XxX

Sneaking around Hogwarts is surprisingly easy, providing you are careful and don't wake up the paintings or bump into the ghosts. As for avoiding the professors, having a vampire around is dead handy.

Anna and I found ourselves running about the castle at night, hand-in-hand, trying to escape the clutches of the professors. At her age, I could understand the sense of adventure, but at my age it was just undignified.

But it was fun, nonetheless. I was unspeakably thankful for her camaraderie, and for Dante's.

Dante seemed to be stable, though he looked weak and frail, he was staying alive, his vitals were good, and he was up to flirting with whatever young girl came into the hospital wing, even Madam Pomfrey on occasion.

Anna, Dante, and I found ourselves talking quietly about all of the puzzle pieces we had been shown. He assured us that his mother had not bitten him, because up until three days before I had arrived in Italy, he had been in Egypt on a diplomatic visit, and when he came back, she was already a vampire and imprisoned by the Italians.

"So the vampire must have bitten you in Egypt?" Anna asked, pulling the collar of his shirt down and inspecting the bite as if expecting it would announce that it was made by an Egyptian vampire.

"I'm not recalling the bite." Dante said, glancing nervously over at the side table. "Is it something you would recall, Integra?"

I looked at him from the end of the bed, the garlic still stoutly in place on the table beside him.

"Not always. Some vampires put their victims to sleep before they drink blood, but few are that subtle about it. It varies depending on vampire and situation, but were rarely leave people alive. Were you tired at all? Beyond the usual?"

"The heat in Egypt made me tired." Dante confessed, reaching discreetly over to the bedside table. I recognized the tube of salve I had brought him while in France and smiled at him. He didn't meet my eyes, simply blushing profusely.

Anna eyed him wearily, her glasses flashing ominously as she looked him up and down.

"Dante, what's that?" She asked suddenly, making a grab for the tube.

"It's nothing." He tried to hide it, but Anna's reflexes were surprisingly fast. It wasn't that she grabbed the tube from him, it's that she rapped sharply on his knuckles, causing him to let go of the tube in pain. I stared at them, curious to how this would play out.

Dante's cheeks were a deep crimson by now.

"Signorina Annabelle, please! Signorina Integra, stop her!"

"What's so important…" Anna muttered, turning the small tube in her hands.

"It's antibacterial salve I got for him when we were in France." I said, leaning on my elbow and watching the two. I couldn't help but be amused by Anna's petty, yet monstrous curiosity, and my own curiously was fueled by Dante's bizarre level of shame over the tube.

A sudden thought regarding my limited French struck me, and Anna made a disgusted sound, confirming my fears.

"It's not anti-bacterial salve, it's intimate oil!" Anna said in perfect horror, casting the tube away as if it were on fire.

"Intimate oil?" I had never heard of such a thing until now, but Dante's face held an expression between sheepishness and mortification.

"It's sexual lubricant." Dante muttered solemnly, looking at my clueless expression. "Integra 'got it for my hand'." He lifted his scarred hand, a tone of sheepish amusement underlying his heavy accent.

Anna erupted in a roar of laughter I had never experienced before, her green eyes positively alight with mirth. I was beyond embarrassed and bewildered, simply shaking my head at the lot of them.

"You knew! And you didn't tell me?" I asked, the blood in my veins coursing a little faster than it should have.

"You were trying very hard, I did not want to offend you!" Dante protested, looking helplessly from Anna to me and back again. I was mortified, and stood up, brushing my skirt off in indignation.

"Integra, it's funny, really it is!" Anna said, her eyes tearing up with laughter. "Don't leave."

I smiled, shaking my head. "That's really embarrassing."

XxX

Dante and I were still embarrassed several days later. I visited him whenever I had a break in my classes, taking turns with Anna in keeping an eye on him. I couldn't get close, the garlic making me nauseous, but Anna and Madam Pomfrey kept a close eye on him. Dumbledore's 'expert' sent a message that he would be delayed due to weather, and sent instructions ahead to tell us what to do. I was anxious to meet him, but Anna was excited.

I still felt a certain amount of resentment towards the Count due to what Anna had inadvertently revealed, but I hid it all. I had to maintain my facade, and brace myself for whatever came; now was not the time to be weak.

The Saturday following Anna and I's conversation in the library, we went down to Hogsmead to look for more supplies. Anna had adopted the joke that if I didn't like it, it would probably work, which lead us to nearly being permanently kicked out of the apothecary. But never had I laughed so hard in all my years, and I am certain that Anna hadn't, either. Childish behavior as it was, it was a bit of a relief to us both.

I took her into the cemetery, but we never got into the mausoleum, for the Ministry had closed it off with a notice of 'Historical Preservation', and if anyone entered, authorities would be notified. Anna seemed unimpressed, and I was quite embarrassed and angry. Vampires, as the dead, have no rights to property, but oftentimes we leave things such a mausoleums, any wealth we accumulate, and theoretical 'territories' to those we create, in the event of our deaths. It didn't legally mean the mausoleum was mine, but it did mean I felt wronged, and theoretically, it was mine.

Our spirits somewhat dampened, we set back towards the castle, the Dementors scattering away from me like great black ghosts, though a few lingered to 'eye' Anna before disappearing.

Upon our early return to the castle, we found a middle-aged man clad in a light brown leather jacket leaning over Dante's bed.

"What are you doing! Stop!" Anna yelled, thrusting her bag into my arms and launching herself across the hospital wing, pushing the man out of the way. I heard a sword being drawn and immediately was between them, my hand closed tightly around the man's wrists, suspending him mid-movement.

"Don't lay a hand on her. We're all on the same side, there is no need fo-" I felt his boot collide with my stomach, sending me sprawling across the flagstone floor.
"Anna, get down!" I yelled, shifting my weight and digging my fingernails into the floor, the flagstone ripping at my skin and causing stale blood to smear across the gray stones as I fell into a crouching position.

"Ah, Integra Bellatrix Wilhelmina Black. We meet again."

"I'm sorry, I don't recall ever making your acquaintance." I said, standing up and drawing my hand to my chest, pressing my fingertip to my black jumper to stop the blood, mist curling from my fingertips as I did so. "But I strongly suggest you lay down your sword so that we may handle this situation in a civilized manner."
"There are no civilized manners for godless monsters such as yourself." He lunged at me, a gold pendant slipping from the folds of his shirt. I swung out of the way as his sword nicked the edge of my jumper, recognition hitting me. Anna and Dante were screaming for us to stop, their cries falling unheeded.

"Stop this nonsense, Illuminati." I continued to dodge his thrusts, backing the fight away from Anna and Dante as best as I could. " I only seek to protect my comrades."
He reached into his pocket, drawing out several small wafers and flinging them at me like throwing weapons.

I nearly stopped at the randomness of this. Why was he now throwing food? It was about all I could do to keep from laughing until one of the wafers hit my skin. A searing pan shot though my arm, leaving blistered, bloody skin in it's wake. I let out a roar unlike any other, drawing my gun faster than I had ever done before. HE was attacking ME and MY clan on MY grounds. It was simply unforgivable.

"ENOUGH!"

Both the Illuminati and I froze, the angry tone of a normally gentle voice falling upon us like a tidal wave.

Professor Dumbledore had opened the door just inches away from me, directly where I had been leading the fight. His deep blue robes were touching my shoulders as he cut past me.

"Put your gun away, Integra."

My cheeks blushed with anger at being the one to be rebuked, but I obediently put my gun away, rubbing the sore spot on my arm as I cast the Illuminati a scathing look, which was matched only by Anna's look of sheer hatred.

"Dr. Augustijn Van der Zanden. Dr. Van Helsingr couldn't make it due to the sudden ill turn of the weather."

"Ah, I am sorry to hear that, I am Professor Albus Perceval Dumbledore." Dumbledore said with a shallow yet solemn bow. "And this fine example of a vampire is my associate, Integra Black, whom I am now quite certain you have met. That young lady couching over there is Miss. Annabelle Le Croux, and the gentleman is Signor Dante Esposito."

"Miss Le Croux, Signor Esposito, a pleasure." The man said with a nod. "And Master Dumbledore, a great honor."

I watched the scene play out, my stomach lurching slightly. It was understandable that Dr. Van der Zanden felt the way he did, due to his status as one of the Illuminati, however, that did not mean I was to trust him at any point. Especially if Dante was as advanced of a vampire as Anna and I feared.

Anna stood, her hand firmly planted on Dante's slender shoulder. I felt a presence beyond the castle walls that made me shiver. It felt like the Wolf at first, but it felt darker, heavier than that, like a wet blanket had been draped over me.

XxX

A/n: Trying to get back into the swing of writing. I'm still sort of kicking around the next chapter, there's a scene in it that doesn't quite sit right with me, so I may need to do some major editing. Sorry for the long periods of no updates. I guess patience is a virtue :)

Edit: I edited the typos. Hopefully I got them all :P special thanks to Dalrynn for alerting me to them!