Ashes to Ashes
Chapter Three
By Mell8
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Draco:
It was utterly frustrating! I had researched everything the school library had on vampires and none of the information had given me a hidden clue to the whereabouts of the childe.
I was now an expert on weaker Vampires. I knew what rumors were true and which were false. Hopefully that would be helpful in capturing him. At least I now knew not to go to the kitchens for garlic. Apparently there were some vampires who enjoyed eating garlic. Holy water might work, but it was highly unlikely that I could find any here.
I had just finished reading a book about the powerful section of vampires. They held themselves above the common vampires and ruled them with closed fists. There wasn't anything truly known about these ruling Vampires. The book had been filled with myth and legend. Since the childe I was searching for would definitely be one of the ruling powers, this wasn't very helpful.
There was only one known fact: There were two powerful Vampires in the structure of their society, the Master Vampire and his Childe. The Master Vampire would be the strongest and the prettiest of all the vampires. He would choose an equally beautiful and powerful Childe. When the Childe came into his power, the Master would either step down from his post as king, or his Childe would kill him and take the post by force.
My guess was that Voldemort had been unable to gain the support of the Master Vampire. Instead, Voldemort was going to capture the Master's Childe and force the Master to hand over the Vampires in return for the childe's safety. It was a brilliant plan. Unfortunately, the task of locating the childe fell onto my shoulders and I knew nothing about finding vampires.
I sighed and stood up from my table in the library. There wasn't much I could do without more information about the childe and vampires in general. Instead I would have to watch the students to see if there was anyone acting inhuman. Since there was no classification on humanity and most students acted like wild animals anyway, this was going to be very difficult.
I stalked out of the library and down into the dungeons. There wasn't anything else I could do about the vampires tonight. Instead I would try to get a little homework done. Then I would head to the kitchens for a late night snack. Maybe I would run into Ginny again.
III
Ginny:
I was lying in the prefects bath, submerged in foamy, chamomile scented water. I had escaped my dorm and had rushed here. The other girls in fifth year Gryffindor still carried a grudge against me from our first year. They refused to acknowledge my existence and snubbed me whenever they felt the need to belittle me. I had been avoiding them as much as possible. Unfortunately, I had to sleep in the same room as them and my clothing and other belongings were kept in that dorm.
When I had gone up to my dorm a half hour ago to get my things for a bath I had found my roommates going through my belongings. I had opened the door to find three of them crowded in a circle around my trunk, pawing through the new clothing and jewelry Dante had given me.
I had stalked over to them, slammed the lid of my trunk shut and had said, "If I ever catch you going near my things again, what you saw me do in first year will be nothing compared to what I will do to you now." Needless to say, the girls had scattered.
Now in a bad mood, I had stomped around the room gathering my bath things. I had stomped down to the prefects bathroom, snarling at anyone who dared to get in my way. It was really a good thing that I had fed earlier; otherwise I would probably have gone into a rage. I would have ripped out my roommates' throats before the first scream could be uttered.
I gathered a handful of the smoky red bubbles and gently blew them into the air. My temper was cooling at the same rate as the water I was reclining in. In another hour I would be fit for human company again.
The stupid girls hadn't been the only reason I was in such a foul mood. Two days ago I had sent a letter to Dante innocently asking what our rank in the hierarchy of the vampire powers was. I had just received a return owl before I had gone to my dorm.
Dante had written saying that he didn't want to tell me "for your own protection little one." He also warned me to avoid Dumbledore and the known Death Eater children at all costs. Apparently there were a number of people looking for me so they could gain the support of the vampires. It would be in my best interest to lie low while I was at Hogwarts.
Dante also wanted me to come home for Christmas break so he could continue my teaching.
I shook my head vigorously. If I kept going on this line of thought I would get angry again. I needed something to distract me.
As soon as I thought that the door to the prefect bathroom creaked open and a blond haired menace walked into the room. I smiled. Now I had the perfect distraction.
III
Draco:
There was a huge knot of tension between my shoulder blades from too much studying. I had finally finished my homework and I needed to relax. A hot bath in the prefect bathroom was the perfect cure for sore muscles. When I had gotten to the bath I had found it already occupied by Ginny. When I saw her, naked but with her body seductively hidden under the red bubbles, I couldn't stop a smirk from forming on my face.
"The little Weaslett in a public bath," I sniffed. "You dare dirty our water."
She scowled at me for a second before smiling at me. "If you want to join me just ask." She giggled.
"Wait a second," I snapped. "I don't want to join you in your bath. I'm merely going to take my own bath in the same water as you." I smiled down at her and slowly pulled my shirt off.
She froze and glued her eyes to my chest. I could see her gulp and my smirk grew in my face.
When I started to pull my boxers off she turned bright red and spun around to look away from me. I slid into the water with an audible splash and quietly swam over to stand next to her. The bubbles were covering my body by the time I got over to her.
"Bloody bubbles," I sniffed, startling her so that she jumped and turned around to face me. "You had to choose Gryffindor colors, didn't you?" I smiled slightly to take the sting out of my words. There was just something about Ginny that called out to the gentle side of me that only my mother had seen.
She shook her head with an answering smile on her face. "Actually, this is too dark of a red to be Gryffindor. I like the color because it reminds me of blood." She licked her lips and I laughed.
I reached behind her and her eyes got very wide until she realized that I was reaching for the tap behind her. Green bubbles shot out of the spigot and mixed with the red bubbles.
I leaned back against the side of the pool and sighed. "Perfect."
III
Ginny:
I slowly pushed green bubbles off of my body and watched Draco out of the corner of my eye. He was very confusing. We had begun joking around with the usual insults but had stopped when Draco had started to undress. I had frozen in shock. His body was beautiful. He wasn't the type with huge bulging muscles but his body was well toned and was great to stare at. When I realized that Draco was about to pull off his boxers I unfroze and spun around. I was having enough trouble controlling my vampiric powers. I didn't need lust to complicate things.
Then he had snuck up on me again! I could never seem to hear him coming, even with my enhanced hearing. And when he reached casually over me to turn on the green bubbles; that was really not a good idea.
He had given me a clear view of his chest. I wasn't about to complain, but still.
Now he was standing next to me, the both of us completely naked, and he was completely unconcerned. How am I supposed to deal with this, with him?
Instead of coming over to talk with me, like I expected Draco to do, he sank lower under the water and sighed.
"My shoulders are all stiff." He shrugged. "Too much bending over papers for my back to take."
I smiled and walked over to him. This was something I could help with. I gently began to rub his shoulders. Giving people back massages was one of my specialties. With all of the brothers I had who were constantly beating each other up, they would always come to me to massage out their aches and pains.
Draco had a large knot right in the middle of his back so I started to work at it with my thumbs. He groaned and leaned back against my chest. Our lack of clothing was quickly forgotten as both of us relaxed into the massage.
An hour later Draco was asleep in my arms and the bubbles were nearly all gone. I was also very hungry.
With a groan I hoisted Draco up a little so I could reach his neck. Unfortunately, he whimpered and twisted in my grip so I had so let him slide back down to the position he had just been in. With a sigh I grabbed Draco's arm and pulled his wrist to my lips. I bit down and took a couple of gulps of his blood. I was the sweetest blood I had ever tasted. After just a few mouthfuls I know that I could never have enough. His blood was rich with powerful magic though it was tainted by darkness in his soul. Also he was depriving himself of food and rest. I slowly let go of his wrist and grabbed my wand to heal the wound. I also levitated him out of the water and dressed him while I had the chance. I was going to take him back to his room and put him to bed.
III
Draco:
I woke up the next morning pulling my self from a dream where Ginny was the vampire childe I was searching for and she had taken a sip of my blood. I shook my head and smiled slightly. That would never happen. The childe would be a male that I could easily deliver to my father. If it were Ginny I wouldn't turn her in. In fact I would probably help her.
I shook my head to get away from those dangerous thoughts and started to get ready for the day. I had classes today and tomorrow I was going Christmas shopping. I should buy something for Ginny.
