VAMPIRE TEMPTATION

Chapter Three


The prior week, before Harry’s newest adventurous nightmare began, his friends were going on about their plans for the holidays. The Weasleys had arrived home and scattered to do their own thing while Molly Weasley started preparing their supper. Ginny and Ron followed Fred and George to their rooms upstairs to see their plans for the new store they plan on opening in Hogsmeade, while Arthur sat in his favorite chair in the living room reading the Daily Prophet.

Molly hummed to herself as she stirred the batter for a cake she wanted to make the kids, happy to hear the house full of laughter again. She looked up at the large clock on the wall showing the time plus what her children were up to. She was not surprised to see Ron, Ginny, Fred, and George’s spoon with their pictures on them saying they were up to mischief. She looked to Harry’s that was added a few years ago and gasped in shock, dropping the bowl to the floor, the contents splattering on the clean wooden floor.

Arthur’s heart jumped when he heard Molly’s shriek come from the kitchen. He rushed in, meeting Ron, Ginny, and the twins, to see Molly clutching the edge of her apron to her mouth, tears flowing freely down her cheeks. “Molly,” Arthur said, scared at the panic and sadness in his wife’s eyes. “Molly, what’s happened?”

Molly pointed to the clock. “Harry,” she cried out.

“Bloody hell,” Fred and George said in unison as they saw Harry’s hand at ‘Passed Away’.

“Merlin,” Arthur whispered, his chest aching for the loss of his surrogate son. “I should have driven him,” he choked as he sat down heavily on a chair.

“Do you think it was the taxi driver, Dad?” Ron asked, stepping close to Arthur while Ginny and the twins tried to comfort their mother.

“It’s my fault,” Arthur said, “it’s because of me he’s dead.”

“Dad. We need to talk to Dumbledore. See if he knows yet,” Ron choked out, just about in tears himself.

“Yes. Yes . . . Dumbledore. Maybe our clock’s wrong,” Arthur said, knowing in his heart it wasn’t. “Molly, stay here with the children. I’ll be back.”

“I’m going with you,” Ron determinedly said. “He was my best friend, Dad. I need to find out what happened.”

Arthur nodded and held onto his son’s shoulder as he threw the glittery floo powder down in the large fireplace. “Headmaster’s office at Hogwarts,” he said loudly and clearly for them to disappear in the green flames.

Albus Dumbledore, Severus Snape, and Minerva McGonagall were sitting in the Headmaster’s office, relaxing over a cup of tea after seeing the last of the students off. They all looked up when they heard the fireplace roar to life, then the two redheaded Weasleys stepped through the green flames.

“Arthur? What happened?” Albus asked getting up, seeing the grief on their faces.

“It’s my fault. He would be alive . . . my fault, “ Arthur muttered.

Minerva came and helped Albus seat Arthur in the chair. “Ron, what happened?” she softly asked.

“It’s Harry Professor,” Ron hoarsely said. “His hand on our clock is at the ‘Passed Away’ spot. Harry’s dead sir.”

Albus immediately went to a large book that sat on a large easel. “Harry Potter,” he said to the book. The book glowed, then opened the pages, flipping on their own to stop. “Oh . . . Merlin,” Albus quietly said looking down at the name that glowed red.


Harry James Potter - Son of James and Lily Potter
~ Deceased~


Severus got up to see what Albus had read. An unfamiliar feeling of pain in his chest as he read that Harry had died. He turned to Ron, since Arthur was still not ‘all there’. “Mister Weasley, what is Arthur muttering about?”

“When we all got off the Hogwarts Express earlier today, we were all saying our goodbyes, talking about our plans for summer . . . ”

“Get to the point Weasley,” Severus interrupted.

“Severus, let him tell us what happened,” Albus said, coming to stand at Arthur’s side to place a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“The Dursleys were not there to pick Harry up. There was a taxi waiting for him instead, with the driver holding up a sign with Harry’s name on it. The driver said that the Dursleys had to go to some kind of boxing competition for Harry’s cousin, and that he was sent to pick him up,” Ron stated.

“What did this driver look like?” Severus asked.

“About 6'2", blond hair down to his shoulders, green . . . almost hazel eyes,” Ron described.

“You just described about half of the Muggle population,” Severus snarked.

“His name was Stryder,” Arthur said. “He said his name was Stryder.”

“Do you mind if we take that memory and put it in Pensieve Arthur?” Albus gently asked.

“Of course,” Arthur said, getting up to go to Albus’s desk where the Pensieve was waiting.

“Where’s Hedwig?” Minerva asked about Harry’s owl.

“Harry sent her ahead from the school,” Ron said.

“I had hoped she was staying at the Burrow again,” Minerva sighed. “She would have been able to locate him . . . ”

“Or what’s left of him,” Severus morbidly finished.

The five of them then watched the incident through the Pensieve, then sat back while Albus sent Fawkes to gather the Order of the Phoenix members. In the next hour witches and wizards flooed their way into Albus’s office, all talking at once.

“Silence!” Albus bellowed.

“Albus, your note from Fawkes said Harry’s dead. What happened? How did he die?” Charlie Weasley asked sitting beside his father.

“We’ve lost the war then. We can’t win without Harry Potter,” Kingsley Shacklebolt said.

“What!? Who gives a bloody hell! Harry’s dead, and all you can say is we lost the war?” Ron shouted at the surprised Ministry Auror.

“As much as it pains me to agree with Mister Weasley . . . that was uncouth of you Shacklebolt,” Severus sneered. “I for one want to find out what happened.”

“Yes, Severus. I agree,” Albus said, looking around at the grieving faces. “Charlie and Minerva, you track down the taxi company, find out what you can. Severus, you go to the Dursley’s.”

“And why must I see them?” Severus asked.

“Severus, you know of what Harry had to put up with, with his relatives. They would not be able to intimidate you. You will get some answers that others may not. We don’t know if Harry arrived there or not. And I need not remind you to keep this to yourselves. I would like to see proof that young Mister Potter is indeed dead,” Albus said.

“Would Voldemort have him?” Remus asked Severus.

“I have not heard of any plans on taking Mister Potter, but I will check with my other contact,” Severus replied. “I have not been privy to all of the recent activities among the inner circle lately.”

Severus, Remus, Charlie, and Minerva magicked their robes to Muggle clothes, then flooed to Grimmauld Place. Charlie and Minerva went in search of the taxi company while Severus and Remus Apparated to Mrs. Figg’s house, who was a member of the Order and a neighbor of the Dursleys.

“What do you think Severus? Do you think Harry’s alive?” Remus quietly asked as they walked down the street. Most of the Muggles were inside, most likely eating their dinners.

“There’s just something off about the whole thing,” Severus said. “If Voldemort had him, he would have gathered us all to celebrate the boy’s torture and death.”

“I don’t want to lose him Severus. He’s the only family I have left,” Remus sighed.

Severus personally was looking forward to confronting Harry’s Muggle relatives. He had found out that Harry was not brought up to be the pampered spoiled brat that he thought . . . far from it. He raised his hand and pounded the door knocker, then waited.

The door opened to see a very obese teenager, his chins shaking when he recognized Remus from the train station the year before. “Uh . . . Father,” Dudley cried out, backing away from the door.

“What is it Dudley?” Vernon Dursley asked coming up behind his son.

“We’ve come to see Harry Potter,” Severus said. “We are Professors at his school, and we need to talk with him,” he added calmly.

“The freak isn’t here,” Vernon spat.

“Then I suggest you tell us where he is,” Severus said pointing his wand at Dudley as he and Remus took the few steps into the house.

“He never arrived . . . the ungrateful freak,” Vernon said, backing away from the two of them.

“What do you mean ‘he never arrived’? Why didn’t you pick him up at the train station?” Remus growled.

Vernon didn’t answer right away so Severus jabbed his wand into Dudley’s chest. “Oh . . . by the way . . . this is Harry’s godfather, Remus Lupin . . . the werewolf. I would suggest answering our questions. The wolf in him is very protective of his pack,” Severus warned.

“We received a letter saying he was getting his own ride here,” Dudley spoke up, taking a step back from Severus’s wand.

“Where is this letter?” Severus asked.

“We burned it,” Vernon said, putting his arm protectively around Dudley’s shoulders.

Severus nodded to Remus that they should go. They turned to go, when Severus turned around again. “By the way . . . we know how you treated him,” Severus began. He pointed his wand at Dudley muttering a spell where he bent over clutching his stomach.

“What did you do to him?” Vernon raged then felt a searing pain on his back.

“That is for Harry. Since he refused to press charges against you, you will feel the abuse you put him through. Every punch . . . every slap . . . every slash of the whip, you will feel,” Severus sneered. “Good day. Enjoy.”

The two of them were walking back to Mrs. Figg’s house, smiling to themselves as they heard a faint howl of pain come from the Dursley’s. “Brilliant Severus,” Remus smirked.

“If I did what I really wanted, the lot of them would be Voldemort’s entertainment for a while,” Severus replied.

“Harry didn’t write a letter Severus. He was dreading when the Dursleys were going to pick him up, but there was no mention of any other plans,” Remus said, his smirk fading.

“We shall see what Charlie and Minerva find out,” Severus said before the both of them Apparated straight to the gates of Hogwarts.

When Remus and Severus arrived back to Hogwarts, Minerva and Charlie were already there, as well as the rest of the Order. Remus sat down and leaned his elbows on his knees, his head in his hands. Severus placed his hand on Remus’s back in a surprisingly show of comfort. “He was not there, and never arrived,” Severus stated at the unspoken question from the others around him. “Apparently, the Uncle received a letter from Mister Potter stating he was going to find his own way home.”

“Where is the letter?” Albus questioned.

“They burned it,” Remus quietly said.

“Is that all that the Dursleys said?” Minerva asked.

“That’s all they know. You are welcome to question them yourselves, but they may not let you in,” Severus smirked.

“And why is that Severus?” Albus asked.

“They may be in too much pain to entertain visitors,” he replied. “What did you two find out?” he asked Charlie avoiding any more questions on why the Durlseys would be in pain.

“The taxi cab was apparently stolen last week from the garage,” Minerva replied.

“Funny thing though,” Charlie began, “is that the door was not forced open. The car just seemed to disappear. The company didn’t report it to the local authorities.”

“Someone could have Apparated in, shrunk the car, then Apparated out,” Ron said.

“Were there Muggle cameras set up in the garage?” Albus asked.

“Yes. That is why they didn’t report it. When they watched the video playback, it showed the car just disappearing . . . with no one nearby,” Charlie replied.

“Sounds like a bit of planning went into the kidnapping of Mister Potter,” Albus mused aloud. “Was there any mention among the Death Eaters?” he asked facing the blond who was otherwise silent.

“No. In fact he was making plans of Portkeying Mister Potter during the Halloween ball,” the blond replied. “Rather repetitive I would say.”

“No mention of the Death Eaters doing this themselves?” Remus asked.

“No, they were all making plans on what they’d do to him after he was Portkeyed in. No mention of any other plans. Most of them are too dense or scared to take any kind of initiative themselves,” the blond replied.

“We must continue our search, and keep this quiet for now. There are tracking spells we can try. I’d also like several of you to go to the King’s Cross Station in London, Diagon Alley, and Hogsmeade to look around,” Albus instructed. “It may appear that Harry is no longer with us, but I’ll believe that when I have firm evidence to that fact.”

They all nodded in agreement, then split up in groups to search for the missing Boy-Who-Lived.

tbc