The Haunted House
A/N: This is a VERY. VERY late Halloween story that I forgot to upload, oops! Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!
"What are we going to do all night?" Lucy complained. She lay back dramatically on the sofa in the drawing room of Grimmauld Place.
"It's Halloween," Albus said brightly, "I'm sure we can find something fun to do."
Rose rolled her eyes, "Why did all of our parents have to go to that stupid ball?"
"Because it's a Halloween ball for charity and your parents are all pretty famous," Teddy said in amusement.
The drawing room was crammed with Potter, Weasley and Longbottom children (and then there was Scorpius Malfoy). He was Albus's best friend and his only other option had been spending the night with his Grandmother. Teddy, Victoire and Dominique were technically 'babysitting' their younger cousins as they had all left Hogwarts now.
"My Dad is famous?" James asked in mock surprise, "Did you know that Freddie?"
Fred Weasley clutched his chest, "Your Dad is famous James?"
Louis joined in, "Famous? What did he do then?"
James waved his hand, "Ah, defeated a dark lord or something."
The rest of the cousins and extended family were chuckling at his antics. Lily sighed heavily and sat down on her older cousin's stomach. Lucy huffed and tried to kick the 12 year old Ravenclaw off of her, "I am so bored!"
"Well go do something then, small fry," Scorpius said distastefully, "Don't stick around here and get on our nerves."
"Leave her alone, Scorp," Albus said, helping Lily up from the floor.
"I have an idea," James grinned, "And since it's my birthday, you all have to do what I want."
"I'm pretty sure that's not how it works Jamie," Teddy said from where he was sitting with Victoire on his lap.
"It's exactly how it works," James said offhandedly, "As it is my birthday and it's also Halloween, let's play a little game."
"What's the game?" Alice Longbottom asked warily. As one of the youngest in the group she was naturally wary.
"It's called telling ghost stories," James said in a dramatic whisper, "Dim the lights Ted."
Teddy raised an eyebrow at the boy he thought of as a little brother, "James, what about the little ones?"
"Little?" Roxanne asked, throwing her long black hair over her shoulder in outrage, "I am not little!"
"Itty bitty 2nd year Roxie," Fred teased his sister.
Roxanne crossed her arms, "I'm staying. Ghost stories don't scare me!"
"Or me!" Hugo cut in determinedly.
Scorpius snorted, "Typical little Gryffindors."
"Typical cynical Slytherins," Rose countered.
James narrowed his eyes at Lily, "What about little bitty Ravens? Are they too scared?"
Lily shook her head, her eyes flashing angrily, "Not at all. Right, Alice?"
Alice did look scared. But she shook her head, "I'm not scared."
"See," James said with a grin, "Dim the lights Teddy."
Teddy looked wary, in fact he looked very much like his Father had when he was asked to help with James' namesakes pranks. However he did dim the lights and the entire clan gathered in a haphazard circle on the floor. James sat in the centre of that circle, his face lit up by a muggle torch.
"I hope none of you are scared of the dark," James grinned, "The batteries in this thing are so unreliable after all."
"James, stop scaring them," Teddy said firmly.
James rolled his eyes in the darkness, "Don't ruin our fun, old man."
There were a few giggles, and James began to tell a ghost story, "We are currently in a very old, very haunted house. This is the noble and ancient house of Black. Dark crimes were committed here, people have died here. People have been murdered!"
"James, I'll hex you!" Victoire exclaimed, "You're going to scare the younger children!"
"Alright alright, I'll be less brutal," James said as he began to set the scene, "It was a very stormy night in 1834. The clock had just struck midnight when a mysterious visitor showed up at this most ancient and noble house. The visitor was exotic and handsome so the lady of the house invited him in. She wined and dined him, and sent him upstairs to sleep in the spare bedroom on the 3rd floor."
"My room?" Lily squeaked.
"James," Teddy said in a warning tone.
James just continued, "She went to her own bed, but although she did not know it she would never wake again. In the middle of the night the mysterious man slipped into her bedroom, grabbed her and bit her! She screamed as he sucked all of the blood from her veins and her screaming made the door burst open with a loud-"
The door banged open, and the torch went out. Everyone screamed as Fred's voice reached them from the door. He screamed, "Agh, no! NOOOOOOOO!"
"Teddy put the light on!" Rose screeched.
"Put the fucking light on Teddy!" Scorpius yelled.
The lights came back on and Lily nearly passed out. She screamed at the top of her lungs and grabbed Scorpius. The Slytherin was too scared to shrug her off, he gripped her back just as tightly. The spot where Fred had been sitting was vacant and there was a pool of blood by the door.
"Nice trick James," Dominique breathed as she caught her breath, "You can come out now Freddie!"
James shook his head, "I didn't play a trick," he said, his voice a little panicked, "I swear to Godric, this wasn't me!"
Louis narrowed his eyes at his friend, "Is that even real blood?"
"I bet it's just fake, costume stuff," Victoire said breathily as she cast an identification charm on it. Her eyes widened and she fell back against Teddy, "Oh my God!"
"It's real?" Teddy asked in horror.
Victoire nodded, her eyes as wide as saucers.
"We have to get out of here!" Lily shrieked, making a dart for the door.
"Lily, don't go out there on your own!" Albus shouted, as he ran after her. They all followed Lily into the landing. She came to a halt and pulled at the door, "It won't open!"
"Let me try, Lil," Teddy said gently, "Alohomora!"
"It's still not opening," Lily cried.
Dominique rolled her eyes, "Let the Ravenclaw have a try, won't you?" she asked.
Teddy glared at her but took a step back. She cast every charm she knew on the door but it still would not open. They ran to the back door and encountered the same problem. They tried the trapdoor in the cellar that came out in the sewers and it was also locked. Just like all of the windows were.
"We're locked in," Rose said weakly.
"And Freddie is gone," Roxanne said tearfully.
"It's alright Roxie," Frank said as he put an arm around the younger girl, "He'll be alive. We'll find him."
"But we're going to have to split up," James said, "This house is huge."
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Molly asked in disbelief, "We are not splitting up! Have you seen any muggle horror movie ever?"
"Well as you and Lucy are the only people here with a muggle-born parent, no," James replied. He and Molly were fairly close as they were in the same year. Molly was a Slytherin however, as opposed to James, Fred and Louis all being in Gryffindor.
Lucy, who was in Albus's year, nodded, "As soon as they split up everyone dies!"
"Well we aren't going to die," Teddy said, "Someone is playing a prank on us."
"But anyone who could play a prank on us is locked up in here!" Alice said.
"Calm down," Rose said firmly, "We all need to just calm down. Vampires aren't vicious, we know that. Anyone who listened in 3rd year Defence knows that. We're just scared because of James's story. I bet Freddie is playing a prank on us, and we'll find him in a cupboard covered in blood he stole from Uncle Harry's potions cabinet. James is right, it will take forever to search the house alone."
"We'll split into four groups," James said logically, "And we'll meet back here, one of us with Freddie. Alright?"
Albus looked wary, "Fine but we make sure the younger ones are in a group with someone older."
"Good idea," Victoire said.
The next 10 minutes were spent squabbling, but eventually they had managed to find groups that worked. They tried to keep those who could perform magic separate, but there was one group completely magic-less. They decided to split up straight away, each searching a section of the house for Fred.
"We should never have agreed to split up," Roxanne said as she gripped Frank's hand.
"We'll be fine, Roxie," Albus said confidently, "Teddy has a wand."
"And there is nothing to be afraid of," Teddy said with a gentle smile, "You've lived in this house for your whole life Al, you'd have noticed anything weird about it."
"Like a vampire living in it," Albus said with a chuckle.
Upon the word vampire the gas lamps flickered out and Teddy whispered, "Lumos."
Roxanne was clinging to Frank, her eyes wide with fear. Teddy moved the light of his wand around the dining room and shouted out in alarm when it fell on something odd.
"Did someone say vampire?" Fred asked. He was as pale as a sheet, with huge fangs extending from his mouth and blood all over his lips.
Before anyone could say a word he had launched himself at them and they all screamed as they ran for the door. It snapped shut and locked itself and Teddy's wand was knocked out of his hand. The room was plunged entirely into darkness and amongst the chaos Roxanne screamed at the top of her lungs and Frank cried out in alarm.
"My wand, my wand," Teddy mumbled as he searched around on the floor, "Where is it?"
Albus, rather pathetically, was cowering against a wall. Eventually Teddy breathed a sigh of relief as he wrapped his fingers around the wand, "Lumos," he murmured, giving light back to the gas lamps.
"Teddy," Albus said in a strangled voice, gripping the older boys hand tightly as they stared at the opposing wall. Frank was silent and stock still.
Roxanne was gone and a puddle of blood stained the floor just as it had in the drawing room. On the dining room wall, written in blood were the words, "The little ones taste the best. Lily is next."
"Come on," Teddy said, pulling Albus from the room, "We've got to warn the others!"
"Why does everyone else have someone with a wand and we just have you and your stupid torch?" Lily asked huffily.
"At least we have some light, don't be picky," James said to his younger sister.
"That torch isn't very reliable," Rose reminded him.
"It's alright, I replaced the batteries when we were in the kitchen," James said matter of factly as they stepped into the spare room across the hall from the drawing room.
The door slammed shut and James sighed, "Louis, I told you not to shut the doors."
"I didn't shut it," Louis argued, "Was it one of you two?"
Lily shook her head fearfully and Rose crossed her arms over her chest, "I didn't touch the damn door James!"
The lights flickered and went out. Then the batteries in the torch died too.
"Oh those new batteries are working great," Rose said sarcastically into the darkness, "Lil, you are hurting my arm!"
"I'm scared!" Lily shrieked, "Who shut the door if it wasn't any of us?"
"That would be me."
"Fred," Rose breathed, "You're okay!"
"I'm hungry," Fred's voice said.
Before anyone could question him there was a blood curdling scream that could only belong to one person.
"Lily!" James shouted as he tried desperately to get the torch back on, "Oh screw it! Lumos!"
The lights soared back into action, and they all looked around the room in alarm. The door was ajar now and there was a puddle of blood where Lily had just been standing.
"Honestly Alice, stop jumping at the slightest sound," Scorpius said disdainfully as his group explored the balcony area above the drawing room.
"There's a murdering vampire on the loose, I'm allowed to be scared!" Alice said irritably.
"There is not a murderous vampire on the loose!" Victoire and Lucy echoed.
"Vampires are not vicious, they are integrated into society," Victoire added with an amused look her younger cousin's way.
"Plus vampires don't terrorise a house full of kids. If this was a horror movie we would be trapped in a house with a psycho or a ghost. This isn't a vampire's style."
"Oh what would a vampire do if this was a muggle movie then?" Scorpius asked sarcastically.
The Hufflepuff glared at Scorpius, "He would sneak in at night and turn the most beautiful woman into his new bride. Or he would stalk a teenage girl and sparkle."
"What?"
"Yeah, that was a pretty weird one," Lucy admitted, "But this is just not a vampire, trust me."
"I trust you Lucy," Alice said quietly.
"Trusting," Fred's voice giggled, "Silly choice."
Victoire breathed a sigh of relief, "Fred! You have scared the crap out of us with your stupid pra-" she cut herself off when she saw him perched on the railing of the balcony.
He grinned, baring all of his razor sharp teeth, "Surprise!"
They all screamed and ran to the door as the lights flickered out. Amongst it all one scream was the loudest and they all grew concerned when the scream gradually began to fade away.
"Lucy! Are you there?"
"Yes," Lucy said quietly.
"I'm here too, if anyone cares," Scorpius pointed out.
"Lumos," Victoire muttered, scanning the balcony, "Oh shit..."
"Alice," Lucy whispered, there was blood on the railing, dripping down onto the pool table in the drawing room.
"You two don't really believe there's a psychotic vampire on the loose, do you?" Dominique asked in amusement.
Molly shook her head, "No, it's a classic prank. But if this was a muggle horror movie Fred would be screwed."
"How?" Hugo asked.
"The black guy always dies in a horror movie," Molly grinned, as a Weasley and a half-blood, she was a rarity in Slytherin house.
"That's pretty racist, isn't it?" Victoire asked as they walked along the 3rd floor corridor.
Molly shook her head, "No, loads of people die in horror films. The jock normally dies so James is screwed and the popular girl dies a lot too so you might as well say your goodbyes now Vic."
Victoire laughed, "Oh Molls, it has been so lovely to be your cousin for all of these years!"
Molly's laughter was interrupted by a scream from behind them. The lights flickered, but did not turn off. They brought their hands to their mouths in horror at the sight behind them. Hugo was gone but a trail of blood went from the spot where he had been standing to the end of the corner. As if some unseen force had taken him away in the blink of an eye.
"James!" Teddy said with a sigh of relief as they found him in the drawing room, "The lights went out and Roxie disappeared. There was blood and a message on the wall saying that Lily was...next."
"The same thing happened to us," James said quietly, "Lily's gone."
"Gone?" Albus asked weakly, "How could you let that happen to her James? She's your little sister! You are supposed to protect her!"
"I tried!" James shouted, "But it just happened so fast!"
"Stop fighting!" Rose exclaimed, "Fighting won't help us get Lily and Roxie back."
Louis nodded, "This whole splitting up thing was a really bad idea."
"We should never have listened to an idea put forward by James," Albus said irritably.
James rolled his eyes, "I'm sorry, alright? But I thought we would find Fred faster by splitting up..." he trailed off, his eyes widening.
"What?" Frank asked warily.
"Blood," James said as he pointed to the balcony.
"Whose blood?" Rose asked quietly, "Whose is it Teddy?"
Teddy frowned and performed a charm, "Uh...it's..."
"Is it Alice's?" Frank asked fearfully.
Teddy could only nod.
Frank shrunk back into the wall in horror. Albus stepped forward and gripped his arms, "Come on Frank, snap out of it! We need to get a move on if we want to stand a chance of finding them and getting them back!"
Frank gave a small nod, and then a piercing scream came from upstairs. Teddy's eyes went to the balcony in horror, "That sounded like Victoire."
"Come on then," Louis shouted, darting for the door. They all followed him and thundered up the stairs to the source of the scream. They quickly found it.
Scorpius was lying unconscious in a bath tub inside the biggest bathroom in the house. Two tracks of blood ran from the bath to the wall where they came to an abrupt stop.
"Victoire and Lucy are both gone," Rose said quietly.
"Enervate," Teddy said, pointing his wand a little viciously at Scorpius.
The blonde boy groaned and grabbed his pounding head as he forced his eyes open. Before he could come to his senses he was being lifted by his neck and pressed against a wall.
"WHERE IS VICTOIRE?"
"Teddy put him down!" Albus shouted.
"WHERE IS SHE?" Teddy roared.
Scorpius choked out, "I...don't...know!"
"You're choking him!" Rose shrieked as Louis and James pulled Teddy off of the blonde boy.
"I swear to Merlin, I don't know!" Scorpius said breathlessly, "All I know is the lights went out and then something hit me in the head."
"The same thing happened to us," Albus said, "And to James. Roxanne, Lily and Alice are gone too."
"This isn't a prank," Frank said tearfully, "Half of our friends are missing! They are probably dead! These are our sisters and brothers for Godric's sake!"
"Calm down Frank," Rose said quietly.
"No!" Albus shouted, "He's right! This is real, there's a psychotic vampire on the loose in here and he's taken my sister!"
"She's my sister too!"
"And she went missing on your watch!" Teddy exclaimed.
"Stop it, all of you!" Rose shouted, "Fighting will not help us find Lily or any of the others. My little brother is gone too but we have to stay calm!"
"They could be anywhere!" Louis said.
Rose shook her head slowly, "Vampires have two likes. They like blood and they like dark, musty places. We don't have a cellar which means he's taking them to..."
"The attic," Scorpius said quietly.
"Dad always said the attic was out of bounds," Albus whispered.
"That's because vampires live there."
Teddy shrieked in alarm as Lily appeared behind them. She crouched on the sink, her wild red hair flying behind her.
"RUN!" James shouted, because amongst the chaos he seemed to be the only one with any common sense.
The lights flickered as they ran down the corridor, splitting into two groups to disappear into secret passageways. James activated one behind a mirror and grabbed Louis who grabbed Scorpius.
Teddy bolted further down the corridor with Albus and Rose on his heels, disappearing behind a fake door. They all ran flat out until they reached the end of their secret passageways.
"Where's Frank?"
Teddy frowned, "Maybe he went with James."
"What if he's dead?" Albus panicked, "What if they are all dead? Scorpius went with them too! Oh Merlin, what if Scorpius dies before I can tell him that I'm in love with him?"
Teddy's jaw dropped, "Al! Now is not the time to come out of a closet, or a secret passageway for that matter!"
Rose snorted.
Albus hit his head off of the wall, "If we survive this please don't tell Mum and Dad, Teddy."
"We're going to survive this you idiot," Rose said pretentiously, "Just calm down."
"A PSYCHOTIC VAMPIRE IS KILLING OUR FRIENDS AND TURNING THEM INTO VAMPIRES! MY SISTER IS A FUCKING VAMPIRE!"
"And the vampires will find us if you don't shut the fuck up," Teddy hissed, "Honestly, and they say Hufflepuffs are useless."
"What are we going to do?" Albus breathed.
"We need to get to the attic," Teddy whispered, "And that's still two floors above us so come on."
"Did Frank go with Teddy?" James asked as he caught his breath.
Scorpius shook his head. He was pale and his eyes were wide, "No, I...I slipped on his blood running out of the bathroom."
"Fantastic," Louis muttered, "What are we going to do now?"
"We need to find Al," Scorpius whispered frantically, "We can't just leave him."
"Al's a big boy Scorpius," James said, "He can take care of himself and Teddy's with him."
"But if we die then I'll never get to tell him that I..."
"Oh Merlin," James said, "You fancy my bloody brother?"
Scorpius's cheeks burned, "I can't help it alright-"
"Guys!" Louis said quietly, "Is now really the time?"
"Right," James said as he exhaled slowly, "We have to get to the attic which is a floor above us. I don't know how much time we have before one of those things appears."
"One of those things is your sister, James," Louis said.
"I know!" James snapped, "But I can't think like that, alright? Let's just get to the attic and save the people that still stand a chance!"
"We need to go downstairs now," Molly whispered.
Dominique shook her head and glanced out of their secret alcove into the corridor, "No, we are not running towards the screams. How stupid are you Molls?"
"Those are our family members down there!" Molly hissed, "Our friends!"
"Go down there by yourself if you want but I'm staying here!" Dominique said firmly.
Molly caved and ducked back into the alcove. They both froze as they heard movement outside the corridor. But they breathed a little easier when they heard James's voice.
Dominique pushed the curtain back and stepped out, "James, Louis, thank Merlin!"
Louis hugged his older sister, "Victoire's gone. The vampire took her and there was so much blood."
"Lily, Alice, Roxie and Frank are gone too," James said quietly.
"What about Lucy?" Molly asked frantically.
"They took her too," Scorpius said quietly.
"But we can get them back," James said, gripping her hand, "We can Moll, we just have to get to the attic."
"Why, the attic?"
"That's where he's taking them," James replied, "And it's just up those stairs now. We can do it, we can get there."
"We need to stick together now," Dominique said, gripping her brother's hand.
James nodded.
"Lead the way then," Louis said, nudging his friend towards the stairs. They walked along the corridor warily, expecting something to jump out at them at any second. They reached the stairs easily and began to climb upwards, wary of the lights turning off. Halfway up the shock they were waiting for came. The lights flickered off and before Dominique could use lumos a flash of lightning struck the dome window at the top of the stairs.
The stairwell was filled with blindingly bright light for a brief moment. They all clutched their eyes as a scream sounded from behind them and dull thuds echoed around the eerie old stairwell. They blinked to get their vision back and then they saw the blood. It went all the way up the stairs towards the 4th floor, and Molly was gone.
"How did we not notice someone get past us?" Scorpius asked breathlessly.
"Because vampires can move at super speed," Louis whispered.
"Oh Merlin," Scorpius said, "This is real, isn't it?"
The others could only nod.
"Alright, we have to make sure we are quick about this. Once we exit this secret passageway we have a few minutes to get along the corridor into the next one. If any lights go out, if anyone screams, just keep running," Teddy said in a whisper.
"What if they take you?" Albus asked in a very small voice.
"You keep running and you get to the attic," Teddy said firmly, "Use secret passages, I think it's safer that way. Okay?"
"Okay," Rose said, reaching down and gripping Albus's hand.
Albus swallowed hard but nodded, "Okay," he managed to say quietly.
"Good, then let's do this," Teddy said quietly, pushing the door open and stepping out into the 3rd floor corridor. The lights had already been dimmed which was a bad sign as far as they were all aware. It was almost like the vampires were waiting for them to emerge from the secret passage.
The thought spurred them on as they darted at full speed towards the end of the corridor where they could disappear behind a portrait of Godric Gryffindor. They were within touching distance when the lights went out and a yell sounded from behind them but they kept running until they were safely inside the secret passageway because that was what they had been instructed to do.
Once inside they breathed heavily and stared at each other in alarm. It was just Albus and Rose now, Teddy was gone.
"Where's the attic?" Scorpius whispered.
"The stairs are at the other end of the corridor," James replied.
"This really fucking long corridor," Louis muttered irritably.
"And really dark," Dominique added, "Aren't there lights up here?"
James shook his head, "This is the old part of the house. Dad didn't renovate it like the rest because the only rooms up here are these two."
"This is getting creepy, James," Dominique said with a glare her little cousins way.
James sighed, "That room was my Dad's Godfather's. The other room was his brothers and they both did a lot of amazing stuff in the first war. Dad said he wanted to leave this part of the house the way it was as a mark of respect for them."
"Well if this part of the house has been left untouched for years then those rooms could easily be dark and musty too," Scorpius said quietly, "We're going to have to check them."
"He's right, the attic thing could be a ruse," Louis whispered, "That's where the vampire expects us to look."
"Fine," James said reluctantly, "But don't tell Dad about this. This floor is strictly forbidden."
"And I'm starting to think that's for good reason," Scorpius muttered as they traipsed into the room that had once belonged to Sirius Black.
"Well he was a proud Gryffindor," Louis remarked as he glanced around the walls, "But I don't see any vampires in here."
"Then you aren't looking hard enough," Roxanne's voice said from behind them.
They all spun around to see the pale girl blocking the doorway.
"Not hard enough at all," Frank's voice said.
Scorpius swallowed as he looked up. Frank was crouched on the top of the four poster bed.
"In fact, I think you must be blind," Molly whispered into Scorpius's ear.
The blonde boy screamed, but by the time everyone had turned to the sound, he was gone. All that was left in his place was a puddle of blood and all of the vampires had mysteriously disappeared.
"Come on Al, we can't stop now," Rose said in a whisper as she held her cousins hand tighter than before and pulled him up the narrow staircase.
"Rose, this isn't a prank, is it?" Albus asked, allowing the girl to drag him upstairs.
"I'm still not sure," Rose said honestly, "Where does this passageway come out?"
Albus frowned and they slowed down slightly, "In Regulus's room. We don't use it very much because the 4th floor is off limits. You know why."
Rose nodded slowly, "But Al, that floor wasn't renovated when the rest of the house was..."
"So?"
"So the whole floor could be dark and musty," Rose whispered, "Your Dad didn't improve the lighting up there like he did in the rest of the house. That means-"
"They could be anywhere on the 4th floor," Albus said.
Rose nodded, "We're going to have to be really careful," she said as they reached the exit of the passageway, "So stay close to me."
Albus could only nod as Rose pushed the door open and stepped out. There were a few screams and she jumped out of her skin too when she was met with a face.
"James! You scared me!"
James hugged his cousin, and then his little brother, "You two scared me! Where's Teddy?"
"Gone," Rose said as she scanned the group in front of her.
"Where's Scorpius?" Albus asked suddenly, his eyes wide with fear.
"Gone," Louis echoed.
Rose squeezed Albus's hand, "We have to get to the attic. Have you searched the other bedroom up here?"
James nodded, "That was where they took Scorpius. They seem to be everywhere up here. I can almost feel them watching me..."
"That's because we are," Hugo's voice said from the top of the wardrobe.
"We're always watching," Lily agreed as she appeared from behind a tapestry.
"And it's time for some fresh meat," Fred's voice said from the doorway.
Louis was standing closest to it and before they could do anything to help, the lights went out, a shout of alarm sounded and then Louis was gone.
By the time Dominique got the lights back on, all of the vampires had disappeared again and all that was left of Louis was a puddle of blood on the floor.
"The attic, come on!" Rose said, leading the way out of the room into the corridor. She was a natural leader so they all followed her without hesitation. She reached the stairs to the attic and came to a halt. Albus stopped behind her, his hand still in hers. James and Dominique glanced between each other and Rose caught this movement out of the corner of her eye.
"Hang on a minute!" Rose said as she spun around to look at her cousins, "How Albus survived this long is frankly a miracle. He clearly has the same luck that got his Dad through 7 years of school with a dark lord trying to kill him. But the fact that you two are still alive is remarkably suspicious. Just like the fact that Fred was the first to be taken by the vampire..."
"Rose, what are you talking about?" Dominique asked.
"This is a prank Al!" Rose exclaimed, "It's a very elaborate prank but it's just a prank! Think of where people went missing. Think of how they just disappeared into thin air. That would be true if this was a normal house, but it's not a normal house! It's a very old wizarding house which means where there should be walls there are secret passageways."
"So the vampires are using the secret passageways then," James said, "This isn't a prank, Rose."
Rose shook her head, "And when none of the doors or windows would open...Teddy and Victoire both tried Alohomora but it was only Dominique who tried other spells. The doors and windows aren't locked with anything more complicated than an encrypted Alohomora because Dom is in on the bloody prank! It's all smoke and mirrors, that's why the lights go off before someone is taken!"
The attic door burst open at that point, and Albus shrieked rather girlishly. The vampires descended the stairs, led by Fred.
He clapped and grinned, "Very well done Rosie."
Albus breathed a sigh of relief, "It was all a prank?"
"A very good one though, right?" James grinned.
"No, it was a really horrible one James!" Rose exclaimed, smacking her cousin around the head, "And when Mum and Dad get back I will be telling them about this and you can bet your life Aunt Ginny will know too!"
"Oh come on Rosie, it was just a bit of fun," Dominique said.
"A bit of fun?" Albus asked in disbelief, "You made us believe our family and friends were dead! You made me think that Scorpius was dead!"
"Totally alive Al," Scorpius said as he descended the attic with the other non-vampires, "Just stinking of pigs blood."
Albus breathed another sigh of relief and pulled Scorpius in for a hug.
James rolled his eyes, "And in the process of this prank I seem to have inadvertently set up my brother and his best friend. Albus, Scorpius fancies you."
"Scorpius, Albus fancies you," Teddy said with an amused grin.
Albus and Scorpius looked at each other for a moment and then looked away, both seeming to be absolutely mortified.
"Your Dad is going to kill you when he finds the house in this state," Teddy said as he looked to James.
"Not if I can have it tidied before he gets back," James said with a smirk, "But before that, who wants a butterbeer?"
"Now that's the best idea I've heard all day," Molly sighed as they all began to traipse back towards the kitchen.
"I don't suppose you know where Uncle Harry keeps his stash of the stronger stuff, Ted?" Victoire asked in a whisper.
"I don't, but I do have this," Teddy said, winking at her as he pulled a hipflask out of his pocket.
Victoire took a grateful swig from it and said, "Growing up in this family is insane."
"Tell me about it," Teddy yawned.
They were relatively quiet until they reconvened in the kitchen with food and butterbeer. Then all of the questions began to be thrown out there.
"How did my charm say that the blood was real if it was pig's blood?" Victoire asked curiously.
"Because your little sister was in Ravenclaw," Dominique smirked, "I masked the blood to make false results come up if a standard test was done. I did the same on all of the 'victims' which was why when Teddy tested the blood on the balcony in the landing he thought it was Alice's."
"That was pretty twisted," Frank said, glaring at his so-called friends.
"And way too well thought out," Molly said with narrowed eyes, "How long have you three being planning this?"
"Oh a good couple of months," Fred said, smirking at James, "Worth it though."
"Definitely," James sniggered, "You should have seen your faces! You all thought there was a vampire running around the house killing people!"
"I don't see the funny side of this yet James," Teddy admitted, "It was a pretty cruel prank."
"And Mum and Dad will be grounding you forever when they get home!" Lily exclaimed.
"Oh come on Lil, you went along with it!" James said, "You pretended to be a vampire so I'll tell Mum and Dad that if you tell them!"
"And you went along with it too Roxie," Fred said with a smug smile, "So you can't tell Mum and Dad anything either."
Roxanne rolled her eyes, "I wasn't going to anyway but they will find out Fred."
"Yes, we will find out."
All of the children froze and turned slowly to the doorway. Looking more intimidating than they had ever seen him look, was Harry Potter. He crossed his arms and looked around the group, "Why is my house covered in pig's blood?"
"Uh...it was just a fun little prank Dad," James began.
"Fun?" Rose asked angrily, "It was not fun! You convinced us there was a vampire in the house and then you pretended to kill us off one by one for an hour!"
"It was a game, a haunted house game!" Fred cut in.
"A game that nobody knew they were playing," Ginny said as she stepped into the room, her eyes blazing, "Was this your idea, James?"
"Not entirely," James said slyly.
Harry glared at his son, "Do you see anyone laughing James? Get upstairs right now, I want to see all of you in the drawing room and I'm sure your parents will too."
"Oh shit," Dominique muttered as she traipsed upstairs with the others.
It was not going to be a fun night for much longer, she was sure of that.
THE END! :)