A Vampire's Soul

A Vampire’s Soul, chapter five

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

Rating: NC-17

Warnings: Vampires, so there’s blood being mentioned (bloodplay?); Slash; minor Het, and multi-partners.

Words: About 3,800

Notes: Despite the way it starts, this won’t be a Harry/Hermione fic. There will be other pairings and some Original Characters in later chapters.

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

.-.

When Tonks and Moody arrived that morning, Harry was still sitting on the couch reflecting on everything. Last night Draco had eaten his sandwich quickly and ran from the kitchen to his own room, carrying something round and white in his fist. By the smell of it, Harry could tell that it was garlic. Malfoy probably thought that was what kept Harry at bay, when in actuality it was because he was still full of his friends’ blood.

Mad-Eye came in first, holding his wand in front of him as if expecting an attack. Tonks slowly followed behind him, her own wand in hand. Harry rested an arm over the back of the couch as he turned his head, gazing at them.

“Hello, Moody,” he said slowly. “Tonks.”

They both jumped. Tonks moved around Moody to get a better look.

“W-wotcher, Harry,” she said. “Um, we’ve been assigned here until further notice.”

Moody limped closer, streams of morning light filtering through the window’s drapes fell over him. The only other light source in the room was the ever-burning candles—the fire in the hearth had gone out hours ago.

“Am I ever glad that it’s you, Tonks,” said Harry politely.

Tonks squeaked softly. “Y-you are?”

“Of course I am,” said Harry. “You’re my favorite Auror. You’re also a relative of Sirius’s. Well, you’re a good relative.”

Tonks opened her mouth to reply, but then shut it and settled on just nodding.

“So it’s true,” said Moody as he moved a little closer to Harry. “You’re a Daywalker.”

Harry nodded.

“You can stand the sunlight,” said Moody.

“Yes,” said Harry.

“You still have your soul?” said Tonks, looking relieved.

“I do,” said Harry.

Tonks sighed. “Thank Merlin for that.”

“But sunlight dims my powers, and I don’t have as much of a craving for blood as I do during the night.”

Moody’s mouth became a very thin line. “I see.”

“And… and holy water doesn’t hurt you?” said Tonks.

“No,” said Harry. “And neither does a cross, or the bible, or any other holy symbol.”

“And you can see your reflection?”

Harry nodded slowly. “Yes.”

Tonks nodded, looking more at ease.

“There’s no need to worry,” said Harry, smiling softly, a fang gleaming. “I’m full, so I won’t be attacking anyone.”

“And it’s morning,” said Moody. “So you won’t be as blood-thirsty.”

Harry almost laughed aloud at that. He only smirked. “Quite right, Moody.”

Tonks slowly made her way to the kitchen. “I guess I’ll go start breakfast for everyone, then…”

“Be careful, Tonks,” said Harry.

“Why?” she said, looking back at him.

“Because if you slip and cut yourself and start bleeding all over, I won’t be held responsible for my actions.”

Tonks visibly shivered and hurried into the kitchen. Moody started to limp over to the kitchen door, but then stopped and came back to Harry. Harry looked up at him, waiting for Moody to say what was on his mind.

“Potter,” he said softly. “I’ve always admired your attitude about situations… especially the darker kinds. But I don’t want to have to restrain you if you step out of line.”

“I was only teasing.”

“It doesn’t matter to me,” Moody growled quietly. “There are more people that are deathly afraid of vampires, that’re close to you, than you know. Especially vampires that can walk around during the day.”

“But I’m not as powerful or blood-thirsty during the day, remember?”

“I do, but not everyone knows that, or thinks that it’s completely true. You can still bite someone if you’re desperate enough or angry enough.”

Harry shrugged one shoulder and leaned back against the couch. “You know I wouldn’t try biting anyone during the day, and I won’t get so angry with my friends that I’d bite them.”

“Then you best start taking better control of the monster inside you, Potter, or it’ll dominate your mind.”

“Immune to the Imperius Curse, remember?” Harry said, gesturing with his hand imperturbably.

“This is different,” snarled Moody. “This monster is now a part of you, therefore it’s harder for you to fight off than some spell trying to take control of you. You better heed my warnings, Potter, or one of these days you’ll end up killing one of your friends.”

Moody limped away. Harry sighed and rolled his eyes at the other man when he entered the kitchen, probably to help Tonks. Harry sat there, staring at the ceiling for a while, deep in thought, when Remus came down the stairs.

“Good morning, Harry.”

“Morning,” said Harry.

“Is Moody and Tonks here?”

“Yes.”

“Thought I heard voices,” smiled Remus. “Are they in the kitchen?”

“Yes,” said Harry. “Tonks is making breakfast…”

“Oh Merlin!” groaned Remus and he ran into the kitchen. Harry snickered. He remembered the last time Tonks made them breakfast; she had burned the toast so badly not even Remus would eat it, and Remus loved his toast dark. She had also tripped and dumped an entire pot of tea over their laps.

Harry sat there for a while longer, wondering if he should wake up Ron and Hermione when they came downstairs, still looking worn out. Ron yawned widely.

“Mornin’, Harry…”

“Morning,” said Harry.

“Good morning, Harry,” said Hermione. “Did you sleep well?”

Harry shrugged. “I slept a little, but not much.”

“Did we keep you up?” said Hermione, looking apologetic. “I’m sorry if we did.”

“No, I was just too awake after…” Harry blushed very lightly. “I had too much energy in me, so I couldn’t sleep.”

Knowing what Harry was trying to say, Hermione just nodded.

“I thought I heard voices down here,” said Ron. “Is someone here?”

“Tonks and Moody,” said Harry.

“Tonks isn’t making breakfast, is she?” said Hermione, frowning.

Harry chuckled. “She was, but I think Remus stopped her.”

“Oh, thank goodness,” sighed Hermione. “I don’t want another lapful of hot tea.”

Ron couldn’t wait any longer and he went into the kitchen. Hermione stood there, staring at Harry in a peculiar way.

“You can go eat if you want, Hermione,” said Harry.

“I know, I just… well, I just wondered… um…”

Harry turned his whole body on the couch to look at her better. Hermione was wringing her hands nervously in front of her, staring at the floor.

“What did you wonder?” asked Harry.

“Well, a lot of things. Do you eat… normally? I mean, are you hungry at all, for food?”

Harry shook his head and then shrugged a shoulder. “Not really. It’s mostly blood I’m hungry for. I guess I could eat regular food, but I don’t really need it.”

“Oh, I wasn’t sure, because I’ve read that it’s different for the individual vampire—er, I mean, the ones with souls. The soulless ones can’t eat normally at all.”

“Not sure if I can,” said Harry. “Why? Do you want me to eat with you guys?”

“It would be best, I think, to be with us… I mean, not only will the Aurors be able to watch you… oh, I don’t mean it that way, Harry!” she said quickly at the irked look on his face. “I meant that they could see that you’re not going to harm us. If you’re out here, they’ll probably wonder if you’re devising a plan on how to bite us.”

Harry sniggered silently. “I don’t need to devise a plan on how to bite all of you.”

“Harry!”

“All right, all right…” he said, standing up. He followed her into the dining room that was joined with the kitchen. Everyone was at the table already, eating.

“Remus cooked,” said Ron cheerfully around a mouthful of eggs. Harry nodded and sat on Ron’s right. Hermione sat across from them next to Tonks.

“Going to try eating, Potter?” said Moody on the one end of the table. “That’s good, because it’ll help keep your monster at bay.”

“Food helps?” said Harry, bemused.

“Yes,” said Moody. “Not all Daywalkers know this, that is why some just keep taking blood and letting the monster in them dominate them. Sometimes a Daywalker will become evil if it relies too much on human fluids.”

“Which is another good reason why you need to get used to drinking animal blood,” said Remus, gesturing at him with a fork.

“And why you should eat normal foods when you get the chance,” said Moody. He piled Harry’s plate with a bit of everything.

“I made the bacon,” whispered Tonks with a wink. Harry could tell; the bacon looked a little too crisp on one side.

“Eat up, Harry,” said Hermione.

“Yeah,” said Ron, raising a glass of juice to his mouth. “Eat up!”

Harry sighed, giving in. He supposed if there was one thing they were right about was that he wanted to be as normal as possible. Hell, he didn’t really want to be a vampire. If food was going to help him stay as human, and as moral, as possible, then so be it. Even if he discovered that the foods he liked tasted bad now, he would keep eating.

He decided not to try the bacon first and went with the eggs, which looked very good. He guessed that Remus made them. Slowly, he placed some on his fork and then brought it to his lips. Everyone seemed to be watching him to see his reaction—Moody and Remus were still eating, but watching him out of the corners of their eyes (Moody’s magical eye had disappeared into the side of his head). Doing his best to ignore the stares, Harry shoved the bit of egg into his mouth and swallowed it without chewing. He ate it so fast he didn’t even get a proper taste. So he ate more, this time to savor it.

Thank goodness, it tasted just fine.

To show them that everything was fine, Harry smiled and gave them the thumbs up. Everyone visibly relaxed and went back to enjoying their breakfast.

Before Harry could finish his plate (he tried a little nibble of Tonks’ bacon, but that was about it), the door opened and a blond head poked out. Everybody’s heads turned.

“Um,” said Malfoy. “Any left for me?”

“Oh, Draco!” said Remus. “You’re awake. Yes, there’s some left… come have my spot here, I’m just finishing…”

Malfoy slowly walked in, his eyes automatically seeking out Harry. When their eyes met, Malfoy looked a little stunned to see Harry eating breakfast with the rest of them.

“Someone find the cure for vampirism, then?” said Malfoy as he slowly took Remus’s spot. Remus dished up a plate for him.

“Don’t be silly, Malfoy, of course we didn’t!” said Hermione.

Ron was appointedly ignoring Malfoy as he shoveled more food into his mouth.

“Then how come Potter is eating food? Isn’t he only supposed to live on blood?”

“Like I told Potter,” said Moody. “A Daywalker can eat normal food if he so desires, and it’ll keep him more sane and less evil.”

“It’s good for his soul,” said Hermione.

“Food for the soul,” said Tonks, grinning. “I knew that saying came from something.”

“I thought the saying was ‘food for thought’,” said Ron.

“That too,” said Hermione.

Harry looked over at Malfoy and caught the glance he had given him. Malfoy glowered at them all disbelievingly and went back to his food. Harry sucked at the end of his finger as he stared at Malfoy, watching how Malfoy’s neck curved just so… and when Malfoy looked up when he heard Remus walk around him and out the kitchen door, Harry couldn’t help smacking his lips quietly at the way Malfoy’s neck stretched out, a vein pulsing hard beneath the skin.

“Are you done yet, Harry?” Hermione asked suddenly, startling Harry out of his Malfoy-gazing. No, neck-gazing. That was what he was doing. He was not staring at Malfoy specifically.

“Almost,” he said, taking another small sip of pumpkin juice. It just wasn’t the same as blood, but it’ll do.

Hermione leaned in closer. “When you’re done, let us know, because we need to discuss how to destroy that… that cup.”

Harry furrowed his brow. He couldn’t believe that he nearly forgot all about Hufflepuff’s cup and that they were still hunting for Voldemort’s Horcruxes. Oddly, an image of him biting Voldemort and draining him dry came to mind. Harry wondered if he’d have to do that for the final battle once all the Horcruxes were gone. Then again, Voldemort’s blood might taste worse than werewolf blood.

Before he could tell Hermione that he was ready to tackle their mission, something hit his chest and then fell into his lap. He looked down to see that it was a strawberry, and then slowly glanced up to see Tonks looking sheepish. She was holding an empty fork in her hand, so Harry assumed that she had been gesturing too wildly with her strawberry on her fork and it dislodged and flung itself at him.

“Sorry about that, Harry,” she said. She stood and reached across the table. “Let me get that…”

Harry had to reign in his monster when he saw Tonks’ elegant neck. She snatched the strawberry out of his lap and quickly sat back down, cheeks blazing pink.

Hermione nudged him, snapping him out of his daze. She was scrutinizing him.

“What?” he said.

“Nothing,” she said after a bit of hesitation. “Let’s go if you’re done.”

Harry nodded. As he stood, he glanced back over at Tonks, whom was trying to keep her eyes on her plate. Then Harry looked over at Malfoy. He caught Malfoy staring again, and Malfoy quickly looked away, cheeks red. Harry licked at his dry lips; Malfoy—no, his neck—still looked delectable. He could see the vein near Malfoy’s ear throbbing and it suddenly became hard for Harry to breathe.

“Harry!” Hermione hissed, elbowing him hard. Harry jerked, but only from the feel of the jab, and not because it hurt—because it didn’t hurt.

“Sorry,” said Harry. He tapped Ron’s shoulder. “Coming?”

“Just about done, Harry,” said Ron. He popped some fruit into his mouth, chewed a little, and then drank the rest of his juice. Harry stared at the way Ron’s throat moved as he swallowed.

Hermione grabbed Harry’s wrist and had to drag him out of the room. Harry was about to protest, but then stopped. He knew that it was pointless to get into any kind of argument with Hermione at the time.

“Harry,” she said once they were in his room. “You keep your eyes off everyone’s necks.”

Harry pretended the bed was rather fascinating.

“I mean it!” she said in annoyance when she noticed that Harry was trying not to pay attention.

Harry’s smile startled her. “Oh, Hermione, are you jealous?”

Hermione huffed. “Jealous? Why would I be jealous of you ogling everyone’s necks? What I am is worried.”

“Worried?”

“Yes, worried,” said Hermione. She began to pace. “I don’t want you daydreaming about biting someone’s neck and then having a hard time with controlling the urge. I saw the way you looked at Malfoy’s neck . . . and Tonks’ neck. Not to mention the gazing you’ve been doing to Ron’s neck. And I must tell you that you should—Harry!”

“What?” Harry blinked.

“You were staring at MY neck!” she said, incredulously.

“I can’t help it!” Harry growled. “I’m a vampire! No matter how much I dislike it. It’s the way I am.”

“You still need to learn control…”

“Well, I can’t very well do that when I don’t have anyone here that could teach me, do I? And before you ask, I do not know who my Sire is.”

“We’ll have to find that out some day, won’t we?” said Hermione. “Anyway, let’s talk about that later. Right now we’ve got a Horcrux that needs destroying.”

“Oh,” said Harry. “Right.”

Hermione quickly went into the room that Ron used to grab Hufflepuff’s cup and then returned. Harry was sitting on the bed, staring off into space.

“Here it is,” she said, setting it into his lap. Harry slowly brought a hand down to lift the cup up to his eye level. He hardly blinked. “How do you think we should destroy it?” she asked him.

Harry kept gazing at it, as if he were going into a trance, and then he finally looked up at her.

“I destroyed the diary by driving a venomous basilisk fang into the heart of it.”

Hermione stared at him, as if she were trying to figure out where Harry was going with this.

“This cup is old,” Harry continued. “So old it might break, even.”

“Harry, what are you planning?”

Harry looked at her, eyes still a little distant. “My own bite isn’t venomous… but if I try biting it…”

Hermione shook her head. “I doubt that would work, Harry. All you’ll do is break off more of the cup…”

Ron came in just as she said this.

“Trying to figure out how to destroy it?” he said.

“Yeah,” said Harry. He kept gazing at the cup. “I’m going to try biting it.”

“How would that destroy it?” said Ron. “You’re not poisonous.”

“That’s what I said,” explained Hermione.

“Maybe a vampire’s bite is just as deadly,” said Harry.

“Still, I don’t see how that would work. You’d need quite a lot of magical power behind the bite.”

“Wouldn’t hurt to give it a try, though,” said Ron. “Unless you chip a tooth.”

“Very funny,” said Harry. He stared at the cup again, and then made up his mind. He was going to give it a try.

He moved Hufflepuff’s cup close to his mouth, looking as if he were about to drink from it, and bit down on the edge of it as hard as he could.

Nothing happened. Harry sighed.

“Told you it wouldn’t work,” said Hermione.

Harry raised an eyebrow at her, but didn’t say anything.

.-.

The rest of the day was going by too slowly for Harry’s tastes. He had drunk more stag blood, but tasty as it was, it still didn’t compete with human—especially wizard’s—blood.

Around noon, Harry was finally growing sleepy. He told everyone that he couldn’t keep his eyes open for much longer and decided to go upstairs for a nap. Hermione said something about it was because of the sun being so high up in the sky, but Harry was too tired to care.

When Harry woke up, it was almost five thirty. He was no longer tired, but he was famished and not for actual food. Although he should have some of the dinner that Remus was preparing, otherwise they’ll raise a fuss.

Not that Harry really cared if they did fuss—really. They were mere mortals, so why should he…?

Harry shook his head and squashed down the monster. Moody was right; if he wasn’t careful, the monster inside of him would take over. Of course he cared about his friends and how they felt. Needing blood must make the beast within him even crabbier.

He debated on whom he should ask for blood from when Tonks walked by the door of his bedroom cautiously. Harry rose quickly, went for the door, and pressed his ear against it. Tonks had just gone into the bathroom.

Mind made up (with a little nudge from the monster), Harry silently opened the door and crept to the bathroom. The door was locked, of course, so Harry leaned against the wall next to it, folded his arms, and waited. It wouldn’t do to just unlock the door with a spell and corner her. If she knew what he was up to, she might scream or hex him.

When Tonks finally came out, she gasped loudly at the sight of Harry, placing a hand over her heart.

“You scared me, Harry,” she panted.

Harry smiled softly, trying not to show his fangs. “Sorry about that, Tonks. I wanted to talk to you.” Her hair was shoulder-length and dark red . . . the color of blood.

She eyed him warily, still breathing hard. Harry watched a pulse in her neck. “What do you want?” she asked.

He grabbed her hand, startling her, and pulled her toward his room. “Privately, if you don’t mind…”

She began to pull away, looking more scared. “No. I don’t want to be alone with you…”

“I won’t hurt you,” he said softly. “I promise.”

Tonks tried to take her hand back from Harry, but Harry was proving to be too strong. Then she remembered that vampires, soulless or not, had supernatural strength. Her hair was starting to turn more bronze colored as the brighter reds faded.

“I don’t want…”

Annoyed by her resistance, he turned abruptly and kissed her. The tip of one fang scraped across her bottom lip, startling her. It made Harry groan in anticipation.

“Harry,” she breathed, eyes darting around the hallway. “Remus might see!”

“Then come into my chambers,” he whispered. He was trying so hard not to hypnotize her, to show her and everyone else that he did have control of his powers. He was also going to try convincing her to give her blood to him freely.

She gasped, but it sounded as if she were trying not to moan. She shook her head wildly. “No, I shouldn’t…”

“I won’t bite you without your permission,” he said, not sure if he was lying. “Come on…”

He tugged on her again, and she slowly began to obey him. Harry shut the door and spelled it locked. Their lips were touching softly as he moved her toward his bed. She was trembling and Harry knew that it wasn’t just from fear.

“If Remus catches you kissing and touching me like this, Harry,” she said, eyes less scared now and more amused. “You’ll be in deep trouble.”

“I’m not afraid of that old wolf,” said Harry. “It’s his fault, anyway, because he doesn’t cater to my wishes.”

“He’s done a lot for you,” said Tonks, affronted. “You should appreciate all he does…”

“Perhaps,” said Harry slowly. “But perhaps he’s not doing enough.”

“Harry!” Tonks gasped, this time sounding more offended. Harry ignored her outrage and pulled her on the bed. If he did this right he’ll have her blood flowing down her throat.

“Hush now,” he said softly, combing his fingers through the ends of her golden-brown hair. He kissed her lips gently over and over, and it seemed to be calming her. He put a hand on her lower back and the other behind her head, holding her in place. She wasn’t struggling any more, but she had a lax hand on his chest. He could feel her heart racing from her pulse point on her wrist and it excited him more.

“Please…” she said, and Harry wasn’t sure what she meant by it, so he went with the more positive explanation and lowered his face to the side of her neck. He inhaled deeply.

“My pleasure,” he growled, extending his fangs.

TBC