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mhalachaiOh my. So much stuff.
First off, an addition to the Ginourmous list of Anita Blake/Harry Potter fanfic, a lovely Inevitable-ficlette by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
catherinecookmn.
Second, an Inevitable update!
Inevitable Thirty-five: Call of the Wild is up!
At TTH
At Pomme de Sang At Skyehawke
Inevitable Thirty-five: Call of the Wild
by Mhalachai
Note: Can anyone spot the plot point in this chapter? It's here, trust me. Also, I couldn't help but put my favourite piece of artwork in this chapter.
~~~~~~~
Anita cut across two lanes of traffic before pulling into the parking lot at the Circus of the Damned. "Will Jason give you a ride back to the house?" she asked Harry as she drove around the building to the employees' entrance.
"Probably, or I can figure something out."
She didn't look as if she believed him. "You've got my number, if anything happens," she said.
"Nothing's going to happen," Harry promised her. He unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the door. "I'll talk to you later."
Anita's response was lost as Harry closed the car door and headed for the building. As Harry crossed the last bit of pavement, Jason stepped outside, blinking in the bright sun. The werewolf grinned at Harry and waved at Anita as she drove off.
"Come on in," Jason said, stepping aside to let Harry through the door. "How's it going?"
"Fine," Harry said with a shrug. "Just spent a lot of time this morning at the police station."
"About the ghoul attack?" Jason asked, leading Harry toward the stairs. He must have noticed Harry's expression, because he said, "What? Asher was all full of the story last night after he got back."
Harry wasn't sure that was a good thing. Asher hadn't seemed too pleased with Harry when he took off from the graveyard the previous night. "Detective Reynolds needed to talk to us about it," he said.
"Yeah, Tammy's a stickler for rules," Jason said. "But she's a good cop. Do they know what made the ghouls go so crazy?"
"They think someone raised an Inferius, and Anita thinks that might have done something to the ghouls," Harry said.
"What's an Inferius?"
"Like a zombie, but... different." Harry really didn't know how to describe an Inferius. He hadn't ever actually seen one. All he knew about them was from the useless pamphlets that the Ministry sent out the previous summer.
"Different how?" Jason pressed.
Harry thought hard. "They're not like Anita's zombies at all," he said finally. "Anita's zombies are like people, but Inferi are supposed to be more like puppets. Dead people puppets."
"Creepy." At the bottom of the stairs, Jason opened the huge wooden door and let Harry into the large room. "Speaking of zombies, have you been having any luck with raising your own?"
Harry was really beginning to regret telling Jason what he was doing at night with Anita. "No."
"I guess that's the way it goes," Jason said philosophically. "Anita can't use a wand, so maybe that's the way it's supposed to be. She raises zombies, you do the other stuff."
That really didn't reassure Harry, but he didn't want to talk about his failure with the zombies any more. "What are we going to do today?"
"Didn't you have something in mind when you called?" Jason asked, pushing the curtains at the far end of the room aside to reveal a long stone corridor.
Harry shook his head. "Anita's going to the office and I didn't want to go with her."
Jason laughed. "Spending enough time around her already?"
"It's not that!" Harry protested. "She's just a little bit..."
"Intense? Intimidating? Single-minded?" Jason supplied. "Trust me, I get it." They went through one of the many doors set in the stone wall, way down the corridor. The room was nice, Harry thought, like the sort of room he might like. A big bed was set against one wall, sheets smoothed half-heartedly over the mattress. A stereo and small TV sat in a corner, next to a full bookcase. A few posters hung on the walls, and one nicely framed painting.
Harry wandered over to look at the painting while Jason picked up a shirt lying on the floor. The painting showed a moonlit river, bounded on both sides by buildings. It reminded Harry strongly of London, but not a London he had ever seen.
"Do you like it?" Jason asked.
"I do," Harry said after a moment. He could almost hear the calm lapping of the water as he looked at the painting. "Where is it from?"
"It's Whitby Harbour," Jason said. "I had a poster of it when I got here, it's always been my favourite. Then Jean-Claude gave me the original for my birthday last year."
Jason's voice was tinged with surprise, as if he still couldn't believe that he had the painting in his room. Harry had been the same way, soon after he got his Firebolt. "It's a nice present," he said.
The werewolf smiled sheepishly. "It's the best thing I ever got."
"Was it because you're Jean-Claude's pomme de sang?" Harry asked.
"Sure is," Jason said. "One of the side benefits. Plus, being pomme de sang gives me a bit more protection in the pack. Didn't I tell you this the other night?"
"You might have," Harry said. "But what do you mean, protection? Doesn't the pack protect you on its own?"
"Most times, yes." Jason looked Harry up and down. "You really need new clothes, those shirts just aren't fitting you at all."
"What about the rest of the times?" Harry asked with a frown. "And my clothes are fine, I can do a lengthening spell on them later."
"Or we could just go get you some more," Jason retorted. "I need to go shopping, too. We could do that as opposed to just hanging around here."
Harry felt the blood rising to his face. "I don't need any new clothes," he protested.
"Yes, you do." Jason went over to his closet and pulled out a button-up shirt. "I can loan you the money until you get home or whatever, if that makes a difference."
Harry pulled off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, feeling the beginnings of another headache. "That might be okay," he mumbled.
"Good." Jason pulled his t-shirt over his head and tossed it onto the bed, then put on the new shirt. "I just need to go see if Jean-Claude needs anything, then we can go." He was out the door before Harry could change his mind.
Sighing, Harry put his glasses back on. Yes, his clothes were getting a little too tight,, but they must have been shrinking in the wash. He knew there was some sort of charm one could do on clothes, he just didn't know what it was. He was used to having such ill-fitting clothes, either Dudley's hand-me-downs or something he had borrowed from Ron. But shopping with Jason probably wouldn't be too bad. Even shopping with Anita and Nathaniel on that first day hadn't been too bad.
Jason took a long time, and Harry was soon bored by looking at the books. He went to the door and peeked out, to see if Jason was coming. He didn't see Jason, but he did see something that made him step out into the hall. "Hello?"
The little girl down the hall turned her head at the sound of Harry's voice. She looked lost and more than a little confused. "Can you help me?" she asked.
What on earth was a child doing down here, under the Circus? Harry walked toward her, thinking that someone needed to get her out of here before the vampires woke up. "What's wrong?" he asked.
As Harry neared the girl, warning bells went off in his head. Her eyes were wide and open, her lips parted slightly. He didn't know what it was, but as he took a breath, the air had a familiar taste to it, like it did when he was around...
"Vampire," he whispered. The girl was a vampire. It was so obvious now that he was thinking about it, that it made him wonder how he had managed to miss it around Meng Die the week before.
The girl curled up her lip, then shook her head. "You're Anita's new toy?" she asked, dropping the scared child act.
Harry swallowed hard. "I'm not her toy," he said, keeping his voice flat.
"That's not what everyone says," the girl said in a sing-song lilt.
"Then they are wrong," Harry said, telling himself that he wasn't going to fall for her goading. Where the hell was Jason?
Just as Harry was beginning to get very nervous at the hungry expression on the little vampire's face, Jean-Claude strode around the corner at the end of the hall, Jason close behind him. "Valentina, I see you have met Harry," the Master vampire said.
The child vampire whipped her head around to glare at Jean-Claude. "Yes," she hissed.
"Very good." Jean-Claude smiled coldly. Valentina whirled and stalked off down the hallway, moving more like a predator than a child. Once she was gone, Jean-Claude raised an eyebrow at Harry. "You do seem skilled at attracting the interest of certain of my vampires."
Harry blushed but managed to glare at Jean-Claude. "It just must be that I'm new," he said. His heart was still beating a little rapidly at the encounter. For some reason, Valentina creeped him out more than Meng Die. At least Meng Die hadn't pretended to be helpless.
Jean-Claude seemed highly amused at Harry's response. "Oui, it must be."
"Harry and I were going shopping," Jason said, slipping around Jean-Claude. "Do you need anything else?"
Jean-Claude shook his head. "I will speak with you later, Harry." He walked off down the hall after Valentina.
When the vampire was gone, Harry whirled on Jason. "What the bloody hell was that?" he demanded.
Jason quickly ducked into his room and retrieved his wallet and a set of keys. "That was Valentina," he said as he pulled Harry along the hallway in the direction of the stairs.
"I got that much!" Harry exclaimed. "I thought it was illegal to make vampires of children."
"Valentina and Bartholome are special cases," Jason said. "They're both really old, only about a hundred years younger than Jean-Claude."
"Did he make them?" Harry asked, although he wasn't really sure he wanted to know. When he thought about it, he was surprised to find that he had a certain amount of respect for Jean-Claude. But the thought of making vampires out of little kids... That was wrong in so many ways.
"Hell no," Jason said with feeling, interrupting Harry's thoughts. "Jean-Claude wouldn't do that."
"Then why are they here?" Harry asked, having to almost run to keep up with Jason.
Jason reached the big door in the main room and unlocked it. "They came with a group of vamps about a year ago," he said, heaving the door open. "Valentina and Bartholome stayed behind for some reason."
Harry concentrated on climbing the uneven stairs while he thought about the child vampires. Now that the shock of meeting a child vampire was wearing off, he found that he was curious about them, Valentina and this Bartholome. How did they feed? What would it be like to look like a child forever?
"Anyway, they tend to hang around the Circus mostly," Jason said. "But Valentina always tries for the new people."
"Define try."
"Try to get them to fall for the helpless little girl act," Jason said. "A lot of the humans fall for it. New werewolves, too."
"How would a new werewolf fall for it?" Harry asked, letting go of his mild suspicion that Jason had set him up with Valentina. "Can't they smell that it's a vampire?"
Jason stopped dead and turned around. "Did you?" he asked, astonished. "You're not supposed to be able to do that yet."
"Well, I did," Harry retorted. "At least..."
"At least what?" Jason asked when Harry fell silent. "Did you smell that she was a vampire or what?"
"It was sort of like that," Harry said slowly. "But... maybe she felt more like a vampire than anything. Kind of like Damian feels like a vampire." He shook his head. "I'm not making any sense."
"You are, sort of," Jason said, although he didn't look particularly reassured. "But I think we should go past the Lunatic Cafe after we go shopping."
"The what?"
"The Lunatic Cafe," Jason repeated as if it made perfect sense. "It's still summer vacation, so either Sylvie or Richard should be there. I think they'd like to know about this."
"Do we really need to bother them with this?" Harry asked.
"Yup," Jason said as he started climbing the stairs again. "You don't know how good we've got it. An Ulfric and Geri who actually give a damn about the pack? It's good times. Plus, the cafe has the best burgers in town."
Harry's stomach rumbled at the mention of food. "I don't want to bother--"
Jason snorted. "You're not bothering them," he said. "When you're a bother, they'll let you know." He was silent until they reached the top of the steps. "It's good, though, that you're still around," he said in a more subdued voice as they stepped out of the building into the hot afternoon.
"How do you mean?"
"Richard tends to overthink things," Jason explained as he headed for a small red car. "If you'd bailed, he'd only be focusing on what happened at the full moon. Since you're here, he's got to deal with you like a person."
Harry frowned as he slipped into the sports car beside Jason. "Is this a good thing?"
"It's a good thing," Jason said, grinning as if to a personal joke. "But before we psychoanalyze Richard anymore, we're shopping. So sit back and enjoy the ride."
As pronouncements go, Harry had heard more ominous ones, but still he was unprepared as Jason peeled out of the parking lot.
~*~
"What are you looking for?" Jason asked Harry as they walked aimlessly through the mall, the initial task of buying new clothes over for the moment.
Harry shook his head. "I still want to get Hermione something for making Head Girl, but I don't know what."
"We decided against a book, right?" Jason asked. He stopped and dropped his handful of bags on a nearby bench. "But something girly?"
"We didn't decide on anything," Harry reminded Jason. "We were interrupted."
"Yeah, by Meng Die," Jason said cheekily. He grinned at Harry's obvious discomfort. "At least it was a good thing to get interrupted by."
"I thought you said she was all scary," Harry retorted, stepping closer to Jason and dropping his voice so no one would overhear.
"Yeah, she's scary, but she's also really hot. If you're into the diminutive overbearing female type." Again, Jason grinned at something Harry knew he was missing. "Come on, we can go check out the jewellery store."
Wearily, Harry followed Jason. They had been shopping for what felt like forever. Harry was a bit appalled by the amount of clothes Jason insisted on buying for him.
At least it wasn't anything too weird, Harry reflected. He had been a bit worried at first, what a male stripper would consider necessary clothing, but everything Harry had tried on had been normal clothes, shirts and stuff. There were even some nice clothes that Harry could wear back at Hogwarts.
Jason led Harry into a store that was filled with glasses cases. Inside the cases lay all sorts of jewellery; necklaces and rings and bracelets. There was so much, and Harry couldn't see Hermione wearing any of it.
"Got any ideas?" Jason asked as they looked at the cases.
"No," Harry said. "There's nothing in there that..." His voice trailed off as something in a far case, tucked by the wall out of the way, caught his eye.
Jason followed Harry's gaze, and sighed. "I should have guessed," he said, resigned.
Harry bent over the case, taking a closer look at the object. He smiled. It was perfect.
~*~
"... that's not at all what he's doing!" Jason argued loudly as he and Harry walked down the crowded sidewalk. "Do you really think he'd do anything that would put Anita at risk?"
Harry glared at the shorter man. "But what if she was going to do it anyway? Would that change his mind?"
"No matter how much Anita likes to think it, when Jean-Claude has made up his mind about something, especially Anita's safety, it's not changing," Jason said with finality as he veered across the sidewalk to a restaurant. The sign out front read, "Lunatic Cafe."
"But then why is he trying to find a safe way for Anita to visit London?" Harry asked. Instead of answering, Jason pulled the door to the restaurant open and went inside, Harry at his heels.
The place looked just like a house, with doors to many rooms along the entrance hall. Jason confidently led Harry farther into the house. He turned at the second door in the entrance hall. The walls between the rooms had been knocked out, and tables placed in the rooms. The restaurant was mostly empty, but Jason was headed right to a table where Sylvie sat with an unfamiliar woman.
Sylvie looked up as Jason and Harry approached, and smiled. "Hey, you two."
"Hi," Jason said easily. "Mind if we join you?"
Sylvie raised her eyebrows, but nodded. She waited until Harry and Jason were seated before asking, "What's happened?"
Jason tilted his head at Harry. "He says he can smell vampires," Jason said under his breath.
Sylvie leaned in closer. "Really?" she asked quietly, throwing Harry a glance before looking back at Jason.
"That's what he said." Jason leaned even closer to Sylvie and started whispering into her ear. Harry looked over their heads at the woman next to Sylvie. She was tall, Harry could tell, even sitting down. Her long blonde hair and huge brown eyes reminded Harry of a china doll.
"I'm Gwen," the woman said.
Harry nodded and introduced himself, all the while trying to figure out what he was supposed to do. Everything about the woman just screamed 'alpha', maybe not as powerful as Sylvie, but it was still there. Harry noticed Gwen's hand on the back of Sylvie's chair, and remembered that Jason had says Sylvie was into girls. This must be Sylvie's girl.
Jason sat back, and Sylvie turned to Harry. "Interesting," was all she said as she waved someone over. A waitress, a bit older than Harry, rushed up and dropped two menus on the table. The girl waited for Sylvie to nod before dashing back the way she came.
"What was that all about?" Jason asked, flipping a menu open.
Sylvie sighed. "It's Maryanne's first job," Gwen answered for her. "She's been freaking out whenever Sylvie comes in here."
"It's worse when Richard's around," Sylvie grumbled. "She can't even speak around him."
"She's probably just got a crush on him," Jason said matter-of-factly.
Sylvie shuddered. "She's the same age as some of his students," she pointed out.
Jason grinned at Harry, and Harry had a horrible moment where he thought Jason was going to bring up something about him and older women, like Meng Die, or...
"Anita's centuries younger than Jean-Claude," Jason said, winking at Harry. "That doesn't creep you out."
"That's because Anita can handle herself," Sylvie said, slapping Jason's hand away when he reached for some of her chips. "Knock it off."
Jason mock-cringed. "I can't help it, I'm just so hungry, taking Harry shopping for hours..."
"That was your idea," Harry quickly said. The talk of food made his stomach rumble again, and he opened the menu. The food listing was about as comprehensible to him as an arithmancy textbook. After skimming the pages for a minute, he gave up and asked Jason, "What's good?"
"The Double Jumbo burger," Jason said without hesitation. "It's got two patties, and bacon, and two types of cheese--"
"And enough cholesterol to give anyone a heart-attack," Gwen said from behind her coffee cup.
Jason shrugged. "Living dangerously is what I'm all about."
By the time the waitress Maryanne returned to the table, Harry had started to understand the dynamic between the three werewolves. Jason would tease Sylvie and even Gwen, but he never said anything out of line, never disagreed with them. It was clear, to Harry, that Sylvie was in charge of the situation, and that Jason was comfortable with that.
The restaurant began to fill up. Harry was halfway through his burger when something prickled at his attention, and he glanced around. Richard was coming out of a door behind the bar, flanked by Jamil and Shang-Da. He caught sight of the group at Sylvie's table, and headed their way.
Since Jason didn't do anything at Richard's approach, Harry decided to follow his friend's lead. He quickly swallowed his mouthful and wiped his fingers on a napkin, but stayed seated.
Richard pulled a chair around from another table and sat down between Sylvie and Harry. Jamil slapped Richard on the back, and when Richard nodded, the two bodyguards went back to the bar.
"I didn't know you'd be here, Harry," Richard said, setting his elbows on the table.
"Jason suggested we get something to eat," Harry said.
"That's not all," Sylvie said, leaning over to Richard and speaking to him in a low voice. Harry only heard snippets of the conversation, including his name mentioned several times. Finally, Richard leaned back in his chair.
"Just like Anita," the Ulfric said absently, flipping a fork over in his fingers.
"Pardon me," Harry said, "But what's like Anita?"
Richard and Sylvie exchanged a look, then Sylvie stood up. "I'll see you later, Harry, Jason." Gwen also stood and was walking toward the exit before Sylvie even had her purse in hand.
Jason waited until Gwen and Sylvie were safely outside before leaning over and saying to Harry, "Don't mind Gwen. She and Sylvie have been together for a while."
That didn't explain to Harry why Gwen seemed to be annoyed with Richard, but Harry sensed that this wasn't the time to ask about it. Instead, he shifted his chair around so he faced Richard. "What's like Anita?" he pressed.
Richard tossed the fork to the table. "You're able to sense stuff a new wolf shouldn't, and you're not reacting the way you are supposed to, to blood and stuff," he muttered, his voice almost inaudible in the muted roar of the restaurant. "Anita was the same way."
"But she didn't change," Harry said slowly, his heart pounding in his chest. For two weeks, he'd been telling himself that he'd be a werewolf. But now, to have the head werewolf question that... it was almost too much to hope for.
"I know," Richard said. "But I don't know. You've still got two weeks, things might change."
Harry concentrated on his plate. He didn't know what to say. The thought that he might not become a werewolf was loud and ecstatic in his head, but there was also a jarring feeling of loss. He had thought, for a little while at least, that the pack would be sort of like his family. Now, he might not even have that.
But things might change, he told himself. I could still be a werewolf. I'll find out on the night of the full moon. Either way, I can still go back to school, so it doesn't matter that way... right?
Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw that Richard looked almost as conflicted as he felt. Maybe he wanted Harry to be a part of the pack.
Jason nudged Harry's arm. "Hey, what was Anita saying about those ghouls again?"
"Huh?"
Richard shook himself and glanced up. "How is Anita doing?" he asked, frowning slightly. "You two were attacked by ghouls last night, right?"
Harry nodded. "A whole bunch of them," he said, picking up his burger again. "Anita couldn't figure out why they attacked, and then the exterminators came."
"But she's okay," Richard said, making the statement into a question.
Harry nodded slowly. "She's fine," he said after he swallowed his mouthful. "She's at work now, I think, looking for something that might tell her why the ghouls attacked at that graveyard." Harry blinked at his burger. "They weren't what I'd call ghouls, anyway."
"How so?" Jason asked.
Harry licked a bit of ketchup off his thumb. "Back... home, ghouls are just stupid things that live in attics and bang on pipes. They don't try and eat people on graveyards."
"Didn't you have the same kind of thing with trolls?" Jason asked, stealing a handful of chips off Harry's plate. "There was that the troll that tried to eat you and Ron and Hermione at Halloween that one year, right?"
"A troll tried to attack you?" Richard asked, his entire attention suddenly on Harry. Nodding, Harry recalled that Anita had told him that Richard did his university work on trolls.
As quickly as possible, and trying to play down how stupid he and Ron had been to try and face down the troll on their own, Harry explained about the troll that Professor Quirrell had let into Hogwarts on Halloween night, in Harry's first year.
"Very strange," Richard said when Harry finished his story. "The trolls in North America aren't like that at all. They're smaller, for one, and very shy."
"Plus they don't eat children," Jason added.
"Might be a difference in the nomenclature between North American and European communities," Richard mused. "If it extends to disparate species like trolls and ghouls..." He looked, unseeing, at Harry, then his eyes came back into focus. "That might be an interesting paper topic, thanks."
Harry wasn't exactly sure what Richard was talking about, but he nodded anyway.
Jamil suddenly appeared at the side of the table. "We need to get going, Richard," the bodyguard said. He grinned down at Harry, and Harry found himself smiling back.
"Right." Richard stood. "I'll talk to you later, Harry."
"Bye," Harry called as Richard and Jamil threaded their way to the exit. Jason let out a groan as soon as Richard was out of earshot. "What?" Harry asked.
"Richard can't know that Anita's taking you to England," Jason muttered. "If he did, he wouldn't have been all happy-shiny like that."
"And why is that bad?" Harry asked.
Jason poked at the remains of his burger with his fork. "Because, when he does find out, he'll be all mad at Jean-Claude for not telling him, and at me for not telling him."
"Do you know anything about what Jean-Claude's planning?" Harry asked.
"No." Jason dragged his fork through the ketchup, making patterns on his plate. "But that doesn't matter."
Harry frowned. "If Jean-Claude didn't tell you anything, it doesn't make any sense for Richard to get mad at you about it."
Jason put down his fork and signalled to the waitress. "Harry, when it comes to Anita, Richard's not really firing on all logic cylinders," the young werewolf said sagely. "Come on, let's get you home. I need to be at work in a few hours."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Slumping in my work chair, I tossed the last file folder on my desk, not really caring that the pages slid everywhere. There was nothing in Animator Inc.'s files about that cemetery where the ghouls attacked Harry and me. Whatever caused the ghouls to run amuck was probably not based in anything in these files. Damn it.
Maybe I should do more research into these Inferi, I thought, just as my desk phone rang. Absently, I lifted the receiver and said, "Anita Blake."
"Hello, Anita," came the voice over the line.
I gripped the phone a little tighter. "Hello, Edward."
...to be continued
First off, an addition to the Ginourmous list of Anita Blake/Harry Potter fanfic, a lovely Inevitable-ficlette by
catherinecookmn.Second, an Inevitable update!
Inevitable Thirty-five: Call of the Wild is up!
At TTH
At Pomme de Sang At Skyehawke
Inevitable Thirty-five: Call of the Wild
by Mhalachai
Note: Can anyone spot the plot point in this chapter? It's here, trust me. Also, I couldn't help but put my favourite piece of artwork in this chapter.
Anita cut across two lanes of traffic before pulling into the parking lot at the Circus of the Damned. "Will Jason give you a ride back to the house?" she asked Harry as she drove around the building to the employees' entrance.
"Probably, or I can figure something out."
She didn't look as if she believed him. "You've got my number, if anything happens," she said.
"Nothing's going to happen," Harry promised her. He unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the door. "I'll talk to you later."
Anita's response was lost as Harry closed the car door and headed for the building. As Harry crossed the last bit of pavement, Jason stepped outside, blinking in the bright sun. The werewolf grinned at Harry and waved at Anita as she drove off.
"Come on in," Jason said, stepping aside to let Harry through the door. "How's it going?"
"Fine," Harry said with a shrug. "Just spent a lot of time this morning at the police station."
"About the ghoul attack?" Jason asked, leading Harry toward the stairs. He must have noticed Harry's expression, because he said, "What? Asher was all full of the story last night after he got back."
Harry wasn't sure that was a good thing. Asher hadn't seemed too pleased with Harry when he took off from the graveyard the previous night. "Detective Reynolds needed to talk to us about it," he said.
"Yeah, Tammy's a stickler for rules," Jason said. "But she's a good cop. Do they know what made the ghouls go so crazy?"
"They think someone raised an Inferius, and Anita thinks that might have done something to the ghouls," Harry said.
"What's an Inferius?"
"Like a zombie, but... different." Harry really didn't know how to describe an Inferius. He hadn't ever actually seen one. All he knew about them was from the useless pamphlets that the Ministry sent out the previous summer.
"Different how?" Jason pressed.
Harry thought hard. "They're not like Anita's zombies at all," he said finally. "Anita's zombies are like people, but Inferi are supposed to be more like puppets. Dead people puppets."
"Creepy." At the bottom of the stairs, Jason opened the huge wooden door and let Harry into the large room. "Speaking of zombies, have you been having any luck with raising your own?"
Harry was really beginning to regret telling Jason what he was doing at night with Anita. "No."
"I guess that's the way it goes," Jason said philosophically. "Anita can't use a wand, so maybe that's the way it's supposed to be. She raises zombies, you do the other stuff."
That really didn't reassure Harry, but he didn't want to talk about his failure with the zombies any more. "What are we going to do today?"
"Didn't you have something in mind when you called?" Jason asked, pushing the curtains at the far end of the room aside to reveal a long stone corridor.
Harry shook his head. "Anita's going to the office and I didn't want to go with her."
Jason laughed. "Spending enough time around her already?"
"It's not that!" Harry protested. "She's just a little bit..."
"Intense? Intimidating? Single-minded?" Jason supplied. "Trust me, I get it." They went through one of the many doors set in the stone wall, way down the corridor. The room was nice, Harry thought, like the sort of room he might like. A big bed was set against one wall, sheets smoothed half-heartedly over the mattress. A stereo and small TV sat in a corner, next to a full bookcase. A few posters hung on the walls, and one nicely framed painting.
Harry wandered over to look at the painting while Jason picked up a shirt lying on the floor. The painting showed a moonlit river, bounded on both sides by buildings. It reminded Harry strongly of London, but not a London he had ever seen.
"Do you like it?" Jason asked.
"I do," Harry said after a moment. He could almost hear the calm lapping of the water as he looked at the painting. "Where is it from?"
"It's Whitby Harbour," Jason said. "I had a poster of it when I got here, it's always been my favourite. Then Jean-Claude gave me the original for my birthday last year."
Jason's voice was tinged with surprise, as if he still couldn't believe that he had the painting in his room. Harry had been the same way, soon after he got his Firebolt. "It's a nice present," he said.
The werewolf smiled sheepishly. "It's the best thing I ever got."
"Was it because you're Jean-Claude's pomme de sang?" Harry asked.
"Sure is," Jason said. "One of the side benefits. Plus, being pomme de sang gives me a bit more protection in the pack. Didn't I tell you this the other night?"
"You might have," Harry said. "But what do you mean, protection? Doesn't the pack protect you on its own?"
"Most times, yes." Jason looked Harry up and down. "You really need new clothes, those shirts just aren't fitting you at all."
"What about the rest of the times?" Harry asked with a frown. "And my clothes are fine, I can do a lengthening spell on them later."
"Or we could just go get you some more," Jason retorted. "I need to go shopping, too. We could do that as opposed to just hanging around here."
Harry felt the blood rising to his face. "I don't need any new clothes," he protested.
"Yes, you do." Jason went over to his closet and pulled out a button-up shirt. "I can loan you the money until you get home or whatever, if that makes a difference."
Harry pulled off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, feeling the beginnings of another headache. "That might be okay," he mumbled.
"Good." Jason pulled his t-shirt over his head and tossed it onto the bed, then put on the new shirt. "I just need to go see if Jean-Claude needs anything, then we can go." He was out the door before Harry could change his mind.
Sighing, Harry put his glasses back on. Yes, his clothes were getting a little too tight,, but they must have been shrinking in the wash. He knew there was some sort of charm one could do on clothes, he just didn't know what it was. He was used to having such ill-fitting clothes, either Dudley's hand-me-downs or something he had borrowed from Ron. But shopping with Jason probably wouldn't be too bad. Even shopping with Anita and Nathaniel on that first day hadn't been too bad.
Jason took a long time, and Harry was soon bored by looking at the books. He went to the door and peeked out, to see if Jason was coming. He didn't see Jason, but he did see something that made him step out into the hall. "Hello?"
The little girl down the hall turned her head at the sound of Harry's voice. She looked lost and more than a little confused. "Can you help me?" she asked.
What on earth was a child doing down here, under the Circus? Harry walked toward her, thinking that someone needed to get her out of here before the vampires woke up. "What's wrong?" he asked.
As Harry neared the girl, warning bells went off in his head. Her eyes were wide and open, her lips parted slightly. He didn't know what it was, but as he took a breath, the air had a familiar taste to it, like it did when he was around...
"Vampire," he whispered. The girl was a vampire. It was so obvious now that he was thinking about it, that it made him wonder how he had managed to miss it around Meng Die the week before.
The girl curled up her lip, then shook her head. "You're Anita's new toy?" she asked, dropping the scared child act.
Harry swallowed hard. "I'm not her toy," he said, keeping his voice flat.
"That's not what everyone says," the girl said in a sing-song lilt.
"Then they are wrong," Harry said, telling himself that he wasn't going to fall for her goading. Where the hell was Jason?
Just as Harry was beginning to get very nervous at the hungry expression on the little vampire's face, Jean-Claude strode around the corner at the end of the hall, Jason close behind him. "Valentina, I see you have met Harry," the Master vampire said.
The child vampire whipped her head around to glare at Jean-Claude. "Yes," she hissed.
"Very good." Jean-Claude smiled coldly. Valentina whirled and stalked off down the hallway, moving more like a predator than a child. Once she was gone, Jean-Claude raised an eyebrow at Harry. "You do seem skilled at attracting the interest of certain of my vampires."
Harry blushed but managed to glare at Jean-Claude. "It just must be that I'm new," he said. His heart was still beating a little rapidly at the encounter. For some reason, Valentina creeped him out more than Meng Die. At least Meng Die hadn't pretended to be helpless.
Jean-Claude seemed highly amused at Harry's response. "Oui, it must be."
"Harry and I were going shopping," Jason said, slipping around Jean-Claude. "Do you need anything else?"
Jean-Claude shook his head. "I will speak with you later, Harry." He walked off down the hall after Valentina.
When the vampire was gone, Harry whirled on Jason. "What the bloody hell was that?" he demanded.
Jason quickly ducked into his room and retrieved his wallet and a set of keys. "That was Valentina," he said as he pulled Harry along the hallway in the direction of the stairs.
"I got that much!" Harry exclaimed. "I thought it was illegal to make vampires of children."
"Valentina and Bartholome are special cases," Jason said. "They're both really old, only about a hundred years younger than Jean-Claude."
"Did he make them?" Harry asked, although he wasn't really sure he wanted to know. When he thought about it, he was surprised to find that he had a certain amount of respect for Jean-Claude. But the thought of making vampires out of little kids... That was wrong in so many ways.
"Hell no," Jason said with feeling, interrupting Harry's thoughts. "Jean-Claude wouldn't do that."
"Then why are they here?" Harry asked, having to almost run to keep up with Jason.
Jason reached the big door in the main room and unlocked it. "They came with a group of vamps about a year ago," he said, heaving the door open. "Valentina and Bartholome stayed behind for some reason."
Harry concentrated on climbing the uneven stairs while he thought about the child vampires. Now that the shock of meeting a child vampire was wearing off, he found that he was curious about them, Valentina and this Bartholome. How did they feed? What would it be like to look like a child forever?
"Anyway, they tend to hang around the Circus mostly," Jason said. "But Valentina always tries for the new people."
"Define try."
"Try to get them to fall for the helpless little girl act," Jason said. "A lot of the humans fall for it. New werewolves, too."
"How would a new werewolf fall for it?" Harry asked, letting go of his mild suspicion that Jason had set him up with Valentina. "Can't they smell that it's a vampire?"
Jason stopped dead and turned around. "Did you?" he asked, astonished. "You're not supposed to be able to do that yet."
"Well, I did," Harry retorted. "At least..."
"At least what?" Jason asked when Harry fell silent. "Did you smell that she was a vampire or what?"
"It was sort of like that," Harry said slowly. "But... maybe she felt more like a vampire than anything. Kind of like Damian feels like a vampire." He shook his head. "I'm not making any sense."
"You are, sort of," Jason said, although he didn't look particularly reassured. "But I think we should go past the Lunatic Cafe after we go shopping."
"The what?"
"The Lunatic Cafe," Jason repeated as if it made perfect sense. "It's still summer vacation, so either Sylvie or Richard should be there. I think they'd like to know about this."
"Do we really need to bother them with this?" Harry asked.
"Yup," Jason said as he started climbing the stairs again. "You don't know how good we've got it. An Ulfric and Geri who actually give a damn about the pack? It's good times. Plus, the cafe has the best burgers in town."
Harry's stomach rumbled at the mention of food. "I don't want to bother--"
Jason snorted. "You're not bothering them," he said. "When you're a bother, they'll let you know." He was silent until they reached the top of the steps. "It's good, though, that you're still around," he said in a more subdued voice as they stepped out of the building into the hot afternoon.
"How do you mean?"
"Richard tends to overthink things," Jason explained as he headed for a small red car. "If you'd bailed, he'd only be focusing on what happened at the full moon. Since you're here, he's got to deal with you like a person."
Harry frowned as he slipped into the sports car beside Jason. "Is this a good thing?"
"It's a good thing," Jason said, grinning as if to a personal joke. "But before we psychoanalyze Richard anymore, we're shopping. So sit back and enjoy the ride."
As pronouncements go, Harry had heard more ominous ones, but still he was unprepared as Jason peeled out of the parking lot.
"What are you looking for?" Jason asked Harry as they walked aimlessly through the mall, the initial task of buying new clothes over for the moment.
Harry shook his head. "I still want to get Hermione something for making Head Girl, but I don't know what."
"We decided against a book, right?" Jason asked. He stopped and dropped his handful of bags on a nearby bench. "But something girly?"
"We didn't decide on anything," Harry reminded Jason. "We were interrupted."
"Yeah, by Meng Die," Jason said cheekily. He grinned at Harry's obvious discomfort. "At least it was a good thing to get interrupted by."
"I thought you said she was all scary," Harry retorted, stepping closer to Jason and dropping his voice so no one would overhear.
"Yeah, she's scary, but she's also really hot. If you're into the diminutive overbearing female type." Again, Jason grinned at something Harry knew he was missing. "Come on, we can go check out the jewellery store."
Wearily, Harry followed Jason. They had been shopping for what felt like forever. Harry was a bit appalled by the amount of clothes Jason insisted on buying for him.
At least it wasn't anything too weird, Harry reflected. He had been a bit worried at first, what a male stripper would consider necessary clothing, but everything Harry had tried on had been normal clothes, shirts and stuff. There were even some nice clothes that Harry could wear back at Hogwarts.
Jason led Harry into a store that was filled with glasses cases. Inside the cases lay all sorts of jewellery; necklaces and rings and bracelets. There was so much, and Harry couldn't see Hermione wearing any of it.
"Got any ideas?" Jason asked as they looked at the cases.
"No," Harry said. "There's nothing in there that..." His voice trailed off as something in a far case, tucked by the wall out of the way, caught his eye.
Jason followed Harry's gaze, and sighed. "I should have guessed," he said, resigned.
Harry bent over the case, taking a closer look at the object. He smiled. It was perfect.
"... that's not at all what he's doing!" Jason argued loudly as he and Harry walked down the crowded sidewalk. "Do you really think he'd do anything that would put Anita at risk?"
Harry glared at the shorter man. "But what if she was going to do it anyway? Would that change his mind?"
"No matter how much Anita likes to think it, when Jean-Claude has made up his mind about something, especially Anita's safety, it's not changing," Jason said with finality as he veered across the sidewalk to a restaurant. The sign out front read, "Lunatic Cafe."
"But then why is he trying to find a safe way for Anita to visit London?" Harry asked. Instead of answering, Jason pulled the door to the restaurant open and went inside, Harry at his heels.
The place looked just like a house, with doors to many rooms along the entrance hall. Jason confidently led Harry farther into the house. He turned at the second door in the entrance hall. The walls between the rooms had been knocked out, and tables placed in the rooms. The restaurant was mostly empty, but Jason was headed right to a table where Sylvie sat with an unfamiliar woman.
Sylvie looked up as Jason and Harry approached, and smiled. "Hey, you two."
"Hi," Jason said easily. "Mind if we join you?"
Sylvie raised her eyebrows, but nodded. She waited until Harry and Jason were seated before asking, "What's happened?"
Jason tilted his head at Harry. "He says he can smell vampires," Jason said under his breath.
Sylvie leaned in closer. "Really?" she asked quietly, throwing Harry a glance before looking back at Jason.
"That's what he said." Jason leaned even closer to Sylvie and started whispering into her ear. Harry looked over their heads at the woman next to Sylvie. She was tall, Harry could tell, even sitting down. Her long blonde hair and huge brown eyes reminded Harry of a china doll.
"I'm Gwen," the woman said.
Harry nodded and introduced himself, all the while trying to figure out what he was supposed to do. Everything about the woman just screamed 'alpha', maybe not as powerful as Sylvie, but it was still there. Harry noticed Gwen's hand on the back of Sylvie's chair, and remembered that Jason had says Sylvie was into girls. This must be Sylvie's girl.
Jason sat back, and Sylvie turned to Harry. "Interesting," was all she said as she waved someone over. A waitress, a bit older than Harry, rushed up and dropped two menus on the table. The girl waited for Sylvie to nod before dashing back the way she came.
"What was that all about?" Jason asked, flipping a menu open.
Sylvie sighed. "It's Maryanne's first job," Gwen answered for her. "She's been freaking out whenever Sylvie comes in here."
"It's worse when Richard's around," Sylvie grumbled. "She can't even speak around him."
"She's probably just got a crush on him," Jason said matter-of-factly.
Sylvie shuddered. "She's the same age as some of his students," she pointed out.
Jason grinned at Harry, and Harry had a horrible moment where he thought Jason was going to bring up something about him and older women, like Meng Die, or...
"Anita's centuries younger than Jean-Claude," Jason said, winking at Harry. "That doesn't creep you out."
"That's because Anita can handle herself," Sylvie said, slapping Jason's hand away when he reached for some of her chips. "Knock it off."
Jason mock-cringed. "I can't help it, I'm just so hungry, taking Harry shopping for hours..."
"That was your idea," Harry quickly said. The talk of food made his stomach rumble again, and he opened the menu. The food listing was about as comprehensible to him as an arithmancy textbook. After skimming the pages for a minute, he gave up and asked Jason, "What's good?"
"The Double Jumbo burger," Jason said without hesitation. "It's got two patties, and bacon, and two types of cheese--"
"And enough cholesterol to give anyone a heart-attack," Gwen said from behind her coffee cup.
Jason shrugged. "Living dangerously is what I'm all about."
By the time the waitress Maryanne returned to the table, Harry had started to understand the dynamic between the three werewolves. Jason would tease Sylvie and even Gwen, but he never said anything out of line, never disagreed with them. It was clear, to Harry, that Sylvie was in charge of the situation, and that Jason was comfortable with that.
The restaurant began to fill up. Harry was halfway through his burger when something prickled at his attention, and he glanced around. Richard was coming out of a door behind the bar, flanked by Jamil and Shang-Da. He caught sight of the group at Sylvie's table, and headed their way.
Since Jason didn't do anything at Richard's approach, Harry decided to follow his friend's lead. He quickly swallowed his mouthful and wiped his fingers on a napkin, but stayed seated.
Richard pulled a chair around from another table and sat down between Sylvie and Harry. Jamil slapped Richard on the back, and when Richard nodded, the two bodyguards went back to the bar.
"I didn't know you'd be here, Harry," Richard said, setting his elbows on the table.
"Jason suggested we get something to eat," Harry said.
"That's not all," Sylvie said, leaning over to Richard and speaking to him in a low voice. Harry only heard snippets of the conversation, including his name mentioned several times. Finally, Richard leaned back in his chair.
"Just like Anita," the Ulfric said absently, flipping a fork over in his fingers.
"Pardon me," Harry said, "But what's like Anita?"
Richard and Sylvie exchanged a look, then Sylvie stood up. "I'll see you later, Harry, Jason." Gwen also stood and was walking toward the exit before Sylvie even had her purse in hand.
Jason waited until Gwen and Sylvie were safely outside before leaning over and saying to Harry, "Don't mind Gwen. She and Sylvie have been together for a while."
That didn't explain to Harry why Gwen seemed to be annoyed with Richard, but Harry sensed that this wasn't the time to ask about it. Instead, he shifted his chair around so he faced Richard. "What's like Anita?" he pressed.
Richard tossed the fork to the table. "You're able to sense stuff a new wolf shouldn't, and you're not reacting the way you are supposed to, to blood and stuff," he muttered, his voice almost inaudible in the muted roar of the restaurant. "Anita was the same way."
"But she didn't change," Harry said slowly, his heart pounding in his chest. For two weeks, he'd been telling himself that he'd be a werewolf. But now, to have the head werewolf question that... it was almost too much to hope for.
"I know," Richard said. "But I don't know. You've still got two weeks, things might change."
Harry concentrated on his plate. He didn't know what to say. The thought that he might not become a werewolf was loud and ecstatic in his head, but there was also a jarring feeling of loss. He had thought, for a little while at least, that the pack would be sort of like his family. Now, he might not even have that.
But things might change, he told himself. I could still be a werewolf. I'll find out on the night of the full moon. Either way, I can still go back to school, so it doesn't matter that way... right?
Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw that Richard looked almost as conflicted as he felt. Maybe he wanted Harry to be a part of the pack.
Jason nudged Harry's arm. "Hey, what was Anita saying about those ghouls again?"
"Huh?"
Richard shook himself and glanced up. "How is Anita doing?" he asked, frowning slightly. "You two were attacked by ghouls last night, right?"
Harry nodded. "A whole bunch of them," he said, picking up his burger again. "Anita couldn't figure out why they attacked, and then the exterminators came."
"But she's okay," Richard said, making the statement into a question.
Harry nodded slowly. "She's fine," he said after he swallowed his mouthful. "She's at work now, I think, looking for something that might tell her why the ghouls attacked at that graveyard." Harry blinked at his burger. "They weren't what I'd call ghouls, anyway."
"How so?" Jason asked.
Harry licked a bit of ketchup off his thumb. "Back... home, ghouls are just stupid things that live in attics and bang on pipes. They don't try and eat people on graveyards."
"Didn't you have the same kind of thing with trolls?" Jason asked, stealing a handful of chips off Harry's plate. "There was that the troll that tried to eat you and Ron and Hermione at Halloween that one year, right?"
"A troll tried to attack you?" Richard asked, his entire attention suddenly on Harry. Nodding, Harry recalled that Anita had told him that Richard did his university work on trolls.
As quickly as possible, and trying to play down how stupid he and Ron had been to try and face down the troll on their own, Harry explained about the troll that Professor Quirrell had let into Hogwarts on Halloween night, in Harry's first year.
"Very strange," Richard said when Harry finished his story. "The trolls in North America aren't like that at all. They're smaller, for one, and very shy."
"Plus they don't eat children," Jason added.
"Might be a difference in the nomenclature between North American and European communities," Richard mused. "If it extends to disparate species like trolls and ghouls..." He looked, unseeing, at Harry, then his eyes came back into focus. "That might be an interesting paper topic, thanks."
Harry wasn't exactly sure what Richard was talking about, but he nodded anyway.
Jamil suddenly appeared at the side of the table. "We need to get going, Richard," the bodyguard said. He grinned down at Harry, and Harry found himself smiling back.
"Right." Richard stood. "I'll talk to you later, Harry."
"Bye," Harry called as Richard and Jamil threaded their way to the exit. Jason let out a groan as soon as Richard was out of earshot. "What?" Harry asked.
"Richard can't know that Anita's taking you to England," Jason muttered. "If he did, he wouldn't have been all happy-shiny like that."
"And why is that bad?" Harry asked.
Jason poked at the remains of his burger with his fork. "Because, when he does find out, he'll be all mad at Jean-Claude for not telling him, and at me for not telling him."
"Do you know anything about what Jean-Claude's planning?" Harry asked.
"No." Jason dragged his fork through the ketchup, making patterns on his plate. "But that doesn't matter."
Harry frowned. "If Jean-Claude didn't tell you anything, it doesn't make any sense for Richard to get mad at you about it."
Jason put down his fork and signalled to the waitress. "Harry, when it comes to Anita, Richard's not really firing on all logic cylinders," the young werewolf said sagely. "Come on, let's get you home. I need to be at work in a few hours."
Slumping in my work chair, I tossed the last file folder on my desk, not really caring that the pages slid everywhere. There was nothing in Animator Inc.'s files about that cemetery where the ghouls attacked Harry and me. Whatever caused the ghouls to run amuck was probably not based in anything in these files. Damn it.
Maybe I should do more research into these Inferi, I thought, just as my desk phone rang. Absently, I lifted the receiver and said, "Anita Blake."
"Hello, Anita," came the voice over the line.
I gripped the phone a little tighter. "Hello, Edward."
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-11-07 06:20 am (UTC)Interesting chapter as usual!
no subject
Date: 2005-11-07 06:28 am (UTC)Very interesting about the parallels between Harry and Anita's "am I going to be furry?" issues - though whether this is a new interpretation of canon stuff or an evil red herring remains to be seen.
"Harry, when it comes to Anita, Richard's not really firing on all logic cylinders," the young werewolf said sagely.
Truer words were never spoken. I love the way you've written Jason - spot-on. Makes my day brighter just reading him.
(And I'm going to have to find myself a copy of that painting - it's gorgeous!)
no subject
Date: 2005-11-07 06:34 am (UTC)So happy to see another chapter
Date: 2005-11-07 06:58 am (UTC)Finally out in the open how he's parallelling Anita's history with her beast rather than the traditional were-pattern. Will be really interesting to see what happens.
Even if he doesn't change physically, everyone's already noticed how he's changed metaphysically. If Anita can lead a pard, it seems like Harry could still be considered pack. Can't wait to see what happens.
Thanks for the update - always glad to see another chapter here.
no subject
Date: 2005-11-07 07:12 am (UTC)Liking the furry issues, although I'm still hoping Harry does change, just cause. Course it will be interesting if he doesn't as well, but changing would be more fun, a physical reminder of how he's different rather than just the metaphysical changes.
Lovin' the Jason-Harry interactions. I love when they get time together. And I like the finding differences about the magical creatures, although it can't be entirely regional and perhaps the differences are tied in with the differences in magic with reference to the ghouls, since they seem to be something that's created as opposed to born. The trolls is probably a species thing, after all they did specifically say mountin troll in PS/SS. [/geek mode]
Sylvie shuddered. "She's the same age as some of his students," she pointed out.
err, doesn't Richard teach Junior High science? Or has that changed? I honestly can't remember, it's been too long.
Very enjoyable, can't wait for more, specially since I just caught up on about 4 chapters. :)
no subject
Date: 2005-11-07 11:13 am (UTC)I liked this chapter in general. Jason is such a good foil for almost everyone. He pushes and pushes but he's not dumb. He knows what the limits are.
Harry is interesting in this chapter. He's more relaxed in some ways but uptight in others. I think that works for Harry at this age. He's still young and, despite Voldemort, is very naive about life. He's not afraid of life, however, and is an apt pupil. But his reactions are just a little slower than they should be. It great.
no subject
Date: 2005-11-07 01:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-07 03:15 pm (UTC)The painting is lovely. The evening light in the higher latitudes (higher than the forty-ninth parallel, anyway) is eerily lovely.
Re: So happy to see another chapter
Date: 2005-11-07 03:17 pm (UTC)Yeah. And Harry's alpha -- that's already been established, here and in the HP canon. So he'll probably wind up a lot like Anita: a bridge between worlds.
no subject
Date: 2005-11-07 03:40 pm (UTC)Well, so far, we have signs pointing us to both yes and no on that. As harry said, only the night of the full moon will tell.
At this point, the all-seeing Jason has been around Anita, JC and Richard for several years. No one is more qualified to make judgment calls on their relationship. (Keep that in mind for next time... :D)
no subject
Date: 2005-11-07 03:41 pm (UTC)Re: So happy to see another chapter
Date: 2005-11-07 04:09 pm (UTC)Even if he doesn't change physically, everyone's already noticed how he's changed metaphysically. If Anita can lead a pard, it seems like Harry could still be considered pack.
So really, it doesn't matter if he changes at all, right? (Okay, maybe not). We'll see what happens soon. The next two weeks of story time (up to the full moon) will start moving pretty fast.
Re: So happy to see another chapter
Date: 2005-11-07 04:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-07 04:16 pm (UTC)err, doesn't Richard teach Junior High science? Or has that changed? I honestly can't remember, it's been too long.
She's using hyperbole. When you're in your late 20s, the difference between 14 and 17 isn't that big.
Four chapters? Oh, your poor eyes. So many words...
no subject
Date: 2005-11-07 04:24 pm (UTC)Jason is a great foil, you're right. We usually only see him versus Anita in the books, but I think that he could interact well with almost everyone in the AB-verse. Except Richard. I think that Jason's just a little too close to JC and Anita for Richard to be comfortable with him.
Harry's not really comfortable in his own skin, no matter where he goes. At the Durselys, as the Boy Who Lived... I'm working to change that.
no subject
Date: 2005-11-07 04:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-07 04:33 pm (UTC)Re: So happy to see another chapter
Date: 2005-11-07 04:44 pm (UTC)We also see it in his determination to take on responsibility: Captaining the Quidditch team, and -- more importantly -- teaching his already-high Defence skills to his classmates. Finally, we see it at the end of Book Six, with his ability to stare down Rufus Scrimgeour. (And yes, I know that your story isn't HBP-compatible. ;-)
Re: So happy to see another chapter
Date: 2005-11-07 04:45 pm (UTC)A-yep. And to have some quality time with Jason and the gang.
Re: So happy to see another chapter
Date: 2005-11-07 05:37 pm (UTC)(And yes, I know that your story isn't HBP-compatible. ;-)
That's okay, I plan to use old Rufus as the minister of magic. Might as well carry on as much as possible with the stuff in HBP, while making it, um, different.
no subject
Date: 2005-11-07 05:56 pm (UTC)The chapter read very smoothly, and I liked the talk between Jason and Harry. I also liked Jason's analysis of Richard. A lovely, solid, fun chapter all around!
no subject
Date: 2005-11-07 06:07 pm (UTC)What's the deal with the vampires (dis)liking Harry? Asher, Meng Die, and now Valentina. Is there something more to Valentina's displeasure than not getting the drop and munch on Harry?
There's that fantastic drabble that centers on Edward that is a part of this world.
For a big leap (that's probably dead wrong), is Edward going to help Harry kill Voldemort via explosives or some such? Or vice-versa?
no subject
Date: 2005-11-07 07:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-07 07:41 pm (UTC)For a big leap (that's probably dead wrong), is Edward going to help Harry kill Voldemort via explosives or some such? Or vice-versa?
I'm not saying a word :D
no subject
Date: 2005-11-07 09:08 pm (UTC)