A Vampire's Soul

A Vampire’s Soul, chapter sixteen

Pairings: Harry/Draco, slight Harry/Ron/Hermione, Ron/Hermione, slight Harry/Ron, Harry/others

Rating: NC-17

Warnings: Vampires, so there’s blood mentioned; Slash; some Het, and multi-partners.

Words: About 5,007

Notes: Trying to do things different in this fic than others. Post-HBP.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and its characters, nor do I own anything from Dracula.

Chapter written: April 28th, 2007 (re-reading this chapter was not easy after finishing Deathly Hallows…)

.-.

With shaky hands, Harry jerked the refrigerator door open, rummaged inside anxiously, and pulled out what looked to be the last of the stag blood. Not caring how he looked, Harry quickly unscrewed the top of the jar and took a long draft, trickles of blood escaping from the corners of his mouth.

When he finished, his hunger wasn’t completely satisfied. He tossed the bloodstained jar into the bin angrily and then stalked into the sitting room. The two new people that had showed up before were Luna Lovegood and Parvati Patil. He had a feeling he knew why Luna was there, but Parvati didn’t actually have a reason, as far as Harry knew, so his eyes kept cutting over to her. He hadn’t even told anyone when the next Order meeting was either, so it couldn’t be that.

Luna was dressed in her usual odd way, but Parvati looked as if she were going to a dance or was on a date. Her hair was even lovely, done partially in a bun with the rest of it hanging to her shoulders, which were bare. Her dress was sleeveless and strapless, and there was a hint of a small zipper on the back. But that wasn’t what Harry was staring at.

“Are you feeling any better?” Hermione asked. She was sitting beside Luna on the couch.

“A little,” admitted Harry. “But not much.” He continued to stare at Parvati, and when she caught him staring, she flashed a perfect smile at him and batted her lashes.

“Well, I hope so,” said Hermione. “Because the Order meeting has to be tomorrow. Remus just got word from Scrimgeour that Sanguini and Worple will be here sometime by then. They might show up after noon or in the evening.”

“If I were Sanguini, I’d wait until the evening,” said Harry, his eyes still glued to Parvati. She blushed under his intense gaze.

“Malfoy received a letter from his mother,” said Hermione. “He said to tell you that his mother said, and I quote: ‘Don’t ask me anymore silly questions about our family.’”

Harry sighed, staring into the crackling fire. “I had a feeling asking her was a waste of time. Hopefully Andromeda will be politer about it.” His gaze went back to Parvati and her dark, elegant neck. She had been looking into the fire too, but she must have sensed him staring at her, because she raised her head and their eyes met. Oddly enough, Harry didn’t look away and continued to stare at her. Parvati’s cheeks colored slightly, but she didn’t look away either.

“I’m sure she will be,” said Hermione. “Maybe we should… Harry?”

“Hmm?” Harry brought his gaze to Hermione.

“Are you sure you’re all right? You have that certain look…”

“Oh, yeah,” said Harry as casual as he could. “I’m fine, really.”

“Then why do you keep staring at Parvati’s neck?”

Harry cast his eyes downward, and Parvati squeaked softly and covered her neck with her hands. “Harry, you’re not… are you?” she said.

He knew he couldn’t lie at the moment; they’d all know that he was if he tried, so he just settled for telling the truth, but no details.

“Yeah, I was staring… but you must remember that I’m a vampire and that’s what vampires do.”

“Well, I’m just wondering, because you were going blood crazy not too long ago.”

Parvati made another shocked squeaking noise.

“Do you need someone’s blood right now?” Luna asked in her usual straightforward way. “Because I’ll be glad to give you some more of my blood.”

“He’s bitten you?” Parvati shrieked, looking pale.

“Yeah,” said Luna. “But it’s all right. Harry’s not a soulless vampire. He doesn’t want to kill anyone.”

“B-but…” stuttered Parvati, “doesn’t it hurt?”

Luna placed a finger against one cheek and looked up at the ceiling as if thinking it over. “It’s not really that painful. It’s like… well, I’m not sure how to describe it. I suppose you could say it’s like getting a shot from a Muggle doctor.”

“You mean those long needles?” said Parvati, shivering. “Those things look creepy.”

“I’m only saying that it doesn’t really hurt that bad when his fangs pierce you. It’s more… well…” Luna blushed. “You know.”

Catching on, Parvati also blushed. “Oh!”

Harry smirked. The thought of getting Parvati to let him bite her was now dancing in his head. He began to daydream all sort of scenarios of how he’d go about doing so, but then the fireplace flared to life and out of it came none other than Snape. Harry mentally cursed the day Severus Snape was born and was about to spit an insult at him, but stopped himself short because Snape was handing him a piece of parchment.

“Read it,” he told Harry in irritation. Harry guessed that Snape’s been having a bad day, so he let Snape’s venomous words bounce off him and read the letter.

He couldn’t believe it. He thought he’d have to reach one hundred before he got a letter from his aunt.

Harry,
I know that receiving a letter from me will come to quite a shock to you, but I thought it wise to tell you about this since, technically, you are also family.
Your Uncle Vernon passed away just the other day due to heart failure. I had done everything I could until the medics arrived, but even then they couldn’t do much for him. He was pronounced dead before they even got him to the emergency room.
Of course, I inherited everything from him, and when I pass on, everything goes to Dudley, so you don’t get anything. I’m sure you could care less about getting anything from him anyway. The point of this letter is to tell you that his funeral will be this Sunday. I don’t expect you to come, knowing that you didn’t like Vernon. In fact, I’m sure Vernon would want it that way, since he didn’t like you at all.
I just wanted to tell you about your Uncle Vernon. I doubt you care, but I figured that this was the right thing to do.
And speaking of which, I guess I should do the right thing and pray that you’ve destroyed that evil Voldy-person. I may not like your kind or your kind’s ways, but I would rather the lesser of the evils win. At least then the entire world wouldn’t be in grave danger.

Best of luck,
Your Aunt Petunia

There had been areas of the letter where Harry could tell that Petunia kept erasing and rewriting sentences. One bit looked as if she were going to say something sappy, but he couldn’t make out just what she was saying because she had written over it quite heavily. And he could have sworn that the capital B in the word ‘best’ used to be an ‘L’.

He sighed and then after being stared at by everyone with curious looks for a few moments, he told them what the letter said.

“That’s too bad, Harry,” said Hermione, trying to sound sympathetic.

“Yeah,” said Ron. “Are you going to the funeral?”

Harry snorted. “No. Why should I? Petunia even said that Vernon wouldn’t want me there anyway, so why should I?”

“Because he was your uncle?” said Hermione.

“Not by blood,” Harry grumbled. “Anyway, I’d rather go to Grawp’s funeral than my Uncle Vernon’s.”

“That’s not a very nice thing to say,” said Remus.

“No, but it’s true,” said Harry. He stuffed Petunia’s letter into his pocket. “Oh well. Looks like I’ll be missing a lot of people’s funerals.”

“You’re not going to Grawp’s funeral either?” said Hermione.

Harry shook his head. “No. I don’t think I should. Not just for safety reasons, but because I don’t think I can face Hagrid right now. Not until I’ve destroyed Voldemort, at any rate.”

“What difference does it make?” said Ron. “Not that I don’t blame you for not wanting to go.”

“I don’t know… just because.” Harry looked at Snape for a second, and then turned and made his way to the kitchen. “I’m getting some food—it might help my cravings.”

They all watched him go, frowns on their faces. They had a feeling that Harry wasn’t in the mood to talk or discuss certain issues, so they kept quiet.

.-.

Even with a few bits of food in his stomach, Harry was still craving blood. The day went by so agonizingly slowly that Harry was ready to flee the house completely and find new blood. However, there was a meeting to prepare for, so now was not the right time to be out on the hunt.

Remus left that evening when he learned that Harry was out of his stag blood to get him more. Ron and Hermione continued to offer themselves up for him, but Harry told them again and again that he didn’t want them to be his Blood Dolls anymore; therefore he couldn’t allow himself to take their blood. He thought about taking Luna’s again, since she volunteered, but then he was afraid that she’d become another Blood Doll, and he cared too much for Luna to make her sacrifice herself like that. Besides, he might lose control, and he didn’t think it would be right to take blood from anyone now; he decided to wait until Remus came back. Once he had more stag blood, then he might be in better control of his actions when it came to taking human blood.

After Remus finally returned and Harry had drunk as much as he could, everyone was settling themselves down for the night. Full of blood and nearing midnight, Harry sat silently by the fireplace, watching the glowing ambers in the hearth. He was by no means completely satisfied. The yearning for a human was still there, but it wasn’t as strong as before. He knew that if he didn’t get any real soon, he might attack the first person he saw, whether he had bitten them before or not.

Suddenly, like a bolt of lightning, he knew just what to do. He stood, made his way to the window, and opened it. The night breeze was cool, but the sky was clear, and in the northern part of the sky he could see the constellation Draco. For a split second, his mind was filled with Draco’s face, but then he shook his head clear, knowing that he didn’t want to be distracted at this moment. He glanced at the empty perch next to the window and then back at the sky. Hedwig was out there somewhere, and he had a feeling he would find her.

In a way, he promised to spend more time with Hedwig and to fly with her. Now seemed like a very good time, especially since everyone in the house was asleep, and that the spell around Grimmauld Place wasn’t strengthened, and Harry could still get around it. Wasting no more time, Harry transformed into a bat and flew out the window and into the night.

Harry had never flown outside as a bat before. There was so much space to fly around in, so many smells, and so many objects to bounce his radar off of. He twirled in the air with confusion for a while as he tried to understand his new surroundings. A couple bugs that had whizzed passed him weren’t lucky enough to dodge his hungry mouth, and although the mere thought of eating bugs made his stomach churn, he found that he didn’t mind in his bat form. It was actually fun, in a strange and appalling way. It was like he was a dive-bomber in for the kill. He missed flying on a broom, but having wings all of his own didn’t compare. The feeling was so extraordinary that he couldn’t help doing loop-de-loops.

As luck would have it, while he was looping in the air, he caught sight—and scent—of his snowy owl. He turned and there she was, diving toward the ground, talons out and reaching for a field mouse. Harry hovered there for a moment, receiving the movement. He dived, planning to meet Hedwig halfway, but then one of his ears swiveled back and caught a different movement—a more dire one coming straight for him. Harry dipped just in time, nearly getting speared by a falcon’s claws.

Harry let out an alarmed squeak and dove for the ground. The thought of transforming back flashed in his head, but knowing that someone might be around and witness it made him think twice. Instead, Harry opted to find Hedwig. She knew that it would be him, no matter what shape he took. Just making out the outline of his beloved owl, Harry swiftly flew at her, only partially worried if he was going too fast. He let out a squeak as he tried to “call” for her, hoping she’d understand. The falcon dived for him again, and he just barely felt one of those talons clip his backside. It hit him so hard, Harry began to flip head over heels.

As he was just about to hit the ground, a ghostly streak flew passed him, screeching madly. From his place in the grass, Harry sensed the sound and feel of the bird on bird attack above him. Hedwig had plowed into the falcon, wings flapping wildly and claws outstretched. In the end, there were feathers of different colors littering the ground.

When Harry was able to raise his head, the snowy-white face of Hedwig was next to him. He let out a soft squeak of gratitude, and Hedwig gave him an endearing hoot.

Together they flew across the night sky, side by side. Harry never felt so free before in his life.

.-.

Harry wished he could just fly away from his troubles, but he knew he couldn’t. He had business to take care of this weekend with the Order. His cravings hadn’t gotten any better, but they weren’t so bad that he would attack any random person; he just felt on edge.

Not everyone was there when Harry walked into the Order’s meeting room. Snape and Remus were standing in one corner, talking in low tones; Luna, Ginny, and Tonks were sitting at the table, chatting about girl things that Harry didn’t care about; Ron and Hermione were sitting at their usual spots near the front where Harry had to sit; and Kingsley was standing in another corner with Worple, Sanguini, Moody, Dawlish, and Rufus Scrimgeour.

Harry felt a gentle pull to his Sire, but he fought it and made his way to his seat. As he sat, Ron and Hermione smiled at him in what was probably a reassuring smile. Harry didn’t feel like smiling back, so he just nodded at them in acknowledgement.

“Nervous?” Hermione asked.

“No,” said Harry. “Why should I be?”

“Just thought I’d ask, since this is your first meeting as the leader.”

Ron beamed. “Mate, you’re so lucky. Sometimes I think about what it would be like to be a leader of an organization like this… then I slowly begin to realize that there’s no way I’d be able to do it.”

“Thanks for your words of encouragement, Ron.”

Five minutes later, the room began to fill with more and more people. Harry’s gaze stayed on the door, anxious to see Malfoy walk in. Another minute passed, and still there was no sign of Malfoy. Harry looked at his friends, and then looked at where Remus was standing with Snape. He thought about asking them where Draco was, but he didn’t want to seem desperate. He began to stare at the door again.

Finally, after a couple agonizing minutes, Malfoy sauntered through the door. Harry almost leaped from his seat to go to him, but he stopped himself and gripped the edge of the table. His knuckles turned white.

“Is everyone finally here?” Remus called. After realizing that there would be no one else coming, Remus closed the door and locked it tightly. Then, he waved his wand, placing a secure charm around the room. “Excellent. Let’s all be seated now so we can start the meeting. Worple, Sanguini, could you sit up front please, since the main reason we have called this meeting was for you two?”

On Harry’s other side, Worple sat, smiling at him. Sanguini choose to stand instead of taking the offered seat. All of Harry’s friends were huddled around the front next to him, and down the table were other older members that were close to him. It went down the line until at the very end there were members that Harry didn’t know at all.

Remus nodded at Harry, and Harry raised a brow, not understanding. After a long moment of silence, Remus said, “Harry, you’re the leader now. You have to call the meeting to order.”

“Oh,” he said. He wasn’t sure if he was supposed to stand up to do it or not, so he just sat there and said, “Ok, I call the meeting to order. What should we talk about first?”

Snape stood, a sour look on his face. “I say we get down to the real business at hand. I doubt anything else is real urgent.”

“Maybe it is,” said Harry, feeling rebellious against Snape for some reason. “You don’t know that.”

Snape sat down again, shooting Harry an annoyed glare.

“Severus is right, though,” said Remus. “We should get down to the original reason why we’ve called this meeting. Worple?”

Eldred Worple stood, although it didn’t make much of a difference since he was short, and cleared his throat. “Ahem, well, the main reason I had asked for a meeting is that something rather important had come up. I mean, I think it’s important, but I’m not so sure about what our new leader, Harry Potter, thinks.”

“Get on with it,” grumbled Moody.

Worple rolled his eyes before saying, “It’s that vampire organization. You know, the one called the Order of the Dragon? If anyone doesn’t remember, that is the group that the infamous Count Dracula had formed many years ago, and his descendants have taken over the spot as head vampire generation after generation. Well, most of the vampires within the group are known as Daywalkers. Those with souls, or those that aren’t evil, become a member of their group. It had just been discovered by the head vampire that Harry hadn’t been brought to him yet, and he’s not happy.”

“Why?” Harry asked.

“Because you’re a Daywalker, and all Daywalkers are supposed to go to him and join their group. Well, it’s really the vampire’s decision if he or she wishes to, but since you’re the leader of the Order of the Phoenix, the head vampire thinks it’s only fair that you’re in their organization as well.”

“What’s the head vampire’s name?”

“He likes being known as Vlad the thirteenth, since he’s the thirteenth generation. No one knows what his real name is.”

“Harry has enough on his own plate to be dealing with other vampires,” said Ron passionately. “If Harry doesn’t want to get involved with them, he shouldn’t have to!”

“I agree,” said Hermione.

There was a buzz around the room as they all said their opinions on the matter at the same time. Harry sighed in annoyance and let them talk for a while before standing to get their attention. It worked; and funnily enough, it worked faster than when Remus had used his wand to make them quiet.

“Would anyone like to know what I think?” Harry said. Silently, most nodded. “Well,” he continued, “I think that I should join them. I mean, what could it hurt? If anything, it will probably help us win the war. If we can’t get many werewolves on our side, then we should try the Daywalkers.”

“Excellent idea, Harry,” said Remus. They all talked quietly to one another again, but then quickly stopped when Moody spoke.

“Are you up to the challenge, Potter?”

Harry smiled, fangs gleaming in the candlelight. “Why shouldn’t I be? For one, I’m a Daywalker, and I need as much training as possible. Secondly, we need more allies in this war, and the last thing we need to do is gain enemies.”

“Spoken like a true Gryffindor,” said McGonagall.

“Nothing less from Dumbledore’s successor,” said Kingsley, smiling.

“You’ll join us?” said Sanguini serenely. It was the first time Harry had ever heard the other vampire speak; it sent a small shiver down his spine. Harry looked at Sanguini calmly, and it only took a second for Harry to reply, “Yes. I will.”

“Splendid!” cheered Worple. “We must have a chat after the meeting, Mr. Potter.”

“Sure,” said Harry. Sitting down, Harry noticed that not everyone was happy with him agreeing to join the Order of the Dragon. He didn’t know why they wouldn’t want him to. Didn’t they want him to help join the magical world together so that peace could be restored?

“So, what other business is there to get to?” Remus asked, defusing the uncomfortable silence. Harry shot him a quick smile of thanks.

.-.

“Mr. Potter?” said Worple, stopping Harry from leaving the meeting room. He, Worple, and Sanguini were the only ones left; everyone else had things to do and needed to leave right away. Some were coming back later, and Harry wasn’t sure why but Luna, Parvati, and Ginny were also coming back. Ginny didn’t look too happy about it, but she agreed to it, right after Luna did.

“Yes?” Harry said, feeling annoyed that he couldn’t just go so he could take his afternoon nap.

“I wanted to speak with you after the meeting, remember?”

“Oh, yes,” said Harry. “It must have slipped my mind.”

“Cheeky boy,” snickered Worple. “I know you didn’t forget. You just didn’t want to talk to us for some reason.”

“I thought I was only talking to you.”

“Oh, well, yes. I figured it was best if Sanguini were in on our conversation as well. You see, I was hoping that when you go to the Order of the Dragon, we’d be with you.” When Harry stared at him questioningly, he explained, “Like escorts, just so you don’t feel so alone when you go.”

“Thanks for the offer, but I’m sure I’ll be fine by myself.”

“Oh, we insist. We’re going anyway, so we might as well go together. Besides, there might be some vampires there that wouldn’t like the idea of you joining the group and they might try to kill you.”

Harry waved a hand impatiently, “Been there, done that. I’m not worried about it.”

Worple moved to block Harry from leaving. “You don’t understand; there are Daywalkers there that are much more skilled at fighting than you are right now. You might get caught off guard, and then the next thing you know, you’ll have a stake in your heart.”

Harry stared at him. “You really are worried about my safety, aren’t you?”

Worple sighed, “Oh, very much so, Mr. Potter. You have no idea.”

Harry looked over at Sanguini, and he nodded his assent.

“Very well, you can come with me.”

“Marvelous!” Worple said in relief. “Incidentally, Mr. Potter, have you thought about doing a biography at all yet?”

Harry snorted. “No, sorry… I’m still not interested. But I’ll keep it in mind if I’m ever short on money.”

“In which you’re not, I take it. I’m curious, but how much money do you have? I must say you must have plenty if you’re not worried about running out for a long time.”

“I really don’t like talking about it, but yes, I have plenty to live off of right now. Was there anything else you wanted to talk to me about? Because I’m getting tired and if I don’t get my nap, I’ll be walking around like an Inferius tonight.”

“Well, yes, there is something that I’ve been wanting to ask. I had a bit of a chat with Remus, and he has told me that you bit him once, out of anger.”

“Yeah, so?”

“The thing is, is that I asked him how long it took you to pierce him. He said that it took you three minutes, or somewhere around there. Is this true?”

Harry shrugged. “Yeah, so what if it is?”

“You have no idea, do you?” said Sanguini suddenly. He’d been so quiet that Harry had forgotten that he was still there.

“Idea about what?” he asked.

“You know that it is hard for vampires to actually bite a werewolf because of their tough skin, yes?”

“Yeah?” said Harry. He remembered asking Remus about his tough skin, and Remus had told him that it was because his skin had to be tougher, in order to transform correctly during the full moon. If his skin wasn’t magically toughened up, it would rip to shreds the minute he started transforming.

“Normally, it takes a vampire hours to get their fangs through a werewolf’s hide.”

Harry stared, hardly believing what he was hearing. “So, what does that mean for me, exactly?”

Sanguini smirked, but it was so slight Harry nearly missed it. “You really have no idea how powerful you are, do you? I’ve heard about how great of a wizard you are, but I had no idea you’d be this strong.”

“So, normally a vampire can’t break a werewolf’s skin with their fangs too quickly… it takes them hours?”

“Sometimes,” said Sanguini. “A half hour, if they’re lucky. The trick about it for most vampires is that they need to hypnotize the werewolf first in order to have the time to pierce the skin. Still, why would they want to in the first place if werewolf blood tastes like crap?”

“Is that a rhetorical question?” Harry said.

“There are only a few reasons why any vampire would want to bite a werewolf. Sometimes there are vampires who are into blood magic or blood sacrifices. In order to do the magic or sacrifice, they need a certain victim’s blood.”

“In other words, Harry,” said Worple, “they take the blood for reasons other than drinking.”

“Why can’t they just pierce the werewolf’s skin with something other than their fangs?”

“Because a really good vampire doesn’t need anything else other than their teeth. Unless you’re a wizard, I suppose. Still, when a vampire is enraged, even if they’re magic users, they forget about other means of attacking and use their fangs. It’s just instinct.”

“I see,” said Harry slowly. “So, because I was able to pierce Remus’s skin in only three minutes, that makes me powerful?”

“Incredibly so,” said Sanguini. “I, for one, think that it’s a good idea to be on your side, other than He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, for that reason alone. It’s also why I’m not against you joining the Order of the Dragon.”

“Why would some be against it?” Harry asked.

“We’re not completely sure,” said Worple. “I think a lot of it has to do with ignorance. There are many Daywalkers who won’t believe something until they see it.”

“Which is very unfortunate,” said Sanguini.

“There is something else that I wish to confirm,” said Worple.

“Yes?” said Harry.

“I heard… well, I hope that I don’t sound too nosy, but I heard that you got intimate with Remus… so to speak.”

Harry’s face grew warm. “Um, we did, yeah. What’s that got to do with it?” Before Worple or Sanguini could say anything, Harry already guessed. “It has to do with us being a werewolf and a vampire again, doesn’t it?”

Worple and Sanguini nodded, both looking slightly embarrassed, but only Worple’s skin was coloring.

“Precisely, Harry. You see, normally if a werewolf and a vampire started to, er, have sex… usually the afterglow isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be.”

“What, you mean… they kill each other?” said Harry.

“Either that, or one kills the other,” said Sanguini. “Allow me to explain. The relationship you have with Remus Lupin is very rare. Generally, a vampire and a werewolf would attack or kill one another, or one kills the other one, if they ever got farther than heavy petting and touching. If they’re lucky, they’ll only get into a fight and come out with a few broken bones or minor blood loss. If a werewolf were the more dominant one, then the Daywalker would get torn to pieces. If the Daywalker was more dominant, then either the werewolf would die from blood loss or the Daywalker wins the fight because of the vampire’s supernatural strength.”

Harry blinked in astonishment. “Wow.”

“Indeed,” said Sanguini.

“And I’m still allowed to join the Order of the Dragon even though I’m that close to a werewolf?”

“No skin off my back,” said Sanguini. “Some might not like it, but as long as it doesn’t affect me, I could care less.”

Harry scrubbed at his face. “More rare things for me to be a part of… lovely. So, what does it all mean, when Remus and I are able to, er, have sex and don’t try killing each other?”

“No one is a hundred percent sure,” said Worple. “The only logical reason I can think of is because of your soul, and because you’ve had some kind of bond of love with Remus at an early age, and it’s stuck within you. Therefore, you could never kill him, no matter how much he angers you.”

Harry stared at the floor, eyes unfocused.

“Bond of love?” he whispered.

“Not the same kind soulmates have, or that lovers with sexual Bonds have—it’s the almighty pure love that you hear so much about. That’s it.”

Love. The most powerful thing on the planet. Yeah, Harry could live with that.

TBC

Bond of love, or Love Bond: It is a very close relationship between two beings based on real love (not sexual). Harry and Remus have one, which is rare for Daywalkers to have with Werewolves. Usually only Daywalkers and other vampires with souls are able to have this [with each other]. Not the same kind of bond between a Sire and his/her Fledgling.

I’m thinking about posting another chapter today. What do you all think? :)