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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Story [Harry Potter/Forever Knight] Midnight Watch, AU Chapter 2 up 7/30/08

Discussion in 'Non Star Wars Fan Fiction' started by BrightFeather, Jul 26, 2008.

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  1. BrightFeather

    BrightFeather Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Nov 13, 2005
    Yes. I am still alive. :D I got sidetracked into Harry Potter and have yet to manage to pull myself out...

    Midnight Watch
    By Bratling

    Disclaimer: Not mine. I hugged them, squeezed them, called them George, then gave them back like a good girl. Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling, Scholastic Books, Bloomsbury Books, and Paramount Pictures. Forever Knight belongs to Sony Tristar, Barney Cohen, and James D. Perriot.

    Author's note: This is a Forever Knight/Harry Potter fusion. This begins in February of 1982, when Harry is eighteen months old. I know he's talking a bit more than the norm for his age, but for this story only, I'm saying that magical children hit key developmental milestones like talking and walking earlier than Muggle children. Please remember to note that Nick's original language is French, so French pronunciations of names apply. ?Nicolas? is pronounced ?Nicola?, ?Henri? is pronounced ?Onri?, and ?LaCroix? is pronounced ?Laqua?.

    No ships yet (hey, he's only eighteen months old at the beginning!) and there will be a Manipulative! Dumbledore. Severus will most likely feature in this, 'cause, well, I like him as a character. Eventually, I plan on this nominally being Harry/Ginny and if I can manage to do it believably, Nick/Nat because I ship both. Canon and fanon spoilers warnings for both, though Forever Knight canon may be limited, as I can't see Nick leaving his kid in Scotland and moving to Toronto. Be prepared for a slightly different take on FK canon, because I'm placing the FK vampire into the larger context of the magical world. For the most part, they will remain true to canon, with a few bits added here and there. Also please note, this will be a darker story than I usually write. Mentions of past child abuse, but I rescued Harry when he's young, so no worries. My thanks to my new beta readers, Evan and Colon, who have been helping me sand out the errors.

    This is dedicated to my dad, who was just as taken with this idea as I am. He passed away October 23, 2007. I love you, Daddy. I miss you.

    ~*~*~*~
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Chapter 1:
    A New Life
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


    "Perhaps we cannot prevent this world from being a world in which children are tortured. But we can reduce the number of tortured children."
    --Albert Camus

    ~*~*~*~

    Saturday, 6 February, 1982

    Nicolas de Brabant wandered idly through Little Whinging with his hands stuffed into the pockets of his heavy black wool overcoat. He didn't really need the coat, of course--being a vampire gave him a low body temperature, which pretty much made him immune to the cold. It was well past midnight, and most people in the little town were asleep. He wasn't sure what had brought him to Surrey. Really, he was just passing through and wasn't certain where he would settle down next. It wasn't as if he could stay anywhere for more than a decade--the mortals would notice, and Wizardkind was not tolerant of what they termed 'Dark Creatures.' Granted, they did manage to help with Rogues occasionally, which lightened the Enforcers' workload, but it was just as much for the Wizards' safety as it was for the vampires'.

    He'd come to the UK after finishing his stint with the Red Cross in Vietnam, but he'd been wandering a bit since then. He wasn't sure what he wanted to do next, but it wasn't as if he didn't have the time to decide. Forever was a long time to live, after all. Nicolas's head shot up as he heard the thin, reedy cries of a young child pushed past the point of exhaustion. It was a sound that he'd heard many times in his unnaturally long life, but it wasn't one he could easily ignore; especially since it was coming from somewhere outside. If it had been coming from a house, well, he could have justified it as a careless parent who'd allowed their child too much leeway. The neat neighborhood he was currently in wasn't one that would lend itself to homeless vagrants, so it only followed that it was the cry of a child in trouble.

    Nicolas ha
     
  2. DaenaBenjen42

    DaenaBenjen42 Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    May 15, 2005
    Oh, hey! You posted it here! Love this! Continue, BrightFeather.

    Um... you know what I mean... I like a lot. Post is good. :)


    Edit: Had to simmer down, then read again... :)

    ?Hawwy bad boy,? the child said solemnly. ?Had bad dweam an' acksident. Hawwy dirty.?

    Awwww... So, so cute here...

    Love, love Nick figuring out how to care for a child all over again. (Can we give Nick a hug? If so: [:D] )

    ?I found him locked outside, naked. I very much doubt that his guardians cared at all for the child.?

    He's right... they didn't.

    'Henri Nicolas Lucien Andre de Brabant'

    Liked that little alteration...

    That bit about Egyptian cotton reminded me of Edna from the Incredibles for some reason...

    The Goblins and the Vampires had a war? Woah...

    Lacriox and Harry... cute! (And I didn't think I'd ever call Lacriox cute...)

    Blood spell... interesting. Liked that... And the Dursleys... eeek. Wonder if Petunia knew what she was really doing... Loved their appearance here, though. Well done.

    And was that Lily to which Harry was referring to? Liked that.


    Well done and good start, BrightFeather. :) (And I, for one, would love to see more.)
     
  3. Independence1776

    Independence1776 Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Feb 3, 2006
    Oh, please continue!

    I found this story through Nano, and have been occasionally checking your LiveJournal for updates since. I adore it, and think it's the best HP crossover I've found. And as someone who knew almost nothing about Forever Knight except that there were vampires, it's definitely easy to follow without familiarity of that fandom.
     
  4. BrightFeather

    BrightFeather Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Nov 13, 2005
    Quite a compliment, Indie. :D I'm currently trying to get this posted in places before I add more. Some of it is HP canon, some is FK, canon, some is a blend of the two, and still more is pure invention. If you'd like, I can offer a complete FK timeline. Vamps have reflections in FK, real food makes them vomit, and are still allergic to garlic, sunshine, holy water, and crosses. They hypnotize people (it's sorta like the Imperious Curse, actually), heal really, really fast, can fly, move faster than mortals, and are much, much stronger, too. They also have perfect recall and literally remember *everything*.

    Thanks Daena!
    I admit that LaCroix in this story is heavily influenced by Ashes to Ashes, because it's about the only episode in which we saw his human side. It's pretty much a third season LaCroix. There are so many Goblin Wars, I figured that one between the Goblins and the Vampires made sense! Yes, it was. Because FK vampires go to the place between life and death when they're turned, it made sense to me that Harry might see a brief trip after a blood adoption to a vampire. And no, I don't think that Petunia and Vernon knew exactly what they were getting into. But hey! If somebody offered *you* thirty pieces of silver to betray someone, would you do it? ;) Bad karma, that. :D

    I'll be posting chapter two fairly soon. Be warned--life isn't fair and neither is magic... There was quite a large disagreement over a bit of magic I invented for this, because it "wasn't fair."
     
  5. BrightFeather

    BrightFeather Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Nov 13, 2005
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Chapter 2:
    Best Laid Plans
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


    "But, Mousie, thou art no thy lane,
    In proving foresight may be vain:
    The best laid schemes o? mice an? men
    Gang aft a-gley,
    An? lea?e us nought but grief an? pain
    For promis?d joy."
    --Robert Burns, ?To a Mouse?

    ~*~*~*~

    Dumbledore's head shot up as an alarm sounded in his office. Something was wrong with the wards around the Potter boy's house. He frowned. It wasn't the first time that the alarm had sounded in the three months that the boy had lived with the Dursleys, but this time it sounded... different. The other alarms had alerted him that the Dursleys weren't treating the boy kindly, but it really couldn't be helped. He needed the boy alive and relatively intact, and the blood wards would keep him safe from marauding death eaters. A little mistreatment would be fine--it would make the child much, much more pliable and open to his influence when he came to Hogwarts.

    Besides, it really wasn't any of his business what happened in other people's families. Perhaps the boy's aunt had taken discipline a bit too far, but Dumbledore was sure that she wouldn't actually hurt the boy. Still, the alarm had sounded different than any of the others, and it never hurt to be thorough. It wouldn't do his reputation any good if someone were to find out that he'd condoned abuse of the Boy-Who-Lived. The disappointed looks that his phoenix was giving him were ignored. Dumbledore sighed, stood up, and headed for the moving staircase. It wouldn't hurt to pop over and check. The ward-monitoring device hadn't screamed, so the house wasn't under attack, but he didn't know what was wrong.

    On his way out of the castle, he was stopped four or five times, so it took over twenty minutes to make it outside the door. There was no hurry, as Dumbledore was sure that whatever was wrong would resolve itself before he arrived; so he meandered his way down to the gates and towards Hogsmeade, until he was past the wards. With a soft, almost inaudible, pop, he Apparated into a secluded corner of Wisteria Walk, a few streets over from Privet Drive. With a swish of his wand, his purple moon and stars robes were transfigured into a slightly out of date Muggle suit. He holstered his wand up his sleeve, and made his way to Privet Drive, whistling cheerfully. He was sure that the alarm was over nothing, and he didn't really need to check, but his paid watcher, Arabella Figg, wasn't scheduled to move in until Monday.

    There was nothing out of the ordinary on the street at all. It was a normal, neatly-kept, suburban Muggle neighborhood. Everything he could see was tidy, and as it was the middle of the afternoon, bundled-up children were outside running, playing in the snow, and riding what Dumbledore vaguely recognized as being bicycles on the neatly-shoveled sidewalks. In fact, if it weren't for the snow on the ground, the neighborhood looked remarkably just as it had three months prior, when he'd left the baby on the doorstep of number four, Privet Drive.

    He strolled up the walk of the aforementioned house and rang the bell. He hadn't felt the tingle of passing through wards; it was almost as if they were... gone. The door was opened by a woman that he didn't really recognize, as she looked nothing like her beautiful sister, but knew that it must be Petunia Dursley. "Mrs. Dursley," he said with an ingratiating smile.

    "If you're selling something, we don't want any." Petunia said as she started to close the door.

    "Mrs. Dursley," Dumbledore began again. "My name is Albus Dumbledore--"

    Petunia's face twisted into an expression of hatred and petty spite. "You," she hissed. She opened the door wider. "In, before the neighbors see you."

    A little puzzled by the venom in her voice, Dumbledore obeyed. Once he was inside, and before he could say anything, Petunia attacked. "How dare you waltz in here after what you did!" Petunia's fists were clenched and her mouth pinched, as if she
     
  6. DaenaBenjen42

    DaenaBenjen42 Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    May 15, 2005
    That whole opening, with Dumbledore trying to defend his choice in his head to leave Harry there, and the Phoenix making him feel guilty was very well done. Made me want to wince all the way through. Rationalization... eek... And then to find out that Petunia has that attitude toward Harry like that... eeep. And Dudley... oh my...

    Loved Snape's reaction, there... Dumbledore should have asked, and because he didn't, matters are now worse... or better, depending on how you look at it.

    "I wanted you to get Lily and her family out of the country! They would've been safe hiding in America, Australia, or even New Zealand! Hell, they would've been safer at Potter Manor! I blame you for her death just as much as I blame myself!"

    So... is Snape the only one with sense to see the ovbious? He makes a good, good point, there...

    Harry getting Vampy benefits from Nick... Liked that. (Why wouldn't he? It's a blood bond, no matter that Nick's been drinking cow's blood for a century...)

    Nicolas nodded and left the room, following Mitsy. "Bedtime for you, mon petit," he said.

    Henri lifted his face from Nicolas's shoulder. "Stowwy, Papa?" he asked.


    Awwwwww...

    Augusta Longbottom refused to let him have access to Neville at all, even after he'd perused the Book and informed her that her precious grandson was, indeed, magical.

    Good for her.

    Love Fawkes refusing to take the letter to Harry. Long live the magical bird!


    Well done and good post, BrightFeather. :)
     
  7. BrightFeather

    BrightFeather Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Nov 13, 2005
    Thanks. I honestly don't think Dumbledore is evil, though he will be slipping in this story. Book seven, which I will pretty much ignore, convinced me that he's manipulative, though.

    Yeah, he does. IMHO, Snape and LaCroix are the most interesting characters in their respective serieses. I think LaCroix could probably have been Slytherin's role model. ;)

    In season three's Fallen Idol, some of Nick's blood was given to a mentally handicapped witness. It temporarily healed the brain damage the poor kid had gotten from meningitis as a toddler. It also gave him a terrible temper, volatile mood swings, and IIRC, made him a bit stronger. I just tweaked the canonical results a bit and figured that magic could make it permanent. Harry still has a temper, and he can do more damage with it now. :D Think Incredible Hulk without the physical change and green skin...

    DLP got pissed at me for Harry's "accent". I was trying to make him sound close to his developmental level...

    Augusta Longbottom always was a strong character whenever we heard about her. I didn't think she'd allow Dumbledore near Neville...

    I love Fawkes and Hedwig! I'm intending on making Dumbledore wake up and smell the roses eventually. That's why I left Fawkes with him. I'm glad you like it, Daena. I s'pose that the strange mix of fandoms is a deterrent for readers?
     
  8. Independence1776

    Independence1776 Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Feb 3, 2006
    Sorry I missed a couple updates. RL has been busy.

    I don't have the time to comment on everything I'd like to, but I'd just like to say that I'm enjoying reading it for the second time just as much as the first. =D=
     
  9. Sara_Kenobi

    Sara_Kenobi Jedi Grand Master star 7

    Registered:
    Sep 21, 2000
    I think this is a great story, with great ties to the Forever Knight TV series. I used to watch the show when it was on. You've fit the two together wonderfully. :)
     
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