Fall from Grace

Nightmares and Expositions

Chapter 5

Nightmares and Expositions

The sixth-year boys sat around a fire with Mulciber and Nott. Harry feels a little uncomfortable sitting with them, even though he was between Alphard and Sylvain, who was always friendly to him.

Xavier Mulciber looked at Harry and smiled, "Seems like I'll be teaching you potions, eh?" he said good-naturedly.

"You don't need to," Harry muttered.

"Don't worry about it, Peverell, it'll be fun," Mulciber smirked. "I'll get you caught up in no time and the rest of the time I'll show you some fun potions." He winked at Harry. Despite his reluctance to be tutored, Harry found himself smiling back at Mulciber, whose smile brightened.

"I have a few questions, actually," Abraxas Malfoy said. "Where exactly did you learn to fight like that? And for that matter, where exactly were you? You do know that there has not been a recorded Peverell for generations. So where were your family?"

"I actually would like to know that too, Harry," Alphard said, "if you don't mind." Their eyes all fall on Harry, who squirmed in his seat. He couldn't find any way of it and sighed, his mind moving miles a minute.

"Okay," he said, hoping he can come up with a convincing lie as he went on. "What do you want to know?"

"Who died?" Nott asked. Harry flinched and Mulciber slapped the back of Nott's head.

"You idiot! You don't ask like that," he hissed. Nott shrugged while Mulciber shook his head. Harry frowned and looked down at his lap, not trusting himself if he looked at the others.

"I told you all, my godfather," he said.

"But who was he? Was he a pureblood?" Malfoy asked.

Harry wanted to bite back that it didn't matter, but thought better of it considering his current surroundings. Instead, he just nodded and said, "Yeah. His name was Sirius."

"What happened to your parents?" Sylvain asked gently.

Harry didn't answer right away. He moved in his seat, kicking off his shoes so he could have his feet on the armchair he was sitting in to hold his legs. Malfoy sneered at this and muttered under his breath but Harry ignored him. "They died when I was only a baby," he finally said. "I don't remember them, only what people say of them. They said that I look just like my father, except for my eyes, I got my mother's eyes."

"That must have been awful," Jasper Lestrange said, leaning forward a little. "If you don't mind, how did they die?"

Harry thought for a moment and figured it would be best to keep the truth as vague as possible. "My godfather was killed by his cousin. My parents were murdered by the man the cousin followed," he answered. "I don't know why it was that he killed my parents," he knew exactly why and it disgusted him, "but after that, I was herald away to live with muggle relatives before my godfather could get to me."

"The pureblooded godfather, yes?" Jasper asked and Harry looked up to nod at his pretty face. Jasper frowned, "Then how do you have muggle relatives? Are you a half-blood?"

"And if I am? So what?" Harry asked defiantly. Jasper Lestrange held up his hands and gave a small smile. "My mother was a muggleborn while my father was a pureblood. That's all I'm sharing," he said.

"What was it like living with muggles?" Mulciber asked curiously. "Is it true that they can't use magic for anything and have to use these strange contraptions for basically everything?"

Harry couldn't help but giggle. "And what sort of strange contraptions are you talking about?" he asked, with a smirking smile.

"Well," Mulciber began, "there are those strange square machines muggles put their clothes in. As well as those clunky automobiles."