This is one of the quickest updates I've done so far so I'd like to thank

SseverusSnapeGirl5690,

Fabrielle

and

queen of death and vampires

For managing to review so quickly. I hope you enjoy it! X X

Chapter Eight

They all stared Harry for a moment who squirmed under the gazes of the two DADA teachers

'Were you planning to do anything about all that blood?' Sirius asked amazed at the foolishness of his Godson

'I didn't think it was that bad' Harry answered honestly 'I've been injured before and they've healed on their own'

Sirius reached to Harry's arm and tore the dark sleeve away from his arm, the material was wet with blood, and its colour had helped conceal Harry's injury. The damage underneath looked terrible, the wound was streaming blood and pus down Harry's arm

Everyone gazed at it shocked, Harry shrugged and said 'I've had worse'

This announcement brought looks of incredulity.

'What?' he asked

'Harry this is infected!' Lupin answered 'it's looks bad too, you need to go to the Hospital Wing'

Harry yanked his arm back and stepped backwards away from the group 'Hell No!' he replied coolly 'I'm not going anywhere near any hospital, not a chance in hell would get me there'

'Harry there is no option here' Sirius said calmly 'you need to get that seen to'

-

While they were having this conversation Hermione was staring avidly at Harry's arm, not at the blood but at the inscription visible underneath. It was definitely writing of some kind in a type of runes, Hermione tried to commit the swirling pattern to memory before she forgot it, it definitely warranted a closer inspection and some searching in the library

-

'You're going to the Hospital Wing' Sirius said with obvious finality

'Make me' replied Harry looking Sirius straight in the eyes

'Just watch me' answered Sirius

'Were concerned Harry' Lupin joined 'Sirius is right, that has to be looked at, before it gets worse'

'I don't like Hospitals' Harry said sincerely

Flashback- 11 years ago

Harry hunched down in the hospital bed trying to avoid being seen, by the nurses. They were awful, they put Harry in cold baths to wash away the 'dirt' of his experience, the matron said it built character as he had no-one to build it for him.

All the other children had parents who brought them sweets and chocolate and spent all day with them, Harry was left at the end of the ward on his own.

No-one cared about him, he was just a nuisance who needed to be looked after. Most of the nurses avoided him, he was a 'broken child' one who lay silently all day and screamed all night as nightmares plagued him

When he didn't eat the food that they gave him the matron used to force it down his throat and seemed to get some satisfaction at watching him throw it all back up

To Harry hospitals were bad places, were shattered children were sent

-----------

Going to the Hospital Wing for eye drops was a far stretch to going for an actual injury

'Even if you don't like hospitals that still has to be looked at and would you rather walk into the wing or end up being carried in there' Sirius asked

Harry actually looked like he was considering the options for a moment

'Don't be daft' Lupin added, the scent of Harry's blood was strange, it was like human blood, just off slightly as if something had been added to it

'Just the Hospital Wing?' Harry looked at the two men again

Sirius gestured emphatically 'definitely just the Hospital Wing' the blood was now dripping onto the lawn staining it red

Lupin reached for Harry's arm hesitantly, when Harry didn't pull way he raised it high to try and staunch the flow

'Did this happen last night?' Sirius asked concerned

'Um yeh' Harry answered watching the blood flow, every drop hitting the floor reminded him he needed to replenish his blood, loosing this much was draining his energy even though he had only eaten the night before. Thinking back to his stock Harry realised he had only one vial left

He had to go hunting…

'Why didn't you say anything' asked Lupin

Harry shrugged (not an easy feat with his arm above his head) 'I've had to take care of myself in the past, I'm used to it'

Sirius and Lupin looked downcast at this announcement but they both shrugged it off

'Right then' Sirius said 'Hospital Wing Now!'

He gave Harry a small nudge in the direction when Harry didn't move

'I'm going don't worry' he moaned 'just slowly'

The other teachers started to make there way back to the castle

'Are you coming' Lupin asked the three Gryffindors

'I have to go to the library' Hermione said excitedly 'I'll see you later, good luck Harry' before turning and heading in the direction of the library

Ron was going pale at the sight of all the blood and every so often he would heave slightly, Neville even looked a bit sick

'Um I suddenly remembered I have to do that um… essay' Ron said pathetically heaving once more

Harry smiled at the two of them 'its ok, you don't have to stay'

'Thanks' Neville said weakly 'I would stay but… well yeh'

The two lads headed back to the castle

'See you later Harry' they both called

Sirius nudged Harry again 'come on you might as well get this over with'

'Can't wait' Harry said sarcastically

----------

As soon as they entered the Hospital Wing Madam Pomfrey jumped on them

'What happened here?' she asked briskly motioning towards a bed

Lupin and Sirius both pushed Harry this time, who didn't seem to have any intention of sitting down

'Oh come on Mr Potter' she said rushed 'sit down before you fall down'

Harry sat down apprehensively on the edge of the bed, Lupin stood to on his good arms side and Sirius stood behind him. Madam Pomfey probed the wound gently with her fingers making annoyed noises

'How did this happen' she asked

'Um…' Harry said deciding on what would most likely sound like the truth 'A talon of one of the animals in the forest caught me'

'You did this last night and yet you never said anything' she chided

'It didn't look that bad last night' Harry said dejectedly

'If we hadn't have found out' Sirius asked 'would you have come here on your own?'

'Um…' Harry said again 'maybe, if it got any worse'

They all stared at his arm

'Any worse' repeated Lupin

'You'll have to sleep here tonight' Madam Pomfrey announced leaning back 'It will take me a while to heal it and then I'll have to keep an eye on it'

'NO WAY!' Harry yelled jumping up

Sirius pushed him back down from behind with a thump

'What's so wrong with the Hospital Wing' he asked confused

'I don't like Hospitals' Harry said panicking 'I hate them! I do not want to stay in one overnight'

'If you don't stay here tonight, it could get re-infected' Madam Pomfrey reasoned 'then you'll be staying a lot longer than one night'

Harry knew when he was beaten but the sense of dread still filled him. Madam Pomfrey summoned a huge bowl of hot water she then wet a towel in it, she wrung the towel and went towards Harry's arm

Harry lurched away from her only to be pushed back by Sirius and Lupin 'It's only water' Sirius said tiredly, he was angry at himself for not being there to help Harry grow up, if he had been there then Harry probably wouldn't have to experience whatever made him fear hospitals

'I can't help it' Harry said annoyed 'I don't like being nursed'

Lupin and Sirius held Harry on the bed with light pressure, more a warning than a physical block. Madam Pomfrey began cleaning the blood and pus from his arm, Harry couldn't help but lean away slightly

After all the gore had gone the wound was clear and displayed, it still bled slightly. It was larger than Harry had initially thought, however it was still smaller than injuries he'd had before.

'A talon did this' Madam Pomfrey said sceptically

'Yeh' Harry said defensively 'it was a big talon'

She flicked her wand and a bottle spun into her hand, she uncapped it and poured some of the red liquid on Harry's arm, it smoked and hissed on contact. Harry ignored the small pain it generated keeping absolutely still. When the dose had finished smoking, the nurse poured more on his arm which also smoked. She kept doing this until the potion had no reaction when it came in contact with Harry's bicep

'Are you allergic to anything?' she asked examining his arm again 'there seems to be an allergic rash surrounding this wound'

'Not that I know of' lied Harry quickly

She looked unconvinced again but she didn't say anything, instead she summoned some bandages from a tray and bound Harry's arm tightly

'Don't use this arm tonight' she warned 'and don't get it dirty, though I don't know how you'd manage that in here'

Harry nodded smiling to himself, he knew exactly how he'd get it dirty with what he had planned tonight'

----------

Lupin and Sirius left soon after with promises to return, Neville and Ron arrived soon after they had departed peering nervously into the room

'All the blood's gone' Harry called smirking

They both smiled guiltily and walked towards Harry

'How long are you stuck here for?' Ron inquired interested

'Till tomorrow' Harry said savagely 'great or what'

'Never mind' Neville said sympathetically 'at least you're not leaking blood anymore'

'You should have seen Malfoy' laughed Ron 'he has to help Hagrid clean out dead flobberworms, all week'

Harry laughed at this, he would pay to see the expression on Draco's face when he had to do that

'We could here him shouting from the dungeons' Neville said happily 'is there anything we can get you from the dormitory?'

'Yeh' Harry said mentally thanking Neville 'can you get me some of my clothes, these are covered in blood'

'Sure' Neville said

'Anything else' Ron asked

Harry pretended to think for a moment 'could you get me the wooden box under my bed it's got some stuff I need'

Both lads nodded not in the least bit suspicious of Harry's request

----

They returned half an hour later with a bag containing a pair of jeans (with lots of rips in them) and another black top this time with a Finnish band emblazoned on the front and some black converse. They also had brought the box Harry had requested, it was about the size of an A4 sheet of paper and about 20cm's deep

'Here you go' Ron said offloading the stuff on Harry's bed 'the stuff you asked for'

'We have to go though' Neville said wistfully, he wanted to stay and talk to Harry the homework he had mounting in his bag did not enthuse him 'homework'

'Maybe we can get Hermione to help us' Ron said unconvincingly

'Yeh' Neville scoffed 'and I'm Snape favourite pupil'

'What homework is it?' Harry asked generally interested, he had finished all his essays. He had found them easy compared to some of the work he's had to do in Hanskida

'Transfiguration' Neville said miserably 'I should have paid more attention in class, I haven't got a clue what the process is for turning dragons into ghouls'

'Do you want to see my essay' offered Harry 'I finished that homework yesterday'

'Please' Ron said slightly desperately 'if I don't get this done I won't have time to finish Snape's essay on the Kinsell potion'

Harry picked up the box and opened it with a key around his neck, inside was all his homework, he pulled out a long assay near the top and passed it to Ron

'Cheers' Neville said looking relieved 'I didn't know what we were going to do!'

Ron looked at Harry for a moment before asking 'I heard you went to the forest last night'

'Yeh' Harry answered 'have you been in there, I really want to go back, the range of animals in there was phenomenal'

'You want to go back!' Ron said shocked 'Not a chance in hell would get me back there'

'When did you go?' Harry asked genuinely interested

'In the first year Hermione and I went in and found Voldemort' Neville said shivering

'Second year Hagrid sent us in to follow the spiders' Ron shuddered visibly

'What happened?' Harry asked leaning forward

'We were attacked by giant spiders! Never again!' Ron juddered

-

They left soon after, off to do the homework they had forgotten. When they had left Harry changed into the clothes they had brought leaving off the shoes, he balled the bloody clothes up and shoved them into the laundry basket hastily. Madam Pomfrey was in her office sorting through lists of pupils

Harry sat cross legged on the bed and stared out of the window watching Hagrid as he fed a hippogriff with a dead rodent hanging off his arm. His eyes were stinging again in the bright light of the Hospital the eye drops were ok but he still got had headaches everyday with varying severity. Harry sighed and searched through the box, he took all the homework out and set it on the bed

Pressing a small button in the corner of the box released the false base of the box, below was a collection of empty blood vials and a book on vampires, the corners of the book was dog-eared and obviously well used. Opening it Harry searched the content page, it was a magical book which updated itself regularly as things changed in the vampire community. Harry turned to the obituaries and looked for recently killed, the names of three vampires stood at the top of the list, next to them was information

Vampire- Kasand,

Age- 89

Number of Victims -308

Killed- by the blood Slayer

Method of murder- decapitation

Previous escapades- recently joined in the vampire crusades of the third world…

Harry settled back for a good read

----

Late that afternoon sounds cam e from the closed door of the Hospital Wing, Harry shoved the book under his pillow and watched the doors closely

Sirius came through them balancing a tray, on top of which were two mugs. The smell of chocolate hit Harry's nose and he smiled at Sirius

'Hi Harry I thought you might be lonely after your isolated dinner'

Harry thought back to the meal he had vanished with a flick of his wrist 'yeh it was a bit boring' he replied

Sirius perched on the end of his bed and passed him a mug, the heat warmed Harry's cold hands sipping it gently he savoured the chocolaty taste as the liquid ran down his throat

'Thanks' Harry said gratefully 'I haven't had hot chocolate in ages'

'No one makes it like the house elves do' Sirius smiled and swallowed some of his own drink 'of all the things I missed in Azkaban this was top of the list'

'It's really good' agreed Harry, it seemed to him like he was actually getting to know Sirius, one thing he hadn't expect to gain in Britain was a Godfather

'Thanks for earlier' Harry said hesitantly

'For what' Sirius asked confused

'For you and Lupin making sure I was ok' supplied Harry 'I may not have seemed grateful, but I was'

'Harry I would never have done anything but help you' Sirius said honestly 'I owe it to you, and I promised James. I may have failed James but I don't intend to fail you'

Harry nodded at this announcement, emotions swirled inside him he didn't know how to express his gratitude to Sirius

'Is everything ok at home?' Sirius asked tentatively

'I don't have a home as such but I have a kind of surrogate family' Harry admitted 'but no not everything is ok there'

'You don't mind me asking what' Sirius enquired

Harry shook his head 'Rhys had a daughter who was two years older than me called Alyssa'

'Rhys was the one who was killed?' Sirius asked

'Yeh' Harry answered 'Llys and I were more like brother and sister than anything else. The woman who sent me that message was her aunt, Ivy-her aunt works for the Finnish government, she's in charge of finding dark wizards'

'What did she mean when she said that they weren't safe' Sirius asked interested

'The dark wizards must have found our house' Harry said without emotion (in fact it was vampires his aunt tracked, and it would have been vampires attacking the house, not wizards)

'I'm sorry' Sirius said softly 'will she be alright?'

'Oh yeh' Harry admitted 'we have plenty of safe houses, she's more worried at the fact Alyssa is out of contact' (been captured)

Harry thought about Ivy, she was in charge of the Vampire Assassins. She had probably already organised all of the assassins into another location and already started the children back on training. They had had to move twice last year under threat of discovery

'Will she be in danger?'

'People will be looking for her' Harry responded trying to change the subject 'What's it like teaching?'

'Strange' laughed Sirius 'I was always in trouble at school and to have to punish students I'd rather be applauding just makes it odder'

Harry laughed at this as well 'Lupin makes a good teacher' he said 'for a werewolf it must be hard'

Sirius jerked back at this 'how did you…?' he stuttered

'Relax' Harry smiled 'Ivy's a werewolf, I know the signs' Harry decided not to mention he had smelt wolf on Lupin

'Lupin manages' Sirius said eventually 'it saves me telling you he's a wolf I suppose'

'I thought werewolf's couldn't work in schools' Harry said puzzled

'Its not illegal' Sirius said trying to work out the explanation for Harry, the lad had accepted Remus's two-natured side as if it was an everyday occurrence 'Moony takes wolfsbane every full moons he's harmless also its illegal to discriminate against someone with a…'

'Furry problem' supplied Harry

'That's exactly what Prongs called it' laughed a voice from the door

Sirius and Harry both swung round to see Lupin 'Prongs?' Harry said raising an eyebrow

'Your Dad' Sirius explained 'we all had nicknames according to the animal we could transform into'

'What's yours then?' Harry prodded

'His is Padfoot' Lupin answered sitting on the bed opposite Harry's 'He turns into a doggy'

'I am not just a doggy' Sirius grinned 'I am a harbinger of death'

'What?' Harry said confused

'He looks like a Grim when he transforms' Remus said helpfully

Harry laughed again 'now that I'd like to see'

Sirius stood up and shook his robes out before turning into a large black dog

'Hell, you do look like a Grim' Harry answered 'the wagging tale does kind of ruin it though'

Remus laughed at this and Sirius transformed back looking perturbed

'I do not wag my tail' he insisted

---------------

When the two professors left the sun had began to set, Madam Pomfrey bustled out of her office and checked his wound

'It's already beginning to heal' she announced 'you'll be back in the Gryffindor common room tomorrow. And stop leaning away from me, I don't bite!'

'You'd be the first' Harry muttered

'What was that?' she enquired

'Nothing' insisted Harry

'You need to get ready for bed' Madam Pomfrey concluded 'Sleep heals better than any potion'

--

When she was gone, Harry conjured a dummy with black hair into his bed, he dressed it in his pyjamas and pulled the covers over it. If you didn't look too closely it could pass for being Harry. Harry pulled he then took the five blood vials out the wooden box and pushed them into the bag Neville and Ron and brought his clothes in

Heading over to the window Harry pushed it open and jumped out, landing softly he took off at a swift run towards the Forest.