Harry Potter and the Son of the Dragon:

I do not own Harry Potter. He and the world in which he lives are the property of J.K Rowling.

Neither do I claim to own all of my ideas concerning Vampires in this story. They have been drawn from a number of sources. But I like to think I merged them in my own way.

Notes on Spells created to date:

Defendo Contago – Shield of Protection

Iustitia Caedo – Justice and Death

Atrum Amiculum – Cloak of Darkness

Pulsum Atrum – Banish Darkness

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With a loud crack Albus Dumbledore apparated into the middle of Privet drive and into a scene of total chaos.

Looking around he could see teams of Auror's combing the area. Questioning muggles and performing magic detection charms.

Muggle's lined the streets staring curiously at the oddly dressed men and women that were walking around behaving bizarrely. Squads of Obliviators moved around casting memory charms and gently ushering the Muggles back inside. They would have their work cut out for them tonight. Sighing wearily Dumbledore made his way towards No. 4 Privet drive.

He had been in his office at Hogwart's when Tonk's head had suddenly appeared in the fire. Tonk's had arrived at Privet drive to take over her shift at guarding Harry from Mundungus Fletcher. At first nothing had seemed wrong until Tonk's tried to locate Harry. When Dung had replied that he was in his room when he plainly was not Tonks had started to realize that something was dreadfully wrong.

Casting the counter curse to break the Imperius on Dung, Tonks had barely waited for him to gather his wits before running for Mr's Figg's to contact Dumbledore. As she ran she had yelled to Dung to call for help before pounding on Mr's Figg's door. Scaring the cat loving old woman nearly out of her wits.

In retrospect this may not have been the best thing to do. Horrified that he had left his charge in harms way Mundungus had gone not to the Order of the Phoenix, but to the Auror's at the ministry of Magic. To be fair he had reasoned that the more help that came the better. Unfortunately he had arrived there just as Cornelius Fudge was visiting the department. When he overheard what had happened, Fudge desperate to repair the beating his public image had taken since the affair at the Ministry of Magic and the news of Voldemort's return, he had immediately ordered as many Auror's as possible to report to Privet drive to save Harry Potter. The result was the current mess Dumbledore saw before him.

Swiftly he walked up the street to No.4. Another unpleasant scene greeted his eyes.

Remus Lupin was seated on the ground in front of the house, guarded by two Auror's. Neither of which were personally known to Dumbledore.

"I am Albus Dumbledore headmaster of Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. If you are holding that man because he is a werewolf then you may release him. He is known to me and I can vouch for him."

The senior of the two Aurors answered him.

"We know he is a werewolf Professor. That is not why we are guarding him. Auror Moody gave us orders to watch him and guard him until you arrived."

This surprised Dumbledore.

"Why did Alestor order you to keep Remus restrained?"

Remus lifted his head and looked at Dumbledore for the first time. His eyes looked tired, resigned. But as he started to speak Dumbledore could see a stark of anger ignite.

"Do you know what those idiot muggle's did Dumbledore? They sent Harry out to a store when it was almost dark! They may as well have given him to Voldemort!"

Then Remus broke down again. He hugged his knees as deep sobs wreaked his body.

The senior auror once again spoke. "Auror Moody and Mr Lupin were two of the first on the scene after Fletcher came to us with the warning. They arrived together and started to question the Dursley's about Mr Potters whereabouts. When he heard Mr Dursley say that he had sent Mr Potter out shopping at night Lupin just went nuts. He started shouting and waving his wand. He seemed to be about to attack the Dursley's. Auror Moody restrained him with a full body bind and ordered us to hold him until you got here.

Dumbledore looked at Remus with disbelief, but the werewolf was still staring at the ground.

"What about the Dursley's?"

"Auror Moody questioned them. Gathered all the information they had about what had happened and then set off to find Mr Potter with the rest of the Aurors. The Obliviators just finished obliviating the Dursley's."

At this Dumbledore sighed. He would have preferred to have questioned the Dursley's himself but that was now impossible. Nothing could reverse an obliviation charm.

"Where did Alestor go?"

"They found some substantial dark magic residues in a park nearby. We'll take you there now."

The senior Auror then set off down the street. Dumbledore waited for Lupin to get up, and then followed him. As they walked Dumbledore turned to Lupin.

"Remus what happened? I know that Harry's relatives are not the most pleasant of people, particularly towards our kind. But what possessed you to try to attack them like that?"

Remus sighed before replying.

"I'm sorry Albus, I know what I did was wrong. But Albus you didn't see the looks on their faces. After they told us they had sent him out I asked them if they didn't know how dangerous that was. That Harry could have been hurt of killed, and they laughed Dumbledore! That fat pig of a man laughed and said "Good, maybe they would finally be left in peace with no more of this freakishness." When they said that I finally saw just how much he despised Harry. How glad he would be if he was gone. And I just snapped. I saw red. It was like I was suddenly under the influence of the moon. After that the next thing I remember is waking up with the Aurors guarding me until you arrived."

"I see" replied Dumbledore.

Although his face remained expressionless for the rest of the journey his mind was deeply troubled. He had known when he sent Harry to live with the Dursley's that he was taking a risk given their hatred of magic. But he had never dreamed that that hatred could be passed on so unthinkingly to an innocent young boy. In the magic world children were considered precious. They represented the next generation. The proof that magic was still strong. From his observations he knew that this was also generally true in the muggle world, but for different reasons. He had never expected that the Dursley's would treat Harry so badly as to not care when he was missing possibly dead. But looking back now, he should have expected it. It fit in well with their other actions over the years.

Dumbledore sighed. He had originally placed Harry with the Dursley's because of the special protection the blood wards offered and because he had truly believed that Harry would grow up better for being isolated from the magical world. Now he was wondering if once again he had made a dreadful mistake. By trying to protect Harry he had left him open and vulnerable to another form of attack. He could only pray that Harry had the strength to survive it.

Then suddenly they arrived at the park.

Although it was dark the park was lit up almost as bright as day. Glowing orbs of magical light hovered over the ground revealing the activities of the wizards below. Groups of wizards could be seen clustering around strange markings, runes which had been drawn on the ground.

As they entered the park one figure suddenly looked up. It spoke sharply to the other figures around it before moving towards them with a limping gait. Dumbledore hurried forward to greet the approaching figure of Mad Eye Moody.

"Dumbledore" said Moody, his magical eye focusing for a moment on the headmaster before it resumed the random spinning motion that people found so disconcerting.

"I'm glad your finally here, we need you help."

"Alestor, of course I would be pleased to help but first please tell me what you have found so far.

Moody nodded. "Well after that little bit of unpleasantness with Lupin" at this he shot Remus a significant glance.

"I questioned the Dursley's a bit more through. The questioning didn't reveal anything further so I tried a number of magic detection charms on them. I detected a strange variation of the Imperius curse on Dorsey. The curse was somehow linked to some kind on delaying spell. I have no idea how, but from the magic signature I'm almost certain who the caster was."

At this Moody shot a significant look at Dumbledore who responded in resigned tone of voice. "Voldemort."

Moody ignored the grasps of the Aurors around him as he continued.

"Got it in one. He must have cursed the Dursley while they were out of the house. Once they were back inside the curse activated. Making Dursley send Harry on that false errand."

At this Remus broke in suddenly. "But why didn't the wards around Privet drive prevent the curse. They were supposed to protect Harry from harm?"

Dumbledore signed deeply. "Remus the wards are designed to protect Harry from harmful magic's or from harmful intent, but they have limits. I am guessing that since there was nothing obviously harmful in Vernon Dursley's request the wards saw no reason to prevent Harry from leaving."

"But what about the Imperious curse? Why did the wards allow it to take effect inside the house?"

Dumbledore looked thoughtful. "It may be that the wards could not stop it as it had been cast on Mr Dursley before he passed through them. I am uncertain. But that is not important right now. What is important is that Voldemort has once again displayed his cunning and that Harry Potter might be in great danger. We need to find him. Alestor have you had any luck locating him?"

Moody shook his head. "Very little. After we finished with the Dursley's I checked Potters room to see if there were any clues there. There was nothing. But I ordered Tonk's to gather up his things and move them to Grimmauld Place." Moody said looking at Dumbledore. "I assumed that once we find him we are going to move him there for safety."

Dumbledore nodded and Moody appeared to take this as a sign to continue.

"After that I gathered the Aurors and Order members that had arrived so far and got them started searching for Potter. We started by heading towards the shop that Dursley said he had sent him to but that turned out to be a dead end. No trace whatsoever. Then Simmons, one of the Aurors found something in this park. We've been combing the area ever since."

"Yes" said Dumbledore, "one of the Aurors mentioned that you had picked up indications of Dark Magic in the Area."

At this Moody laughed harshly. "Signs! This place is bloody soaked in dark magic Dumbledore. It feels like somebody fought a war here and that's not all. We picked up a faint trace of scouring charms. Somebody obviously tried to conceal whatever happened here but they must have been in a hurry or an incompetent because they did a sloppy job. There are pools of blood all over the park. And its all been recently shed."

"Yes" said Lupin a peculiar note in his voice. His eyes were closed and he had his nose pointed in the air sniffing deeply. "I couldn't make it out until you mentioned it but now I can smell them. Blood, lots of it and none of it more than an hour old."

The aurors and the order wizards looked uncomfortable at this obvious reference too Lupin's lycanthropic abilities. They started when Lupin's eyes suddenly flew open and he started moving quickly threw the park.

The two aurors hurried after him, Dumbledore and Moody close behind. The Aurors called after Lupin to stop and were quite surprised when he did so. Falling to his knees and pressing his face against the earth breathing in deeply.

"He was here." Said Remus "Harry was here!"

"Remus are you sure?"

"I can smell his blood Dumbledore." Cried Lupin in anguish. "He was here and he was wounded, badly wounded by the quantity of blood I can smell!"

"Yes that what we figured" said Moody. Lupin and Dumbledore looked at him in surprise. "Well it's pretty obvious that this was the place that the DeathEater's ambushed Potter given the amount of Dark Magic around here but that's part of the problem."

"What do you mean Alestor?" Asked Dumbledore

Moody waved his hand in a circling motion at the park around them. "The sheer amount of Dark magic that was cast is making it hard to make out the individual spells. That and the fact that someone attempted to eliminate the traces. Fortunately they didn't do a good job as I said so it shouldn't be a problem. But there's something else."

"What else?" asked Dumbledore a definite note of curiosity in his voice. Alestor Moody was one of the most experienced Hunters of Dark wizards in the magical world. He had more experience even that Dumbledore himself. For him to be having difficulty detecting dark magic was unusual to say the least.

"That's just it Dumbledore, I'm not sure. We seem to be picking up more spells. But while they are definitely dark, they're like nothing we are familiar with and they are throwing off our readings. We can't get a clear impression of what was cast. That's why I was so glad when you showed up. I have a spell in mind that might solve the problem, but you're the only one I know who might be able to cast it on such short notice."

"Revealise Dejaview?" asked Dumbledore with a questioning tone.

Moody nodded. "Exactly."

Remus looked at them curiously. "What is Revealise Dejaview?"

"It's a charm I invented some time ago." Replied Dumbledore. "I was trying to create a charm that would allow me to see events that had occurred in the past. It worked but it was very limited. It is only able to recreate events that have occurred at the site the spell is cast, and it can only show events of a few hours in the past. However it may be well suited for our current purposes. Alestor have you prepared the runes?"

Moody waved his arm at the activity of the Aurors and Order members around the park. "The runes should have been finished by now, they were just completing the final one as you arrived."

"Excellent" replied Dumbledore. "Then let us proceed we have no time to lose."

That said Dumbledore marching through the park into the center of the area where the runes had been drawn. Moody yelled instructions and the other wizards quickly vacated the circle leaving Dumbledore standing alone. For a moment he just stood there. Then he raised his arms and began to chant.

Remus leaned forward but despite his better than human hearing he was still unable to make out what Dumbledore was saying. He started to move forward trying to hear but an arm shot out and stopped him.

"Don't enter the circle laddie. Otherwise all our work will have been for nothing."

Lupin nodded and quickly moved back. He did not want to do anything that would risk their chances of finding Harry.

Then suddenly Dumbledore's chanting stopped. The runes around him started to glow with a dull blue light. Then slowly the light began to fade away, like it was soaking into the ground. For a moment nothing happened.

Then a light blue aura appeared to surround Dumbledore. He looked around blinking and then started to stare at something. Lupin was about to question him when he once again felt Moody's arm on his shoulder, urging him to be silent.

So Lupin watched his anxiety slowly rising as Dumbledore stared around the park at sights that only he could see. Finally the spell seemed to finish. The blue aura disappeared. Dumbledore seemed to sag for a moment as if desperately tired. Then he raised his head and looked at Moody.

"Alestor please tell the Aurors to disperse. We will not be able to pick up any trail of where Harry has gone from here. Please tell the Order members to return to headquarters, we will meet them there shortly. Remus please come with me."

Nodding Moody turned to speak to the Aurors and Order members. Remus impatiently followed Dumbledore, by now almost frantic for some answers.

Dumbledore walked until them were standing before a brick wall. The rear wall of someone's house. As he watched Dumbledore ran a hand down the wall, muttering to himself as he did so.

"Yes, yes. Faint but unmistakable."

Finally Remus decided to interrupt his ramblings.

"Professor, what did you see? Is Harry alright? Did the DeathEater's get him?"

Dumbledore raised his arm. "Remus please. I know that you are impatient for the answers but I ask that you wait until Alestor joins us. Then I will tell you what I saw."

Remus shot the old man a dark look for a moment then nodded his head in compliance. Dumbledore nodded in return and then went back to inspecting the wall. It was fortunate that it was only a few minutes later that Mad Eye Moody rejoined them.

"All right." Said the old Auror. "I've sent the Aurors and order members away and put up a privacy charm. No what did you see that was so important that you didn't want any of the others to overhear Dumbledore?"

Remus jerked his head and looked at Dumbledore in surprise. The old headmaster nodded and started to speak.

"Yes Alestor you are correct in your assumption that I did not want others to overhear. Let me tell you what I saw. Harry entered the park. Soon afterwards he was ambushed by Death Eaters. He attempted to run but then had encircled the park leaving no avenue for escape. For a while Harry was able to cast a ward to defend himself, but eventually the Death Eaters were able to break through."

"A ward!" Interjected Lupin surprised. "How was he able to do that? That's very advanced magic, far above anything Harry should have learned so far."

Dumbledore blinked at the interruption before answering. "At the beginning of the summer break Harry asked me for some additional reading for defense against the dark arts. I sent him some of my early spellbooks. But I never imagined that he would be able to utilize a spell at that level so quickly. Now please Remus save your questions until I have finished."

Lupin nodded still amazed that Harry could have mastered such a complex spell so quickly. But then again he realized that he should not be. He remembered how Harry had sought to master the Patronus charm to defend against dementors. Then it had been Harry's determination to overcome his fears that had allowed him to master a spell usually years beyond him. And if anything the events last year at the department of mysteries would have given him an even greater reason to want to learn how to protect himself and those around him. Suddenly he realized that Dumbledore had started speaking again and he shifted his attention back to what the old wizard was saying.

"Bellatrix Lestrange led the DeathEaters. She bound Harry and I believe that she cast the cruiatis curse on him, but only briefly. Then Voldemort arrived."

Both Moody and Lupin looked up at this but the headmaster calmly continued.

"For a while Voldemort spoke to Harry. What he said I cannot say, the charm only allows me to view events that have occurred not hear what was said. But I believe that he intended to kill Harry. Voldemort had his wand pointed at Harry and was part of the way through casting a spell when something else happened. Another spell came out of nowhere and struck Voldemort, knocking him into the woods. Soon after I saw the death eaters stumbling around confused as if something was affecting their vision. And in the middle of the confusion I saw a figure attacking the DeathEater's. I believe it was the same figure that cast the spell at Voldemort, but it did not attack the DeathEater's with spells. Instead it attacked them with a variety of muggle weaponry. Guns, swords and even.." here Dumbledore paused as if reluctant to continue, but finally did so. "His teeth."

Lupin and Moody's eyes widened in shock at this statement. But before they had a chance to question Dumbledore continued.

"The figure managed to kill over half the Death Eaters present before Voldemort reemerged. As soon as he did so the figure moved straight to attack Voldemort. Voldemort was ready for him and a charm to imprison it in midair. I believe that Voldemort and Lestrange then tried to torture the figure for information. Then suddenly Voldemort was disarmed. How I did not see. The figure immediately tried to continue its attack but Voldemort apparated to safety. The figure then stayed only long enough to disarm Lestrange, literally, grab Harry and then disappear through this wall."

Lupin and Moody started at Dumbledore for a second stunned by what they had just heard. Finally Lupin spoke.

"Headmaster. Do you mean to tell me that this figure attacked both Voldemort and a group of Death Eater's? Killed the majority of the DeathEater's, drove off Voldemort and then rescued Harry?"

"Basically Remus. Although I would wait to say whether or not Harry has been rescued."

"What do you mean?" Asked Remus confused. This man attacked Voldemort and his DeathEater's and saved Harry. Surely he must be on our side."

A harsh laugh from Moody interrupted him.

"Given what this figure was Lupin, what makes you think he's on our side?"

Remus looked at Moody confused.

The gnarled old Wizard shot him a look of impatience.

"By Merlins Beard boy, you were a defense against the darks arts teacher for a year. Don't tell me you've forgotten the basics. What type of creature commonly uses's weapons. Has been known to successfully attack large numbers of wizards and also uses its teeth as a weapon?"

Lupin stood for a few moments, his mind working furiously. Then his face began to pale as the implications of what Moody has said sank in.

"No! Its not possible!" he cried turning to Dumbledore in horror.

Dumbledore looked at him with a tired expression.

"Yes Remus." He said quietly. "It appears that the one who attacked the death eaters and took away Harry was indeed a Vampire."

"But Headmaster you said that the figure used magic to attack Voldemort. That he disappeared through a wall. Vampires cannot perform magic!"

Once again Dumbledore sighed deeply and turned away from Remus. A troubled look on his face.

"It is true Remus that just as most humans do not have the ability to use magic. Neither do the majority of Vampires. But the few that can are amongst the most dangerous of their race. And if my suspicions of the one that took Harry are true." Said Dumbledore as he turned to face the wall, "as I believe they are. Then Harry may be in just as much danger, if not more, than if he were still in Voldemort's hands."

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Harry Potter tossed and turned in his sleep. For the last several weeks his dreams had been uninterrupted. Something he would later realize was simply an effort by Voldemort to lull him into a false sense of security, so that the Dark Lord could spring his trap.

But tonight Voldemort was in a rage greater than anything Harry could remember feeling.

The room was in a cave, but no ordinary cave. Long wooden bookshelves lined the walls. Here and there were tables covered with skulls, jars containing strange creatures and unidentified potions. One wall was dominated by a large fireplace decorated with stone serpent. The fire that burned within flickered against the shinning green stone of the walls. A number of figures in black robes and white masks huddled in the center of the room and it was to them that Voldemort's attention now turned.

"Wormtail! Report.." A short portly figure cowered and removed his mask. The man revealed was almost entirely unremarkable, with the exception that one of his hands was made out of shinning silver.

"Master" the figure whimpered. "I went to the park as you instructed. I cleansed all traces of conflict and removed the bodies of the fallen DeathEater's."

"And my wand Wormtail?" said Voldemort in a dangerously calm tone.

The short man whimpered even louder and crawled forward on his hands and knees.

"Master, please. I searched and searched. I did my best. I tried my hardest, but your wand was not there. Please master! I tried."

"I am sure that you did Wormtail" said Voldemort softly. At this the figure looked up hopefully. "But I do not tolerate failure." Rasped Voldemort as he lifted a wand from within his robe and spoke in a hard deadly tone. "Crusio!"

The screams of the short man echoed around the room as he writhed on the floor.

The other figures remained motionless. Expressionless behind their masks.

Finally after several moments Voldemort finished with Wormtail and turned his attention to another DeathEater.

"Barrington what is the status of Bella."

The named DeathEater bowed and then began to speak without removing his mask.

"My lord. I attempted to reattach LaStrange's severed arm but the wound appear to resist all efforts at healing. What is more when I attempted to use magic the wounds suddenly turned dark and started to rot. I have tried all the means I know of to prevent the infection, but it appears that the more magic I use the faster the rot spreads. I have ceased my attempts for the moment, lest I cause further damage."

The DeathEater huddled close to the ground, obviously expecting to be punished for this failure. However Voldemort did not feel angry. Instead Harry could sense surprise, curiosity, and a faint memory. Suddenly Voldemort turned back to the DeathEater

"Cease attempting to cure Bella through magical means. Physically cut away any of the infected flesh, then attempt to cure the wounds with non magical means."

The DeathEater's body language radiated his surprise, but he quickly gained control of himself and bowed low. "As you command my Lord."

Satisfied Voldemort turned to face another cloaked and hooded figure. Unlike the others this one knelt alone in a corner of the room.

"Now you." Voldemort hissed. The anger in that voice caused the DeathEater's to huddle in fear, but the solitary figure remained impassive.

"You and your clan swore your lives to me. You gave me your allegiance. How then do you explain that one of you attacked me and my DeathEater's?"

The figure replied in a calm and cultured voice.

"We did not my Lord. Last night all of the clan were gathered here as per your orders. All of us were accounted for."

"That is impossible" hissed Voldemort. "I know what I saw. It was a vampire. If all of your clan were accounted for then how do you explain its presence?"

The figure was silent for a few moments before he spoke again. "In the clan there were rumors that our former Mistress was sometimes visited by another. One not of the clan. He would appear suddenly and leave just as quickly and it was often years or decades between his visits."

Voldemort strode over to the figure. Standing over it he raised the wand to point threateningly at its head.

"Why did you not mention this before?"

The figure raised its head to reply.

"Because my lord the rumors were never believed, because it was also whispered that the figure that visited our former mistress was also a hunter."

As the figure finished speaking Harry felt himself being drawn away. But before he left he got a good look at the figures face, and at its blood red eyes.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Harry Potter blinked his eyes as he slowly woke up. Automatically reaching out to pick up his glasses from the bedside table. His confusion at the images he had seen in the vision was quickly replaced by another form of confusion as he found himself in a completely unfamiliar room.

He was lying in a low bed wedged into a corner of the room. The bed was covered with blankets and thick furs. One wall of the room held a plain stone fireplace. He could see embers burning within. The other walls were covered with bookshelves that contained leather bound books. Apart from these the room was sparsely decorated with only two large armchairs, a small table and a rug on the floor. And on the rug.

Harry looked again and quickly blinked his eyes convinced that he was seeing things. But when he looked again it was still there. Lying stretched out on the rug before the fire was an enormous grey wolf. Harry just sat there staring totally surprised. He was still trying to determine what to do when the wolf suddenly raised its head and looked at him.

Seeing that Harry was awake the Wolf immediately got to its feet and shook itself. Then it started to move towards Harry. Harry pushed himself into the corner of the bed, trying to keep as much distance between himself and the potentially dangerous animal as possible. But the Wolf only sniffed at him for a moment and then trotted towards the door. A moment later Harry was once again very surprised to see the wolf jump up and push down on the door handle letting itself out of the room.

Harry blinked at this for a moment, and then went back to taking stock of the room around him. It was then that he noticed the bandage on his arm for the first time. His entire wand arm from his wrist to his elbow was completely covered by a thick white bandage. Harry stared down at it confused, wondering what had happened. And then in a sudden torrent it all came back to him.

The ambush by the DeathEater's. Voldemort. The attack by vampire and his subsequent rescue by that same vampire.

"But why" said Harry out loud. "Why did he save my life?"

"Because you saved mine Harry Potter."

Harry's head jerked up in surprise. Standing in the doorway was the Vampire. He did not look the same as the first time Harry had seen him. Blood no longer coated his face and the figure was now wearing a blood red shirt and a pair of red dress pants. The fangs were also no longer visible. But for all that it was unmistakably the same figure.

"I trust you are feeling recovered from your injuries now?"

"Yes Sir." The sir was automatic. Harry did not normally have a great deal of respect for authority figures. Probably due to his excessive exposure to professors and ministry officials. But the sir came automatically out of his mouth. He had seen what this vampire was capable of.

The vampire smiled at his reaction and moved towards the fire. Taking a poker from a rack nearby he began to stir the ashes. Then with his back still turned he started to speak.

"In answer to your question Mr Potter, as I have said I saved your life because you saved mine. In the society in which I live such debts are taken seriously, particularly where they concern a mortal like yourself saving the life. If another vampire had saved my life I would be obligated to either do that vampire a significant favor or save their life in turn. However as you are a mortal my obligation is even more."

Now the vampire turned to face him and Harry once again found himself the focus of those blood red eyes.

"You, a mortal saved the life of a vampire. A being that is very nearly immortal. Because of this my debt to you is much greater than it would normally be. I am now honor bound to watch over and guard you for the rest of your natural life."

"What!" Harry could not stop himself from expressing his shock at what he had heard. He could appreciate that the vampire might feel obligated to repay a debt to him after he helped it against Voldemort but he had never expected anything like this. Moreover he had never heard of anything like this. Everything he had heard about vampires at Hogwarts suggested that they were extremely Dark creatures. Creatures who paid no attention to the laws of Wizards or Muggle's but lived only to satisfy their hunger for living blood. Nothing he had heard about them suggested that they had a sense of honor. Or that they could be trusted.

He realized that the Vampire was staring at him and struggled to come up with something to say.

"Thank you ah Sir, but I'm not sure how you are going to be able to do that. And Uhh."

"And you don't know if you can trust a Dark creature like a vampire." Said the vampire.

Harry gulped. "I didn't say that."

"No but you were thinking it." The vampire sounded amused as he turned one of the armchairs to face Harry and settled himself into it.

"A word of advice Mr Potter. Always guard your thoughts when you are around a vampire. Many of us have the power to read thoughts simply by looking into someone's eyes.

Harry gasped stared at the vampire in shock. Then realizing what he was doing he dropped his gaze. He could hear the vampire's soft laughter at this.

"I wish I could tell you that your fears concerning my kind are unfounded. But unfortunately they are very valid. Most of my kind would have felt absolutely no obligation toward you. In fact they would have cheerfully fed from you and killed you even if you had saved their lives. However as I said the society in which I exist has very strict rules of honor and obligation. Those rules bind me to protect you. However there is a problem."

Harry who had started to relax as the vampire spoke now tensed up again. When he looked up he could see the vampire staring straight at him and his blood red eyes were very cold.

His throat suddenly dry Harry coughed and asked "A Problem."

"Yes. Before you saved my life I had sworn another vow. One that I must keep. Luckily that vow and my duty to protect you are not mutually exclusive."

"What was the vow that you made?"

"That I would see Voldemort dead." The vampire spat the dark lord's name like a curse.

"I had thought that I had already fulfilled that requirement. I attacked Voldemort with the most powerful killing curse I knew. One that can kill even vampires. But it failed to kill him. What do you suppose that was Harry Potter?"

Harry shrank back into the corner of his bed at the intensity of the Vampires gaze. He could see the anger and bloodlust in that gaze. Anger and bloodlust that was just barely held in check by iron self discipline.

"I.. I don't know."

Suddenly the vampire moved. One second he was sitting in the chair. The next minute he was leaning over the bed on which Harry sat. Up close Harry could see the blue veins under the white white skin. Could see the slightly elongated canines in the vampire's teeth.

"Oh I think you do." Said the vampire in a tone that although it was soft somehow conveyed a sense of menace and steel.

"Know this Harry Potter. Before I set off on my hunt for Voldemort I preyed to the Lord of Murder for guidance. I asked him to tell me what I needed to know to fulfill my vow. The Lord answered me, in the bloody chalice I was rewarded with a vision of you. A vision of you. That appeared to make sense. Your conflict with Voldemort is well known. I thought it was telling me that if I followed you sooner or later Voldemort would come along. And so he did."

Harry could only gape in surprise. "You followed me."

The vampire nodded. "For the entire summer I have been watching your house. Watching those foolish wizards as the tried to guard you. But finally my patience was rewarded. Voldemort came, and while he was focused on you I was able to cast a spell at him that should have killed any living or undead creature. Yet it failed to do so and I think you know why."

"But I don't. I don't even know what kind of curse you used on him. How would I be able to tell why it failed?"

"The chalice of Blood does not lie Potter. Somehow you are the key to killing Voldemort and I need to know how. Now will you tell me?"

Harry thought for a moment. The prophecy. The Vampire must be referring to the damn prophecy again. But he could not tell him about that. No one could be told lest Voldemort also find out.

Struggling to keep his eyes from the vampires Harry tried to come up with a convincing lie.

"I'm sorry but I don't urk…"

He shouldn't have bothered. As soon as he started speaking the vampire grabbed his mouth in one hand and his shoulder in the other and pinned him to the wall.

"Unfortunate. I regret the necessity of doing this Harry Potter but you leave me with no choice. I must find the means to fulfill my vow before I can satisfy my obligation to you."

With that the vampire opened his mouth wide. Harry could see the fangs in his mouth elongating to the size they had been during the battle. Then the vampire started to lower his head towards Harry's exposed neck.

Harry struggled but it did no good. The vampires grip was like a steel vice. He could not loosen it. Then suddenly he felt the sharp pain of the fangs as they pierced his neck.

For a moment he could feel nothing but the pain of the fangs and the feel of his blood rushing in his body.

Then he felt something else. In the back of his mind he could feel something building. The pressure kept mounting and mounting until suddenly like a bursting dam it poured out.

In his mind Harry could briefly hear the vampire call out. "What! How?" before they were both swept away in a tide of memories.

………………………………………………………………………………………….

End of Chapter 2.

In the next chapter:

Harry and the Vampire experience a torrent of memories.

Secrets are shared and an offer is made that could end up either Saving or Damning the wizarding world.

My thanks to those that reviewed this fic last time.

Hn

And

Crazy-lil-nae-nae

This chapter and the next few will be a little slow but the action will pick up again.