The Man in the Black Cloak
A/N: Sorry for the long wait. Life has been hectic. Without further ado, here is your new chapter. I hope you like it.
Disclaimer: I would be swimming in my pool of money if Harry Potter was mine, but alas, no pool.
Previously:
"Harry, what is this?" She asked while touching the magical posters.
Harry shrugged, "A hit list."
The Man in the Black Cloak
The figure walked silently through the night. His face was hidden in the shadows of his hood and his midnight cloak fluttered in the soft breeze. His shoes made no sound as he walked down the sidewalks, sticking to the shadows. He contrasted fiercely to the pub he was headed. He silently opened the door and slipped in.
The Hog's Head was full of life. A bachelor party was being conducted at the bar and there was not a sober man in the group. The groom-to-be was stripping on a table cheered on by his drunken friends.
The man in the cloak shook his head at their antics moved to the bar of the bar to a secluded table, or at least secluded to the ordinary eye. Sitting at the table was another shadow,molded almost completely with the shadows.
"You're late."
"I was unexpectedly held up."
"You know, being late in my culture is punishable by death."
The stranger rolled his eyes. "You vampires and your idiotic rules."
The vampire gave a toothy grin. "And still you don't want me to turn you."
"Shocking isn't it."
The two men settled into a comfortable silence that only the gift of a long friendship could provide. The vampire finally looked up at the stranger.
"So what is it exactly that held you up?"
"I had an unexpected visitor accompany me home."
"Friend or Foe?"
"Friend, I just didn't want her to know where I was going so I had to wait for her to fall asleep."
"The vampire gave the same toothy grin. "She hot?"
The stranger glared at the vampire. "What is it with you horny blood-suckers?"
The vampire put his hand to his heart and gave a dramatic sigh. "It's a gift."
Finally the two settled into business. "So did you find it?"
The stranger grinned. "Yep, that fool Dumbledore doesn't even know what he has hidden in his own castle."
The vampire smirked. "So what does that bring our total to?"
The stranger did a quick mental count. "Three destroyed, three known, but not yet destroyed, and one unknown."
The vampire frowned. "I haven't found out how to destroy the one either, not without killing you at least."
The man in the cloak groaned. "I haven't been able to find anything either. Maybe I'l ask the girl. She is clever, maybe she can figure it out."
The vampire frowned. "Is it such a good idea to bring another into this?"
The man sighed. "We may not have a choice."
Silence once again reigned their table. The vampire broke it once again.
"The king has been asking about you. He wishes to know when you will be joining us again."
The stranger smiled. "It has been a while I suppose. How is everyone?"
"Crazy, horny, and cranky. Same as always."
"Well it's nice to know some things never change."
"Yes well Voldemort showed up again trying to gain our allegiance."
The stranger groaned. "And the outcome?"
"The King told them that we were still waiting on word from the other clans."
"The King will only be able to hold onto that excuse for so long."
The vampire leveled his gaze with the stranger gazing directly into his eyes. "We will refuse Voldemort when the time comes. We will only follow one person."
The stranger smiled and relaxed. "So when's the next party?"
"I thought you didn't like our parties."
"Yes well it's like a giant orgasm. I'm sorry, but I don't swing that way."
The vampire gave a feral grin. "You could always bring the girl."
The man in the cloak scowled and threw a crumpled napkin at him. Bloody vampires.
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Harry arrived home three hours after he had left. He glanced in on Hermione to see her still sound asleep. Thank Merlin for Sleeping Potions. Harry wasn't proud of tricking Hermione, but he had needed to talk to Kia. The Hog's Head had bee their meeting sight for about two years. They were always careful not to give away any clues to their identity. One never knew who was listening in.
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Hermione groaned at the pain in her head. She didn't remember anything that had happened last night. Odd, she thought. Suddenly a thought came to her. But no he wouldn't, would he?"
"HARRY JAMES POTTER, YOU DIDN'T!!"
Harry jumped and fell out of his bed as an enraged Hermione Granger burst into his room. He groaned as he sat up.
"Hermione, it is 6 o'clock in the morning. I was sleeping."
"Why late night Harry?" She sneered.
Harry winced at her harsh tone. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"You drugged me with a sleeping potion!"
Harry gave a deep sigh. "And I don't suppose you would believe me if I denied it would you?" Her harsh look answered for her. "No I didn't think so."
"You will tell me why you drugged me Harry Potter." She spun and left the room in a huff.
Harry sighed. "I can see you there you know."
Harry scowled as Tako and Derek stepped out of the shadows laughing. "You could have helped me!" Harry cried in exasperation.
Derek gave a mock superior look. "Ah but then we would have missed out on you being berated by a girl. And a rather attractive one at that. Who is she?"
"Yes Harry, it would have been nice to know you were bringing company." Tako said in his quiet voice. It was hard to imagine how dangerous he was just by listening to him.
Harry had the decency to look ashamed. "She really didn't give me much of a choice."
Derek snickered. Harry glared at him. "You try getting your way around her. She's bloody impossible."
Tako decided to defuse their argument before it started. "Harry, what did Kia have to say?"
"I am going to sneak him into the castle over Halloween to remove the item. Dumbledore will never notice it's absence, but in case he does I will make a duplicate to leave in the original's place."
"And after that will you stay at the school or will you leave?"
"I'll probably have to stay to keep up appearances. It would look quite strange if I suddenly left. Dumbledore might do some unnecessary digging."
"I agree."
"Well I think little Harry is going soft on us Tako. He brought home a girl and now he want to stay at school." Derek heaved a huge sigh. "Tako, where did we go wrong?"
Harry scowled and threw his pillow at Derek. Tako slid quietly into the hallway chuckling softly. It was good to have Harry home.
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Harry had been unable to fall asleep after his impromptu pillow fight with Derek so he resigned himself to making breakfast. Cooking had always been a relaxing technique for him and today already had a stressful morning.
A half an hour later Tako and Derek were joining Harry for breakfast. Harry looked up as he heard Hermione in the hallway. She looked extremely uncomfortable and smiled gratefully when Harry asked her to join them. Brief introductions were given and they settled into a comfortable silence as they ate. It wasn't until Hermione was helping Harry clean up afterwards that she brought up the sleeping potion again.
Harry sighed. "I had to go visit Kia last night and I knew you would have insisted on going, but I couldn't allow it. We have to be discreet when we meet in public and we are practiced masters at being practically invisible."
"What was so important that you had to go meet him last night."
Harry thought carefully about what he was going to say next. He still believed Hermione would be helpful to their task, but letting another person in was dangerous. He finally decided to go with his gut feeling. He looked her straight in the eye.
"Hermione, have you ever heard of a Horcrux?"
"Yes, I read about them in an obscure book on the Dark Arts. It's when a person splits their soul to allow them an immortal life. However, it is a cursed life and a very dark practice to split one's soul."
Harry was impressed. "What if I told you Voldemort made seven, and that Kia and I know all of their locations, save one."
A shocked silence was his only answer.
A/N: Once again sorry for the delay. The next chapter should be coming this weekend or early next week. Thanks for the reviews. They make me smile!