I should probably be working on the next chapter for Bring Him Home but...
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The Auror crept through the woods, wand raised defensively. His teammates were nearby, waiting for his signal to show themselves. It was high noon, the perfect time to catch a vampire. He had done plenty of research on these creatures and he knew that even when weakened by the sun, they were unbelievably fast, so he had set up special barriers to trap them in. There would be no escaping him this time. The barriers were specially tuned to keep any non-wizarding or human being trapped inside.
He sucked in a sharp breath and pressed himself against a tree. There they were. The two creatures didn't have a fire going as it was a warm day and they obviously didn't want to draw attention to themselves. They were a very strange looking pair. The tall, unnaturally orange-haired man wore dated Muggle clothes and a red cloak and the young black-haired boy was dressed like a pirate. Frankly, it looked as though they had come from a freak show! The boy shifted in his sleep causing the man to tighten his grip on his wand and heave a quiet sigh of relief when he just snuggled closer into the older vampire's side.
The blue-robed wizard raised three fingers on his non-wand hand to begin the countdown to his partners.
'Three...two...one, now!'
The older vampire woke at the rustling and crashing they made in the clearing surrounding their hideaway and was on his feet, pushing his sleepy cub behind him faster than the wizard's eyes could follow.
"Stupefy!"
The child cried out as his protector fell to his knees in pain.
The Auror frowned. Not even a centaur could take more than three stupefys without being knocked flat on their back. These beasts must be even more powerful than they thought they were. The vampire was on top of him with a clawed hand on his throat, despite how high the sun was on the horizon before he could cast another spell.
The others saw their chance and went after the smaller, more vulnerable cub. He yelped and tried to scramble away but the back of the cave blocked his escape. But as the wizards closed in on him with their wandless hands out, in a soothing gesture, he lashed out with his own claws, kicking, punching and slashing with his claws in a manner that seemed almost calculated, which was of course impossible seeing as vampires were mindless beasts at the best of times.
One of the rookies yelped as he sliced his arm up with his claws and yelled "Diffindo!"
The vampire cub screamed as a long cut opened up across his torso.
The vampire with his hand on the leader's throat promptly let go, hearing the cub's cry.
"Darren!"
They had names? Interesting. That was something he'd have to record later. He raised his wand to restrain the older vampire as well, but he disappeared and reappeared in front of the sobbing, terrified boy, teeth bared in a menacing snarl daring anybody to take another step towards them. Earlier, he had seemed annoyed that his nap had been interrupted but now that the child was injured he seemed downright murderous. The wizard added another mental note.
'In addition to a pack mentality, vampires have a very strong protective instinct towards their young.'
The orange-haired one muttered something under his breath and the boy nodded just slightly. The older male launched one of his knives at the lead wizard's head and it embedded itself in the tree behind him just shy of his ear. While he was distracted the male swept up the cub and was attempting to make his escape into the trees and through the forest. He wouldn't make it very far though. A few seconds later, he heard a roar of pain. They must have hit the barrier. There were loud cracks as the detainment squad apparated to the barrier.
The boy laying spread eagle on the ground a few feet away from the other, pale and unconscious most likely due to the head wound he had received when he was thrown away from the barrier. The orange-haired male's sleeves were singed and his palms were a raw, bloody mess. He started in surprise as his pursuers suddenly appeared in front of him and he tried to reach his cub, ignoring the obvious pain in his hands.
"Carpe Retractum!"
The vampire was yanked harshly back by the invisible rope and landed dazed on his back.
"Incarcerous."
Ropes appeared out of thin air and wrapped themselves around the creature, who began to thrash again.
"Release me! Darren!"
The cub made didn't even twitch as the others loaded him into one of the enchanted cages they had brought.
"Be careful with that! He's a rare specimen, we've never caught one this young before."
The older and less valuable one thrashed against his bonds as they grew tighter in response to his struggles until they grew tight enough to cut off his air supply. Within a few minutes, he was unconscious as well.
"Hurry and cover him up. He may not be as rare as the cub, but we've never seen any of our other specimens exhibit this sort of a bond before. We'll take him too."
"Yessir," one of the few uninjured wizards replied, casting a quick spell to shield the vampire before he got even more sunburnt and placing him in a cage as well.
Yes, the Ministry would be delighted to hear about this. Two vampires being captured in one day was a record!
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I need a name for the Auror dude. Also I purposely made him out to be kind of ignorant because it seemed like many wizards were like that about other magical beings and even other humans.
