Author's Notes: This chapter is kind of comedic. You've been warned.
Song: 'Anata no Kaze ga Fuku Kara' by Reika Morishita (From Rockman / Megaman)
Ch. 10: Chasing a Cup
Ron and Hermione's rooms were together and there was a door between them that was unlocked. They had been sent to bed half an hour before, but Hermione couldn't sleep. She was a bit scared of being in a vampire's mansion plus she knew that Renard was not the only vampire there with them. She was unsure of being alone in a room and desperately wanted to feel company. Their rooms were all united and she knew that in one room was Harry and in the other room was Ron. Her room was sandwiched between the two and she was seriously considering going to sleep with one of the boys. She considered sleeping with Harry, knowing that in his brotherly affection towards her he would make her feel secure, but then she thought that if Ron discovered her with Harry he would probably go into a jealous rampage. That only left her one other option. Going to Ron's room instead and sleep beside him or ask him to sleep beside her on her bed.
Hermione, who was in a glittery white nightgown provided by their vampiric host, got up and left the bed. She took a deep breath as she stood between the unlocked door that separated her assigned bedroom from Ron's. She took several breaths yet again until she finally decided to open the door. When she did, she almost screamed, but then placed her hand on her chest. "Oh my God, Ron! You almost gave me a heart attack! Why were you standing there!"
Ron looked pale and said: "I... I was just... I didn't think I would be able to sleep in this place. Hermione, I can't believe that git is making us sleep in a vampire's house! What if they bite us while we sleep? Vampires are dark creatures! They're dangerous! Do you have any idea about how the Ministry is constantly trying to keep them at bay? I would rather sleep on a tree!"
Hermione laughed a little. "Don't be silly, Ron. I'm also a bit scared, but I do believe that the Ministry overreacts sometimes. You've seen how Professor Lupin has suffered as a werewolf due to their regulations... I'm sure that within the so called dark creatures there are good ones and bad ones, just like there are good and bad wizards. Anyway, your bed or mine?"
Ron, who had been about to contradict Hermione's opinion on dark creatures, suddenly changed his train of thoughts. "Aren't you going a bit too fast, Hermione?"
Hermione reddened and glared at him. "I did not mean that, Ron!"
"Oh!" Ron seemed relieved and at the same time a little rejected, but replied: "Yours then as Harry is in the next room in case one of those bloodsucking maniacs decides to attack us."
Hermione rolled her eyes and walked towards her bed with Ron behind her.
XxXxX
Severus changed to pajamas, worry all over his face. If Renard 'accidentally' turned Harry into a vampire he would set him on fire. The vampire was truly one of a kind and Severus knew that Renard had to be full of joy for being able to get Harry Potter's blood. He would probably boast about it with fellow vampires later on. Those blood thirsty creatures were all the same, except for one in Snape's opinion. He had only met one vampire that didn't possess the same mentality as the others, but that vampire was probably dead. Severus always considered his vampire friend suicidal as the vampire desperately wished to be human. It was possible for a human to become a vampire, but not the other way around.
Severus' train of thoughts was interrupted as two girls entered his room giggling. 'Vampire brats', he thought. The girls were very pretty and one of them was the one that had danced with Harry. He stepped back as the girls started to approach him and he wondered what they wanted. "Hello there!" exclaimed the one that had danced with Harry.
"Meow!" said the other one, who was a very pretty freckled blonde.
"What do you want?" Severus asked trying not to sound nervous.
"You!" both girls giggled at the same time.
"My blood is not available. Go away!" he told them harshly.
The blonde girl then said: "But we are not after your blood!" Both girls exploded into giggles yet again.
Severus already knew what the girls wanted and he wouldn't allow it either. If he got into anything with them he could end up distracted and with fangs in his neck. "No, thank you. I am perfectly fine and have no problems sleeping by myself. Now 'shoo'!"
The girls kept giggling and the reddish brown haired one slid almost ghost like through the room and in seconds was in front of him, but at the same time he prepared his wand and its tip was close to her left eye. "Careful! You can poke my cute eye with that!" The blonde laughed from behind. "Just lower that... We won't hurt you," she whispered before lowering Severus' armed arm and placing a kiss on his lips.
XxXxX
Harry was exploring his bedroom, feeling nervous about the vampire coming anytime soon to take his part of the deal. Harry was still wary about it all. The thought of having fangs through his neck wasn't very appealing. He kept reminding himself that it was for the Horcrux, for the greater good of vanquishing Voldemort, but in the end he almost wanted to scream. Why did he always have to end in awkward situations?
"I'm here," a voice announced from behind him. He turned and raised an eyebrow as he saw Renard with a flask in his hands and a vial with a potion in the other. The potion had the colour of blood.
"What's that?" Harry pointed at the objects.
"This? Oh! I'm going to get some of your blood in this flask as a memento. You see, we vampires like to collect blood from famous people. It's a hobby. The blood collected will then be passed into a very special bottle that will preserve your blood for centuries and centuries and centuries. Now, this potion here is blood replenishing potion. Just in case you get too dizzy and need it. Why?" Renard asked innocently.
Harry was already feeling sick and seriously wanting to run from the room. "I think you are mad!"
"Are you wimping out on me?" asked the vampire feigning hurt.
"No..." Harry stated in a very unsure tone. "Where's the cup? I want to see it first."
The vampire looked nervous at the question. "It's somewhere in this house! I can assure you that..."
"What do you mean? You don't know where it is?" Harry now looked alarmed. "You mean you lied?"
"I did not lie," Renard reacted defensively. "I simply have to look for it in the morning."
"Then we can wait until the morning!" Harry exclaimed happily. "Now I'll sleep. Go away."
"Hey! No, no, no! I already came prepared, so hurry! Undress that neck of yours!"
"No way! No cup, no blood!" Harry placed both hands over the collar of his clothes protectively and Renard suddenly disappeared from where he had been. Harry started to look everywhere frantically and took his hands off his neck as he moved around the bedroom looking for the creature. "Why are you hiding?" Harry asked aloud getting impatient. Suddenly he was grabbed from behind and a hand covered his mouth.
"I told you I'll give you the cup in the morning! I gave you my word! Will you keep yours?" Harry nodded, but feeling extremely nervous. Renard then removed his hand from Harry's mouth.
"Will it hurt?" Harry was swallowing.
"I don't know..." Renard answered thoughtfully. "Do you prefer to be hypnotized?"
"NO!" Harry yelled. "I prefer being aware about what you do with my neck, thank you."
"Alright!" Renard exclaimed and somehow opened Harry's collar very fast and sank his fangs into the teen's neck.
Harry had no time to react. He gasped as he felt the fangs inside his neck, but stayed very still considering that a harsh movement could make those fangs break his neck completely and dying was something he couldn't afford. He felt himself weakening and his breathing became ragged. Suddenly fear took over his senses as he thought the vampire was getting carried away, but just then the fangs abandoned his neck. He almost lost his balance and Renard held him. "Careful! You alright? Did it hurt?"
"Dizzy..." was Harry's raspy reply.
"Okay, I'll escort you to the bed. Phase two won't take long."
Harry felt himself being carefully laid on the bed, then he felt his left wrist being opened and blood spurting from it into Renard's flask. It truly didn't take long and Renard closed the wound before pouring the red potion into Harry's mouth. Harry then heard voices, but was unable to focus on anything.
"Raissa, change him into pajamas. Where are Yamilette and Corinna?" Harry could identify Renard's voice.
"They said they wanted a night of fun with the older wizard. You know those two have a taste for older men. They are disgusting, those two," the girl called Raissa replied.
"They better not take Severus' blood or he'll have my head!"
"They know that, master Renard." Harry felt his body being almost stripped and then someone placing pajamas on him, then the girl's voice speaking again: "Pity this one is so tired!"
"I believe that one already has someone he loves, Raissa. I can feel it. You say the other two like older men, but you tend to like younger ones..." Renard's tone was of disapproval.
"Sorry, master. Didn't mean that," Raissa said nervously.
"By the way, where's my wife?"
"Theresa disappeared again, master."
"Not again! What am I going to do with that woman? I'll have to teach her a lesson!"
"You always say that, master."
"What do you mean by that, Raissa?"
"I meant, yes! You'll teach her a lesson!"
After that Harry heard them abandon the room and he drifted into slumber.
XxXxX
Harry woke up at about 10:00 AM and was alert in seconds. He got up and noticed breakfast served on a small table next to the bed, so he ate very fast and changed into clothes from his backpack, then he abandoned the room. As he got into the corridor he felt lost for a minute, but soon spotted Ron and Hermione. "Have you seen the vampire?"
"Which one?" asked his friends at the same time with blanched expressions.
Harry almost wanted to hit them. "The host, of course! Renard!"
"Did he give you the cup?" Hermione asked brightening.
"No! That's why I want to know where he is!"
At that Snape also joined them and Renard appeared. "You are all awake!" The white blonde haired vampire sounded very nervous, but feigned happiness.
"Where's the cup?" Harry went to the point.
"We are still trying to find it," Renard replied with a small laugh.
The foursome blinked and Ron asked: "What do you mean by that?"
"It's because that cup is... Er... How do I say it? It moves!" The teenaged looking vampire replied gesturing nervously with his hands.
"It moves?" they all asked at the same time and Renard nodded with another small laugh.
"What do you mean by 'it moves', Renard?" Severus looked angry.
"I mean it literally, Severus! It neves stays in the same place! Sometimes it's in the kitchen, sometimes in the attic, sometimes in the basement, sometimes in my room... You get the idea! It has never abandoned the house though..." The vampire became pensive and pouted.
Harry looked pale. "It's a joke, right? This is ridiculous!"
"I have all my servants looking for it so I'm sure we'll find it. Do you want to help too?"
They all looked at each other and shrugged. "Guess we don't have much of a choice..." Harry replied and then added. "Why didn't you tell me that last night? Oh, wait! Because you wanted my blood, you bastard!" Harry was going to throw himself at Renard, but Snape held him back and shook his head. Renard was against a wall looking almost fearful. He then laughed and fled to apparently continue looking for the Horcrux.
XxXxX
Ron went through different places and sometimes rechecked the same rooms in case the Horcrux would decide to appear afterwards. He was having no luck, but then he saw something move inside a small room. He looked closer and ducked to see under a table. He gasped when he saw a little startled face that he could have sworn resembled Renard's. In a blink the child wasn't there and he saw a light blue ball instead. He picked up the light blue ball and checked it, but it looked normal. It was about three of four times bigger than a quaffle and the redhead let it drop and saw it bounce. The ball seemed to move on its own and Ron followed it, but it kept rolling away from him. Soon he caught it, picked it up and spoke aloud: "Are you an enchanted ball or something?" He kept the ball and found his friends and Renard. The vampire's face automatically blanched at the sight of the ball.
"Give me that!" He took the ball from Ron's hands. "Where did you find this?"
Ron raised an eyebrow at the vampire. "It was under a table in a small room. It's a curious ball. It bounces and moves on its own. Is the Horcrux the same?"
"More or less..." Renard said distractedly.
"You know, sir... I thought I saw a child in that room too... Before I saw the ball..."
Hermione, Harry, and Snape glanced at Ron and Renard quickly stated: "Not possible. There are no children in my mansion."
Snape perceived the lie easily and smirked. "Turning children, Renard? Now, aren't we going low?"
"Not true, Severus. I would never make a child be a child forever. That's that... The cup!" Renard signaled at the top of a lamp and they all ran toward it, but the cup floated all the way down and was hovering in the middle of the ballroom.
"By Merlin! This is ridiculous!" Severus took out his wand and pointed it at the cup to stop it, but it slid and kept avoiding the stopping spells by moving with incredible speed.
"Is it possessed?" Ron asked running down the stairs to try and get it manually.
"Of course it's possessed, Ron!" Hermione answered as she also ran down the stairs. "Don't you remember what it hides?"
Harry had already reached the last step and was running towards the object, but it moved upwards. Severus shot another spell at it, but it descended abruptly. Ron, Hermione, and Harry got ready to trap it, but it flew upwards again. Renard then jumped from the second floor where he was with Snape, grabbed the cup, and landed perfectly in a crouching position on the ballroom's floor. "Got it!"
"Did you just jump from up there?" Ron asked horrified, pointing at the second floor.
"He's a vampire, Ron," Hermione reminded her boyfriend.
Harry still couldn't believe they had to chase a Horcrux. It was definitely something he hadn't been looking forward to, but at least it was already in their hands. He wouldn't destroy it in Renard's mansion, though. After what had happened with the locket it was a risk he couldn't take. He couldn't exactly sympathize with Renard, but he felt that the vampire wasn't a bad man. He couldn't draw creatures into the vampire's house, but just then he thought of something. "Renard!"
The vampire handed the cup to Harry. "Yes?"
"You said you found this with some friends or something. I would like to hear your story."
The vampire beamed with excitement. "Of course! Let's all go into the living room!"
XxXxX
Ginny had already prepared her backpack with essentials. She was happy that she had constantly saved the occasional small amounts of money her parents gave her plus Fred and George had given her generous amounts for her to buy things, but she had saved the money instead. Removing all the Galleons, sickles, and knuts she had from a small box she placed them in a purse and in her backpack. She was going to flee that night. She felt that she had to leave even when she didn't know where to go. She would find a way to save Harry.
Ginny knew that she was no seer, but her dream had been too vivid, too real. She felt that it was a dream of the future and she had a feeling that with some magics she could prevent Harry from dying. She was going to find those magics and rescue the young man she loved. She would never lose him to Voldemort.
She smiled as she saw everything was ready. Ginny hid the prepared backpack in the closet with a Disillusionment charm cast over it. Right after she finished hiding it she heard her mum calling her to come and have lunch. "Yes mum!" She cried back at her mother and went down the stairs.
The idea of vampires liking to preserve famous people's blood or something like that came from a great writer from the fanficdom: Miranda Flairgold. She deserves the credit.