CHAPTER 10:

LET THE WRONG ONE IN

Rose entered the Common Room, to find Schrödinger petting the cat while he was seated on one of the lounges, speaking with Hermione, Ron, and Ginny. "Schrödinger?" she asked. "I need to borrow you and your pet for a moment. Ron? Hermione? Could you please come along?"

Hermione frowned. "It's only ten minutes until curfew, Rose."

"It's important," Rose said quietly. And like that, Hermione and Ron nodded, reluctantly agreeing. Rose brought them along because she knew them most, and trusted them most.

They were soon in a room not far from the entrance to the Gryffindor dormitories, and Ron frowned. "What's this about, anyway?"

"Because we may be in trouble." She looked over at the cat Schrödinger was holding rather knowingly. "Aren't we, Alucard?"

Almost immediately, the cat leapt from Schrödinger's arms, and changed into the distinctive red-coated form of the infamous vampire. Schrödinger swore in German, Hermione's eyes were wide, and poor Ron looked like he was about to faint. The vampire grinned, showing off a mouth filled with shark-like teeth. "Gotta hand it to you, kid, you really know how to rub pussy," he said.

"Sich verpissen!" Schrödinger snarled, half in anger at the innuendo, and half in fear.

"Don't be so rude. I'm giving you a compliment. Kids these days, they don't respect their elders." Alucard sighed. "Anyway, technically, this isn't me. This is one of my familiars transformed to look like me, or your precious little kitty cat. You ever tried to pat your head and rub your belly simultaneously? I'm good at that, I've had the practise. Just out of interest, why did you bring the other two Mouseketeers out with you, Rose Potter? Did you think they would be any help stopping me?"

"No. They just deserve to know. If you wanted to kill us, you could have done so long ago, anyway. Are you spying on Schrödinger? Because he's ex-Millennium?"

"Of course. Plus, it's interesting that the Girl Who Lived turns out to be just like him. D'you know how boring it's been lately at Hellsing? Hasn't been any decent vampire incidents for a while, and then, I get the first whiff of Millennium for decades. Plus, I enjoy tweaking the noses of wizards. Apropos of nothing, Ron, did you enjoy my gift of an owl?"

Ron, scared stiff by one of the oldest and most powerful vampires talking to him casually, and frightened of offending the Crimson Fucker, nodded mutely. Hermione, meanwhile, was a bit more verbose, her general inquisitiveness overcoming her fear. "Umm, Mr Alucard…?"

"Look, not that I don't appreciate the deference and fear, but no need to be formal. You can call me…the Crimson Fucker. Or Alucard if you're a prude, as I just know you're going to chide me for my language, despite the fact that I'm a centuries-old vampire who can eat you if you annoy me. Then again, I haven't eaten Mary Whitehouse yet(1), and I think if I do, I'll get the runs."

"…I think I will stick with just calling you Alucard," Hermione said. "But my question is…are you going to hurt my friends?"

"As amusing as it will be to see you defend them from me, you don't have to worry. My concern is purely with the catboygirl here," Alucard said, indicating Schrödinger. "Plus, think of me as a bodyguard. Millennium wants to use Schrödinger as a weapon against me, if what I overheard was true. I'd prefer to make sure that their trump card is kept out of their reach. By guarding Rose and Schrödinger, I protect myself. Plus, it's fun being here under old Albus' broken nose. Which reminds me." He glared at the gathered children. "Don't tell him about me. And try not to look him in the eye. Rose and Schrödinger have a slight advantage given their natures, but Legilimency will still work on you all." He then snapped his fingers. "Wait, better plan. Luckily for you four, I ate some wizards over the years, and I happen to know the Fidelius. Even Legilimency can't crack that. Plus, as a Secret Keeper, I have some advantage against mind-readers. All the souls within my body would confuse them."

"We'd better hurry, it's almost time for curfew," Hermione said.

After a moment, Alucard said, "My master would love you. She's a rule-abiding killjoy most of the time too…"

After that was all said and done, and they made it back to the dorms in time, Ron and Hermione opted to head to bed, the experience of learning they had one of the most powerful vampires here rather disturbing, to say the least. Alucard, however, wanted to arrange a more indepth meeting with the two Cat Sìth, and told them to meet him in the same classroom afterwards, using their powers once everyone else had gone to bed. Alucard would be able to use illusion spells to fool anyone into thinking they were still in bed.

In the classroom again, Alucard crossed his arms, having set up privacy charms. "So, let's get the funny business out of the way. I was telling that bushy-haired little party-pooper the truth about what I am doing here: by guarding you two against Millennium's agents, I protect myself, so it's in my personal self-interest to guard you two kitty cats. Incidentally, she gives some pretty damn good belly rubs. Though I get the distinct impression I won't be getting them anymore, now that she knows I am a Real Fucking Vampire."

"She also has a thing about bad language," Rose said.

"And you don't?"

"I grew up in a household where my being called a freak was a good day, you tell me," Rose said deadpan. "Okay, I'm exaggerating a little, but I learned more expletives from my uncle than I should have before I turned eight."

"…Fair enough." Alucard's eyes looked over at Schrödinger. "Now, I wanted to ask a few questions, mostly of the ex-Nazi Catboy Scout, but also of you, Catgirl Who Lived. Now, I ain't gonna play Good Cop, Bad Cop, partly because I don't feel like scaring more crap out of you than I have already, but also because, well, frankly, I'm ALL Bad Cop."

Rose, after a moment, blinked, saying, "Seriously, did you just call me 'the Catgirl Who Lived'? I dunno whether to laugh or slap you."

"Meh, I get that reaction out of my master a lot. Sir Integra is fun to rile," Alucard said. "Anyhoodle, Schrödinger, obviously, they wanted to use you to off me. But what did they intend to cap off my possible demise with?"

"A full-scale invasion of London," Schrödinger admitted. "You know the Major, along with Herr Doktor and the Captain. They're in charge."

"So, the tubby guy, the guy who wears a mini-phoropter, and the Loups-Garou who kicked me in half, despite me looking like a teenaged girl."

Rose blinked. "Wait, what?"

"Oh, right. I was going through what I now call my 'Girlycard' phase. Think what I would look like as a fourteen year old girl. I made a bit of a mistake pissing off the old Loups-Garou. You know that BS about vampires and werewolves hating each other? It's actually vampires and Loups-Garou. Anyway, he literally kicked me in half. A bit of an overreaction to my taunts, but hey, I'm used to them riling people into homicidal rages. By the way, anyone else I know involved?"

After a moment, Schrödinger said, "They have people being turned into vampires via an artificial creation process. Doc used the corpse of Wilhelmina Murray as the base for it."

Rose felt the temperature of the room plummet to cryogenic levels. Alucard's crimson eyes seemed to glow even more than they usually did. Only a tightening of his lips betrayed the true depths of the anger he felt. After a moment, he said, "Anything else?"

"You may remember Rip van Winkle." On Alucard's bemused expression, Schrödinger said, "Dark hair, glasses?"

"Hmm, rings a bell. Nobody else I know?"

"Not in Millennium HQ, no. They do have forces we are working on. And there are a number of traitors within the British government. As well as in Hellsing."

Alucard's eyes narrowed. "Who?"

Schrödinger, after a moment's hesitation, admitted, "Walter C Dornez."

Alucard was deathly silent. Rose had this sudden urge to interpose herself between Alucard and Schrödinger, which she did. Alucard did not lunge, however. Instead, he was standing still, too still. They stood there in still silence, for what felt like an eternity. It was still minutes at the very least.

Eventually, Alucard said, in a very serious, dangerous tone of voice, "You expect me to believe that Walter is a traitor? To my master? To me? For what possible reason would he do that?"

"He wants immortality, Alucard," Schrödinger said. "Many have killed or turned traitor for such things. Even now, there are traitors in the Vatican who have turned their backs on the teachings of the Catholic Church for guaranteed immortality. I am sorry, Alucard, but I tell the truth. He wants not just immortality, but the ability to face you on equal terms, to best you."

After a moment, Rose realised that she was privy to a rare event. She could see a trickle of moisture beginning to wend its way down Alucard's pale cheek. The vampire once known as the infamous Dracula was weeping, an utterly dismayed expression on his face. "…He was gone when Integra's uncle tried to murder her to take up the title," he murmured. "Walter wasn't there to protect her. And yet, ever since, he had done nothing but…be there for her, and for me."

"Walter's concern is with you. He was reluctant to betray Sir Integra, and he still is. He is more fixated on defeating you."

"Fool," Alucard murmured softly, tears continuing to crawl down his cheeks. "Is it safe for me to leave my master with him?"

"He won't do anything until Millennium launches their invasion, Alucard," Schrödinger said.

"Even if it's to find you?" Alucard asked.

"He wouldn't dare do anything but feed information back to Millennium," Schrödinger said.

"He'd better not. To betray my master for petty power, and for an immortality he would regret if he lived long enough is bad enough. Should he lay but a single finger on Integra, and I will not only make him my familiar, I will put him through tortures that will make what I did in life seem like tickling by comparison."

That would be hard to surpass, Rose reflected, when Alucard, when he was known as Vlad the Impaler, was noted for mind-boggling atrocities. Rose knew too much about him, thanks to one of Dudley's few interests in history. But of course Dudley would enjoy a lot of things with gore involved.

Alucard calmed himself with an effort, before a smirk came back over his features, although it seemed a touch fixed. "Anyway, I'm just curious. Do either of you know exactly why you are Cat Sìth? Okay, I can understand if you don't know, but…"

"Apparently I was adopted by the Potters," Rose said. "For some reason, I had bindings on me, bindings that only broke. I even had potions in me, loyalty and compulsion potions. But…I don't know who. My parents think that Dumbledore was involved, but I don't know why."

Alucard rolled his eyes. "Okay, well, I knew old Albus when he was younger. You know that he defeated Grindlewald during World War II, but you may not know that Albus used to be Grindlewald's lover. They even shared the same ambitions, to conquer the world, all in the name of the Greater Good. But a lover's spat, along with their brother intervening, ended with Albus' dear sister biting it. Now, I don't think he was a bad man at the time, just an idealist who didn't think things through, and he could have become a good man. But something happened after defeating Grindlewald. Albus had so many accolades and titles thrown at him…well, they went to his head. The first time we met, it was on the battlefields of World War II. I had been eating some of Grindlewald's supporters, and, well, Albus got on his high horse and called me a monster. I had Walter give him grief. We've met again and again over the years, and, well, his opinion of me has worsened. The last time we met was shortly after Integra took over the reins of Hellsing. It nearly came to a fight, then and there. Only Integra stopped us." His eyes flickered over to Rose. "You remind me of her a little. You have that same, righteous fire, a strength of character, the ability to be a leader of men."

"Maybe I should meet her one day," Rose said.

"I'm sure she'd love to," Alucard said with a smirk. "The upshot is…Dumbledore is not to be trusted."

"And yet, a homicidal ancient vampire can be trusted?" Rose asked.

"Ironic, isn't it?" Alucard chuckled.

"I'm glad someone's amused…" Schrödinger murmured.

CHAPTER 10 ANNOTATIONS:

So, Alucard has learned things from Schrödinger, things he didn't want to hear. So…yeah. The next chapter will be about Alucard tracking down Sirius Black. Keep an eye out…

Review-answering time! Raikaguken: Sadly, not going to happen.

Guest: (regarding Dumbledore bashing) True enough, but I usually like to reconstruct Dumbledore in my stories rather than deconstruct or bash him. I'd like to think that, when confronted with his mistakes, the Dumbledore of canon would try to rectify them. If, for example, there were other blood relatives of Lily other than Petunia, he would send Harry to them. That being said, there are some stories where it suits me to bash Dumbledore, but only if it suits the story.

Face Yourself: Rose, sadly, listened more to Ron, and is regretting it. She's not really an intellectual type as much as Hermione is, or at least is not a bookish type as much. She is meant to be a female version of Harry, rather than a mix of Harry and Hermione, and while she's smarter than the canon Harry, she's not at Hermione's level. She's closer to Hermione in terms of friend-making, true, but in terms of interests, she's closer to Ron.

L's Cappucino: I find it nigh-impossible to write a traitorous Weasley family, though I am attempting it for On the Delights of Drinking Blood, though I don't think I can manage it. Ron's an arse, but mostly due to immaturity. Ditto Ginny's fangirl tendencies. I can write about Harry having broken off with the Weasleys in post-canon stories, due to breaking up with Ginny, but that's normal human relationships. That being said, I can't really write Harry/Ginny fics, with the sole exception being my oneshot HoneyMoon, which is about Harry and Ginny having a honeymoon…on the Moon. I prefer Harmony, Lunar Harmony, and Harry/Luna, or else crossover pairings.

The Aluminium Thumb: I'm sure at least the Abridged Alucard's done that before.

1. Mary Whitehouse was an infamous self-appointed moral guardian, dedicated to protesting against anything she took umbrage to on film, TV, etc. Doctor Who was one of her favourite targets, and getting approval of creating a 'nice children's show' was enough for the Goodies to try and piss her off.