Author's Notes: Readers from the original version might notice major changes here. See? It's not Slash! LOL Hope you like. Next chapter will have some weird and unexpected humour.
Song: 'Where to Begin' by TRF
Ch. 9: The Vampire Ball
Ginny was tossing and turning in bed. She was sweating in her feverish state as she dreamt. Harry was fighting Voldemort in an oddly familiar place that she couldn't really figure yet and to her surprise, he was wandless, but still dueling. Both blocked each other perfectly. For a while it seemed Voldemort would win, but somehow Harry got the advantage and won, or so it had seemed. Voldemort had a trump card though. He was dying, but sent a very powerful curse in Harry's direction. It wasn't the expected emerald green killing curse, but something very different. Still, the effect was the same. Harry fell backwards, eyes opened wide in a deathly stare as Voldemort disintegrated.
Ginny woke up screaming and crying. She wanted Voldemort to be vanquished, but she didn't want Harry to die in the process. She wouldn't allow Harry to die even if she had to go and somehow sacrifice herself so that it wouldn't happen. She yearned for joining Harry, Ron, and Hermione. She would even accept the greasy git that was with them if it was necessary, but she knew it wasn't possible. There was no way for her to find them, but she was going to do everything in her hands to change Harry's fate. Harry wouldn't die.
XxXxX
After an hour of fleeing they were almost out of the forest, but Severus yelled: "DUCK!" They all threw themselves to the ground and a barrage of curses and spells crashed against trees and bushes.
Harry wanted to desperately do something, but the first spell that came to his mind was: 'Cunctus Levitacorpus!' In seconds not only his friends, but two masked Death Eaters in front of them and four Death Eaters behind them were all floating upside down.
"POTTER! What in Merlin's name are you doing?" The ex-Potions master was full of rage, not only at the stupidity of the spell, but at having been caught off guard by the brat. The older man kept holding his robes so that they wouldn't drop completely which would have been very undignified. Hermione was having the same problem in worse quantities for she had been wearing a sundress that afternoon after the hot spring bath.
Harry wanted to solve the situation, but he noticed that the Death Eaters, still holding their wands, were about to attack. "Articulus Desino!" Harry exclaimed making time stop in a certain sense. The robes of the Death Eaters, including Snape, and Hermione's skirt were now frozen. "I'm going to free you now, alright?" He announced. "Amicus Libero! Finite!" Severus Hermione, and Ron all started to fall, but Harry quickly chanted the stopping spell and made them land soflty and on their feet.
From behind Harry, a new Death Eater that arrived freed his comrades. They all pointed their wands, but Snape was fast. "Expelliarmus!" he exclaimed quite rapidly and everyone's wands floated on air as he used a levitating spell right after the disarming one. Snape managed to put the Death Eaters together with a flick of his wand and made the wands of the three Gryffindors return to their owners.
Ron pointed a spell at the Death Eaters: "Induviae Evanesco!" Instantly, the seven Death Eaters were naked and trying to cover their bodies.
Hermione pointed at the floating wands and voiced: "Fragmen." All of the Death Eaters' wands snapped in midair.
Snape completed everything by simply saying as he pointed his wand at the Death Eaters that had obviously recognized him: "Obliviate Intemporaliter."
Right after the Death Eaters were unconscious with the spell that erased their memories of what had happened forever, the foursome created confusing footprints everywhere. They hoped that other pursuers would have a hard time figuring out the real direction they had taken. Vanishing the real steps they left imprinted on the ground as they jogged away Harry, his two best friends, and Snape then walked as they got tired until finally arriving at a town.
In the town, they used public restrooms to change clothes. Severus was wearing Muggle clothing, but was using his wizard cloak over it covering his head with his hood. The others had made sure they weren't wearing anything that matched the descriptions depicted in The Daily Prophet and Hermione even put her hair in a ballet bun, as she could be recognized with her hair loose. Harry was wearing his shades and was completely dressed in black with a black spandex long sleeved shirt, and black trousers. Hermione was wearing a gray tank top with a kitty picture and a long black broomstick skirt, while Ron was wearing a blue polo shirt and black jeans.
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Severus had to find a place to stay for two nights for on the third day, they were going to the mansion. After some time exploring the town the youths and Severus found an old Inn. They used fake names when they registered, thinking that the Aurors were looking for their names in the 'Muggle world'. The Inn's owner didn't even ask for IDs and they paid in cash. Harry was glad that he had been carrying a nice amount of pounds with him and the money Petunia had sent via Hedwig had now turned into a blessing.
That night, at about 8:00PM, Snape suddenly grabbed his left arm and frowned. The three Gryffindors simply nodded knowing that their older companion had been summoned. Severus suspected the reason, but didn't tell his ex-students, as he didn't want to alarm them.
Snape returned only two hours later and they were still awake. They had obviously been waiting for him. Harry quickly cornered the wizard: "So? What did he want?"
"He learned that a werewolf had seen Harry Potter in a forest located four km from this town. He immediately dispatched Death Eaters to the area and they are keeping watch everywhere, mostly in the forest itself. He wanted all Death Eaters to be on alert and is furious with the ones that were found wandless and naked with no memory of what happened to them. The pack in that forest has obviously allied itself to the Dark Lord. I shouldn't have expected less." Harry nodded in understanding.
XxXxX
In the two nights they were at the Inn, they ordered food and never left the room. They couldn't risk it, but that day they had no choice but to leave. That night they were supposed to be at the Vampire Ball.
Once they were out of the Inn, they started to look for a secluded area to use a portkey that the vampire had sent them along with the garments for the Ball. The vampire knew that Severus was hiding and had decided that Apparition would be dangerous for his friend. Just as they were getting to the chosen terrain, Harry recognized a woman and his eyes were fiery in a glare. The woman was Bellatrix Lestrange and she was actually asking questions to some Muggles. "That's the woman that killed Sirius. I'm going to kill her. I'm going to kill her now!"
"No you won't," Snape grabbed the teen's shoulders hard. "You are not going to risk blowing our cover. They haven't seen us and we are leaving now." Just then, they held on to the small broken clock that Snape had and right after he muttered a strange password they vanished.
XxXxX
By the time they entered the mansion that night in their strange formal attire, Harry hadn't forgiven Snape for preventing him from getting revenge for his godfather and thus, was still in a foul mood. He also felt ridiculous in the clothes that made him look like some fairy tale prince. Hermione and Ron kept telling their friend to get a grip. They knew that Bellatrix had killed Sirius, but Severus was right. The only thing they would have gained revealing themselves to the Death Eaters would have been getting fried even though they had been lucky once. Their good fortune wouldn't last forever.
The place was enchanting and it was full of dancing couples. All the way there, Severus told them about a thousand times not to look into anyone's eyes. Ron and Hermione had quickly gotten mixed in with the rest of the couples waltzing. Hermione seemed ecstatic in the silver dress that showed her cleavage making Ron blush and constantly avert his eyes from the view. So far, they were being ignored, which was exactly what they wanted.
Two men stopped Severus and started to speak to him. It seemed that they were old acquaintances. Meanwhile, Harry decided to explore the ballroom and soon he found himself gazing at a very pretty girl. She looked amazing and reminded him of Ginny although the girl's hair was reddish brown. The girl, who didn't have a dancing partner, approached Harry. His usually bright green eyes became empty and dull making the beautiful girl smile triumphantly. She led Harry into the middle of the dancing couples and waltzed with him happily, leading the dance in such a perfect way that no one noticed it was her leading rather than the black haired young man with her. Hermione and Ron even laughed a little as they noticed Harry having found a dancing partner. The strange girl studied Harry as they danced and after a while she escorted him to a corner where a young man with straight white blonde hair down to the middle of his back and feminine features stood. The man's blonde hair was completely loose and fell neatly, adorning the young man's pale features. The blonde youth had enthralling big sky blue eyes. "What do you bring me here, Yamilette?"
"He has powerful blood full of magic, master. I can feel it pulsing through his veins. Thought you would be interested," Yamilette declared with glee.
The blonde vampire frowned before almost abruptly grabbing Harry's left wrist. "There is also danger in his blood, Yamilette. Are you trying to kill me by any chance?" The blonde raised an eyebrow at the girl.
"Never, master! I love you too much... I--"
"Hush. It's alright. I know how to deal with ancient protective magic, but wonder why he has that protection. Did he tell you his name?"
"I... I didn't ask," Yamilette replied with flushed cheeks.
"I'll take him upstairs anyway. Don't want to alarm anyone by drinking his blood here." He winked at Yamilette and started to lead Harry up a staircase while she started to look for a new dancing partner.
Severus had been speaking with the two vampire men, but had gotten distracted as the vampires pointed to the ballroom to signal one of the wizard's companions that was obviously hypnotized. Severus had to hold himself when he saw Harry in a trance dancing with an exceedingly pretty girl. He had to manage self-control as he felt like starting to swear in every language. He had to excuse himself from the men he had been speaking with and walked through the ballroom that was covered with dancing couples. Severus felt his heart going fast as he couldn't locate Harry anywhere. He was getting desperate when he at last saw the boy he was looking for and as fast as he could, caught up with Harry and the man that was now with him instead of the girl. The blonde young man was already going up the stairs with Harry when a voice behind him spoke:
"You cannot kill that one or turn him, Renard Von Voltaire!" Snape was almost sighing in relief when the young looking vampire turned.
Renard beamed: "Severus! You came!"
"Yes, I came, and that one is with me, Renard."
"I wasn't planning on killing him, Severus. I was only going to take a bit of his blood."
"You can't!"
Renard's smile disappeared: "Why not, Sev? Why is he forbidden? Is he your son or something?" Renard looked at Harry and then at Snape looking for a non- existent resemblance. "He does have black hair like you, but at least he didn't inherit your features..."
"Of course he is not my son! Don't be ridiculous!"
"Then why can't I take a little bit of his blood, Severus? You are overreacting! He won't die and I won't turn him either," Renard smiled softly.
"You... You just can't! I adopted him and as his guardian I don't agree with you taking his blood!" Snape felt ridiculous speaking those words. He almost felt like he was losing his wits.
"It's pretty obvious that you are lying, Severus, but I wonder why." The young looking vampire was confused by that point.
"I don't want to say it." Severus wanted to keep people from learning who Harry was. It was for the better in his opinion.
"Alright then! Now, give me one good reason why I cannot take some of his blood, just one good reason."
Severus gave up, approached Harry, and lifted a lock of hair that messily fell over Harry's forehead, making the vampire understand.
Renard was smiling again. "I understand now. So, this is The-Boy-Who-Lived? What a pity. Your reason is a good one, but you know I could make him more powerful if I actually turn--"
"You really insist when you fix your eyes in one in particular, don't you, Renard? I believe that a decision such as that lies in the boy himself. Maybe he can decide if he wants to give you some of his blood or if he wants to be turned."
"Very well. By the way Severus, my offer is still up. You are growing old and I don't enjoy seeing my human friends die. How old are you now, thirty-nine? Forty?"
"Thirty-eight, and my answer is still 'no'. I do not wish to be a vampire."
"If you ever change your mind, you know that I can reverse your years and make you look youthful again, like when we met for the first time and you were eighteen? You couldn't block me then, and you couldn't block me when you were twenty-one either. You are quite the good Occlumens now."
"True. You were a good teacher. Now free the boy," Severus stated sourly.
The girly looking vampire smiled and with a snap of his fingers, Harry was suddenly disoriented looking around. Renard freed Harry's hand and the teen quickly paced downstairs towards Severus giving the man a confused glance.
"Enjoy the party, Severus! Harry?" Renard then went up the stairs leaving an even more confused Harry and a relieved Severus.
Through clenched teeth Severus spoke: "I told you not to look at anyone in the eyes! Do you know what would have happened if I hadn't noticed Renard taking you up this staircase? Plus you were supposed to have mastered Occlumency!"
Harry felt furious with himself and ashamed. Not only had he really screwed up by looking at the pretty vampire that had reminded him of Ginny in the eyes, but he had also screwed up blocking his mind thanks to being mad at Snape for not letting him attack Bellatrix. The anger emotions had betrayed him at a very bad time and he was lucky Snape had been there to save him in a certain way.
"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry," Harry said monotonously. He didn't know what the vampire would have done to him, but he knew that it would have been one of two things: killing him or making him into another vampire. None of the options were exactly appealing.
"It's alright," Severus stated in a worn out tone, patting Harry's back. He was somehow beginning to actually care for the Potter boy, but never in his right mind he would adopt the annoying brat. He would simply make sure that the boy would be able to fight the Dark Lord and that was that. Attachment was something he didn't want plus there was a slight chance that after Potter was ready he would abandon the annoying boy and his insufferable friends.
XxXxX
By 1:00 AM, most of the couples had left. Renard had servants escort Ron and Hermione to their rooms. Soon the Gryffindor trio had learned that Renard was Severus' old friend and owner of the mansion. After Ron and Hermione were placed in their rooms, Renard approached Severus and Harry.
"About what you want, yes, I have it. I found it some years ago. Do you want to know where? It was an interesting adventure..."
"I do not care where you found it or if you had to fight dark creatures or anything of the sort. I only want the item and that's it," Snape said.
"I will give it to you, but there will be a price."
"What would that price be?" asked Harry curiously.
Renard gave them a charming smile: "I want a taste of Harry Potter's blood."
"The answer is no!" Snape's reply came quicker than what he had originally intended. The bloody vampire wouldn't just give up.
"Then I won't give it to you. You know very well that just a taste won't make him one, Severus. I do remember getting a taste of your blood when you were twenty-one..."
Severus' hands were on Harry's shoulders and Harry could feel the man behind him losing control, as the grip was getting stronger and almost painful. Harry wondered why Snape was making such a big deal about it.
"I don't think it will be a problem, sir. I am willing to do it if it is to get Hufflepuff's cup. We do need it..."
"That's because you are ignorant, Potter. Vampires like powerful blood to increase their own power and stamina. To him you are simply a power source."
Harry looked definitely alarmed and Renard laughed: "Please Severus! You are making me seem like a monster!" Renard looked almost hurt.
Harry then spoke in a voice that was almost unsure: "Okay, so you want my blood, but is there a risk that I might be turned?"
"Only if I get carried away and I do have good control of myself, right Severus?" The vampire was now glaring at Snape.
"It's true," Severus stated giving up on what was obviously a lost cause, but still mad and revolted by the whole situation.
Harry looked at Severus and he could see anger in the older man's dark eyes. Harry knew something very well. Those two weren't exactly good friends and had never been so either. They simply knew each other, but true friendship? That was non-existent between Snape and Von Voltaire for some reason.
Severus knew that Renard always won when it came to terms. He could still remember when he was twenty-one and had to constantly prepare vials full of his blood in exchange for Occlumency classes. Renard hadn't changed one bit. He would always be the same bloodsucking fiend lusting after the taste of the magical blood provided by witches and wizards.
Harry took a step towards Renard after making his decision. "Alright. A small amount of my blood for the cup. I do have your word, right?" asked Harry raising his eyebrows.
"I have never backed out on my word. It's a deal," the vampire affirmed.
"Potter, remember that blood is something an enemy can always use against you when it comes to magic," Snape warned in a whisper.
"I'll be alright. I don't think he's an enemy. Good night, sir." Harry looked serious and determined.
Severus was still wary. Even though he would have never admitted it before he was sure that Harry Potter had very powerful blood that any blood sucking creature would crave. He still couldn't believe how easily a vampire like Renard would get his hands or better said, his fangs on that blood. It sickened him, but perhaps it was an easier deal than anything else.
