A Vampire's Soul

A Vampire’s Soul, chapter twenty-six

Pairings: Harry/Draco, Ron/Hermione, slight Harry/Ron, Harry/Remus, slight Harry/others, other male/male, other threesomes and foursomes (het and slash)

Rating: NC-17

Warnings: Vampires, so there’s blood mentioned; violence; death; Slash; slight Het, multi-partners. ALSO, there will be a few OCs, only because I need them for the story/plotline, but Proudfoot is a name mentioned in book six, I just don’t know his personality.

Words: About 7,600 (It’s a long one this time!)

Notes: There’s Original Characters in the fic, and I apologize. Harry’s role in the Daywalkers’ world is growing, thus there needs to be Daywalker characters (as well as other Werewolves). This is post-HBP. There are SOME spoilers for Deathly Hallows in this chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or its characters, nor do I own anything from Dracula or from any other show. I do own all the other characters in this story that isn’t in the Potter books. I also don’t own the name of the third type of vampire.

Chapter written: August 3rd – 18th, 2007

.-.

Since Harry had his soul back, he’d felt better—lighter—than he’d ever felt before. He felt whole, like his soul was fully his instead of someone else’s. He still had that monster deep within him, but that was a separate thing from his soul. His soul felt strong, energized, and full of hope.

Come to think of it, his scar had stopped bothering him around the time when he’d been poisoned by that soulless vampire. Well, no matter. Harry decided to think about that later.

After having a quick breakfast at Grimmauld Place, Harry Flooed back to Castle Dracula to begin his training with his Sire and a few other elders. Upon seeing Scrimgeour, he enveloped him in a big hug, and then Scrimgeour walked him around to introduce him to the others.

“This is Edward Von Wolf,” said Scrimgeour. “He’s Prince Vlad’s right hand man, as it were. He’s a hundred and three.”

“Nice to meet you, sir,” said Harry politely, shaking Edward’s hand. He felt a strange pull toward the elder Daywalker, but he wasn’t sure what it was.

“Likewise, Harry Potter,” said Edward kindly. Although he was a hundred and three, he didn’t look a day over fifty. He was short, like Harry, but his hair was long and brown with only a few streaks of grey, and he sported some facial hair. He seemed like, well, like he’d be a cool uncle or brother. Perhaps the pull he felt toward Edward was fatherly; Harry didn’t quite understand it. To save face, he didn’t ask.

“This is Leonard Harker,” Scrimgeour introduced the other elder on Edward’s right. “He’s ninety-seven.”

Harry shook his hand; Harker smiled at him, bowing his head slightly. Harry bowed back. Leonard seemed calm and collected, and also didn’t look his age. Leonard had lighter hair, but his roots were dark, as were his eyebrows. Harry wondered if he had dyed it.

“And this…”

“Jonathan Stoker,” said the Daywalker, introducing himself immediately and grasping Harry’s hand to shake it firmly. “Ninety and still feeling like a twenty year old.” He winked at Harry, and Harry couldn’t stop the slow blush working its way up his neck and face. Jonathan was rather handsome, and didn’t have any wrinkles at all. In fact, he looked like he was twenty-eight. To hide his blush, Harry bowed low.

“N-nice to meet you…”

Jonathan took hold of the bottom of Harry’s chin and made Harry look back up at him. Jonathan’s eyes were a piercing blue, and it made Harry’s stomach flip-flop.

“A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Potter,” smiled Jonathan sweetly. He brought Harry’s hand up and kissed the back of it. Harry closed his eyes and willed himself not to get enticed.

Scrimgeour cleared his throat and steered Harry quickly over to the other elders. Jonathan kept his eyes on Harry.

“And I believe you remember Donald Moon,” said Scrimgeour. Donald and Harry both bowed respectively, and then clasped hands.

“I remember,” said Harry. “Hello, Mr. Moon.”

“You may call me Don if you wish, Harry,” said the old Daywalker.

“Moon is eighty-eight, and he’s no push over, let me tell you…”

“I trained Rufus. Well, mostly,” Moon winked. Harry smiled in amusement.

“And finally, Patrick Mizar, whom I’m sure you know also.”

Patrick bowed. “A pleasure to help you, Mr. Potter,” he said. “And an honor.”

Harry bowed back, and then held his hand out to shake. “Thanks, Patrick.”

Patrick smiled and shook Harry’s hand. “Nicholas would have been here, but he’s nursing his soulmate’s wounds.”

“Is Proudfoot doing all right, then?” Harry asked, concern.

“He’ll be fine,” said Patrick. “Especially now that he’s in Nicholas’s arms again.”

Harry colored, and then looked up at his Sire. “When do we start?”

“Whenever you’re ready, my Fledgling.”

.-.

Training as a Daywalker was much more physical than wizard dueling. Harry had figured as much, but he didn’t know it was this physical. Of course, he was technically undead, and had the strength of twenty men, so it shouldn’t be too difficult.

Still, learning certain moves and techniques with stakes, crossbows, knives, and some odd looking weapon that looked like a ball and chain seemed to need more coaching. Harry didn’t like the clumsier weapons, but that was fine; Harry’s build and stature was better with the more stealthier and sleeker weapons. Harry liked the automatic stakes, which he kept hidden in the sleeves of his robe and attached to his wrists (like a cestus); at the push of a button or the flick of his wrist, the stakes either shot out like an arrow at the target or just extended out in a blink of an eye and he could use them like he would any other wooden stake, but it would leave his hands free to still grasp a wand or another weapon. It all depended on which side he straped it on his arm. If the stake was on the bottom of his wrist, he could just shoot them, like a semi-automatic weapon. Or he could bring one out and palm it to use normally. As far as Harry knew, the cestus could only hold three stakes at a time, so it was best if one kept it on the top of the arm and used them that way, instead of like a gun; he’d be out of ammo in a hurry that way, and defenseless.

There was a faint memory that flickered through his mind when he used this weapon, but Harry couldn’t tell what it was. He’d seen this kind of weapon before, he knew he did, but he couldn’t remember…

“Pay attention, Harry!” Moon bellowed. Harry jerked out of his trance and looked up to see that Moon had stopped his down-slashing movement with his knife about an inch from Harry’s face. Harry’s eyes widened and he backed up in confusion.

“What—oh, right…” he sighed, bowing his head in shame. He forgot; he was still in the middle of training, and if Moon hadn’t been a friend, he’d have sliced Harry’s face open by now. “Sorry, Don.”

“You should be,” said Donald Moon sternly. “You’re not allowed to lose yourself in thought in the middle of training. What would happen to you if you did that in a real fight?”

“I’m sorry, I really am…” Harry sighed and stared at the floor. “It’s just—a memory suddenly popped into my head and I was trying to remember…”

“You mean when you were losing your soul?” said Don, lowering the knife. “Did something horrible happen?”

“I don’t know… I think so?” Harry scratched at his head. “I think I’ve seen these weapons before, but I’m not sure where… like someone I had fought was using them.”

Moon opened his mouth, possibly about to say something with uncertainty, but then he left his mouth gaped as realization hit.

“Harry… do you remember when Prince Vlad got a missive from Sanguini a while back, about Betelgeuse?”

Harry’s eyes widened even further in comprehension. “Oh, you’re right! He… wait, so does that mean…?”

Right as Moon nodded, the memory came flooding back. He did it. He, Harry, killed Betelgeuse! The cestus stakes (or stake guns as Moon likes to call them), which Betelgeuse had been using against Harry at the time, was what killed him. Harry shut his eyes as the scene played itself out in his head. The fight; the cursing; not being able to hex Betelgeuse; Betelgeuse trying to kill him by stabbing the stake into his heart; Harry turning the stake around and letting Betelgeuse get impaled by his own stake….

“Oh my God…” Harry said softly, in horror. “I killed him. I killed a fellow Daywalker…”

“Harry?” said Don, looking at him quizzically. “What do you mean ‘you’ killed him?”

As a feeling of guilt engulfed him, Harry told Moon everything. When he was finished, Moon didn’t look angry at all. In fact, Moon looked understanding.

“I see,” said Moon. “So, Betelgeuse was going to kill you, despite our Master’s order not to.”

“Yeah,” said Harry. Although he knew that Betelgeuse deserved it, he still felt terrible. “Does this mean that…? I mean…”

“I think your soul is safe, Harry,” said Moon quickly, knowing what Harry was about to say. “Your monster was more in control at the time, and your soul was weakening, so it wouldn’t have effected anything. Daywalkers are different in that aspect. Besides, what you did was out of self-defense, and you hadn’t actually killed him; he killed himself accidentally.”

Harry nodded, letting this new approach to the situation sink in. But as he did, a familiar urge made itself known, and Harry looked up at the elder with a solemn stare.

“I’m hungry.”

Moon nodded in understanding. “Then I guess it’s time for us to feed.”

.-.

Before leaving Castle Dracula to seek out willing (or maybe not so willing) victims, the Daywalkers took long drafts of their preferred animal blood so as not to get too crazy when sucking the mortals’ blood. Harry was thankful to find that they had stag blood for him to drink, and was somewhat surprised to watch his soulmate, Draco, enjoying a wine glass full of dragon blood.

Some of the Youths and other Fledglings had already left the castle to seek out blood, so the castle felt emptier than before. It made Harry wonder just who was who’s Sire and who were the Fledglings. He noticed that Asa Nodes was not conversing with them in the giant kitchen with the other elders. Harry and Draco were the only Youths there because they’d been training with some of the elders.

“All right, Harry?” asked Jonathan Stoker, smiling. Draco looked up from his wine glass and glared at Stoker.

“Fine,” said Harry, draining his glass of stag blood. “I was just thinking.”

“About what?” Stoker asked. He was suddenly a lot closer than Harry remembered him being.

Harry shrugged, trying not to seem effected by Stoker’s closeness. “About my friends.”

“Oh, you’re thinking of biting them? Well, I would advise that you seek out a new victim to pierce. Sometimes getting too attached to one person can be bad.”

“I know,” said Harry, sighing. “I don’t want them to be my Blood Dolls anymore. Besides, I have Draco now…”

“You won’t always be drinking Draco’s blood, you know,” said Stoker, looking a little sour. “Recycled blood isn’t always good.”

“But I love the taste of his blood,” said Harry, glancing over at Draco, whom he just realized was glaring at Stoker. He had a feeling he knew why, but didn’t want to get into that issue at the moment.

“His blood smells and tastes extra good to you because he’s your soulmate, but it’s still not a good idea to get too attached to his blood. New blood is good; gets you used to not always depending on your soulmate for it.”

Harry understood this; in fact, he’d talked to Draco about it already, but he still didn’t like seeking out new blood every time he felt hungry. However, Jonathan Stoker was an elder, and he didn’t think it was a good thing to be arguing with an elder; Stoker had way more experience under his belt than he did.

He decided to change the subject.

Setting his glass down, Harry said, “So, Asa Nodes is still a Youth?”

“Yes and no,” said Stoker. He set his own empty glass down. The other elders were getting ready to leave the castle. “Asa is younger than us, but she’s got our respect. Like you do. She just isn’t anyone’s Sire yet.”

Harry’s eyebrows shot up. “Really? So, who’s her Sire? Is it all right if I ask?”

Stoker nodded, making his way toward the foyer; Harry and Draco followed him.

“Asa’s Sire is Nicholas Chambers.”

Again, Harry was shocked, yet not. “Wow,” he said. “I mean, I guess it makes sense. Nicholas is very… composed, and Asa seems really nice.”

“It is interesting that Sire and Fledgling are almost alike in some respects, but that’s not always the case.” Stoker donned his winter cloak and pulled his hood up. It made him look more mysterious, and it pulled at Harry’s lower region. “Sometimes, Sire and Fledgling are very different from each other.”

Harry looked at Draco. “Yeah, I believe it.”

Draco raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything. Harry wondered what was on his soulmate’s mind to make him so quiet lately.

Harry was about to ask another question, but then Stoker spoke. “Are you going back to Grimmauld Place?”

Harry nodded. “Yeah, I think so.” He glanced at Draco to see what he thought.

Draco just shrugged, showing that he didn’t care either way.

“All right, I’ll let our master know of your whereabouts. Remember, tomorrow night we train again. Make sure you’re not overly tired or hungry when you arrive.”

“Right,” said Harry. “Um, Jonathan?”

“Yes, Harry?” said Stoker, turning around. Harry could only see his lips and nose, which was all he could stare at when he addressed him. The mere shape of those lips made Harry’s stomach flip again.

“Just out of curiosity…” Harry gulped. “Who is Neal’s Sire?”

Those lovely lips smiled, and Harry went weak in the knees.

“Why, it’s Edward,” said Stoker. “Edward Von Wolf.”

.-.

Back at Grimmauld Place, Harry was sitting in the big armchair by the fire, just staring at it and thinking. Draco stayed a few feet away as if he wasn’t sure if he should join Harry.

It made sense, Harry guessed, that Edward was Neal’s Sire. When he first met the elder, he’d felt a strange pull toward him. He usually felt a pull with his own Sire, but it wasn’t a really sexually charged pull, like he had with Draco. It was just a gentle reminder of whom your Sire was and where you came from, and who was responsible for keeping you on this Earth. He had felt somewhat of a pull with Neal before, but thought nothing of it. He didn’t ask either, because he didn’t think it was important; he thought there were odd feelings like that all the time when it came to being around other Daywalkers, but the feeling he got—the pull—toward the elder Edward finally made sense. He was his Sire’s Sire’s Sire. Which was quite a mouthful to say, not to mention a brain-full to think about.

He could think about it in terms of actual fathers, he supposed. If, by blood, Scrimgeour was a father of sorts, then Neal was his grandfather, and Edward was his great-grandfather.

Harry massaged his temples. It was all a matter of who Turned whom, not who made who. James and Lily Potter were still his parents, the ones that created him, but Scrimgeour—Rufus—was the one that gave him back his life: gave him his life’s blood.

Speaking of blood, that was why he was there in the first place, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to get more blood from Ron and Hermione. They didn’t even know he was back yet. It was still late, and he didn’t wish to wake them.

Finally, Draco walked over to him and sat on the floor by Harry’s feet. Smiling slightly, he sat back to give Draco room, and Draco moved into a familiar sitting stance, leaning his back against Harry’s legs. Harry’s hand sought out Draco’s hair and gently played with it. Harry smiled; Draco was gorgeous, but he made an even more gorgeous vampire.

“What’s wrong?” Draco asked.

Harry sighed, his smile fading. “I don’t think I should take Ron and Hermione’s blood. I’ve told them before that I didn’t want to anymore, but if I don’t find human blood soon…”

Draco sighed. “I know; I feel the same way.” He looped an arm around one of Harry’s legs and gripped tightly. “How do you cope?”

“It’s not easy,” said Harry, holding in a laugh. “Especially when you’ve still got your soul. When mine was deteriorating, and I didn’t care as much, it was so much easier to just… take.”

Draco nodded. “Yeah, that’s what I’m sorely tempted to do. But, if I know you well enough I’d say you wouldn’t let me do that.”

“You’re right,” grinned Harry. “I wouldn’t.”

“Who should we take blood from, then?” Draco asked. “Perhaps you should have some of your other friends come over and we could ask them.”

Then, Harry remembered something. “The meeting… some of my friends will be coming tomorrow. But I can’t wait that long; I need blood now!”

Draco tilted his head back, twisting it in a way so that he could see Harry better. “Maybe you—we—should just take Weasley and Granger’s blood for now, and then have different blood tomorrow?”

“Hmm,” said Harry. He gazed into the fire again. Draco kept staring at him, neck kinked back in a weird way. Harry’s eyes slowly moved from the fire to that neck. He licked his lips. “Well…”

Draco smirked. “You want some of mine, lover?” he said, nearly purring.

The fingers in Draco’s hair tightened, and Draco winced softly. Only his soulmate could really hurt him, and vice-versa.

“Yeah,” said Harry finally, giving in to temptation. “Get your arse up here in my lap and let me suck you.”

“What exactly do you want to suck on?” said Draco, smirking impishly.

The glint in Harry’s eyes didn’t falter as he pulled Draco up into his lap by the nape of his neck. His fangs elongated.

“Wait, if you take my blood, I might be too weak to take yours… I mean, I’m already weak with thirst, so what’s the point?”

“I won’t take much, my Fledgling,” Harry growled. “I promise.”

Draco whimpered, Harry’s voice and words having an enormous effect on him. He moved so that he was straddling Harry’s legs, body pressed taut against his, and raised his chin.

“All right,” he whispered. “Do it, Harry. Take me.”

Harry’s eyes glowed and his fangs vibrated. Fisting his fingers into Draco’s hair, he pulled his head back roughly, licked at Draco’s Adam’s apple over and over a few times before moving to the two scab marks on the side of Draco’s neck. Draco grasped Harry’s shoulders tightly as he felt those familiar, stimulating fangs break open his skin again and unhurriedly drink his fluids.

A minute later, just as Harry was about to release his fangs from Draco’s neck, the fire in front of them flared up, glowing green, and then there were two people stepping out. Out of instinct, Draco jumped to remove himself from Harry’s lap, but Harry was having none of it and held on to Draco tightly so he wouldn’t get away.

It was Luna and Ginny that arrived. When they saw that Harry and Draco were there already, they stared in a dumbfounded way for a moment, and then Luna smiled and Ginny turned her head to stare at the wall. Harry wasn’t sure if she was embarrassed or disgusted.

“Harry! Draco!” said Luna brightly. She stepped closer, still smiling. “Nice to see you’re both here already. How are you?”

“Fine,” said Harry, although he didn’t look fine at all with blood dripping down his chin and a crazed look in his eyes, which were still glowing.

“Ah, I see,” said Luna in a knowing way, and then turned to address Draco. “And how are you?”

Draco leaned his head on Harry’s shoulder, not caring that he was dripping blood onto Harry’s shirt collar. “Just peachy.”

“You two don’t look fine to me,” said Ginny, finally looking at them.

Harry and Ginny stared at one another for a long moment, and Harry was about to open his mouth, either to ask her a question or retort, but then Luna interrupted his train of thought.

“Well, we’re here early for the meeting tomorrow because we wanted to make sure that there were no Wrackspurts present. They can cause quite a bit of pandemonium, especially in a crowd. Best if I do the dance to ward them off…”

She floated away toward the room, which they held their meetings, already spinning and dancing as she went. Draco couldn’t help snorting in amusement at it, and Harry grinned, his blood lust forgotten for a moment.

Ginny sighed. “Actually, I wanted to come early to get away from Hogwarts for a while. Being a prefect is driving me crazy and I couldn’t stand it any longer. Luna was with me—she’s a prefect too—and she said that she should come too, to do that Wrackspurt dance…” she had been staring at Luna as she flounced away, but then turned to look at Harry and Draco again. “I take it we interrupted something?”

Draco opened his mouth to say no, but then Harry beat him to it.

“Yeah, you did, actually,” he said, nearly sounding blood crazed again, eyes glowing. “So if you don’t mind…”

“Wait,” said Draco. “Since Lovegood and the youngest Weasley is here…”

Harry looked at Draco, understanding what was on his soulmate’s mind. “I doubt they’ll let us.”

“Who says we’ll give them a choice?” Draco grinned, fangs gleaming brightly from the firelight. Harry’s pants felt tight, but now wasn’t the time to be thinking of sex. Or was it?

Ginny started to back away toward the room Luna disappeared into. “I-I don’t like the way you’re looking at me, Harry…”

He had been staring at her neck, but he didn’t care about being found out. Draco was out of his lap and already taking a few steps toward her, but he wobbled a bit, still somewhat weak. Harry stood and grabbed hold of Draco’s arm to hold him steady. Draco sighed in annoyance.

“You’re not going to hog their blood all to yourself,” Draco complained. Harry rubbed his face against his soulmate’s.

“Don’t worry,” said Harry softly. “Maybe Ginny will be good enough to let you have some of hers.”

“No!” Ginny suddenly shrieked and ran into the room that Luna was in: the meeting room.

Harry licked his lips in anticipation. “Oh, good… I like it when they play hard to get.”

Draco couldn’t help chuckling at that. “You’re positively evil when you need blood, aren’t you?”

Harry didn’t like the thought of being evil at all, but he knew that Draco didn’t mean evil as in Voldemort-evil. He smiled, which was a bit more like a smirk, and nodded.

“Maybe I can be, once in a while. Does that bother you?”

“Not at all,” said Draco, grinning. “In fact, that’s one of the things I love about you.”

“Good,” said Harry. There was a slight flutter in his chest again, but he ignored it. “Let’s get them.”

.-.

Luna was just finishing her dance when Ginny ran into the room, looking as if she saw something scary. Luna couldn’t think of just what she would have seen to make her so spooked out like that; Ginny was a brave Gryffindor, and therefore she didn’t have many fears. But then she recalled that one of her fears were vampires and them sucking her blood dry. Oh, right: Harry and Draco were vampires. They must have made a pass at her to take her blood. Well, thought Luna, if they wanted blood she would only be too happy to help.

“Luna,” Ginny panted, eyes wide with fear. “We shouldn’t have come! They’re going to…”

“Suck our blood?” Luna finished for her. “Well, all right. If Harry really needs it, then it’s OK.”

“What do you mean ‘it’s OK’?” Ginny shrieked. “If Harry loses control and drains us dry…”

“But he won’t,” said Luna calmly. “He’s got Draco now, and ever since he’d had him Harry has been a lot calmer. He won’t suck you dry, you know; Harry’s not like that.”

“But he did it to Malfoy!” Ginny recalled.

“That’s because Harry was poisoned by that soulless vampire,” said Luna, still calm. “Remember what that Healer at St. Mungo’s said?”

Ginny was trying to catch her breath as she remembered. During the time when Harry was struggling with his soul being poisoned, they’d gotten into a fight with a handful of Death Eaters that had infiltrated the school. The girls wouldn’t say no to staying out of the way and charged headlong into the fray. If they hadn’t, Fred might have died. But they all ended up in St. Mungo’s for some really bad injuries caused by dark magic. As Ginny was recovering, Luna stayed by her bedside all night, and ever since then they’d become extra close to one another. There was even a time when Ginny awoke in the middle of the night to see Luna lying next to her, curled against her side. When she shook Luna awake and asked her what she was doing in bed with her, Luna just smiled sweetly, sleepily, and told Ginny that she was keeping the Lusty Lurgies away. “They take advantage of virgins when alone in a public bed,” she’d told Ginny. She blushed.

The Healer at St. Mungo’s was Asa Nodes, and when she learned that Ginny and Luna were Harry’s friends, she told them what happened to Harry. They desperately hoped that Harry would be cured soon. Luna wanted to find him, but Ginny forbid her going anywhere. Luna thought of that only as a need to keep her near, so she didn’t fight about it.

Draco Malfoy, of all people, turned out to be Harry’s soulmate, which Ginny surprisingly didn’t mind so much now, because who’d want to stay with a guy that was a vampire? Even if Harry did still have his soul.

“Yes, well, still…” Ginny floundered, but before she could say any more, the door to the room burst open and in the doorway stood Harry; Draco behind him. They were both looking very hungry.

“Stay back!” Ginny yelled, backing up in fright. “I mean it, Harry!”

Harry only smiled, somewhat amused by Ginny’s antics. In a way, Harry didn’t like that Ginny was scared of him, but he knew that she was just being ignorant. That was probably why she feared vampires so much; she didn’t understand them. Daywalkers were different than the cold-blooded killers, and he was about to prove that to her.

“Don’t be scared,” he said as calmly as he could, considering he was so ravenous for blood. “I swear I won’t kill you. I just want a little blood…”

“No,” Ginny whimpered, suddenly too afraid to move.

“It’s all right, Ginny,” said Luna, placing a hand onto Ginny’s shoulder. “Harry drank my blood before, and I’m still fine.”

“But, but…” Ginny said, seemingly trying to find fault about the situation. Finally, she screamed, “I don’t want my blood sucked! And no one can make me!”

All of a sudden, Ginny was rigid as a board. For a moment, it looked as if someone stunned her with a spell, but no one had their wands out. Wandless magic, Luna thought, but no… Draco Malfoy was coming closer to Ginny, eyes gazing deeply into Ginny’s. Ah, so he only hypnotized her.

Luna stepped around Ginny’s body. “You want my blood then, Harry?” she asked. It was only logical that if Malfoy was having Ginny’s blood, then Harry was having her’s.

“Yes, please,” said Harry gently. There was no need for him to hypnotize her; she was giving him her consent.

“Is it a good thing that Malfoy hypnotized Ginny? She might be really mad at you two for forcing her.”

“She’ll have to learn to live with it,” came Harry’s rough reply. His deep tone alone made Luna shiver. But she understood that if a Daywalker had a craving this bad, there would be times when the monster would take over with their thought process.

Without another word, Luna tipped her head up and exposed her neck more to Harry. His eyes widened in slight shock, and then they glowed as he lowered himself down to her neck. She grasped his shoulders, awaiting the feel of his fangs piercing her neck. When the sharp pain occurred, she gasped softly, and then relaxed when his fangs sunk in all the way. It made her wet.

Beside Harry, Draco also had his fangs sunk into Ginny’s neck, holding her in a way that a lead dancer would, her body bent back in an almost dip. Her flaming red hair cascaded down Draco’s arm, her head back and eyes closed in bliss. Slowly, Harry and Draco took what they needed, and unable to stop themselves, they became hard.

Draco remembered the last time they had Luna Lovegood. Harry had taken her, drank her blood, and then taken him as well. Looking back, Draco was a bit jealous of Harry, but it was still hot, and he wondered if they could do the same thing except this time they’d have one extra person.

Getting his fill, Draco gently released Ginny and then lifted her into his arms to lay her on the bed that was left behind by an Order member. When Harry was finished, he did the same, and put Luna next to Ginny on the bed.

“Blood Replenisher?” said Draco.

Harry nodded to show that he understood that that was what they needed to get for the girls, still staring at them.

“I don’t know about you, Harry, but I had a wicked idea of taking them. If you know what I mean.”

“Hmm,” said Harry. “I know what you mean, but if Mr. Weasley ever found out that I deflowered his daughter—or if YOU did…”

“Ha! I doubt Weasley would tell.”

“Don’t be so sure,” said Harry, sitting down on the very edge of the small bed that was in the corner of the room. The bed was there because there had been some Order members that stayed overnight a few times, and they had run out of empty rooms. “I have a feeling she’d go running to Ron with this.”

“What would he do? You’re his best friend.”

“But I’m not going out with Ginny anymore, remember?”

“So?” said Draco.

“And I’m with you.”

“Well, lust is lust, right?”

“Are you saying you wouldn’t mind having sex with girls?” said Harry, amused. “And with Lovegood, for that matter?”

“Why not?” said Draco haughtily. “We’ve had a threesome with her before.”

“Yes, but I was the one that took her virginity, remember? You only licked her cunt.”

“Yes, but still…”

Harry stood abruptly. “We need to get the potion. We’ll argue about this later.”

“Who’s arguing?” said Draco, raising an eyebrow, but he followed Harry into the kitchen nevertheless.

Minutes later, after getting Ginny and Luna to swallow most of the Blood Replenisher Potion, Harry and Draco moved back to the sitting room and sat on the loveseat, feeling satisfyingly full. It was rather mean of them to just take Ginny’s blood without her consent, but damn it, Draco needed blood too, and there didn’t seem to be time to argue about it. If Draco took from Luna too, she’d have been sucked dry, and that wasn’t something Harry wanted. Ginny’s just going to have to realize that they won’t kill her.

Yet, having taken their blood now means that they could control them if they wished. He was sure Luna wouldn’t mind, but he didn’t think Ginny would be all that happy about it.

Draco kissed and licked around Harry’s neck, sending shivers up and down his spine. He was thinking about whether they should have sex with Ginny and Luna (since they gotten hard sucking their blood) when Ron and Hermione came downstairs. Hermione looked refreshed and ready for a new day, like always, but Ron looked tired still, eyes half open. The moment they noticed Harry and Draco, however, their eyes went wide.

“Harry!” Hermione shrieked happily. “Good morning! I didn’t expect you to be back so soon!” She flung herself onto him, despite the fact that Draco was snuggled up against him.

Harry politely hugged her back. “Well, things went well enough with training so we thought we’d come back sooner rather than later.”

The fact that they needed blood was in the majority of the reason, but he didn’t want to get into that at the moment.

“They were treating you well, then?” Ron asked. “You got some good training in?”

“Yes,” said Harry. “I’ll tell you all about it later, but right now I want to know what you guys had been up to since I was at Castle Dracula.”

“Oh, that’s right, I forgot to tell you something in all the excitement yesterday!” Hermione said, sitting on the arm of the loveseat next to Harry. “I figured out what Dumbledore did to destroy the ring. I thought it was dragon’s fire at first, but it’s much better than that!”

“How is it better?” Harry asked.

“It’s better because we don’t have to go looking for a dragon, that’s how.” Hermione smiled.

“Well, don’t just sit there looking smug,” said Draco. “Tell us.”

“Since you’re Harry’s soulmate and all, I suppose I’ll trust you with this information.”

“Gee, thanks,” grumbled Draco.

“Yeah, you can trust him,” said Harry. “Now, anyway. I’m not so sure about if you could have about a week ago.”

Draco smacked Harry’s knee, but Harry was smirking.

“Anyway,” said Hermione, brushing her hands down her skirt as if to smooth out any wrinkles, and stood. “Searching Dumbledore’s old office—”

“You mean McGonagall’s,” said Harry.

“Yes, it is her office now. Anyway, the point of the matter is that I found a couple books on Horcruxes there.”

That was right; Hermione did say in her letter that she found some books on Horcruxes.

“Only a couple?” snorted Ron. “You found a whole encyclopedia’s worth!”

“But why didn’t Dumbledore ever tell me about those books before?” Harry asked, feeling a little betrayed.

“Maybe because he knew that Hermione would find them?” Ron ventured.

“So, now we’re finally getting down to the real nitty-gritty,” said Hermione. “Harry, are you all right enough to do anything about those Horcruxes yet?”

“If you’re asking if we’re strong enough right now, then yes,” said Draco, fangs gleaming. “In fact, we just—“

Harry placed a hand over Draco’s mouth. “Yes, we’re fine now. What do the books say about how to destroy Horcruxes?”

“What was Malfoy about to say?” Ron asked, staring at Draco suspiciously.

Harry gave Draco a warning glare, and when Harry removed his hand, surprisingly to Ron and Hermione, he obeyed and didn’t say any more.

“Not important right now,” said Harry. “We need to get cracking on destroying those Horcruxes.”

The four of them journeyed to the room Harry and Draco were staying in, which the Horcruxes were in as well. Hermione stood in front of the dresser, looking at them, and then picked up the quill.

“So, this isn’t a Horcrux?” she said, mostly to herself. “I wonder where Worple found it.”

“What does it matter?” said Draco. “It’s not a Horcrux, so why are we keeping it?” Harry had only briefly explained what he was supposed to do about Voldemort to Draco, but since they didn’t have enough time between breaks in their training, Draco was still not too sure what a Horcrux was, but if it was the way to destroying Voldemort, then he wanted to help.

“Because it might be something worth keeping,” answered Harry.

“I was just going to say that,” said Hermione, setting the quill back down again. “I mean if it belonged to someone that was in Ravenclaw, and it was protected as if it was once Rowena Ravenclaw’s quill, maybe it’s something special.”

“I wish Worple had told Proudfoot where he found it,” said Harry. “Too bad he’s dead.”

Hermione patted Harry’s shoulder. “Don’t beat yourself up for it, Harry.”

Harry wanted to rant and rave, but he decided that now wasn’t the right time, so he just nodded and went back to the original issue at hand. He picked up Helga Hufflepuff’s cup and examined it for the hundredth time. It still glowed steadily and he could still feel that human-like heartbeat. He thought that it was only him that could feel it, because he was a Daywalker, but Hermione had told him a while ago, when he first found out about it, that she could feel it too.

“What destroys a Horcrux?” he asked.

Hermione flipped open a book she had in her hands already and pointed to a page that was labeled: How They Can Be Destroyed, along with a little warning sign in the corner.

“According to the book, anything that is magically more powerful than the Horcrux in the first place. In other words, something that is so destructive that the Horcrux can’t repair itself.”

“Basilisk venom,” said Harry, remembering.

“Right,” said Hermione, smiling. “And whatever else is strong enough to destroy them. I mean we can’t find basilisk venom just any old where...”

“We’d have to take another trip into the Chamber of Secrets,” said Ron.

“Exactly,” said Hermione, and she kissed him on the cheek. Ron blushed.

“What about other kinds of poisons?” Draco asked.

“Exactly what I was going to ask,” said Harry.

“I don’t know about other poisons,” she said. “But I’m sure there are spells or other things that could help us.”

“What sort of spells?” said Ron. “Like, Dark magic?”

Draco’s eyebrows rose and his eyes lit up. “Oh?” He glanced at Harry for his reaction.

Harry shrugged. “Yeah, well, I was just wondering because soulless vampires have poison running through them, and if we could collect the poison from them, we could use it to destroy the Horcruxes.”

“That’s a good idea, Harry, but we’re getting a little ahead of ourselves, aren’t we?”

“What do you mean, Hermione?” Ron asked.

“I mean we need to find out where the real Ravenclaw artifact is.”

“Here’s a novel idea,” said Draco, “why don’t we just ask someone who is a Ravenclaw?”

Harry gasped softly, knowing just what his soulmate was talking about. “Oh, you mean Luna Lovegood?”

“Precisely,” said Draco.

“Is Luna still at Hogwarts, though?” Hermione asked. “I could try owling her…”

“No need,” said Harry. “She’s here already. So’s Ginny, as a matter of fact.”

“What?” said Ron. “Where-?”

“In the meeting room on that one bed that was left in there by one of the Order members,” said Harry.

“Why is my sister sleeping in the meeting room?” said Ron. Then his look turned accusing at Harry. “What did you do?”

“She’s fine, Ron,” said Harry as nonchalantly as possible. “Really. And so is Luna.”

“They’re both here, and in the same bed?” said Ron. Hermione looked as if she wanted to laugh, but didn’t.

“Yeah, they’re both fine,” said Draco, his look of nonchalance not fooling Ron, however.

“What did you do to her?” Ron demanded, standing up and looking as if he were about to go for his wand.

“Settle down, Ron, she’s fine,” said Harry. “Trust us.”

“You drank her blood, didn’t you!” Ron snarled, finally pulling his wand out and aiming it at Draco.

“Well, I couldn’t take Lovegood’s, because Harry was already biting her at the time…”

Ron swore loudly and hissed something that sounded like the beginning of a spell, but Hermione snatched his wand from his hands before he could finish it. “Hermione!”

“I just don’t want you doing something you’ll end up regretting later.”

“Why would I want to regret cursing Malfoy?” Ron said, seething. “He bit my little sister!”

“I know, Ron, but she’s fine, right? She isn’t dead or Turned…”

“I don’t care!” Ron shouted, and then thrust a finger at Harry and addressed him. “Why couldn’t YOU be the one to bite her? I at least trust you! But Malfoy is a newly acquired Daywalker! He could have drained my sister dry!”

“He wouldn’t do that,” said Harry calmly. “The reason why I had such a hard time controlling myself was because I haven’t found my Sire yet, or even completed my bond with Draco at the time. Draco has his Sire and soulmate, which is me, already, so it’s easier for him to control himself.”

Ron looked as if he wanted to argue, but finally resigned to sitting back down onto the armchair and buried his face into his hands.

“If you’re so worried about her, why don’t you go check on her?” said Hermione.

“Good thinking,” said Harry. “Ron?”

“Fine, I will,” said Ron, and then he stood from his spot immediately and ran for the meeting room. Hermione sighed, shaking her head in amusement and frustration, and then stood as well.

“I better go with him, you know—just in case…”

“Yeah, ok,” said Harry.

As they watched them leave, Draco was smirking as if waiting to hear Ron’s bellowing rage after seeing his sister, but nothing happened. He looked at Harry with a raised brow, but all Harry could do was shrug. He didn’t feel like following them at that moment.

“So,” said Draco after a minute of silence, “now that we’re full of blood and ready to take on this new task—well, your original task—what shall we do?”

“How about breakfast?” Harry recommended.

“What a smashing notion,” said Draco, smirking. They stood and made their way to the kitchen for food. “I wouldn’t mind a bit of dessert myself.”

.-.

Bellies full, Harry and Draco slowly made their way to their own room to relax. As he was starting to, Harry remembered something.

“Draco?”

“Hmm?” said Draco, looking out the window. It was cloudy, and the sun was becoming hidden. The low light made Draco look even more amazing to Harry.

“When I was talking to Stoker, you seemed awfully quiet. Was there something on your mind at the time?”

“Oh, that,” said Draco, and waved a hand casually in the air. “That wasn’t a big deal. I was just thinking and paying attention to what the elder was saying. I agree with him that we need to make sure we take different blood as often as possible, and not rely on only a select few.”

“Why, though? I thought it was good that we don’t bite too many people. I don’t want too many to become my Blood Dolls.”

“Don’t you understand yet, Harry?” said Draco, getting closer to Harry so that their noses nearly touched. “If you take a person’s blood enough times, they will become your Blood Dolls. Isn’t that what your friends became because you only relied on them and no one else?”

“Oh, yeah…” Harry sighed. “You’re right. That’s why I wanted to stop taking their blood so much in the first place.”

“Exactly. So, taking someone else’s blood once or twice won’t make them a Blood Doll.”

Harry was so relieved to hear this that he embraced Draco tightly and kissed him right below his ear. Draco shivered; it was one of his weak spots.

“Thanks,” said Harry softly into Draco’s ear. “For making me feel better, I mean.”

“You’re welcome,” Draco whispered back. “But I can’t help thinking there’s something else bothering you.”

Harry pulled away and went to stand by the window. Draco followed him and wrapped his arms around Harry’s shoulders. Instinctively, Harry leaned back against Draco, loving the feel and scent of his soulmate all around him.

“I guess I’m still feeling a little guilty about killing Betelgeuse.”

Draco kissed Harry’s nape. “It wasn’t your fault. You were just defending yourself.”

“Yeah, but I could have stopped him by another means. I could have just…”

“You couldn’t hex him when he had that powerful enchantment on him, remember? Besides, it was your monster acting out, not your soul.”

“I know,” Harry sighed. “I just wish it wasn’t me that did it.”

Harry turned around in Draco’s arms, and Draco lowered his arms to Harry’s waist, but kept a firm grip.

“Your soul is still pure,” Draco reminded him in a no-nonsense way. “Don’t forget that.”

Harry sighed again and lowered his head to Draco’s shoulder. There’re times when Draco had to be the rock in the relationship, although what they had together sometimes felt forced, Harry knew without a shadow of a doubt that if Draco truly didn’t want to be with him, he’d let him know. But the bond they have together now could not be broken. It was called a marriage, but at least an actual married couple could get a divorce if they wanted. He was with Draco forever.

“How, Draco?” Harry whispered into his soulmate’s shoulder. “How did you reconcile yourself to being with me?”

Draco’s body shook slightly in a silent laugh. “You mean besides the pain in my chest getting worse and worse?”

“But you really wanted it,” Harry explained. “It could have stayed a partial bond, we could have only been half bonded, but you chose to be with me after all. How? Why?”

Draco wanted to shrug, but instead he tightened his hold on Harry. “I suppose, deep down, I really wanted it. I mean, you scared the living crap out of me at first, because I thought vampires were just like werewolves, but—I don’t know why, but watching you and the way you acted… there were plenty of times when you could have forced yourself on me, but you didn’t.”

Harry remembered the times he wanted to just take Draco, too, but he never did. He was so glad that he went with his instinct.

“So, you just sort of—fell for me, normally?” Harry asked.

Draco blushed. “I think I’ve always fancied you, in one way or another. Maybe that was something you could tell, too, when you Scented me… I don’t know. The whole soulmate thing is still rather mysterious, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it is,” said Harry. They fell into a comfortable silence, just holding each other. He wouldn’t mind taking some of Draco’s blood again, but they needed to get ready for the meeting that was about to start in an hour or so. Harry gently reminded him, and together they went into the bathroom to get washed up. Undead or not, Harry didn’t wish to smell like an Inferi.

TBC

What’s changed and what hasn’t:
How to destroy Horcruxes hasn’t changed much, but I did add that soulless vampire venom/poison is strong enough to destroy one; therefore, the bit of Voldemort’s soul that had accidentally went into Harry is now gone, thanks to the soulless one’s poison. It put Harry through a lot of hardships just to get cured, but it was necessary. And Harry can’t speak parseltongue anymore too, so it’s a good thing the locket’s already destroyed (although I am not even sure how Regulus did it, so let’s say it stays a mystery, ok?).
Who destroys what will be different also. Obviously, Ron doesn’t destroy the locket.
Hermione finding books on Horcruxes sort of changed. I did originally plan on having her find something of Dumbledore’s that explains how he had destroyed the ring, but I changed it to her finding all those books instead. The way he had destroyed the ring was different too, but I’m also changing that to reflect book seven.