A.N Okay, sorry about the exceedingly slow updates, I'm in matric and the teachers seem to think this means we need more work. Anyway here chapter three, hopefully in the holidays things will speed up.
Once again, J.K owns this, not me, sad but true.
Thanks to my beta WiLd ChIlDfor all her work, I'm sure this would be difficult (to the point of impossibility) to read without her.
Chapter 3: Brimstone and Blood.
Clare stalked down the ever darker corridors. She made no exceptional effort to be stealthy, she merely let her instincts take hold. In these upper reaches of their keep Clare and Gemini had nothing to be wary of. She felt a breeze tickle her face, but it was a distant feeling, just like all food distantly abated her hunger and all drink distantly tickled her throat. Her life had become a series of distant feelings, even her magic had been moved away from her. Only three things ever made her feel anything anymore. One was the feelings she had for Gemini whenever she looked at him, the second was Harry to a lesser extent, and the other was waiting for her at the end of this corridor. She became even more silent, her steps barely audible over the faint breeze. Clare breathed deeply. She could smell the intruder, clear but distant. Her eyesight sharpened, going beyond all normal limits. She was at home in the darkness. She saw her, creeping slowly through the darkness. She was pathetic, wandering so carelessly towards Clare with her wand drawn, but practically blind. Still, if she had made it past Gemini and Clare's combined wards she was powerful, and not to be taken lightly. Clare reached for her special magic, the kind that had granted her immortality, and drained much of her life away, a magic that was almost exclusively hers. There were several sharp cracks as her fingers lengthened, the tips becoming hard and sharp, like the claws of a beast. Her teeth lengthened and she tasted blood as her gums split. The witch stopped and stared into the darkness, as Clare silently circled around her. She lifted her wand and frowned in concentration. She sent a silent curse off, towards where Clare had been standing. In the hazy red light of the curse the walls were illuminated, but nothing more. The witch gave out a sigh of relief as the curse fizzled on the stone.
"Very good." Clare whispered from behind her. The witch spun around surprisingly quickly.
"Reducto" She shouted, losing her earlier composure. All that the spell did was show a quickly moving figure vanishing from sight. The noise from the blast hid the sound of Clare's footsteps. Clare rushed forward, her claws tearing the witch's flesh at her side. As her scream echoed around the cave, Clare licked her fingers, sighing at the tingle of the blood.
"Pyro Echio" The woman shouted her wand pointing in the direction Clare had gone. A ball of malevolent looking blue flames leapt from her wand. The spell was no where near Clare. Clare was about to move in for the kill when the ball of flame bounced of the wall and flew towards her. She hissed in annoyance as she dived backwards.
"Pyro Echio" The woman incanted again, her voice more controlled and her wand movements more refined as a larger, brighter ball of flame exploded forth, heading right for Clare. She reached into her robes and drew her own wand. Muttering quickly she waved her wand in a frantic pattern. The ball of flame stopped an inch short of her wand. The unknown witch's eyes widened in shock at the magic she was seeing. It took Clare more effort to use magic, but it was still potent. Hissing again, she spun around, the blue flames encircling her as she launched the flames at the smaller ball which had just bounced off the far wall. The two collided with a boom that forced the witch's hands to her ears. In the sudden darkness that engulfed them as the balls extinguished each other, Clare rushed forward. The witch's back was forced against the wall her arms held above her head, her feet off the ground. Clare leaned forwards, her mouth closing around the woman's throat as her teeth tore into her neck. Clare shuddered as blood flowed into her mouth. The woman's throat jerked as she screamed, the sound echoing of the walls of the cave. After a minute Clare dropped the woman's body. Her breath came shakily and Clare knew that her life was fading fast. She knelt before the intruder.
"This is my home and in here live the only two things I care about," She hissed in the woman's face, her eyes wide with terror, as Clare leaned in closer still, blood still staining the edges of her mouth, "and now you are going to die here, in the dark, all alone, for the crime of threatening them." With that she stood and melted into the darkness, leaving the intruder to die with Clare's laughter echoing in her ears.
Gemini walked down the twisting passage ways. He was angry, anybody who triggered his alerting wards had made it past first the repelling wards and then the defense ones, which were easily capable of killing. Still, even if the intruder was a skilled curse and ward breaker, and powerful too, he would discover that the most powerful dark wizard alive was not in a mood to appreciate his talents. He and Clare had long ago decided to kill anyone who managed to breach the first two layers of wards to reach the alerting ones. He mentally pushed the doors open. The wandless magic threw the main doors to the antechamber open with a crack, Gemini strode in with the wind wiping his black cape out behind him, looking the very epitome of a pissed off dark wizard. There was a charge about him as magic crackled across his body and a strange light was dancing in his eyes. A man was descending on a broom, a look of horror on his face at the waves of power flowing off of Gemini.
"DEMENTIA INFERNI" Gemini roared, a vile purple and black haze erupting from his wand. The enemy instantly reacted, with a flick of his wrist a wand appeared.
"Reducto! Pyro Celestia!" He said waving his wand frantically. Gemini easily turned the reducto aside, destroying a chunk of stair case in the process. The haze had settled on the floor by now and was congealing like some sort of blood. The shapeless blobs reared up, slowly taking the form of twisted corpses, that constantly shifting.
"Nox Inferni" Gemini said to counter the pure white flame descending towards him from the man's wand. A stream of the most concentrated darkness erupted from Gemini's wand. It was a flowing river of everything he had pent up since childhood. Rage, hate, indignation, hurt, fear, a loathing for nigh on everything, in short the purest form of darkness ever conceived. The two beams collided and the darkness tore through the bright light, the righteous flames being torn asunder by his memories. It was only the fact that the man's broom was fast that saved him. Gemini sneered at the pathetic foe.
"Attack!" Gemini said pointing to the man on the broom. The purple twisted shades stopped their twisting and snapped there heads around, utterly still now. The man's eyes widened in horror as the sickening figures let out a collective scream of hate and launched themselves at the wizard. Gemini charmed his feet and jumped. He landed on the topmost steps. He walked calmly to a non-remarkable brick and poked it with his wand. Bricks started to appear, just like the way bricks at the door to Diagon Alley did when it closed, sealing the antechamber from the sky. He turned to watch the man, who was rocketing upwards with Gemini's summoned horrors on his tail. Seeing his exit blocked, he pulled hard on the broom, going over backwards and plummeting through the horde chasing him. As he past one of the wraiths clawed his arm. Gemini watched as the man instantly paled, his face seeming to grow gaunt as terror flooded his face. The man reached the floor before many of the wraiths had turned around. He took a deep breath, looking as if he was trying to calm down.
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" He shouted, a glowing owl flew forth. Gemini stepped off the steps, falling to the ground slowly, his feet still charmed. Very clever, he thought. He had created his 'inferni' spells after deep research into the magic of dementor's, not a very pleasant research period, but the spells embodied the darkest power of the dementor's magic. The wraiths had a touch similar to a dementor's kiss. He was impressed by this wizard's fast thinking and his ability to recover so quickly, even from the briefest of touches from his spell. The owl tore through the wraiths like a glowing bullet. Gemini's feet touched the ground behind the mysterious wizard.
"Brimstone Inferni." Gemini whispered his favorite spell. A foot long spear of brimstone shot from his wand. Muggles thought sulpher and brimstone the same thing, but in reality brimstone was the true fuel for the fires of hell. The wizard turned in time to raise a shield. This is what Gemini enjoyed, the spear hit the shield and shattered. From within it erupted a dark orange flame, billowing black smoke, which continued right along the path the spear had been traveling. The man leapt from his broom just in time. The broom exploded and the fireball, which had not stopped growing, slammed into the wall with and angered roar.
"Nox Inferni," Gemini said again. The wizard deflected the wave of darkness into the stair case behind Gemini. Gemini watched the man wave his wand downwards, directing the rubble tumbling down to Gemini. Gemini merely smiled. This was pathetic, the man was good, but nowhere near Gemini's level. Gemini raised his hand, and wandlessly sent the rubble on a new path, towards the man, at the same transfiguring it into a series of large blades with his wand. The wizard swung his wand wildly, muttering something furiously. A wave of force it the blades, turning them into dust, Gemini wandlessly raised a shield, barely flinching as the powerful spell blasted at his shield. He used his wand to transfigure the rock beneath the man's feet. The wizard noticed too late what Gemini had done. His feet where now locked in the stone, he pointed his wand at the rock and started trying to release himself. Gemini kept his wand trained on the rock, preventing the wizard from succeeding. The wizard looked up to see Gemini's right hand stretched out to his side, a dark greenish haze swirling around it.
"Soulus Spiritas Expelliro," Gemini said throwing his hand forward the wizard stared in horror as spell rushed towards him, he didn't have time to raise a shield. The curse hit him in the chest. The man's body crumpled to the floor with a lifeless thud. The curse was the template from which the killing curse was created. But where the killing curse destroyed the soul and spirit, leaving a dead body, the ghost maker as it was called, pushed it out of the body, creating a ghost and a dead body. Gemini used the ghost maker because it left a ghost that you could interrogate. He bound the ghost of the man he had just killed to the nearest wall. He stepped forward towards the ghost who was looking rather dazed, understandable as he was now staring at his own corpse.
"Who. Sent. You." Gemini said slowly, he did not feel like repeating himself. The ghost turned it's pale blue face towards him.
"Y-you, you killed me." He managed to croak out. Gemini's right hand curled into a fist.
"Spiritia corprealaries." He said feeling a cold sensation flooding his veins and his hand throb slightly. He lifted the fist and punched the ghost in the face. The ghost screamed in pain as sparks danced over his bluish form. When he stopped, the ghost turned to Gemini.
"You hit me."
"My, aren't we the regular genius. Now answer my question." His voice was calm and soft, but with an undercurrent of strength that chilled the ghost even more than death had.
"Spiritia corpre-" Gemini's incantation was interrupted by the ghost sudden laughter.
"You've failed Francis, my Lord shall return, and you've provided the final ingredient." Gemini paused at the mad look in the ghost's eye, but there was something more, a glint of triumph? Suddenly a dread washed over Gemini. He turned to the corpse of the ghost who was laughing maniacally. He knelt by the corpse and pulled up the sleeve. What he made shocked him. A skull and snake.
"Oh shyte," he whispered. "Melcy... Melcy!" he started yelling. "Hels!" there was a soft pop, as another elf appeared, slightly greener than Melcy, the second serving elf. Most of the elves stayed happily in the bowls of the keep, performing whatever tasks Clare and Gemini assigned them. However, the serving elves were always alert for a call from their master and mistress.
"Yes Master?" Hels asked in a slow, heavy voice.
"Get Clare, there's another intruder, Harry's quarters." Hels eyes widen in the instant before he popped away. He too was fond of the young master and didn't want any harm to come to him. Gemini started running.
"Obsturia nullifaction." He muttered, and felt as if water was poured over his head. He neared a corner but didn't turn. He ran through the wall, remerging on the other side with a mist trailing him. He pounded down the corridor, nearing Harry's room. 'How did I miss another presence?' he thought as he ran. A small scream sounded from the end of the corridor.
"Harry!" Gemini screamed in reply, not the most tacitly sound idea, but Gemini didn't care. He reached the doorway and turned into Harry's room. He took in the scene. The large room was Harry's library. The walls where lined with book cases that Gemini had made sure contained some works of fiction, poetry and other books on the art. All arts, from martial to painting, where as Clare had insisted on philosophy, math, magically theory and runic lore. The result was that Harry never had a lack of reading material. As Gemini looked around he spotted Harry in the corner, lying on his back a nasty gash across his chest, a few feet away was a mousy looking man holding a vial of blood, his eyes alight with some maniacal glee.
Gemini steppedforward, seeing Melcy's corpse in a corner, a smoking hole in her chest.
"Demetia Inferni" Gemini said, his voice seething with hatred. The black and purple specters arose as Peter turned around.
"So Peter Pettigrew, we meet at last. I thought you were still a rat, hiding from the law."
"My Lord's power is far beyond the law! It's beyond even your might, Gemini!" Peter sneered arrogantly back.
"So what body is he inhabiting now? A squirrel? Or perhaps a weasel is more fitting?"
"How. Dare. You. Lord Voldemort will destroy you and your filthy whore."
"Torture him." Gemini hissed at his wraiths. The purple and black shades rushed forward, but Gemini knew that they wouldn't kill Peter unless he ordered it. Peter smiled smugly, and tried to apperate. He faded for an instant before being thrown to the floor.
"But I deactivated that ward!" The rat screamed.
"And I created a new one, wandlessly and silently, do you understand now? Do you comprehend who you have crossed?" Gemini ranted as the specter fell onto the hapless man, bringing forth screams. He went to Harry's side kneeling beside the boy.
"Come on lad, don't give up, okay?" Gemini whispered as he summoned forth magic. Using his wand Gemini sent forth a tendril of life giving magic. He focused, but Harry was slipping from him and there was nothing he could do, he was only prolonging the inevitable. Harry Potter, at age five, was going to die, and Gemini - the most powerful dark wizard of the age - was powerless to stop it. Clare burst into the room. She looked at Pettigrew, still screaming from the attention of Gemini's specters. Her mouth opened when she saw Harry in the corner. His chest open to the world, a tendril of light extending from Gemini's wand, sustaining the boy's life. Her lifeless skin crawled at the sight. Harry was dieing. Gemini looked, locked eyes with Clare and said in a slightly strained voice.
"Do it." Clare recoiled. How could he ask that of her? He knew her existence, what it had done to her, how could he ask her to inflict the same upon Harry?
"Do it now Clare! I cannot sustain him indefinitely, the boy demands too much power. Either save him now or condemn him to death!" Gemini shouted over Pettigrew's slowly silencing screams. Clare looked around the room. There was no other option, with Gemini's ward erected, crude and hasty as it was, the house elves couldn't enter and she couldn't apperate. There was no way she could make it to the philosopher's stone and back in time to save the boy. If Gemini was strained, then Harry was fading fast. She nodded. Tears burnt her eyes, she hadn't cried in over five decades, not since Gemini promised her. Such a show of emotion was usually beyond her. She knelt on the other side of Harry, looking up at Gemini. He smiled weakly, the color fading from his face as he struggled to maintain the life bond between him and Harry. She reached under her cloak, and found the hilt she sought after. From behind her back she drew the blade, the blade that had been part of the contract she had made long ago, the blade that formed her pact. The blade was only 3 inches long and inscribed with runes of the vampiric tongue, words so ancient that the Egyptians could not recall their birth.
"Morideth selth, sede toth anar gertia sede roc." Clare read the words out. My blood, my life to give life to you. She remembered the night she heard those words as she lay dieing, dieing for doing right. She plunged the knife into the back of her palm on her left hand. The blade went through with a hissing sound as Clare's eyes rolled back. Blood ran down the blade entering the Harry's wound. Each drop trailed a thin line of red haze, and where they landed the pooling blood boiled. Gemini withdrew his magic. Anything he did know would only hinder the process. The transformation was horrible. The stench of blood filled the room and Harry's back curved as his life was changed. Gemini refused to take his eyes off the scene. This was his fault. Before this Harry had been the equivalent of a much loved project, but now Gemini was responsible for him. He had let the rat slip under his wards. This was his fault.
Later that night Gemini sat in his library, surrounded by thousands of year's worth of knowledge, every rare tome, every book on magic, he had gathered them all. Along the shelves ranged nearly every book ever written on the subject, Gemini had one of the most complete libraries anywhere. His library bested Carthage's. It trumped all the schools of magic combined. No ministry in the world could even hope to rival his vast store of knowledge. And yet as he sat at round table in the center, cut off from the world by the tower of books around him, he was clueless. Not in any of the books (surprisingly few considering the size of his library) on the subject of pact vampires, or vampires, could he find enough information on quarter bloods. The only book that mentioned it was by Kain, entitled 'Blood Pacts of Taint.' a vampire ancient from times unremembered. It said thus:
Should a half blood sign a pact, then there shall a quarter blood form. Quarter bloods are a stain upon both the mortal and vampiric realm more so than their half blood sires. These crosses are so foul for their disability is unclear. If they should be of the magicians circle then it is possible that their magic shall be as uncontrollable as a werewolf half blood. It is advised to kill such beings on sight, for that is safer for both the parties.
It continued for several thick pages stating possible side effects of quarter blooded vampires, but always there was doubt in Gemini's mind both of the author's research and in his ability to translate the vampiric tongue. Clare was a half blood. A vampire that had been turned not by bite but by willingly sharing blood with a vampire. She had saved the Lord Narculis, an ancient vampire of two thousand years, from a slayers stake while he was poisoned with dead blood. He had been feed the blood of a long dead creature, blood that had lost all of its life. This act was not purely selfless, but Clare's motivations were her own. She had gone in search of some… information, and had ended up saving the Lord. In the process she had been mortally wounded, but being of the old ways Lord Narculis had given Clare his blood on her demand, instead of biting her. Since that day she had been exiled from both worlds, vampiric and wizarding. All for the sake of keeping her magic, even if summoning it became more difficult. The effects of a half blood where widely recorded in comparison with quarter bloods. The effect was the appearance of death, with the exception of the eyes. They do need blood but only to keep intone with their bodies. If a half blood didn't feed they lost more and more perceptions of their needs, and in the case of a witch or wizard, their magic became harder to call forth, although it was still as potent as when they where turned. The attitude towards half bloods varied with the times and the ancients in power, the currently climate was one of hostility, as it was in Kain's day. But there have been periods when half bloods were welcomed for their unique combination of wizard magic and vampiric abilities. Clare fed often, but even then it was always just a little harder for her to perceive magic than for Gemini and as the months wore on she became less and less aware of it.
Half bloods were easy to find out about, but it was the quarter bloods that made him hang his head in despair. Harry was now an almost unrecorded event and the only reference he had advised him to kill the boy. He wouldn't, it was his fault that Harry was injured, he was now responsible. His only hope - it appeared - was to continue his research into vampiric blood. If he could understand how it worked he could possibly create a way to purify blood into a longer lasting, more potent draft that would reduce the side effects of vampirism and lengthen the time needed between feedings. If he succeeded, Clare, and Harry now, could lead a normal life without the need to feed every month, or suffer the side effects.
It was at this time that a headmaster sitting in his office tapped a piece of parchment and said.
"Gemini Francis."
Gemini felt a warm feeling inside his cloak, from the hidden pocket he remove a piece of parchment that he had kept with him for three years now. Of all the times for Dumbledore to get smart, this was the least opportune. Muttering darkly he tapped the parchment, and found himself looking into the face of Albus Dumbledore.