Bloodlines and Genders

Chapter 7

In his latest line of mid-life crisis': WHAT the actual FUCK was going on with his only slightly gradual hate with boys clothing.

Like, two weeks ago, he was fine in t-shirts and baggy jeans. Now he was wanting large sweaters, skirts and whatever else.

He really had been ignoring this problem for weeks. He only noticed it only two weeks ago. After he acknowledged it, the need to get in something pastel colored skyrocketed.

He sighed and turned in his bed. He was ready to accept the fact he liked feminine clothing, since here was basically a haven for people like him. But he was worried about what the rest of the world would do. Especially the wizarding world.

It was common knowledge a lot of wizards follow old laws and rules. And he knew Hogwarts students and teachers could be really cruel. What he was also worried about is whether his friends would accept him. He didn't want to lose Ron and Hermione.

He took a deep breath. He needed some sleep. The painkillers were trying to knock him out anyways.

~~

He woke up screaming and hysterical the next morning. Nightmares plagued his dreams.

Sam and Ash were frantically trying to calm him down. Eventually they managed to snap him out of his state of hysteria. He was hyperventilating and sweating like mad. He death gripped Lucille like it was the only thing keeping him sane. Maybe it was.

"Hey hey. What happened? Were the nightmares that bad?"

Ash was trying to console him, getting him to calm down eventually.

"Do you care to tell me what happened?"

Harry shook his head. There were only bits and pieces of these nightmares. But something more important stuck out. This never happened before.

Taking a deep breath, he tried to tell them what happened.

" Well, I don't really know what happened. I was awake, but not really. I cou-couldn't move. There was this person standing there, but it wasn't really a person. M-my friends... t-t-they..."

Harry couldn't speak anymore. The image of what he saw haunted him. He had nightmares like these before, but this wasn't a nightmare. He was awake.

He held his head in his hands, sobbing, filled with fear. He felt as if we was going crazy. What was happening? Why was it so real? Why wasn't it Voldemort like it usually was?

Why did that figure look like him?

~~

Ash let him get his feelings out. Sam was trying to shoo everyone who heard him scream. Everyone was curious as to what happened, but Sam told them he needed some space and that everyone had to leave.

Most people understood, and left politely. Some hung around, trying to get a glance at Harry. At least until Deanna came by. They left in a hurry after that.

Ash was still comforting Harry, giving him some water and letting him death grip Lucille too.

"Harry, that was called sleep paralysis. It happens to a lot of us here. It's not real. It's going to be okay. Here, have some chocolate. Always makes me feel better."

They broke off a piece of a bar and handed it to Harry. He took it gingerly, and nibbled on it. He was still shaking.

"Do you want to talk about it? I'm also kind of the official therapist here. Maybe I can help...?"
They was unsure and kind of awkward in the way they offered it. It made Harry smile a little, before starting to talk.

"I-I don't really know how to say this. I had my usual nightmares. I'm not really fazed by those anymore, but then I opened my eyes, and it felt like someone had encased me in cement. I couldn't move, breathing was difficult, but t-that w-w-wasn't t-the wor-worst p-part..."

He found it difficult to talk as he trembled and tears started forming again. He shook his head, took a deep breath, and continued.

"At first, it was just Sick Bay, then I blinked, and my two friends from boarding school were standing there. But it wasn't exactly them either. Their eyes were completely black, and they stood there staring at me. Curiously, like I was some sort of creature they had never seen before..."

He trailed off, the next part was what scared him the most.

"...then, they just blinked. Their eyes were normal. That was w-when s-s-something appeared b-behind t-tthem..."

He was panicking, but he was already this far into what happened. He might as well tell.

"...it l-looked lik-like me. B-but I h-h-had th-these teeth. I-I bli-blinked again, and bo-both m-m-my friends wer-were dead. B-b-blood was e-everywhere. I-i mean, they, h-had eat-eaten m-my fr-friends..."

He finished the whole last part almost unable to speak. But Ash has waited patiently for him to finish.

"Harry, it's going to be okay. It was just a hallucination. It's common here. Normally someone would prescribe a medication for it. But I'm not licensed for able to. So I would recommend going back to sleep if you can. I'll check in the morning, okay?"

Harry nodded. Ash got up, patted him gently on the shoulder, and left. Harry laid back of the pillows. Lucille was not forgotten.

~~~

Hello there! My longest chapter yet!

Sorry this update took a while. I've had trouble finding motivation to write.

Also, thanks to @lays_69 for my second vote! It means a lot.

Here, have a rice ball 🍙