A.P.D. Ⅲ

In the yard of the D'Eath farmhouse property, Mrs. D'Eath remained watching the two wizards until the two men had long disappeared over the horizon. She hadn't really thought much about it, but with the new ministry initiatives that meant that there would be former werewolf children at Hogwarts with her son. And if so, would her son be in any danger? The animosity between werewolves and vampires was notoriously legendary. It may be a problem with so many former cursed children running about Hogwarts in the upcoming year.

Mrs. D'Eath shook her head and sighed. Her son could take care of himself, but she did not want him to be hurt. Though children have to grow up sooner and later even if she did not wish it to be so. She was fairly confident that the Professors and Prefects at Hogwarts would ensure her son's safety. At least, that is what she attempted to convince herself of.

Turning around, Mrs. D'Eath made her way into the tidy home. Glancing about and failing to see her son, she calls out, "Lorcan?"

"I'm coming," Lorcan shouted from upstairs, before hurriedly coming down.

"Those men didn't hurt you, Mum?" Lorcan asked as he loudly sniffed the air but didn't smell any blood.

Mrs. D'Eath put her hands on her hips and smirked. "Don't worry, they're just two mutts," Mrs. D'Eath said. "I can easily take care of those two without even needing my wand."

Lorcan flashed his mother a smile causing his two tiny sharp fangs to glint in the light. Mrs. D'Eath hides her smile and says, "Now go wash up, the stew is just about ready."

"Yes, Mum!" Lorcan eagerly said, before rushing away to wash his hands.

Mrs. D'Eath made her way into the kitchen as she pulled out her wand and caused plates and silverware to fly through the air and neatly settle themselves on the kitchen table. While she prepared dinner, Mrs. D'Eath could only sigh in relief. She thanked the magic of old that her son had been born a half-blood. She didn't know how she would have been able to feed him otherwise.

Thankfully, Lorcan ate everything but still had a bit of an aversion to garlic due to its strong scent. However, unlike full-blood vampires, he could eat garlic without any secondary effects or walk in the sunlight without being burned, only needing a bit of muggle sunscreen on very sunny days. Although he still needed a bit of blood to be fully healthy, blood lollipops and blood rare meat did the trick.

The loud footsteps of her son rushing down cause Mrs. D'Eath with a flourish carefully setting the served stew onto the table. Lorcan almost flew in as he hungrily licked his lips and said, "Is it beef stew?"

"Yes, it is," Mrs. D'Eath fondly replied. 'However, you're to eat all of your vegetables, Lorcan. You're still a growing boy."

Lorcan made a face at that. He didn't like beets at all, and he had spotted them in the soup. Shuddering, he sits down at the table with his mother joining him after having served the soup and placing a basket of warm, soft rolls in the middle of the table.

The two of them hungrily begin to eat with the only sound of chewing and the clinking of their silverware being heard for some time. After a while, Lorcan puts down his spoon and licks his lips clean. "I'll be fine, Mum," he abruptly said.

"Fine about what?" Mrs. D'Eath asked, glancing up from her bowl of beef stew.

"If I'm able to go to Hogwarts," Lorcan explained. "I'm fully capable of taking care of myself."

Mrs. D'Eath opens her mouth to protest, but Lorcan's soulless eyes gleam. "It's the vampire instincts in me, Mum," Lorcan confessed. "I didn't want to scare you or fly at the werewolf officer in attack. But I can, and I know where to strike too."

Mrs. D'Eath slowly nodded her head, before saying, "Then I won't worry about you taking care of yourself, Lorcan. But I don't want you to be getting into any fights, you hear?!"

"Yes, Mum," Lorcan obediently said, before flashing his fangs at her. "Can I fly around for a bit, Mum?"

Mrs. D'Eath's lips reluctantly twitch into a smile. She still can remember the fright her son gave her when he was only three years old. She thought she had lost him when she couldn't find him only to find a tiny bat hanging from the ceiling of his nursery. However, ever since then, she had made him solemnly promise to only transform when in danger, and to always ask otherwise.

"I suppose so," Mrs. D'Eath finally said. "But only for an hour. The neighbors told me that they might be getting a new owl early for Glenda, your friend. And I don't want you getting hurt if the owl gets hungry and thinks of you as food."

"Yes, Mum!" Lorcan eagerly said, before rushing away without picking up his dishes and putting them into the sink to wash.

Mrs. D'Eath rolls her eyes, before finishing her meal in peace. It was nice and quiet, and though she'd never admit it. She was going to be lonely when her son was gone.

Outside of the D'Eath home the evening shadows are long and grow dark with each passing second. A tiny bat flutters through the air and flies in the direction of the village in the distance. After half a mile's flight, a tiny bat flutters carefully towards a cottage in the village, before landing on the balcony of one of the upper bedrooms.

The tiny bat lets out a soft screech and lands on the ledge and knocks with its tiny claws against the window. Soft pangs can be heard as the figure of a ten-year-old golden-haired girl laying on her bed quickly gets up. The golden-haired girl is rather pretty with blue-green eyes.

The girl opens her window to allow the tiny bat to flutter inside and transform back into a boy. Lorcan grins at his best friend, Glenda Chittock, and says, "You'll never guess what happened today?!"

Glenda rolls her eyes and says, "Let me guess, the A.P.D. officers came by and introduced themselves?"

"Yes and no," Lorcan impishly replied. "One of the werewolf officers growled at me!"

"They're not werewolves anymore, Lorcan," Glenda said as she jumped back onto her bed. "They're animagus wolves, we've talked about this. And secondly, if he did growl at you, he probably had a bad run-in with an actual vampire, while still a werewolf."

Lorcan frowns and says, "Well, I'm only half, so he shouldn't have done that."

"No, but people do stupid things all the time," Glenda said with a shrug, before pulling out her collection of wizarding cards. "Now do you want to trade or not?"

"Nope," Lorcan pointedly refused by crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm not trading, Nicholas Flamel for Albus Dumbledore. I don't care. And besides, if we get into Hogwarts together, we'll see him all the time. So there!"

Glenda pouts and says, "Fine," and shoves her wizarding cards back under her pillow.

"So, what do you think it'll be like?" Lorcan asked.

"My older cousins say it's a lot of work," Glenda huffed. "But they're all lazy slobs and barely passed according to Granny. And maybe it's true, but I think it'll be wonderful too."

"Mm," Lorcan said. "Well, I hope that I'll be able to take my guitar and still practice playing on it."

Glenda grinned and said, "Lorcan D'Eath, the famous rock singer!"

"It can happen!" Lorcan huffed. "Anyway, you can't talk either, Glenda. You want to be a famous radio talk show host like the muggles have."

Both children begin an impromptu pillow fight, before falling down onto the ground exhausted. The two of them continue to chatter until it is time for Lorcan to fly back. They promise to see each other like they always do, before parting ways.

Their friendship was easy for now, not complicated by the facts of life. But they'd grow, and all that would change. And not all friendships would survive such a change, and whether theirs would only time could tell.