just closed his eyes even though he should have expected something like that from his maniacal, rebellious son. The female vampire's eyes shot open though when the wolf jumped on her lap to examine her better.
"Shadow, down!" commanded Danny firmly.
'But, Master…!'
"Now."
Shadow whimpered but jumped off the Dark Lady. Danny gave it a look, and the wolf grudgingly walked over to its master. 'Yes, Master…'
"Good boy." Danny stroked its head. It seemed they were just waiting for Dumbles…
"Bro, why isn't Twinkles here but you are…?" Serenity asked.
"Why would I know? Probably gathering his minions--I mean Order to decide which ones will go with him." Danny snorted and hugged Serenity.
"Dearie, you're squishing me!"
"Sorry, teddy."
"I'm not your teddy bear!"
"Really? Then why do you let me sleep with you curled up in my arms at night, hm?"
Serenity's cheeks tinted pink as the girl decided that now would be a good time to just hide her face in her mate's chest with a very muffled response. Danny rolled his eyes slightly and stroked her back. Serenity started to lightly purr and rub her face against his partially covered chest. Danny had worn a button-down, had forgotten to button it all the way as usual, and Serenity conveniently "forgot" to tell him.
"Dante, button your shirt, young man," Dawn suddenly said.
"…what? Ah man, I always forget the damn, top buttons. Vix, why do you never tell me? On second thought, don't answer. I really don't want to know. …and to think you say I'm horny."
"You went through my underwear drawer this morning while I was making breakfast! Don't deny it either because I saw one of my bras hanging partially out."
Danny smiled brightly and held the veela closer after buttoning his shirt to her discontent. Serenity smirked and started to unbutton his shirt. "…darling, what are you doing?"
"Unbuttoning your shirt," she stated cheerily.
"Why…?"
"I like staring at your chest. It's sexy. Ah, you're so cute while blushing, dearie!" Serenity kissed his flushed cheek happily.
"Harry, can you silence her please? She's embarrassing me. You can take it off once everyone gets here. Please? I'll take Shadow home." That convinced the wizard-mage. Serenity stuck her lip out cutely when she found her vocal cords not working. "Thanks, mate!"
"Eh, she was getting on my nerves too. Don't hit me, Ren!"
Amelia Bones slipped into the room warily knowing full well she was probably late. To her relief, Dumbledore wasn't there yet meaning she wasn't the only one late, but neither were any of the friendly faces that she was expecting. The Minister was going to be late because of a meeting, and she didn't know where the heck Dumbledore was.
"Hm, I guess you two aren't the only ones who haven't heard of coming on time," Potter drawled to his friends.
"Hey, it was Vix's fault," Riddle stated.
"Ah, I think a certain veela wants me to take the Silencing Spell off her," Potter said with a smirk. The petite veela flipped him off with a glare.
Amelia almost gulped when she saw the Dark Lord quietly talking to the Dark Lady. Let's see, she was in the presence of two vampires, three mages, and two wizards not afraid to use the Dark Arts.
Amelia was having trouble keeping her eyes off the rather mysterious son of the Dark Lord. Sure, he was seen a lot and some was known about him, but she didn't know enough to know how much of a threat the mere sixteen-year-old mage was. She had never even seen the boy in person before or even the veela being held protectively in his arms. Amelia was one of the few intelligent enough to avoid him at all costs during raids.
Pale blue eyes were watching her every move though the bright orbs would occasionally flicker to the oldest man in the room. The young vampire was obviously in some sort of protective state by the way the girl who was obviously his mate had no chance of wriggling out of his rather tight embrace, and the person he clearly considered a brother would have a hard time leaving his chair with how Riddle had positioned his at such an extreme angle.
She really wondered though how his hair was such an odd color… Muggle methods maybe?
"Take a picture; it'll last longer," Riddle stated and looked directly at here. He must have noticed her examining him… The veela glared at her angrily and hugged Riddle's neck possessively. "And you saw I'm possessive…"
Serenity looked at her mate with a pout. They had been talking mentally. 'My dearie! Miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine!'
'You are really starting to scare me. I'm starting to worry that I'm going to wake up one day to you hovering over me with a knife held to my throat, demanding that I swear my loyalty to you or something weird like that.'
'That's a good idea…'
'Are you really going to do that?'
'Quite possibly… I have to figure out if I can get away with it with you not knowing until you're stuck.'
'Okay, you really are scaring me right now.'
'Oh, good. Hopefully you'll learn your place as my valued possession finally.'
'Are you menstruating?'
'No!'
'Bu-but that means that you see me only as your possession! You can't lie under Imperio Metal to me.'
Serenity wasn't looking him in the eye. That was when Danny realized that she didn't want him to know that. '…can we just discuss this later?'
'Fine, but we are talking about this. I am not your possession.'
Serenity seemed to have humphed and muttered something under her breath. It was hard to tell with her being Silenced and all…
Danny was starting to worry. Yes, he knew Serenity loved him and wanted him in her life, but now he was worried that she also longed to have complete control over him and his life. He was starting to fear for his freedom; Harry had given him a book about veela and their mates with a note attached that read, "I doubt this is Serenity, but just to make sure…" It said that veela would stop at nothing to get the person they wanted as their mate. Veela "marked" their mates with what was actually their charm concentrated on one area, leaving the victim with a permanent source for the veela to initiate control through a stream of allure going through their body at the veela's will. They would actually trick the mate into thinking it was a good thing…
Danny knew deep in his heart that Serenity wasn't above doing something like that to him…
Serenity broodingly fiddled with the edge of her Danny's shirt. He knew her secret… Her Danny knew that she saw him as hers… Strong arms were still wrapped lovingly around her, so she was guessing that he wasn't too angry with her. Serenity knew she was extremely lucky that she was Danny's mate. Serenity had wanted Danny to be her mate since she found out she was half-veela. She finally had him, and she was damn determined to keep him. Hopefully, she wouldn't have to do something she'd rather not…
'Dearie…'
'Yes?' Serenity was very relieved with the calm tone.
'Are you angry with me?'
'No. I just… Ren, please tell me you're not planning on marking me.'
'Try to leave me, and I will,' she threatened realistically.
'…only if I try to leave you then for some freak reason?'
'Well, duh.'
'Oh, good. I was scared for a second there.'
Serenity felt a bit lighter knowing that her Danny wasn't leaving her, just worried that she would mark him for no reason. He always was stupid. (It was so adorable.)
'Dearie, tell Harry to take the Silencing Spell off!' whined Serenity a few minutes later.
'Are you going to stop embarrassing me?'
'Yes…'
'I'll try.'
Serenity kissed Danny deeply on the lips when the power to speak was given back to her. "Thanks, love!" Serenity chirped.
Danny smiled lovingly at her and seemed to be about to kiss her again when an irritated, "Ahem," cut them off.
Of course, Voldemort. "What, Father?" Danny snapped with obviously dislike.
"You are aware that you're in public, right Dante?"
"No shit, Sherlock," Serenity stated.
"Language."
"Okay, you are not related to me in any way. At least I severely doubt it. The only person here you can yell at for swearing is Danny, and I really doubt he'll listen," Serenity snapped back.
Voldemort seemed to be about to reply when Dumbledore finally walked in with a lot of people. "You'd get the feeling they're trying to intimidate those not delusional by the Light," Harry drawled.
Danny blinked in confusion a few times before whipping out his pocket dictionary. Serenity rolled her eyes and translated Harry's statement into simpler words for her boyfriend in his ear.
The Minister walked in smoothly and said, "Thank you all for coming. Please take note of the agendas…" Pieces of paper appeared in every spot. Serenity grabbed the one that landed in front of her and Danny before the vampire could.
"Ren, let me see it, too!"
"But dearie, I thought you were illiterate," whined the blonde as she handed the paper to Danny.
"…I have no idea what that means, but I'm pretty sure it was an insult. I'll kick you out of the bed."
"No you wouldn't."
"Yeah, I will. It's my bed to start with, darling."
"So, I own you."
"No you don't."
"I do in my dreams!"
"One, that's creepy. Two, I'm sleeping with some kind of mean to protect myself from now on. Three, that doesn't count, dear."
"Why do you need to protect yourself?" Serenity innocently asked with a flutter of her long lashes.
"I'm scared I'm going to wake up some time with you over me holding a knife to my throat demanding that I surrender myself to you, or maybe the bonding blade held to my neck while under threat of being bounded to you as your pet."
"Ew, that's creepy."
"Well, that is a bit of a relief hearing you say that…"
Serenity stuck her tongue out and pecked his cheek.
"Knock it off," Voldemort snapped.
"Make us, bastard," Danny shot back. Serenity scooted off his lap when Voldemort seemed to be fed up and decided to wash his son's mouth out magically.
"Ew, Danny has rabies!" Ellie said goofily.
Danny gave her a look accompanied by a certain finger of his being held out at her. The vampire turned around and spat the majority of the soap out of his mouth, swallowing the rest of it.
"You are going to poison yourself sometime," Harry warned. His statement went unheard though.
"Child abuser!" Danny yelled at the Dark Lord smirking smugly. Another flick of his wand caused the young vampire to gag on soap again.
The Light just stared, unsure of what to do. The Nundus were too busy laughing at their friend's misfortune. The Dark Lady seemed rather annoyed. She reached over and firmly cuffed her husband. "Knock it off."
Voldemort seemed a little shocked. "What did you say?"
"I will not stand you doing that to my youngest son, dear. I'll tell my uncle…" Voldemort paled slightly and ended the spell.
Ron once again proved his stupidity and said, "Wow, You-Know-Who is scared by his in-laws!" He gulped and backed down when angry red eyes glared into his.
Serenity climbed back on Danny's lap while stating, "Honestly, I don't blame him by the way Dan's granny was staring at me when I first met her… I thought she was going to eat me or something. That lady seriously scares me because she went from hating my guts to cooing over me!"
"You're just not used to being cooed over by anyone but me and sometimes Harry, darling," Danny pointed out carefully.
"And you're the only one who I want cooing over me. Harry is always trying to mother me, so I'm used to that."
"Okay, knock it off before I get cavities, guys," Harry stated.
Ellie and Ginny exchanged looks and firmly whacked their two leaders. "Ow! Drop and give me twenty!" Danny commanded.
"What?"
"You heard me. NOW or I'll make it fifty."
Ellie and Ginny whimpered but got on the ground and started doing push-ups. Danny smugly smirked and hugged his love. "It's when you make people do stuff like that that makes me very glad that you are head-over-heels for me," Serenity stated and nuzzled his neck with her head.
Danny sarcastically replied, "It's when you make comments like that that I'm very glad that I'm bigger than you and therefore can swing you over my shoulder."
"I like it when you swing me over your shoulder. I get to grab your ass then."
"I already realized that the hard way, precious."
"Ahem," Dumbledore said pointedly at the couple who was unable to shut their mouths.
"What? We're teenagers. It's our job to chatter all day," Danny chirped.
"No, it's the job of people who dropped out, ran away, and didn't bother telling their best friend who was worried sick!" Harry replied.
"You are never going to let us live that down."
"I was worried! You two could have been dead in a gutter for all I knew! I found out from my whale of a cousin!"
"For Morgana's sake, Jimmy, stop mothering us."
Harry gave his friend the evil eye at the name and asked, "How many times have I told you not to call me that?"
"A lot. I lost count at seventy-two…"
"Yet you never stopped nicking my middle name more than you normally do."
"Sorry, Jamie…?"
"You better be, mate."
"Bro-bro, no using my mate as a moving target again…" Serenity said warningly. Nobody missed the joyful squeal from the Dark Lady caused from Serenity's casual referral of Danny as her mate. Serenity looked at the older vampire and stated, "Don't have a seizure."
"May we please continue?" Scrimgeour practically begged.
Serenity and Danny pretended to zip their lips. Voldemort muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like, "Let's see how long that lasts…" Dawn sighed and boxed his ears again.
"Dear…" Voldemort seemed to be ignoring her warning tone until her eyes flashed red. "Behave or you're sleeping on the couch for the next week."
A few stifled snickers were heard when a brief flash of panic and fright crossed his face. No matter what people believed, Voldemort was still a male with a gorgeous wife.
"Okay, Gin and I are missing class for this, so can we please get it over with? Dan, Ren, don't make me gag you two… Voldie, uh yeah, that was just not something I needed to hear implied. You should be glad Danny probably didn't catch that nor knows what that actually means like Serenity…" Voldemort glared at the Boy-Who-Lived as his son just blinked a few times in confusion. Serenity shot Harry a puzzled look.
"I'm only missing DADA. Hint, hint, Harry," Ginny mischievously replied.
"Why do you always go to me?"
"Because you got an O on your OWL…? Besides, it annoys you."
"I'll start my habit of randomly hexing friends who get on my nerves again…"
"Hey, Serenity… Do you know anything about Defense Against the Dark Arts…?" Ginny tried.
"…why would I know anything about that? I'm not a witch, Red. I'm a mage," Serenity asked with a bit of confusion.
"Why did you start calling me that now?"
"Because dearie does!"
"SILENCE!" Dumbledore finally shouted when he got sick of hearing the teenagers bickering.
Voldemort seemed thoughtful, whispered something to his wife, and pointed his wand at Danny. Danny yelped when he found himself levitating in the air and dropped in the seat between his parents that was available once Voldemort moved over a chair. "I can't believe I actually had to separate you," the Dark Lord said in a disgusted disbelief.
Danny stuck his lip out and reached for Serenity who was rubbing her butt in agitation of suddenly being dropped onto a hard chair. "Darling…!"
"Dearie…!" was her reply as she reached towards him also. "You're too far away! I'm going to diiiiee…!" Serenity mock fainted and accidentally made the chair tip over. "…ow."
Danny pulled his arm back and laughed at her misfortune. He seemed a little worried though when her head didn't appear above the table. "…Ren? Are you okay?" Danny blinked when someone moved the chair he was dumped in, and a blonde head poked out.
"I crawled under the table! Sorry if I accidentally mooned anybody who was looking under that table at the time!" She climbed back on her boyfriend's lap and stuck her tongue out immaturely at his father. Serenity's face broke into a pixyish smile when she snapped her fingers and golden energy bonds secured the couple's left wrists together.
"You can't say I tried," Voldemort offered with a scowl.
"Think on the bright side, at least both of them are away from Potter, and you can wash Dante's mouth out with soap with better accuracy," Dawn offered. She muttered something under her breath in Italian, forgetting about her son who also understood it sitting right next.
"Ahh, I'm going to tell Grandmother that you said that. You can't yell at me for swearing anymore," Danny impishly declared.
"I'm an adult."
"Then why do you still baby Leon? He's almost twenty-five."
"I don't. Mamma does."
"…damn." Danny saw the raised wand and wisely ducked. He covered his mouth with his right hand to muffle his laughter when the spell hit Dumbledore instead. Serenity pouted when she was no longer being hugged and yanked his hand down from his mouth and tied his hands together so they were wrapped around her waist. She made the magical strand formerly connecting the couple's wrists together disappear.
'Darling…' a stern voice entered in her head.
'Dearie…!' was her whined response.
'Ugh, fine. Whatever.'
'Yay! You need to get used to it anyways. Guess what I want for my birthday?'
'Me under your complete control for the day…?' Danny was a little scared by that. He never considered that she would try doing something like that for her birthday…
'Yep! You're my dearie. Mine I say! Mine!'
'How did I miss you being so possessive up until now?'
'I hid it well.'
'We are definitely talking about this later.'
Danny snorted when Voldemort kept fumbling with his wand whenever he tried to take the spell off Dumbledore. It was rather obvious the Dark Lord was doing it on purpose. Danny "accidentally" hit the wand with his bound hands. "Oops, silly me… I'd grab if it weren't for the fact that my girlfriend took me hostage again."
"…again?" Dawn asked.
Serenity stuck her nose up and jabbed him gently in the stomach with her elbow. "Knock it off, both of you. Sheesh, for a Dark Lord, you are almost as immature as Danny, Voldie."
Voldemort, having finally retrieved his wand, pointed it at the blonde. Danny growled in the back of his throat and clutched the girl to his chest protectively; his eyes burned with black flames of anger. A thump was heard when Danny elongated his fangs. People looked over towards the noise to see an unconscious Ron Weasley on the ground. "That will never get old," decided the younger vampire.
"He's the one that's terrified of vampires that you love scaring, isn't he, dearie?" Serenity asked. Danny cheerfully nodded and pecked her head. He had obviously had another mood-swing that half-vampires were infamous for. Serenity muttered something that sounded like, "Stupid, mood-swingy vampire…" in French.
The conference had calmed down after Voldemort took the cleaning spell of Dumbledore. Scrimgeour actually go to the point; the meeting had been called in hopes of making Hogwarts and St. Mungo's neutral areas. Unfortunately for the Minister of Magic, the Dark and Grey weren't all too happy with that suggestion.
"We are at war, dumbass," Serenity pointed out from her positing of being tightly embraced in her boyfriend's bonded arms—right where she wanted to be.
"Really, what the point of it all if the good targets are neutral?" complained Ellie with a bit of a whine.
"Thank about the safety of others," insisted Amelia Bones.
"Do you really think we care?" Danny asked in partial amusement and irk.
"Does she think you care about what?" a voice asked in Danny's ear. Those whose backs were facing the intruder spun around. A broad-shouldered vampire with white flecks in his elegantly pulled back, black hair stood behind them with his arms crossed in amusement. Danny mused that he looked a lot like an older Leon; the two had the same body-build, muscular but barely average in height and the same color eyes.
"K-King Jeremiah!" choked out Dumbledore in shock. Voldemort was starting to slowly lose the coloring in his face.
"Uncle Jerry…?" Dawn asked with confusion. "What are you doing here?"
The vampire smiled with his fangs glittering in the light. "Can't a vampire visit his favorite niece and heiress?"
"I'm your only niece," was the snapped response. She was going to add on, but it seemed that she realized something by the way her shoulders sagged. "Leon wasn't powerful enough then?"
The vampire shook his head sadly. "I checked, Dawn. I'm sorry. I know you don't want it. If only Dante hadn't passed on… He probably had the potential…"
Now understandably, Danny was a little freaked-out. Someone was saying he was dead right to his face. "What do you mean I'm dead?!" Danny loudly demanded. "What is going on here!?"
"D-Dante…?" The man came closer in shock and lifted the teenager's chin up with denial written all over his face.
"…Mamma said she was going to tell you…" was the only female vampire's sheepish response.
Serenity made a face and swatted the vampire's hand away from Danny without batting an eyebrow. "My dearie!" snarled the veela; she attached herself to his neck again. Danny snorted and hugged her the best he could with her magic binding his wrists together. He was starting to suspect—and hope—that she was PMS'ing and a "psycho, possessive veela time of month" was coming up.
"Really, Tom, I thought you weren't even able to produce a child that could properly live and be actually part human. I guess I was actually wrong about you, for once," the mysterious vampire drawled to the very pale Dark Lord.
"He's a dreadfully horrid father, but his son is a snexy beast!" Serenity stated. "You're such a hottie, aren't ya, Dannikins?"
"Please don't call me that, darling."
"Ah, but it's cute!"
"I don't really care. You are cute enough to suffocate a bloke. You don't need to add anything you deem cute or adorable. What is going on? Who is he, Mother?"
"Dante, this is your great Uncle Jerry. Uncle Jerry, Dante, the infant who threw up all over you when you tried to feed him radish all grown up."
"Dawn, darling niece, how come no one told me that my extremely powerful grandnephew with enormous amounts of potential was alive? Especially since you didn't want to take the throne? You knew Leon never had the potential to be king!"
"Wh-what throne?" was Danny's bewildered question.
"You never told your son that he was the next in line to inherit the Lamia throne!?!" bellowed "Uncle Jerry".
"Uh… it slipped my mind?" Dawn squeaked out with a flinch. Tom hadn't really wanted the fact that she was royalty leaked out. The Light had all taken in sharp breaths.
"Slipped your mind?!" The king of the Lamia switched to his native language and swore quite colorfully in Italian. He was obviously quite angry with the rather scared Dork—err, Dark Lord and Lady.
Harry snorted when he heard Voldemort hiss, I'm not sure if I should be sorry or grateful that I never learned to speak Italian right now… It seemed the Dark Lord had forgotten that he wasn't the only parselmouth in the area.
"I understood that you know," Harry stated. "That wasn't very nice."
'Potter, do you mind?'
'Why? Scared?'
'Have you ever had a powerful vampire hate your guts?'
'No…'
'You don't want to.'
'Oh, in-law troubles?'
'Shut up, Potter.'
'Hey, you started it.'
'And I'm ending it,' Danny's agitated voice cut in.
"With all respect, your Highness, may I ask what are you doing here?" Dumbledore nervously asked.
"Visiting my favorite, fine my only niece, whom I haven't seen in three years."
"Uh, Uncle Jerry, I can come to the village later today. I'm a little busy…" Dawn said cautiously.
"Fine. I need to have a little chat with Dante alone though."
"Like hell you are," Serenity snapped and clung to the vampire's neck.
"C-can't breathe!" the younger vampire choked out.
"Oops, sorry, dearie!"
"Little girl, let me talk to my grandnephew."
"I may be tiny. I may be small. But after I kick your ass, I'll seem tall," Serenity stated with lilt.
Dawn closed her eyes and whispered in Italian, "That's Dante's half-veela mate… She is always like this from what I can tell."
"Hm…" The vampire smirked and grabbed both of the teenager's shoulders. He warped all three of them out of the conference room.
Serenity unbound Danny's wrist and clung to him fearfully. "Danny… I'm scared." Danny wrapped his arms around her tightly and stood up with her in his arms.
The room was blood red with accents of lavender, the colors of the Lamiae… "Welcome, Prince Dante," Jeremiah drawled.
"How am I a prince?" Danny demanded.
"My mate, your great-aunt Isabella, has a disease that makes it nearly impossible for us to have children. Your grandmother, Veronica, is my only sibling with a child. Your mother doesn't want to take the throne. Leon isn't powerful enough. You have the power to inherit the throne. Because of your age and gender, you can take the throne whenever you want. We're not racist, for the record, we just don't want to risk the ruler getting pregnant."
"I think I'll pass."
"Don't you care about the fate of your clan?"
"I didn't even know I was a Lamia until a month before my sixteenth birthday."
"…how old are you again?" the king asked nervously.
"Sixteen."
"I thought you were older than that."
"I get that a lot. This forty-something won't stop flirting with me. I think Serenity is researching for her address for some odd reason…"
Serenity stuck her tongue out but quickly hid her head again by laying it on Danny's shoulder.
The king's eyes softened at the sight of his grandnephew's mate's undying trust in Danny. "It's okay. I won't hurt you," he softly said to the girl with a bit of a coo.
"I wouldn't do that if I-," Danny started with a warning tone. He was too late. Serenity had scowled and punched the vampire in the face when he got closer with a thundering crack. "Uh, yeah. Serenity doesn't like being cooed over anymore unless it's me…"
"I'm almost sixteen, not seven!"
"I know that, darling. Right, as nice as it was meeting you, I have my own life. Ciao." Danny shadow-warped the teenagers out of what he assumed was that really big mansion in the center of the Lamia village.
"That was weird," Danny stated when he put Serenity down. To stop Harry from having a heart attack, he had warped them back to the conference room. Harry sighed in relief at their reappearance.
"He explained what was going on, correct?" Dawn asked with a bit of a flinch. Danny had a feeling that he had been kept in the Dark purposely.
"Yep, and Ren punched him in the face when he started to coo over her."
"You punched the King of the Lamia in the face?!" Minister Scrimgeour exclaimed in shock.
"It was fun, too!" Serenity chirped.
Voldemort was starting to worry. It seemed that his uncle-in-law, if that was a proper term, wanted Dante as his heir. King Jeremiah was trying to steal HIS sole heir right from under his nose. He would have to gain Dante's loyalty and trust soon… At least Dante was more than half a year too young to take the throne. That gave him more precious time.
"We must be going. I have to ward our house from vampires better. This thing was pointless anyways. See ya, Harry! Do something different and write for once," Danny said.
Serenity let go of Danny and hopped on Harry's lap despite the wizard's discomfort. "Bye, bro-bro," she whispered and hugged him with a peck on his cheek.
"See ya, sis. Bye, mate. I'll try."
"Don't forget to eat," Danny added.
"And study!" Serenity said with emphasis.
The two exchanged looks mischievously and said at the same time, "And don't forget to change your underwear!"
Dumbledore sighed when he got back to his office. That conference had been meaningless. Neither the Gray nor Dark was agreeable to the suggestions.
He had another worry too. Dawn Lamia was royalty, and it seemed Dante was the next in line to be king. Dumbledore had to get those three neutral or on his side soon… It would be dangerous if Dante accepted the throne and forced the Lamia to ally with the Nundus.
…it would be even worse if he was swayed to the Dark and then took the throne.
The Nundus were nowhere near as much as a threat as Tom. It was just the fact that these teenagers were able to do so much at such a young age that had everyone talking. How much power would they get once they hit their magical maturities?
Once Danny and Serenity got home, Danny dumped his girlfriend on the bed and started to cast wards meant to keep unwanted vampires out.
"Dearie! You said you would take the control off!"
Danny rolled his eyes and said, "You can take my control away. I'm going into the room with the fireplace. It's the center point. Best place to put up wards you know."
"Okay!" Serenity immediately went to work.
A half hour later, Danny had finished and was walking down the upstairs hallway in search of his mate. She found him by the way he was pounced on from behind. Danny sighed exasperatedly when his hands were bound behind his back and a firm, "Up," was spat in his ear.
Danny stood up gracefully and allowed Serenity to march him to their room. He was roughly shoved on the bed and forced to roll over so he was facing his mate. "Yes, darling?" Danny calmly asked.
"Let's get this straight, shall we? You belong to me, and there is nothing you can do about it. You were my property the instant I found out I was your mate. Face it, you are dependent on me. You should do whatever it takes to keep me happy with you, right dearie?"
"Right, love…" muttered Danny softly. Serenity lifted his chin up so she could see his brilliant blue eyes. Serenity sat on his lap and nibbled on his bottom lip lightly.
"You're such a good mate. You didn't even really take advantage of me except looking through my underwear drawer like any teenaged guy would do," Serenity cooed and stroked the vampires hair. "Uh, I'll be right back…" Serenity rushed to the bathroom muttering about how she had him intimidated and how her bladder ruined it.
Danny sighed and tried to free his hands. It was rather obvious that Serenity was trying to scare and persuade him into obedience through threats and compliments…
"Uh, dearie…" a blushing Serenity hesitantly said.
"Yes, precious?"
"We need to go to the store… My period started, and I need more, um, you know."
Danny breathed a sigh of relief. Serenity was going through psycho-veela mode; she didn't really see him as her possession, hopefully. Danny asked her, "Do you want me to go with you, lovely?"
"…please?"
"You'll have to untie my hands."
Serenity made a face and put the collar around his arm before freeing his hands. She grabbed her purse and Danny's hand. "Come on, dearie."
Danny rolled his eyes and let his mate drag him to the store.
Harry flopped down next to Hermione in the Gryffindor common room once he got back to Hogwarts. "Gah, that thing was a pointless waste of class time!"
"I doubt it was that bad, Jamie," Hermione replied.
"Wow, I thought Harry here was lying that he had a girlfriend…" Ellie drawled with a smirk.
"What are you doing here still?" Harry demanded playfully with a smirk.
"Gin wanted help with her Potion stuff and considering how well you're at it…"
"Not everyone is good at potions, you know," Harry snapped with a whine. "But should you really be here, Ells?"
"Probably not, but who gives a shit? If Dumbles bugs me, I'll just say I'm looking out for the welfare of his school. There's a reason why the potion lab is warded against you and Dan."
"Where's the lab…?"
"In your house."
Harry exclaimed, "How did you put a lab in my own house without me knowing?!"
"You were at school, and Vix helped me."
"Is that why I always find you there?"
"Yeah."
"You said it was because of the kids!"
"Them too. Angel is such a sweetie."
"…that tells me something about you that is very disturbing. She is a cretin!"
"And so are you."
Hermione cut in with, "No, he's a hooligan."
"That too. I'm Ellie, and you are…?"
"Hermione Granger." Hermione shook the held out hand.
"Ah, one of the few Hogwarts students who noticed Harry is anorexic. Nice to know Dan and I aren't the only ones who've had to feed him."
"I'm not anorexic! ...and you've never fed me before, only Danny has!"
"Did you know that all Serenity and Danny had for lunch was a cookie?"
"Is that why Ren was so hyper and Danny so calm? …where did that come from?"
Ellie elaborated by the look on Hermione's face and completely ignored Harry's second question. "Danny is one of those people who are so hyper naturally that sugar calms him down. Unfortunately, he can get caffeine high. We learned that the hard way when someone accidentally got him the same brand of tea he drinks but not caffeine free."
"It was really scary," Harry added.
"Don't mind him. Danny got him Starbucks. It was half-decaf though. Danny is the last person to give either Ren or Har full caffeine-ish beverages, if that made sense."
"It was a mocha! Those are yummy!"
"Harry…! You have to help me," Ginny said with a whine.
"Why now? Have Ellie help you."
"But she doesn't go to school…!"
"Okay, you two are not allowed to spend anymore time together. You're acting too much alike, and it's scaring me," Ellie stated.
"I think Dan said that… Something about the world not being able to handle another Slythindor…" muttered the mage.
"Exactly! You're not allowed to have contact with his and Ren's children either. You can not have children because of that, too."
"Thanks, Ellie, thanks."
"Right, Ellie, you're helping me now with potions," Ginny stated and dragged the other fifteen-year-old away.
"Ellie makes me feel short. I'm over a year older than her, but she's taller…" Harry muttered.
"Aren't you used to it with Riddle?"
"Once upon a time, Danny and I were the same height and could pass as twins. Then when he was fourteen, I think, he started hitting a ton of growth spurts. I grew three inches this year. He grew at least four, maybe five. He's over half a foot taller than me! I feel tall when I'm around Ren though."
"How tall is she?"
"I think she's fifty-eight and three-quarters inches."
"Riddle must tower over her."
"It's funny considering how much control she has over him."
"Well, he is a vampire, Harry."
"Really? I never noticed," was the sarcastic response. "Ow!" Hermione gave him a look as she pulled her hand back after whacking him on the head.
"Smart alec."
Harry stuck his tongue out. "You know you love it."
Hermione rolled her eyes and changed the subject. "Do you get your own office?"
"And quarters. They'll be ready by Easter Break Dumbles said."
"Speaking of Easter Break, would you come over, please? I'm going home because it's the same time as some of my old friends from the Muggle School."
"Uh…"
"I explained everything to my parents. They understand."
"I guess I can stop by the Saturday before Easter. I'm spending Easter at home."
"Oh! I have to go write to my parents!"
Harry rolled his eyes when his girlfriend rushed out.
'Dan, do you guys mind if I spend the Saturday before Easter at the Grangers…?'
'Nope, just be there for Easter, or I'll have to kidnap you.'
'Okay, thanks.'
'No prob, now leave me alone please. Ren is going through psycho veela mode.'
'Was that she was acting odd during the conference?'
'I think so…'
Harry was whispering to Hermione throughout the whole car trip to the Granger's. They had insisted that they drive for some reason…
Harry politely took his and Hermione's trunks and followed his girlfriend in. Besides her dad giving him the evil eye, nothing bad had happened so far.
"Welcome home, Hermione!" a girl and boy shouted when Hermione walked in.
"Layne! Alex! It's great to see you two!" Hermione squealed. She hugged the girl but said to the boy, "Sorry, Al, but you're not getting a hug in front of my boyfriend."
"Thanks, Mi. You can if you want to. It's not like my unoffical, adopted sister doesn't cling to me every chance she has whenever her boyfriend isn't around to cling to." Harry carefully put the trunks down and wrapped an arm around Hermione. He knew it was a good idea to put a glamour on his ears in the car…
"Hermione has a boyfriend?! What has the world come to?" the boy asked rather sarcastically.
"You sound like my friends when they found out we started dating, but I doubt you two are betting on her sexuality like my sister and best mate were," Harry commented.
"Harry, were you really surprised considering their personalities…?" Hermione asked.
"Not really… Those two will bet on anything like most of my friend's outside of school."
"Well, girl, are you going to introduce him?" the girl asked excitedly.
Harry rolled his viridian eyes and said, "Harry Potter, some call me Jamie though I'm still not sure why my best friends starting nicking my middle name. And you are…?"
"Layne Baker."
"Alex Baker."
"They're twins," Hermione added.
"Ah, I used to have an unofficial twin. But he hit a billion and one growth spurts and is now half a foot taller than me. We still can finish each other's sentences though. It creeps my sister out even though we've been best friends since five or so."
"You're still taller than Serenity, Jamie."
"Everyone over the age of twelve is taller than my midget of a sister."
"And yet she is dating your best friend who is over six feet in height…"
"Which is why you'll normally find her snuggled in his arms."
"I thought that was because she's clingy, and he's overprotective."
"It's a combination of the two, er… three."
"Hermione, dear, why don't you show Harry where he's spending the night, tonight?" Mrs. Granger kindly asked with a small pinch of Harry's cheek.
"…I didn't know I was staying the night, but I will if you want me to…" Harry said.
"Ah, you're such a dear!" Mrs. Granger pinched his cheeks again and walked into the kitchen.
The fraternal twins were laughing quietly. "What was the pinching about, mate?" Alex asked.
"Jamie, it's your fault for telling her you're an orphan and made her pity you," Hermione stated gently. She hugged him with one arm. She shot her friends a look telling them not to push it. "Come on, right upstairs. Do you need to call your friends…?"
"Yeah, problem is that I think Dan is visiting his relatives… I don't know if Ren went with him, stayed home, or is shopping like she normally is whenever he goes. I hope at least one of them brought their phone. I'll call home first though."
"Where do you live?" Layne asked.
"I live with my best friends in this formally run-down mansion in London we bought for really cheap then had fun fixing up. A year later or so I find out I inherited four houses. Ah, the irony."
"Think on the bright side, at least you had fun doing it," Hermione offered.
Harry dumped his trunk on the ground with a thud. "Shouldn't you be more careful with that?" Alex asked.
Harry shrugged uncaringly. "Don't mind him. He's the sole heir of two wealthy families," said Hermione.
"I so envy you!" Layne exclaimed.
Harry shot her a dirty look and snapped, "I'd rather have my family and godfather than the damn money."
"Right, why don't we go to the amusement park," Hermione cut in and practically shoved the now rather irked mage out the door. "Harry, she didn't know," she whispered in his ear.
Harry hissed under his breath with a scowl. Why did he agree to this again?
Danny clung tightly to Serenity's hand once the two arrived to the Lamia village. "Can I pick you up?" Danny hesitantly asked. He knew she didn't always appreciate his protectiveness.
"Please…?" was her simple response. Serenity seemed a little scared.
"Come on," Danny said once he scooped her up in his arms, "we're going to Leon's."
"Okay…"
"Hey, it'll be okay. I'm here."
Serenity leaned her head on his chest as Danny quickly strode through the village. Serenity was just about to knock on the door for Danny when the sounds of a horse galloping reached their ears. A black stallion was running towards them with King Jeremiah as the rider. Serenity hastily knocked on the door before he saw them.
"Hi, Danny. And… uh… Serena?" Leon said. It was rather obvious he forgot Serenity's name.
"Serenity," Serenity corrected. Well, he was close.
"I had the first five letters right at least. Come in. Thanks for telling my for once, bro."
Danny chirped, "I normally go here to hide from Ren when she wants to go shopping and use me as a pack mule. It's on the spur of the moment normally."
"…I am right here, dearie," reminded Serenity.
"Leon!" a majestic voice said when the door was swung open.
"Uncle Jerry! Hi!" Leon happily said. "Danny's here too."
"No I'm not," Danny said and tried to hide behind Serenity once he put her down.
"Danny, love, I don't think hiding behind me is going to do you any good… You're tall. I'm short."
"But you're cute, and people over the age of fifty tend to pay more attention to the lovable, little blonde than the tall person behind her in an attempt to coo over her. I learnt that through the years."
"Wow, you said two words with more than two syllables in the same sentence!"
Serenity smiled sweetly when the king gave her a look. She fluttered her eyelashes at him and readied herself to release her charm if she had to.
"Was it necessary to punch me?" Jeremiah asked slowly.
"Yeah," was her easy response.
"Try living with her. She's violent," Danny added.
"I'm willing to believe that. Come, we're going to the manor where you belong, young man."
"Wait, what?"
"You are the prince, and you need training, lessons, and all those things."
"I didn't agree to it."
"Really, do you think you have a choice now? You're in the middle of the village dependent on you with the only thing we care about of yours, your mate."
"I told you you should have stayed home, Ren! I'm not staying here."
Jeremiah replied eloquently, "I thought you might say that." Serenity squeaked when she was grabbed; a knife was held to her throat. "Manor now."
Danny clenched his fist but grudgingly followed his great-uncle with venom spitting in his eyes.
Leon sighed and slammed the door shut. Why was he in his little brother's shadow all the time now? Before, it was basically all about him… Uncle Jerry must have seen more potential in Danny. Leon was willing to bet Serenity had better potential as a consort than Rachel did because she was part magical being also…
Leon really pitied his uncle right now who had no idea what he just brought onto himself.
'Serenity, as soon as his grip loosens start getting away…'
'Aye, aye, captain.'
'How many times have I reminded you that we're not pirates?'
'Hey, you're the one who got drunk and decided to swing on the banister screaming pirate talk at the top of your lungs.'
Serenity started to struggle once she was shoved into the mansion with her boyfriend trailing grudgingly behind. "Let go of me!"
"How intimidating. The adorable, little doll is threatening me," Jeremiah drawled.
Serenity growled in the back of her throat, her hands suddenly bursting with gold beams of light. "What. Did. You. Call. Me."
Jeremiah was oblivious until he felt a burning down by his legs. "Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow!"
Serenity broke away and clung to Danny fearfully. "Must be going now," Danny stated and was about to warp out.
"Don't bother. We installed new wards once I told the committee about a powerful, wayward prince by the name of Disaster Dante Riddle. You can't warp out unless you have the blessing of the Royal Head, me. Something you won't be getting until you agree to succeed me. Guards! Watch every entrance and make sure Prince Dante doesn't leave with nor without his veela mate!"
Danny and Serenity exchanged uneasy looks when guards popped out of nowhere and blocked the door behind them.
"Are you two coming or not?" the king asked sounding quite irritated.
"…fine."
"Dearie…" Serenity whimpered quietly. Danny immediately picked her up and started to whisper soothing nonsense in her ear.
"In here," Jeremiah commanded. The elder vampire opened a door to a grand parlor. He gestured to the loveseat across from the armchair he had sat in. Danny sat down with Serenity leaning on him, a death grip on his neck.
Danny absentmindedly started to play with Serenity's hair relaxingly, the gently purr coming from her telling him it was working. Jeremiah just watched smugly as the girl slowly started to fall asleep on his grandnephew.
"Such a stunning gem you found, Dante," he whispered in Italian.
"I didn't find her. She's been my best friend since I was a toddler," Danny replied in the same language as his great-uncle. Serenity made a cute, muffled sound and pulled herself more onto Danny in her sleep.
"So sweet… She'll be an excellent addition to the Lamia vampires…"
"What?"
"How do you think we keep our blood running freely? It's customary for a mortal mate to be at least partially turned. We need our Royal blood running through her veins, so it will run in your children's. It's even more important because that bastard of a Dark Lord refused to be turned… We can't risk you siring a fully mortal child. Yes, I can tell you are basically a vampire-elf hybrid, but she's only a third immortal. We need her to have vampirism."
"NO!"
"Dante, you are the prince!"
"What if I don't want to be? I have an overlord in another dimension out for my loyalty, my father, and now you? I worked hard to get where I am now, and I am not throwing it away for the people I just learned existed not even half a year ago!"
"…what?"
"How much do you actually know about me?"
"You were born in December…"
"In other words, not much. What all do you know about the current events of the Wizarding World?"
"There's some kind of silly war going on between Tom and Dumbledore. Some rebellion gray group emerged about a year or so ago."
"I am the co-leader and co-founder of the 'some rebellion gray group' better known as the Nundus. I refuse to betray the people I consider friends and my true family. They are the ones I grew up with, not this village."
"We need you; I need you. Leon took too much after his deceased father. He is almost an exact replica in all accounts—power wise also. The vampire who would've been you're step-father was extremely weak. Not worthy of carrying the Lamia name… Leon can't take the throne. Dawn doesn't want it, and she is in an extremely risky situation."
"I'm already needed. I'm already involved with the war, thank you very much."
"What about afterwards? It can't go on forever. Dumbledore is getting extremely elderly. Tom can't keep this up for much longer either."
"…it depends."
Jeremiah was about to respond when Serenity started to cutely snore softly. "How do you say no to someone like her?"
"…I normally don't. Serenity is not someone you want angry at you…"
Jeremiah sighed and rubbed his temples. He felt a headache coming… Both male heads jerked up when the door was swung open. "Hello, my Izzy," the king sultrily drawled.
Danny cleared his throat. "Leon? My dear, you someone hit a growth spurt! And when did you get your ear pierced and strands of hair dyed that unnatural color, young man?!" the female vampire scolded.
"…I am not Leon. Why do people mix us up?"
"Huh…?" Serenity mumbled and opened her honey eyes blearily.
"Welcome back to the real world, sleeping beauty," teased Danny lightly, switching back to English. "Ow!" Serenity had once again cuffed him.
"You deserved it," Serenity snapped.
"Izzy, that's Dante," Jeremiah stated in Italian.
"Uh, hello? Non-Italian speaker here. I speak Portuguese, English, French, Spanish, and even some Russian. Please use a language I understand," Serenity said.
"Right, Dante, can't we come with some kind of compromise? I'll leave you alone until the war is over or you lose interest if you come to the mansion every other weekend overnight unless something comes up, and I am informed," Jeremiah said in English.
"Do you really think I am letting my mate leave me for that long?" asked an irked Serenity. She possessively hugged the lanky vampire just for good measures.
"You will need to come with Dante, uh… Serena?"
"Serenity. Leon called me the same thing!"
Jeremiah rolled his eyes and asked Danny, "Well?"
"Uh…"
'Harry…!'
'Yeah…?'
'My great-uncle said he'd leave me alone until the war was over or I wanted out of it if I went to the village every other weekend with Ren and stayed the night…'
'Do it, I guess… Ask Serenity though.'
'I was planning on it. REN!'
'Huh…?' was Serenity's confused, mental answer. She was obviously still not quite fully awake yet.
'Should we do it or not? It obviously affects you because you're my mate.'
'I guess…'
Danny sighed and muttered, "Fine."
The remaining weeks of the school year simply flew by. Harry was thoroughly disgusted by how easy the Defense NEWT was. He had his own office and passed his exams.
Harry was just glad to be going home and not to the Dursley's…
Harry and Hermione got off the train, hand in hand, with Ginny and Blaise behind them. Both of the Nundu students were staying at Headquarters over the summer.
Harry let go of Hermione's hand and carefully looked around. He looked left, right, and left again before saying, "I'm scared… Serenity and Dan are supposed to be here to meet me. I am worried a certain vixie is going to pop out of nowhere and pounce on m-."
Harry never finished his sentence because a small veela jumped on him, knocking him to the ground, with a chirped, "Hi, bro-bro!"
"Hi, Sis." Yes, Harry was grateful to be finally going home…
Yay! Uh... yeah...
Thanks to all who reviewed. Just because I didn't reply doesn't mean I didn't read every single one. Look for the sequel that covers the summer. And because I didn't listen to the poll...
Some Not-So-Devious Plotting
Summer is supposed to be a time of relaxtion, friends, and sun, but to Harry Potter, it's that and a heck of a lot more. He is trying to juggle writing two books, preparing for the classes he will be teaching in the upcoming year, and attempting to balance time between his friends and girlfriends. His first friend and confidant, Danny Riddle, seems to be up to something and leaving Harry completely in the dark about it--something that had never happened before. And when Danny is seriously scheming, it's going to be something big... especially since Harry seems to be one of the few not clued in.