Taming the Monster Within

Chapter 1 ~ Meet Séraphine

Harry lay on his bed in the smallest bedroom in his aunt and uncle's house. The room was full of evidence of magic, but still very empty. Sometimes you can better understand people by seeing where they live, where they go to escape the rest of the world, every person's sanctuary, their bedroom. Harry's room is no sanctuary, it is no haven; in it lies no signs of life, because no living goes on in this room, but he is safe there. It is merely a cage he waits in every year until his holiday is over and he can return to Hogwarts, his real home. That was all going to change next year he thought. Next summer he would turn seventeen, a legal wizard, and no force on heaven or on earth was going to keep him in this godforsaken cage.

He reached over to his side table to the last letter he received. It wasn't particularly friendly in any manner, but very simple and short. It didn't matter; he was leaving this prison at last.

20^th of July, Noon, Be ready.

He held the letter in his hands reminding himself that it was no dream. Tomorrow he would see the Weasleys, Hermione, and the rest of the Order, but not Sirius. Harry rolled over lazily in his bed, folding his legs underneath him; for when he didn't they hung several inches off his mattress. Though all of his things were hand-me-downs from his cousin Dudley, and were too big; he had greatly outgrown his bed. This worried him a lot, because he was a Seeker for his house team, Gryffindor. Seekers were supposed to be small and light, but after his sudden growth spurt, on top of the fact he hadn't been on his Firebolt all summer, made him very nervous about Quidditch.

Harry thought he may never fall asleep that night, but as the moon glowed softly in the black velvet sky, he slowly slipped away into an elusive sleep.

* * * * * *

Harry woke with a start the next morning. He dreamed Ron showed up in the old Ford Anglia at noon. Harry had overslept and wasn't packed, but when he finally was, Ron had already left for Hogwarts without him. He looked at his clock; it was only 6:30 but he couldn't go back to sleep. His trunk was already packed, and he felt to anxious to eat any breakfast added to the fact he had no intention of being in the same room as the Dursleys unless he absolutely had to. He spent the rest of the morning pacing in his room listening to Hedwig's restless hooting and his stomach growling. Finally he heard His Uncle Vernon's voice bellow from downstairs.

"Potter, those people are here!"

Harry dashed down the stairs wondering who exactly 'those people' were. He descended the stairwell three at a time to find the Weasley twins standing in the doorway with two identical grins on their faces.

"Ready to go?" said George dressed in a blue Muggle sweater and khaki slacks.

"Yeah," said Harry smiling so hard it felt like his jaw might break.

"Well then let's go get your trunk, shall we?" said Fred throwing a glance at Dudley who was trying to be unseen and failing miserably. Actually, he had become even more massive than the last time Fred and George had met him. Well, they never really did officially meet, but they did make his tongue swell to the size of a four foot long purple snake.

Fred and George followed Harry up to his room. Once George closed the door they broke down into howls of laughter. The first real laugh Harry had had in a long time.

"How are we getting back?" asked Harry.

"Same way we got here; driving. You should let Hedwig out so she can fly there. It would be less hassle," said George.

After he did so Harry made to grab one end of his trunk, but Fred waved him aside and carried it down the stairs with George. Harry took up Hedwig's empty cage and followed suit.

* * * * * *

Harry walked out of the door without so much as a goodbye from the Dursleys and felt his jaw drop. He was expecting one of the Ministry's cars, but sitting in front of Privet Drive four's driveway was a shiny blue Mustang convertible with its engine revving madly. In the driver's seat was a girl Harry didn't recognize, but Fred was talking with her cheerfully and climbed into the passenger seat as George finished loading Harry's trunk into the back of the car.

Harry walked up to the car as it roared loudly, all three of them now in the car.

"Harry, meet Séraphine," said Fred gesturing to the odd-looking girl. She did seem very strange to him, yet for some odd reason he sensed he recognized her too. Her hair was a messy champagne-blonde that fell into her pale face, but a set of bright blue eyes penetrated her golden mane.

"Séraphine, Harry," he said as he nodded in Harry's direction. Something about her didn't seem natural. Harry thought he was just being paranoid; he really didn't like meeting new people, especially now. They always seemed to go through the usual stages. First they would gawk at his name, marvel over his scar, and then treat him like some poor little orphan boy.

"Hey there," she said as she threw him a quick smile before turning back around. Harry couldn't believe it; she didn't freak out over his name. Suddenly Harry didn't care if she was a bit strange looking, at least she didn't wear orange radishes for earrings. Compared to Luna, Séraphine wasn't weird at all.

"Should we go then?" she questioned Fred.

Harry climbed into the convertible sinking into the leather interior. Thinking back, he didn't have a single good memory at Little Whinning, but the most beautiful sound filled his ears when she shifted the car into gear and loudly pealed out of Privet Drive.

* * * * * *

Séraphine pulled into a parking lot of a burger place in a town somewhere between London and Surrey. Harry stumbled out of the car, his ears buzzing with the music Séraphine insisted on playing so loudly it made the back seats shake madly.

Harry hadn't realized how hungry he was until they all walked into the restaurant.

"Order anything you want; my treat," she said insistently.

Once everyone had ordered Harry noticed just how unusual she was. Her messy, wind-blown hair fell in her face in an elegant fashion, but she wore a pair of denim jeans torn at the knees and an old black T-shirt that read "Ko_n." Fred, George, and Harry all ordered burgers, as it were a burger restaurant, but Séraphine ordered a salad.

Fred took a very large bite out of his cheeseburger, letting out a groan of eminence satisfaction. Séraphine wrinkled her nose at this.

"Did you know an innocent animal died for that?" she said as she cast an angry look at him. Which was a shame because her smile was amazing like the way children smile.

Fred swallowed hard and looked at her as if he were hurt by the question. He brought the nearly half-eaten burger up to his face and mooed so loud it made people twist around in their seats to see what was going on.

She looked highly disgusted, but at the same time finding it very difficult not to smile.

"Why are you a vegetarian, Séraphine?" said George.

"Well." She looked a little taken aback by his question. "Do you know," she said while raising one eyebrow and folding her arms, "how exactly they slaughtered that cow?"

"No," said George looking at his food.

"Well, they start by..."

"Ugh, I don't think I want to know."

"No, I didn't think you would!"

* * * * * *

After they all finished eating, which wasn't difficult because Harry couldn't stop thinking about livestock, Harry asked Séraphine if she worked for the Order like Fred and George.

"No, my mother does though, just joined."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I was only allowed to come because I have my license, and everyone else has been really busy lately with confidential stuff. I'm used to the whole 'you're too young to understand' speech because my mom's an Auror too."

"Wow," said Harry unable to stop himself. Harry had always wanted to be an Auror when he'd leave Hogwarts. "So, have you ever wanted to be an Auror like your mother?"

"My old teacher said I've got potential, but my mother says I should think about my future very carefully," she said in a tone that suggested she thought her mother was overprotective and hypocritical. "I mean, I can't blame her though, it's not easy to say goodbye to her every morning and not know if she'll be home for dinner," she said as gloom swept her face.

Harry suddenly wished he hadn't asked.

"The job really doesn't appeal to me anyway, I detest violence of any sort. Though... she doesn't have to worry about Rèmy," she said smirking at Fred.

"Who's Rèmy?" asked Harry more than happy to change the subject.

"Umm, combine Bill and Percy and you've got Séraphine's twin brother, Rèmy," said George.

"You're still in school?" asked Harry surprised he hadn't noticed earlier. "But this is the first I've met you or even seen you."

"Oh, um, sorry I forgot," she said embarrassed, "I am British, well that is, I was born in Britain, but I've lived in Massachusetts for quite a while. My mother's English, and my father was from France, but he went to school at Hogwarts with my mother."

"What does your father do?"

"Oh," said Séraphine a little startled, "he's... dead," she said, looking down.

"I...I'm sorry," said Harry. He wondered if everyone felt this bad when Harry told them his mother and father were dead, too.

"Don't be," she said smiling at him warmly.

"What year are you and your brother going into?" he asked cautiously.

"Rèmy is going into his final year, but I got held back a few years ago, so I'll be going into my sixth year with you, Ron, and... Hermione," she finished with a hint of dislike.

"What is it with you and her?" said George.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said in an innocent voice, but not quite meeting his eyes.

"Uh, yeah right," said Fred.

"Err, It's like I insult her by being in the same room. It's not surprising though," she said angrily as she ran her hands through her windswept hair.

"Why is that?" said George.

"It's just I've never had luck with making friends with...oh I don't know... preppy girls. They either don't like my clothes, my music, or maybe I just smell bad!" She looked at George, who was sitting next to her, as if she wanted him to sniff her.

"Well, I think your music is wicked," said George as he comfortingly put his arm loosely around her shoulder.

"And I think the way you look is..." Fred swallowed hard at a loss of words.

"Yes," said Séraphine pulling away from George's one-armed hug, reveling in Fred's uncomfortably.

"Err... fine," said Fred sheepishly.

George put his nose into her wild ringlets, "Oy! You smell good too."

She snorted loudly. "Don't get all weird on me you two," she said as she pushed his face away from her. "So," she said standing up, "is everyone done?"

"Yeah," said Harry.

"Uh-huh," said Fred.

"Oh, I don't know, I think I fancy another dead cow-burger," said George jokingly.

"Oh come on! Let's get out of here," she told George as she tugged on his arm. Séraphine pinched her nose and said in a nasally voice, "it smells like rotting carcass in here."

"If you have such a problem with other people eating meat, Séraphine, why on earth did you bring us to a burger place?" asked George as they walked to the exit.

"So I could do this..." she stuck her two index fingers in her mouth and whistled loudly, receiving the attention of many customers. "You all should be ashamed of yourselves," she hollered loudly, " an animal died for that meat flopping around your mouths!"

"What do you think you're doing?" hissed George.

Séraphine took hold of the front of George's sweater. "Run!" He heard her yell at all of them as she made a beeline to the Mustang with George in toe.

Fred looked as if he might apologize for her rather rash announcement, as everyone was staring at him and Harry. Instead he said, "Oh what the Hell!" With that, he grabbed hold of Harry's arm and ran after Séraphine and George.

Harry saw George jump into the passenger seat without use of the door. Séraphine slid across the hood of the car and did the same, and then Fred and Harry quickly clambered into the backseats.

Harry distinctively heard mutter under his breath, "Every single ruddy time!"

Séraphine tore out of the parking lot, not before doing a few donuts mind, and then they were off.

* * * * * *

"Hey, George!" hollered Séraphine over the noise of the whooshing wind. "Reach under your seat, would you?"

George pulled out a thick binder of what seemed to be at least a hundred CDs and handed it to her. She ran her index finger along them, most likely trying to decide which one was the loudest. Séraphine finally made a decision and made to put it in, but George grabbed her wrist before she had a chance to.

"Do you Americans really listen to these?" He asked starring at the shiny disk in awe.

Séraphine laughed warmly at him, "Yes, well, I guess the Muggles do."

"Weird!"

"You want to put it in?" she said holding it up to him on her index finger.

"Could I?" he asked, sounding very stupid at this point.

"Yeah," Séraphine half-laughed, gripping the steering wheel casually. George took the disk from her other hand very slowly as if it were made of glass. "That is if you think you won't wet yourself first."

* * * * * *

They pulled up to 12 Grimmauld Place around three o'clock that afternoon. Harry accidentally bumped into Séraphine as he looked up at the unbearably familiar building. A terrible chill went through him; Harry shook it off and grabbed Hedwig's empty cage.

Harry walked into the door and was immediately embraced into one of Mrs. Weasley's warm hugs.

"Good to see you, Harry Dear." Mrs. Weasley said in a motherly tone "Did everything go according to plan?" she asked the others urgently.

"Umm, well, it went fine until Séraphine went all 'Animal-Rights' at the restaurant," said Fred.

"Séraphine!" howled Mrs. Weasley.

"What? We're all here in one piece, aren't we?" she said as she looked around at all of them. She then caught sight of Mrs. Weasley's glare, "I'm sorry! I'm just very outspoken, I felt a need to express my views and went for it."

"I knew you couldn't handle this. Wait till Liz hears what you've done. Oh, why can't you be more like your brother!" Mrs. Weasley said to Séraphine, at this point giving a look of poison to her for the 'brother' remark. "Come with me," she said to her darkly and then quickly changed expressions as she turned in his direction. "Oh Harry Dear, Ron and Hermione are upstairs with everyone else."

Harry walked into the bedroom to see all of them just as Mrs.Weasley said he would.

"Hello everyone," said Harry as all of their gazes shot in his direction.

"Oh Harry, we missed you!" said Hermione as she almost knocked him over as she hugged him tightly.

"Welcome back, mate," said Ron grinning, and then looked down at Hermione "God Hermione, let him breathe!"

"Who is this?" said someone Harry guessed was Rèmy, because he shared Séraphine's dominant features. His hair was a bit blonder, but just as messy and untamed. He was a little taller than Ron was, which was saying something. Harry could tell what George meant by how he was like Bill; his hair looked long enough to put in a ponytail too, but it hung in his face and looked quite outgrown. Harry couldn't see any bit of Percy in him though.

"Rèmy, this is Harry Potter. Harry, this is Rèmy Darkholme," said Ginny. Harry could feel his gaze rest shortly on his lighting bolt-shaped scar.

"Nice to meet you," he said quickly.

"You've already met Séraph-" Said Ginny before she got cut off by the door swinging open as George magicked Harry's trunk into the room.

"Hey George, where is Séraphine?" Rèmy asked quizzically.

"Getting a talking to, if I'm not mistaken," said Fred grinning as he walked passed him.

"What did she do this time?" Said Rèmy breathlessly to George.

"Hey, I'm not saying a word," he replied as he threw his hands up in the air, "I thought it was hilarious."

"Well, Mother didn't," said Séraphine as she walked in with her hands clutching her buttocks. "But don't worry, I got out of there before she bit off the other half," she joked as everyone laughed.

"Hey Séraphine, Where are my - oh thanks," Rèmy said to Séraphine as she threw the Mustang's keys to him.

"And what did you do with the Ducati?" She asked eagerly, holding her hand out.

"It's around back," said Rèmy as he placed a key in her outstretched hand and jabbing his thumb over his shoulder.

"I'm going to check on... Oh wait I don't have to lie to you. I'm going for a joyride," she said simply. "Oh and Ron," Séraphine said with a hint of stern determination in her voice, "you owe me a rematch when I get back, around... three thirty."

Harry turned to Ron, who had an odd grin on his face.

"Chess," Ron said to Harry catching his puzzled look. "She's even worse than you."

"Thanks," said Harry sarcastically.

A minute later, after everyone except Ron cleared out of the room, Harry heard a loud roar come from outside.

"What's that?" said Harry surprised that the screeching noise didn't seem to have bothered Ron.

"Oy, Séraphine's motorbike, and bloody hell is it loud," said Ron.

Harry started putting away some of the contents of his trunk, and then Ron turned to him.

"Hey Harry," said Ron trying to act casual. "What do you think of Séraphine?"

"A little strange isn't she?" said Harry.

"Yeah, she is pretty odd, but she's real nice once you get to know her. She and Hermione hate each other, it's a riot."

"Ron, Séraphine said she got held back," Harry just remembered. "Could that be why they don't get along?"

"Err, I don't think Séraphine's stupid, actually she's almost always got a book with her and she goes on about animal and magical creature's rights all the time. I know I don't understand girls, but she and Hermione have tons in common and 'still' can't stand each other."

"Why do you ask?" said Harry suspiciously.

"No reason," said Ron rather unconvincingly. "Its just she and her family have been here for over a month and you're just now meeting her."

* * * * * *

Turns out once you got to know Séraphine she did seem cooler, but Harry still couldn't shake the feeling that there was something unnatural about her.

While Ron and Séraphine battled it out in chess, he found out why George thought Rèmy was like Percy; he spends a good portion of his time fretting about his classes and school marks. According to Séraphine her brother has obsessions not hobbies for example gra girls, and Quidditch.

"They have Quidditch in America?" asked Harry, thunderstruck.

"Well, it's becoming more and more popular, but people still mostly play Quodpot. America has two National Quidditch teams one in Texas and in Massachusetts we have the Fitchburg Finches. In those areas Quidditch fans are a lot more abundant."

"You didn't tell me that," said Ron.

"Well you never asked," she shrugged.

"Were you on your house team at your old school?" asked Harry.

"House?" She asked puzzled. "I went to an all-witches academy in Salem, we had Sororities. We also didn't just have Quidditch and Quodpot, which is in my opinion rather dull, but I did do pretty well on our racing team. I thrive on speed," she ended dramatically.

"What broom do you own?" asked Ron almost drooling, as he did whenever he talked about Quidditch or broom sports in general.

"Euphoria, it's American-made brand made especially for racing," she stated proudly.

"Well that's nice," said Ron sarcastically. "But my friend, Harry, here has a top-of-the-line Firebolt," Ron said competitively.

"Never heard of it," she said shrugging as Ron's jaw hit the floor.

"Séraphine, why did you and your family come all this way; I mean it's not the greatest time to visit England is it?" asked Harry the question itching the back of his head for a while.

"Mrs. Darkholme is an Auror for international affairs in the U.S." Ron explained, as he looked intently at the chessboard, "she's helping the Order out during the summer, but around next month - HA!" exclaimed Ron as his knight threw Séraphine's Queen clean off the board. "Maybe you wouldn't get your arse handed to you after every chess match if you took your nose out of that book, Séraphine."

"Arse? Oh yeah, I forgot. British-English is weird," she said exasperated. "Besides you don't understand this is the best part!"

Harry and Ron exchanged glances as she muttered a careless move to her bishop, which wandered diagonally across the board shouting unrepeatable insults at her.

"What are you reading anyway," asked Ron as he beckoned his rook to a new square.

"Hamlet," she said quickly as her eyes scoured the pages, left to right. "Now hush I'm trying to concentrate."

"Who is that," said Ron not daring to take his eyes off the black and white chessboard. "Hamlet? He some git that had nothing better to do than write a book?"

"No, Shakespeare wrote it, and he is an amazing Muggle playwright, Ron," she snapped.

"Oy, I forgot to tell you, Harry," chortled Ron as he commanded his ivory king one space to the left. "Séraphine loves Muggle stuff. Isn't that crazy?"

"Reading Shakespeare isn't crazy, Ron, It's... it's inspiring," she said with drama in her voice.

"Only one person I know gets that excited over a book, and that's Hermione," blurted Ron unwisely.

If looks could only kill, the Weasleys would be out one son. Séraphine was giving him a frigid look of pure venom as he smiled happily at her and ordered his queen into a checkmate, which made Séraphine's king curl into a fetal position as it howled for mercy.

* * * * * *

On their way to the dinning room for supper, Séraphine whispered something into Ron's ear; he turned his usual shade of scarlet whenever he was embarrassed, and needless to say Harry was most certain Séraphine had gotten her revenge.

Harry almost asked Ron what she said, but then they ran into Ron's mother.

"Dinner won't be ready for a little while," Mrs. Weasley said as they passed by her.

"Is there anything I could do to help?" Séraphine asked sweetly, obviously wanting to make up for her outburst earlier that day.

"Yes, that would be nice," she said kindly smiling to her as the two of them made their way to the kitchen.

"So, this is the Harry everyone's been telling me about," said a short woman he hadn't met before in a motherly voice that rang like a bell. "I'm sorry," she said catching Harry's oblivious reaction, "I am Elizabeth Darkholme, Séraphine and Rèmy's mother."

She looked very young to be a mother of two seventeen-year-olds and an Auror. Ms. Darkholme had thick mass of ravenous black curls, not quite as messy as Séraphine's hair, but untamed all the same. To say she wasn't intimidating for an Auror was an extreme understatement. She was a short pretty woman in blue robes that looked more likely to kiss away a boo-boo than catch a Death Eater. She didn't look much like her children, but the resemblance of their lighting blue eyes was undeniable.

"I guess I should be telling you to call me 'Professor'. I daresay, I'm not quite used to it yet."

"Oh yes Harry, I tried to tell you earlier that Séraphine's mum is our new Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher," said Ron in a hinting voice.

"Oh," said Harry letting Ron know he got the message. That particular job, to some, was considered jinxed, Harry wanted to tell her he was sorry for her or at least warn her, but she seemed to know already.

"No boys, I don't believe in that silly rumor," she said kindly as she turned heel.

They made their way into the dinning room; Harry saw Mad-Eye, Tonks, Lupin, and surprisingly Hagrid.

"Hagrid!" exclaimed Harry. "It's great to see you."

"It's good ter' see yea too," replied Hagrid cheerfully. "How's yer holiday?"

"Not as bad as last year."

* * * * * *

Once they all sat down to dinner the conversation turned to Fred and George's Business at Diagon Alley.

"It's going great," said Fred proudly.

"Better right now than ever," added George. "Guess everyone is buying as much as they can before they leave for Hogwarts."

"And it's thanks to Harry here we started it all," smiled Fred. Much to Harry's relief, Mrs.Weasley was beaming at him.

"Oh, and Séraphine, we thought about your idea and ran with it," said George.

"What idea?" asked Hermione quizzically.

"Babbling bubble gum, it's our newest invention," said Fred. "Séraphine was telling us about something kind of like it.

"Yeah, old party prank," she said as she stared down Hermione who was glaring back. "It's regular gum with a weakened Veritaserum and a babbling charm."

"Veritaserum? That's a very difficult potion," stated Hermione simply.

"Yes it is. Are you implying that I am too incompetent to make a difficult potion?" Séraphine remarked.

"No, I just..."

"Like I said, we ran with it, and it should be out sometime in October," said Fred quickly.

Hermione and Séraphine didn't talk or look at each other all dinner.

"So," said Lupin, after almost everyone was done eating, in a solemn voice, "I have an announcemet to make, mostly to tell you something, Harry."

"What's that," said Harry timidly.

"Well, now that Sirius is no longer with us," Harry's stomach turned as Lupin spoke, "He has left some of his possessions to some of us. He has graciously left his house to the Order."

Harry's lungs tightened. "Sirius is not gone!" he thought to himself.

"Buckbeak to Hagrid." Harry looked back at Lupin. He was staring lividly at the table. "And he left something to you as well."

Harry knew Sirius didn't have a lot and what possessions he did have were mostly all reminders of his dismal childhood.

"He left you his most prized possession," he gave a weak smile, "that flying motorbike of his; drove that ruddy thing everywhere." Lupin's eyes where unfocused as he remised over Sirius.

Harry remembered it was Lupin who held him back from the veil; Lupin was the first one to tell Harry Sirius was really gone. Harry was glad no one asked him to talk now; his throat felt much too tight to speak.

"Hagrid and Séraphine have both offered to teach you how to ride it," added Lupin.

Harry looked over at each of them. Hagrid's beetle-black eyes shining and a grin itching beneath his beard. Séraphine gave him a weak smile and quickly bit her lip as she suddenly looked down, busying herself with straightening her silverware. He looked back again at Lupin who was rummaging in the pocket of his robes for something; he pulled out a key.

"It's all yours," he said to Harry as he slid it across the table.

"...Where is it?" asked Harry quite anxiously as he lifted the key off the table.

"In storage at our ranch, its not far from here," said Séraphine sheepishly.

"When can I see it?" he asked Lupin, clutching the treasured key in his hand tightly.

"Tomorrow," said Mrs.Weasley, "It's much too late now."

"Tha' et is," Hagrid said lowly as he stood up from the table. "Well, we bes' be gon'."

Everyone who wasn't spending the night at 12 Grimmauld Place left the dinning room and headed for the door, but not before saying goodbye to everyone else.

* * * * * *

Harry lay awake that night wishing it wasn't too late to go see it. He didn't care much if he would ever be able to ride a motorbike, but he wanted to at least see the one that his godfather obviously cherished.

He let his mind play with the thought of flying a motorbike away from Privet Drive. He thought about it so much before he finally fell asleep; he had an elaborate dream of flying a motorbike. Only later, when he woke up sometime that night, would he realize this wasn't the first time he dreamed about a motorbike that flew.

* * * * * *