A.N. This chapter is longer than the last and starts the introduction to the main characters. The Circus described here is how I've alway imagined it. Please keep in mind they are entering from the carpark and Harry hasn't had the delight of seeing the fanged clown sign yet (haha). Enjoy!

This is a work of fanfiction that uses characters from the Harry Potter world, which is trademarked by J. K. Rowling and from the Anita Blake world created by L. K. Hamilton. All characters belong to their respective authors as stated above and I claim no ownership over them or the 'world' that is stated in the authors books. The story and situation I am creating is my imagination and I do not ascribe them to either authors official story cannon. This work is only intented for entertainment outside of official story line and I am not profiting financially in any way from the creation and publication of this story. I am so gratefull to both L. K. Hamilton and J. K. Rowling, whose stories have inspired and inflamed the imagination of so may people including myself. For without their work, mine would not exsist. I highly recommend buying their books!

CHAPTER TWO

Sliding onto the expensive white leather seats of the waiting limousine made him extremely grateful he had dressed the part carefully. A tailored black suit with an embriordered green vest bordered in gold threads. It was beautiful but not the most comfortable thing he owned. The only other time he had worn it was to Hermione and Ron's wedding to the great delight to Mr Weasley.

The vampire quietly shut the door behind him and Harry looked up only to realize that the partition between him and the front was tinted and he couldn't see the driver. Uneasiness crept into his mind and he couldn't stop the flinch as the other door open and he watched as the vampire slid in and knock on the glass to ignal the driver. The quiet hum of the engine and it pulled away from the curb.

"Where are we going?" Stupid. He should had asked that before he got in the car. A few dampening spells was not much protection and he was intensely aware that the threat sitting not four feet away from him could crush his throat before he even saw him move.

"To the Circus of the Damned to meet with the Master." Both body language and tone was bored and indulgent as the vampire reclined against the leather and fixed his gaze on Harry.

Well if that's the case then maybe he would finally get a name. After all he couldn't keep thinking vampire when he looked at him.

"May I have your name? You do know mine after all." Know his name yes but hopefully not who he is or his history. There was little chance that any vampires here knew a witch that had chosen the break the Act and had gone unpunished by the American Ministery. He found very little comfort in this fact and tried to reassure himself once again that nothing would happen because his facade is a mild mannered man with little magic and nothing interesting at all about him.

"My name is Arnao." Nothing else was added and no last name. Did vampires have last names or did just they forget them as they got older? It probably wasn't polite to ask though and he didn't really want to know. He felt a need to fill the silence between them by inane talk or questions. He wasn't usually a nervous talker, but voluntarily walking into the proverbial lions den was almost insane. A little chat would help him feel a little steadier even if it was with a vampire - er - Arnao. But they had nothing to talk about and most definately nothing in common. Best just to stick with common courtesy then.

"Thank you. Umm. For telling me your name." Great. Now he could definately see amusment on that marble face. "Oh, nevermind." he muttered before looking out the window. Instead of the view of passing streets he expected he instead saw his reflection on the darkened window. The windows were tinted as well. Why would someone pay so much for a car and be unable to see outside on a drive?

Or maybe it's so you don't see where he's really taking you. Great. Now the thought had entered his head he couldn't seem to get rid of it. He took calm even breaths and tried to clear his mind just like Snape had taught him so long ago. If he could stop thinking that terrible things were going to happen maybe he wouldn't bugger up tonight and he could be left alone. Right. A meeting for an hour wasn't so hard. He'd done worse things like the Last Battle, Ministery balls and even a divorse. Especially when that divorse was with Ginny. Actually maybe that was worse than the ministery balls. Although that was with her too. Ugh. No. Bad thoughts again. Calm. He needed to be calm and collected.

"Mr Potter?" His eyes flew open and flickered to where Arnao was sitting. Only he wasn't there anymore. Tension crawled across his shoulders and the tense muscles in his neck made the movement jerky as he turned his head to the door beside him where Arnao was holding the door open for him. There was no amusement on his face now, only those copper eyes had any heat to them and he turned his head away before he could read what was in them. He had a feeling he wouldn't like what he found.

He said nothing and just stepped from the car and followed him through the most strange and colorful place he had ever seen. Large striped tents of all colors laid out in rows with men and women in costumes handing iut flyers and exchanging money for tickets to see the shows inside. Arnao had begun walking a little fast now they had left the carpark and were walking through the crowd. He had to pay a little less attention to the crowd and the interesting sights and more to not getting left behind. By the time the last line of tents was passing they were almost at a full run and only stopped when they reached a steel door set in the side of the large building.

Arnao had his head down and was leaning one hand on the door but wasn't moving. Harry had a feeling he wasn't breathing either.

"I wasn't going to get distracted, you know!" Maybe a little but he was miffed that the vampire thought he had to run through to keep him from stopping and looking around.

The vampire slowly straightened and his hand on the door swung down. Maybe that wasn't the best thing to have said. The tension from before hadn't left his body entirely and he could feel something inside him say he was in danger now. He felt two hands grasp his upper arms and he was suddenly slammed against the door. It must have been reinforced since it didn't even shudder at his weight. He expected to feel fangs tear his throat but nothing happened. The arms holding him were still and when he looked up he could see why.

A sharp hunger had turned those eyes almost red and twisted his face into an almost animalistic expression. But there was also fear there. Probably because of the petite lady in leather holding a gun to his head.

"You're on a short rope Arnao and it's getting shorter every night. We have a special guest and you're threatening him." Her voice was light and a little husky a perfect matching to her apearance. Dark curls barely held back by the pins restraining them back from her face and cascading down to her waist was the first thing to catch his gaze. Her skin was pale and offset by the crimson of her leather corset and lips. But those eyes. Large and dark with enough anger behind them to make him hesitant of moving and drawing their attention. They reminded him of Snape's eyes.

"Let. Him. Go." Those words were cold and willing to inflict pain to get obediancce. Snape would have been impressed by her, he knew. Or maybe just seen her as a threat. Her aura was certainly impressive and nothing he could imitate. It made her seem more than what her appearance suggested and he knew that it would be a bad idea to forget that.

Arnao looked like he had just realized the same thing and slowly let go of him and took a step away from him and the lady in red. When he did Harry realized there was a quiet blond man with her but he was drawn back to the lady when she began speaking.

"You have already been warned now you have no more chances. Return to your post and if you misbehave again you get to see me and next time you won't like me so much."

It didn't look like he liked her now. That fear was leaving his face and now Harry could see the anger that had been there. Was that what had been keeping him on edge when with this vampire? Was it normal for vampires to be like that? The only vampires he had heard of was the mass slaughter one called Dracular had made in England. Apparently he had gone crazy, but what if that insanity was because they were undead?

And he was meeting with the Master of the whole city in a few minutes.

He couldn't stop the groan that escaped him and drew the attention of the lady and her was gone and Harry told himself to stop being careless. No wonder he was attacked. Probably too easy of a target to resist.

"Is that the normal reaction to being saved?" The blond man had spoken and now Harry had the chance to see him properly. He was the same height as the lady which still made him three feet shorter than him. His eyes were light blue and with his short blond hair and playful expression he looked almost.. sweet. Leather chaps with a glittering blue thong and fishnet shirt topped with leather gloves and a floppy hat with blue feathers was eye catching certaintly but seemed a little out of place.

"He seems a little shell shocked but maybe you've just overpowered him." When he turned to her she smiled and held her hand out to shake. "My name is Anita Blake and the flashy one beside me is Jason Schuyler. We're attending the meeting too so you can go with us. Good thing for you we were late."

Her hand was warm and her grip firm. Somehow it was comforting even with the gun now strapped to her hip and knives on her forearms. Her gaze was less severe than when talking to the vampire but no less steady and focused.

"Nice to meet you my name is Harry Potter. Thank you for helping me and I'd be glad for your escort. Somehow I thought all the excitment would happen indoors and he caught me off-guard."

This was a surprise to the lady but the man - Jason - threw his head back and laughed.

"Not as shell shocked as he appeared after all. He kinda reminds me of you Anita."

Jason laughed again, this time at her somewhat sour look. She walked past him and knocked sharply on the door and he could hear bolts being thrown back and then it swung open to reveal a non-desript man in black holding the door open for them . Anita swept by with a nod to him and gestured impatiently for him to follow when he didn't move.

Jason nudged him and whispered, "The only person worse than keeping the Master waiting is her."

"I heard that Jason!"

Jason's face was a perfect blend of impishness and innocence. The twins would love this one. Best not to tell them about him or the city could be in serious trouble. Just imagining the kind of mischief that would ensue with this one to encourage them made him wince and step through the door and walk to where she was waiting with impatience.

"Just because you were lucky we were late doesn't mean he's going to be happy. If I have to sit through one of his speeches about proper eqiuette I'm going to shoot someone."

Jason chuckled. "You were the reason we're late though. I told you not to help Nate get ready for his show tonight. You know where that leads though I guess you did prep him for the stage."

It sounded innocent enough but his tone was both lecherous and cheerful and Harry felt amazingly relaxed because of it. Maybe it was the resemblence to the twins. He always felt like he fitted in perfectly with them too, sometimes even more so than with Ron.

His third step down made him gasp as he misgudged the height of the step and jarred his ankle.

"Yeah, be careful about the steps, they're not very even."

Jason's voice came from behind him and he even sounded solitious.

The steps in question were all of different widths and heights spiralling along a wall until a corner cut his view downwards. He only noticed now that it was all dark stone walls and stairs with a line or lights set in the wall illuminating the way down but were dim enough that their light didn't penetrate the darkness overhead and only just touched the stairs themselves. That was probably why he didn't notice the odd construct of them.

"So I see." he couldn't keep the incredulity out of his voice.

He'd never seen anyone purposely sabotage visitors by creating a trick stairway. He began following Anita again but this time paying careful attention to where he tread so it was a bit of a surprise when about five minutes later when they reached a landing and Anita turned to him.

"Another flight down and we'll be directly under the Circus and you can meet Jean-Claude there."

He stepped onto the landing and moved aside so Jason would have room too. Anita was standing under one of the lights installed into the wall and it shone off her black hair. She was really quite pretty up close and with no gun in her hand. She looked impatient again and he realized that she was waiting for a response from him.

"Umm, ok?" he didn't know what she wanted him to say. A vampire turns up at his house and pretty much orders him to the Circus then attacks him only to be ordered off by Anita who leads down a set of dark stairs and expects him to - what? What else was there to say?

She apparently isn't satisfied by the answer and opens her mouth to say something to him when she's cut off by Jason walking by them.

"Jean-Claude is getting pretty grumpy. We're all late now." He throws them a grin and begins walking down again without them. Not wanting to stay there with Anita he hurried to follow Jason down and consequesntly almost tripped over his own feet when he saw Jason's outfit from the back.

"I can see your arse in those pants!" Was that his voice? Oh god he sounded like a ninny. He knew Jason was only wearing chaps and underwear but from the front you could only see a thin line of flesh at his hips and thighs. The back was another view entirely. The back of the chaps only came to the back mid thigh and showed alot of leg and his entire bottom. The blue underwear he'd tried not to look at before was obviously a g-string and with the see-through shirt he could see almost everything.

Jason cocked his hip and put one hand dangerously close to his own bottom and threw a grin over his shoulder and those sky-blue eyes looked flirty.

"Baby you ain't seen nothing yet. You should come to my show sometime."

That choked sound behind him may have been stifiled laughter but Harry didn't want to turn around to find out. Before he could try to find something to say in response, something Anita said a few minutes ago finally caught up with him.

"Wait, you two are coming to this meeting too?" Please say no. This is supposed to be a normal meeting right? Something everyone does, an agreement to follow the rules and such not whatever this was turning out to be. He's never seen so much weapons, leather and skin as these two had going on.

"Of course we are. Anits is his Servant and I live here so we were both suppose to be there already." Jason started down the stairs and Harry followed this time reluctantly.

"What kind of kinky meeting is this going to be? I thought it would be simple. Easy. Just a hello, I'm here to live nice to meet you and leave kind of thing."

That choking sound again. At least Anita was pretending not to laugh at him. Jason had no such reluctance and his laughter echoed off the walls and made Harry groan.

What had he gotten himself into now?