I don't own Hellsing or Harry Potter, and I'm not making any money from this.
The following hours were the longest and most uncomfortable Constance could recall experiencing. During the three hour drive back to the manor, everyone was quiet. Speaking only when they had to. The girl got the impression that none of her friends wanted to talk in front of their parents, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley didn't want to say anything while their children were around. It was probably better that way, she thought. Given the opinions she remembered them expressing in the past, there were likely going to be some serious altercations in the near future. But the silence and waiting... oh, it was dreadful. Connie wanted nothing more than to get to her house so she'd have a chance to give the proper explanation they deserved.
Unfortunately, when the truck finally came to a halt and everyone disembarked, there was little peace to be had. Since Hermione was being held in the hospital wing until she woke up, aunt Syn led them there first. Inside, Edmund was waiting for them. The moment he saw he Connie, he rushed over and pulled her into a strong hug, giving her a good look over when he pulled away. After listening to her assurance that she was fine, he then turned his attention to the others. When he noticed Ginny favoring her left leg, held steady between the twins, he offered to have her ankle examined by one of the medical staff. Mrs. Weasley quickly informed him that she'd already taken care of it herself. From the shortness of her tone and the expression on her face, it was obvious the woman wasn't in the best of moods. Ed shot a reassuring look down at Constance, patted her gently on the back, then mentioned something about giving them the explanation he promised over the phone – along with a very large drink. Mr. Weasley readily accepted the offer, keeping his arm around his wife's shoulders as if to keep her somewhat calm for the talk to come.
As she watched the three adults step a little ways away, Connie noticed something. Her aunt was no longer with them. She must have run off somewhere pretty fast if she hadn't noticed her leave. It didn't take long to figure out where she had gone, either.
"Damn it, mother!" Mihnea's voice rang out from one of the examination rooms. "I said I'm fine!"
"You most certainly are not!" Syn exclaimed, sounding upset and worried. "Did that girl knock you in the head with a brick too? Sitting there looking half-dead saying 'I'm fine'. Have you seen your arm?"
"Jesus Christ, mom, I've been a little busy trying not to feel the damn thing to look at it!"
Harry's eyes went wide. "Whoa, is that Bassarab? He's in on this too?"
"His mom is that Newsom woman?" Ron squeaked.
The girl held up a hand to put them off. She was a little busy trying to figure out what was going on to pay attention to the boys.
"Miss Newsom, your son is too damn stubborn for his own good." A voice she recognized as belonging to one of the nurses proclaimed. "These are deep lacerations and there's severe nerve damage. He needs surgery."
"Like fucking hell I'm having surgery!" Mihnea shouted, suddenly angry. "Fuck no! Get out of the way, I'm leaving!"
"For God's sake, Mihnea, sit down before you pass out!" his mother said firmly. "You're not going anywhere. And you. Don't even think about mentioning surgery again."
"But, Miss Newsom!" the nurse protested. "He needs..."
"Don't tell me what my son needs, Janice. It would do more harm than good. Just... stitch up the arteries and staple the cuts closed. He should be able to heal the rest on his own with enough blood."
Connie stopped listening to the argument at that point. What in God's name had happened to Mihnea that was so bad they wanted to perform surgery? Forgetting that she was with others who probably didn't need to see what was going on, she pushed past them to run down the hall. When she reached the room all the voices were coming from, she stopped dead in her tracks and stared in shock at the scene before her eyes.
Mihnea sat in an examination chair in the center of the room with his left arm stretched out on a table to the side. The upper layers of his uniform had been stripped off to the white undershirt – which was soaked through with so much blood it could scarcely be called white any longer. It looked like he'd been cut up pretty bad. While the huge gashes in his arm were no longer bleeding freely from what she could see, he was noticeably pale and shaky. Of course, the shakiness could have been more from nerves. Mihnea had that overwhelming phobia of medical procedures, and the threat of surgery had him rattled. It appeared that the only thing that was keeping him from bolting was his mother's presence.
"Good God, Mihnea, what happened to you?" Constance exclaimed worriedly.
Her cousin lifted his head from where it had been resting on Syn's shoulder and his eyes snapped open. They were a deep, glowing red. When his lips parted to speak, she could make out the pointed length of fangs. Jesus, he was hurt bad if it was affecting him that much...
"Hermione fucking Granger is what happened." he said harshly. The sound of footsteps approaching made his eyes shoot toward the door, then back to her. "Don't you dare let them come in here, Connie." he said. "Not now."
Hermione? She wondered. Hermione had done that to him? Her Hermione? There was no way! Though there was a bite to his tone, the girl recognized the brief flash in his eyes. He didn't want anyone else to see him the way he was. Though she didn't much like the idea of leaving him without knowing all the details, it would have to wait. Unfortunately, she couldn't move fast enough to prevent the group of wizards who had come running up behind her from catching a glimpse. Fred and Ron got there first, quickly followed by Harry and George- who was still half carrying his sister. They all went still when they saw the interior of that room and what was in it.
"What the...!" Ron began.
"Get back!" Connie shouted, shoving Ron and Fred backwards.
She quickly grabbed the handle of the door and snapped it shut behind her. However, that one, brief second of seeing her cousin looking inhuman was enough to open the floodgates.
"Was that your cousin?" Ginny asked, looking fearful and confused at the same time. "He's a vampire?"
Hell, there was no getting around it now. Constance took a deep breath. "He's half-vampire." she replied. "But..."
"Half?" Fred exclaimed, interrupting her. "How can someone be bleeding half-vampire? You either are, or you aren't!"
"All this business about Hellsings, Newsoms, you, and vampires coming after Harry... what the devil is going on Connie?" Ron demanded. "You're with these people?"
Harry was a teensy bit calmer than the others were, but only by a fraction. He looked more unnerved than actually afraid.
"Connie, this is huge." he said, shaking his head. "I mean... why didn't you tell anyone? You never said anything... not a word about... any of this."
Before she could open her mouth to respond, George cleared his throat.
"I knew." he said.
Fred's mouth fell open. "You knew?" he asked, looking back and forth between him and Constance with an expression akin to betrayal. "Damn it, I knew something weird was going on with you two! You've known the whole time and didn't say anything? To me, George? I'm your twin brother!"
"I didn't say anything because I promised her and her dad to keep it a secret!" he fired back. He then shot an almost accusing look at Constance. "You didn't tell me about Mihnea though."
"Because it wasn't my place to!" she said. "What Mihnea is has nothing at all to do with me. It's his choice who knows and who doesn't. If he wanted you to know, he would have told you himself."
"Yeah, but you told him about you though." Harry pointed out. "You could tell George but you couldn't tell the rest of us?"
"Damn it, I was told not to!" Connie exclaimed, getting frustrated and upset. This wasn't going anything like she wanted it to. And the betrayal on their faces... She could barely stand to see it. "I only told George because he practically broke into my room last time I was at the Burrow and refused to leave until I said something!"
"Told not to?" Ron repeated, looking disturbed. "Who said that, your parents? No good person would tell someone to lie to their friends over..."
Oh, that was it. Being upset, she could understand, but that was going too damn far. He didn't know what the hell he was talking about. Connie felt the last strings of her self control snap and anger flooded through her like a tidal wave.
"Albus Dumbledore, said that." she spat before he could finish. Once that name fell from her lips, everybody shut up and closed their mouths. "When Mihnea got his acceptance letter, Professor Dumbledore came here personally and told both of us that who we were had to be kept secret." her eyes narrowed and she planted her hands on her hips. "And you can say or think whatever you want, but I have never lied to you. I told you my parents worked for the government and there were things I couldn't talk about for security reasons. That was the truth. I told you there were things about me I didn't want you to know because it would make you see me differently, and that was the truth too. I know I've kept secrets from you and I'm sorry for that, but don't you dare call me a liar. You have no idea what I've been dealing with for the past three years. You don't know what it's like to be surrounded people who hate your guts when you cant say anything about it. How it feels to stay at a friend's house, knowing that the idea of your family makes them nervous and that their mother believes they're rotten and evil. If you're so smart, why don't you tell me how I should have done it? When? After listening to all of you talk about how my mother is a bloodthirsty killer with no conscious? Or maybe I should have waited until after the part where the Newsoms – who both my aunt and my father happen to be - were the masters of forbidden black magic who would sooner hex your balls off as look at you? Tell me. I really want to know. If it were you, what would you have done?"
She paused then to look around at all of them. No one was saying anything. It looked like she had touched a nerve and hit the most sensitive spot there was. Maybe she should have stopped there, but she had been holding too many things in for too long to keep them from pouring out.
"I didn't say anything to you guys about it, because I was afraid this would happen. I thought, maybe, if you knew me first, when it all came out you'd be able to look past what everyone else says and see things for how they really are. Maybe I didn't say anything because I wanted to protect you. Because if the wrong people found out and they knew you were my friends and knew who I was, they would make your lives a living hell. But that doesn't matter, does it? All that matters is that I'm related to the wrong people. How dare you get upset and bitch about people like Draco Malfoy, when you're doing the same damn thing he does?"
"Connie, it's not like that!" Harry began, but she held up a hand to cut him off.
"I'm not finished." she said, then pointed toward the door of the room Mihnea was in. "My cousin isn't fully human. He's scary, intimidating, and a member of the house at school that everyone hates. That's all you see. But what I see is that he saved my best friend's life and got badly hurt doing it. He'll probably carry the scars for the rest of his life. And tonight, at your house, I had to do something I didn't know I was capable of doing. When we were trapped and alone, I kept all of you alive until backup arrived. I killed two vampires by myself. It was my first time and there were no casualties. If it had been anyone else... any other mission, I would be able to come home and feel happy. Proud of accomplishing something I've been training for all my life. But I can't do that now, because I have to worry about you and what you think. I am proud of who I am. I'm proud of my family. If you don't like that, or them, you can go to hell. My horrible, rotten, evil family is the only reason any of you are alive right now and not a damn one of you is even going to say thank you for it! So you're welcome, for saving your lives. And good riddance."
With that, she turned on her heel and stomped off. In the back of her mind, there was a tiny voice telling her that she shouldn't have lashed out at them like that. But... damn it, they were being so stupid. All she wanted at the moment was to be left alone. Too many things had happened all at once, and it was overwhelming. Dealing with keeping them alive was stressful enough, but to have Ron Weasley call her a liar... It struck way too close to home. She... she was a liar – if only by omission. Perhaps that was why she was so upset. Whatever it was, she couldn't deal with all of it right now. She just wanted to curl up on her bed and stew and cry and be away from the world.
Behind her, she heard Ginny call out for her to stop, but she didn't. She even picked up the sound of George's angry voice telling Ron he was going to kick his ass for acting like a damn fool. She ignored that too. Constance just blocked everything out, and left.
She didn't wind up staying alone for very long. George showed up at her bedroom door about an hour after the conflict downstairs. Apparently, her father had told him where she was. He looked rough and had a dark bruise on his jaw, like he'd been punched. The girl let him into her room, then went wide-eyed as he explained what happened.
"Fred did that?" she demanded. "What did he hit you for? When did it happen?"
"A little after you left." George replied. "He was pissed about me not telling him anything. He's still a little miffed, but he got his hit in so he's not really mad anymore. I got him back, so no worries." He shifted and rubbed at the bruise. "I was aiming to hit the same place but he ducked, so I got him in the eye instead. It's kind of annoying because it's easy to tell us apart now. I was sort of looking forward to him getting the talking to from mom instead of me."
Connie's face fell and she slowly sank back against the couch they were sitting on, her eyes drifting toward the floor. She'd been worried about that. Of everyone, she knew that the revelation would hit Mrs. Weasley the hardest.
"It was about me, wasn't it?" she asked quietly.
"I don't want to talk about it." George said in a firm tone. "You don't need to know what she said."
That was probably the closest she would get to a 'yes'. She tried prodding at him a few more times, but he refused to give her any details. All he would say was that it had been heated, his mother had said some things that made him angry, and he told her to 'piss off' before he stormed out to find Constance. Just hearing that little bit was enough. George was right. She didn't need to know exactly what it had been about. Damn it, now she felt worse. That whole rant she'd had downstairs and now this...
"This is all my fault." she said, blinking to keep from crying in front of him. "You shouldn't be getting in trouble because of me..."
"Shut up, Connie." he said, shooting a look at her. "You haven't done anything wrong and it's not your fault."
It was easy to say that, but feeling it was an entirely different matter. The girl had to clench her hands into fists to keep from wringing them in nervousness.
"It is." she insisted. "That's the reason why everyone is so upset, isn't it? Because we didn't tell anyone. And... damn it, George, you shouldn't be getting into fights with your brother! You and Fred never fight!"
"The hell we don't." he countered. "Me and Fred fight all the time. We just don't usually do it while other people are around. And this fight wasn't even about you. He hit me because I've been sneaking out at night for weeks to do those sorcery lessons without telling him what I was up to. That's what he was so pissed about."
Constance went still and stared at him in horror. "Jesus Christ, you told him that? Please tell me you didn't say that in front of your par..."
George gave her a look. "Do I look stupid?" he asked, cutting her off. "Mom and dad still don't know about that and it's going to stay that way. Only Fred and the others know. I figured if we were going to have a row, I might as well put everything out on the table to get it over and done with." he took a breath to calm himself, then put his arm around her shoulders to pull her closer to him. "And like I said, we both got our hits in, so it's done. Freddie never stays mad for long so stop worrying about it."
Stop worrying, he said. He made it sound so simple and easy. She dropped her head against his shoulder and huffed. But maybe he had a point. It was all out in the open now and all the fretting in the world wouldn't change it. The best thing to do was let it go and just hope it would turn out okay in the end.
"I'm sorry for not telling you about Mihnea." she said softly, not looking up at him.
She felt George shrug. "Don't be." he said. "You were right about it being his business. And I figure with as often as I've been alone with him, if he were dangerous he would have done something by now." he made a waving gesture with his hand. "Not a big deal."
Connie could have sighed in relief. He had no idea how refreshing it was to hear someone react so nonchalantly. Thank God she was dating the sensible brother.
"You didn't really kick Ron's ass, did you?" she mumbled, remembering hearing him say something about that as she left.
"Nah, but if he starts acting like a prat again, I will." George replied softly. He unfolded his legs and stretched them out on the couch so he could hold her more comfortably. "By the way, I know we have an anniversary tomorrow, but could we not do this again next year? It was kind of exciting and all, but I think the whole 'vampires breaking into my house and nearly killing my sister' thing is a little too much for me."
Connie had closed her eyes to help with pushing everything out of her mind, but his statement made them snap open again. She quickly sat up to blink at him. He was making a joke out of it. After everything that had just happened, he was still able to sit there and pretend it had been some sort of planned celebration. She wasn't sure why but her lips twitched, then slowly pulled into a smile. Then she started giggling. What started off as light and soft quickly spread through her entire body until she was in danger of falling off the couch onto the floor, she was laughing so hard. George just watched her sudden fit in amusement, like it had been his intention all along.
"I'll try." she said, trying to bring herself back under control. "But you know I like being spontaneous, so I make no promises."
That, in return, got a good laugh out of him. "Fair enough."
And suddenly, it was like there had never been any conflict in the first place. They were still able to laugh.
Go to sleep.
Those were the last words Hermione could recall. Everything after that was a deep pool of darkness. An unnatural state of unconsciousness that she had no power to resist. The voice itself sounded familiar, but she hadn't had any time to place it before the power of those words took hold of her. Strangely enough, the forced state of sleep wasn't uncomfortable. It was very safe there, wrapped in a mist that kept the world far, far away. It just wasn't... right. She didn't belong there. So once she felt the spell's sway begin to ebb and her strength return, Hermione attempted to push back the fog that clouded her head so she could get back to herself.
Waking up felt incredibly strange. When she first opened her eyes, the lights overhead were much too bright, forcing her to close them again. Sounds which should have been familiar were alien and confusing. A sense of deja vu struck her. She had experienced this before, hadn't she? Hermione couldn't recall exactly when, but she had definitely been in this position before... Yes, she remembered. That time she had woken up after the incident with the polyjuice potion. Only what she felt now was much more intense. The girl opened her eyes for a second time and forced them to remain that way so she'd get used to the brightness. Nothing looked familiar.
"Hermione?" a voice she recognized questioned. Without lifting her head from the pillow, she looked left and saw it was Harry. "You're awake!"
What on earth was Harry doing there? Ron, Ginny and... Fred were there too. All of them straightened in their seats at Harry's declaration and pushed themselves up to come closer.
"We've been so worried about you!" Ginny said, sitting down on the edge of the bed to give her a hug. "Everyone said you'd be fine, but no one knew when you would wake up..."
"Come on, Ginny, give her some room to breathe!" Ron said to his sister. He then looked at her in concern. "How are you feeling?"
Hermione blinked and pushed herself upright. "I feel okay..." she began, but paused as she took in the rest of her surroundings. Suddenly, she realized what this place reminded her of. "Is this... am I in a hospital? What are you guys doing here?" she focused on Fred. "And what happened to your eye?"
Fred instinctively reached up to touch the dark bruise on the left side of his face. "Pretty, isn't it? George gave it to me."
What the...? Before she could say anything, Harry cleared his throat.
"Hermione, you're not in a hospital." he told her. "We're..." He hesitated for a brief moment. "At Connie's house."
"Connie's house?" she repeated, confused. "What's going on? Did something happen?"
Ron looked really uncomfortable. "You don't... remember anything about last night?" he prodded gently, like he wasn't sure whether he should or not.
Hermione had never felt more out of sorts in her life. Was there something she wasn't remembering? Trying to push past the fog that was still present in her mind, the girl focused all her attention on figuring out what could have happened to land her in an unfamiliar place.
"I remember... waking up in the middle of the night." she began slowly, sifting through her memories as they came forward. "I heard one of the neighbors screaming. Our power was out so my dad went downstairs to get a torch and..."
Her words dropped off as other details suddenly hit her all at once. There had been vampires. They broke into her house and they... A strangled sob escaped her lips and her hands flew up to hide her face, overwhelmed by the horrifying memories that had sprung forth in her mind. The sounds of screaming and so much blood...
"Oh God, they killed them!" she said, feeling tears well up. "The vampires... they broke in and killed them! I couldn't... do anything..."
Ginny immediately leaned forward to pull her against her shoulder soothingly. As she petted at Hermione's hair, the girl could hear the boys going at each other.
"Good going, Ron." Fred said harshly. "That's the second time! Can't be around a girl longer than five minutes without sending them into hysterics, can you?"
"Will you shut up!" Ginny exclaimed, pulling away from the girl to glare at them before Ron had a chance to respond.
Hermione felt, rather than saw, Harry move to sit on the other side of her to put an arm around her shoulders. She didn't understand anything. Her parents couldn't be dead. She had just gotten back from school. The family skiing trip she had been so looking forward to... they were supposed to leave for it the next day. Now it would never happen. The girl immediately began pouring through all the decisions she had made since she began attending Hogwarts. She had never gone back home for the Easter holidays, thinking it wasn't a big deal. She had given up spending Christmas with her parents last year to stay at school... All of it was time lost. Time she would never get back. It wasn't right. She had been home for less than a day before her entire world was ripped away.
"They hit my house too." Harry told her quietly, giving her an understanding squeeze. "Aunt Petunia and Dudley weren't there, but uncle Vernon... he's gone."
Oh no... she thought. They had gone to Harry's house too? Her head shot up as she remembered something else about the night before and she grabbed his arms.
"Harry, they were looking for you!" she said frantically. ""Those vampires at my house kept demanding to know where you were! I refused to tell them anything, but..."
"Yeah, we know." Fred said, interrupting her. "They came to our house too. Tore everything apart and dragged Ginny down through the floor. Said they'd kill her if we didn't hand Harry over."
Hermione's eyes went wide with shock and she turned to grab Ginny. "Oh my God! Are you okay?"
The girl's expression went blank at the memory, but she quickly shook it off. "I'm fine. My ankle was hurt, but mom fixed it."
Everyone then looked around at each other, determining exactly what to say and how. Hermione recognized their expressions as the one people get when they've just learned something incredibly important.
Ron shook his head and decided to speak first. "Bloody hell, Hermione, so much has been going on... We have got to talk."
Hermione sat and listened in stunned silence as they related the whole story to her. The Hellsing organization showing up at their house to evacuate them, and then the discoveries about Connie. She wasn't just related to the Hellsing family, she was the daughter of Sir Integral Hellsing herself; making her the family heir. Edmund Stryker - that likable man they'd all met that day in Diagon Alley – his mother had been a Newsom, giving her strong ties to that family as well. Then they told her about the vampire they had seen at their house and about Mihnea Bassarab being half-vampire, along with his mother being none other than the nahual, Syn Newsom. It was like every possible connection that could be made was present. It was positively shocking. And yet... it actually made sense. Constance never liked talking about her family and she always acted like she knew a lot more about things than she let on. And Bassarab... he had that unnerving habit of moving around without making a sound and could figure things out so fast... While she didn't like the idea of being left out of something so monumental, if what they were saying was true, it was no wonder the girl hadn't told them anything. This wasn't the sort of information any rational person would go around announcing to the magical world. It sounded like there was already a good bit of conflict swirling around it. Connie had gotten upset with all of them last night because of how they reacted and had run off. Then Fred and George got into a fistfight about him helping her keep secrets. Then George and his mother had an argument that angered him enough to make him leave, which then caused Mr. and Mrs. Weasley get into a row... It sounded like everyone was mad at everyone else for some reason or other.
"I can't believe you, Ron!" Hermione exclaimed upon hearing what he had said to Connie the night before. "You actually came out and called her a liar? What is wrong with you?"
"I didn't mean it that way!" he protested, but his face fell all the same. He knew full well he had made a mistake. "It was just a lot to take in all at once and it just sort of... slipped out." he shook his head and peered at her. "You can't sit there and say that her keeping quiet about all of this for so long doesn't bother you..."
"Well... yes, I'm a little put out that Connie didn't tell me." the girl admitted. "But I can understand why. Just think about it. Magical society has those secrecy laws to prevent muggles from finding out about them. The only reason those laws exist is because of all the witch trials that were held hundreds of years ago. Wizards know that most muggles would be afraid of magic because they don't understand it, so they hide. How many half-bloods at school have told stories about their parents getting into fights because one of them didn't say anything about being a witch or wizard until after the letter from Hogwarts came? Every last one of them. I don't see how what Constance and Mihnea did is any different."
It was also no different than Professor Lupin keeping the fact that he was a werewolf secret, Hermione thought to herself. Maybe that was why Connie had been so upset about Snape forcing her to answer his questions in class that day. It made perfect sense now. She would have understood the implications that such a revelation would have because she was in a similar situation. Oh... she had to go talk to her! All this business about the Hellsings, Newsoms, and vampires was huge, yes, but Hermione couldn't fathom how that made Connie a different person altogether. They were friends. If she were in the girl's shoes, she would probably be holed up somewhere worried sick that everyone would abandon her over something like this. Constance never dropped anyone she cared about no matter what she learned about them, so they needed to go show her that they would do the same. And, damn it, if Ron didn't apologize for being a stupid prat, Hermione would never forgive him.
Unfortunately, since she was essentially in a 'hospital wing' of sorts, there was no way she could leave as she would have liked. Whoever was in charge of her care would have to clear it first. Fred volunteered to step out and hunt down a nurse or some other person who worked there. After a few minutes, he came back with a tall, dark haired man who introduced himself as Dr. Crayson. He was a friendly sort of person who seemed to understand her desire to leave. After checking her vital signs and giving her a thorough examination, he declared that there was no reason to keep her there. But rather than simply leaving it at that, he went on to give them piece of surprising information.
"Sir Integra wished for you to be left alone while you were recovering." he said, looking around at all of them. "But now that you're awake, I imagine she'll want to speak to you."
Ron's eyes went wide. "S...sir Integra?"
Harry frowned. "But I thought Connie's dad said she wasn't here?"
The man let out a good natured chuckle. "She was away at a conference in Spain, but she decided to cut it short and leave early when she found out about what was happening here. I believe she arrived a couple of hours ago." he replied. He gave all of them a reassuring look. "I don't know what you've been told about Sir Hellsing, but you have absolutely nothing to worry about. I've been working here since right after the Great War, and I've always found her to be a very serious, but fair woman. You've been invited to join her and the rest of the family for supper." he paused and slid his stethoscope back around his neck as he turned back to Hermione. "You need to try to eat something, Miss Granger. You've been unconscious for nearly a day and getting some food into your system is the best thing for you right now. Take it slow for a while and if you notice feeling anything unusual, you need to let someone know, alright?"
The girl nodded in somber understanding. She couldn't recall the last time she had eaten something, so the idea of any kind of meal was welcome. Before he left, he pointed out a bag sitting in the corner of the room next to a table. Hermione hadn't noticed it before.
"I believe that was brought from your house so you would have some of your own clothes to wear." he told her. "Once you're changed, a maid will take you upstairs to get you settled into your room, then she'll take all of you to the dining room so you wont have to worry about getting lost."
With that, he stepped through the door and pulled it closed behind him, leaving them alone again. Hermione immediately recognized the duffel on the floor as the one she had packed for the skiing trip. The sight of it sitting there looking so normal was oddly... unsettling. She honestly had no desire to touch it, fearing it would dredge up too many memories. But the fact was that she was still wearing her pajamas from the night before and she really needed to change. She would have to just buck up and do it. The boys and Ginny all stepped outside to give her some time alone. Hermione rifled through the bag as quickly as possible, picking out a pair of jeans and a nice light green jumper. Everything else she ignored. It was too painful to think about the reason why they had been packed up.
When she was finished changing and had pulled on a pair of shoes, Hermione picked up the bag and headed out to join the others. A young woman with russet colored hair and wearing a dark blue dress was waiting to take them upstairs. She introduced herself as Samantha and she immediately took the duffel away from Hermione. The girl attempted to wave her off and explain that she could carry her own things, but the woman wouldn't hear any of it. They were guests, she said, and there was no good reason for her to be worried about luggage after just waking up from such an ordeal.
Since the walk up to the rooms on the second floor of the manor was a long one, the wizards kept themselves occupied by looking around at everything. The others had seen everything the night before and during their earlier trek down to the medical wing, but this was Hermione's first glimpse of what the house looked like. When the industrial concrete and metal railing of the barracks gave way to crown molding and Persian rugs laid over warm colored wood floors, the girl couldn't help but be stunned by the simple beauty of it. This was obviously the home of an aristocratic family that took pride in their rich history. Yet, nothing she saw really gave the impression of being overbearing or obnoxious. There was a sense of restraint present. Like everything displayed had been earned and wasn't merely being shown off because it could be. The walls of the hallways were a pristine shade of creamy white and were dotted with paintings of landscapes and exquisitely crafted portraits. Some were of historical figures that must have been associated with the Hellsing family. Others bore small metal plaques beneath them, identifying them as ancestors. If time had allowed, Hermione would have liked to just slowly walk through to absorb everything. There was just as much history and knowledge to be found in this place as any museum... But that urge would have to be fulfilled at a later time.
It appeared that the Weasleys and Harry had all been given a set of rooms that were close together. Probably so they would be able to easily find each other without having to wander down endless corridors, Hermione thought. Her room followed the same pattern. It was located right next to the ones used by Ginny and her parents, while Harry, Ron, and the twins had rooms directly across the hall. The door to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's room was open and it seemed that they heard their approach. As Samantha was pushing open the door to the room assigned to Hermione, Mrs. Weasley glanced out the doorway, then came out to see them. She immediately pulled Hermione into a warm, comforting hug.
"Oh, Hermione dear, we've all been so worried about you!" she said, pulling back to press a hand against the side her face. "We heard about what happened. If you ever need anything, we'll be there for you. Anything at all."
The girl truly appreciated it, but the words stung. She was still trying to process everything that was going on, and another reminder that her family was gone struck her to the core. She quickly nodded and blinked to prevent tears from welling up.
"Thank you." she said sincerely.
Behind the woman, Mr. Weasley had stepped out of their room as well. He greeted Hermione in a similar fashion as his wife, giving her an understanding pat on the shoulder before turning to his children.
"Any sign of George yet?" he asked.
Fred, Ron, and Ginny all shared a look amongst themselves. "We haven't seen him." Fred replied. "We figure he'll be wherever Connie is."
Hermione noticed Mrs. Weasley make a face at his pronouncement. Almost like a sign of disapproval that she didn't want to fully show in front of her children. It made her heart sink in her chest a bit. Surely, with all she had seen of Constance, her whole idea of her wouldn't change overnight, would it? George's mother loved Connie to pieces!
The maid had gone inside of the room to put down Hermione's bag, but she came back out when she heard what they were talking about.
"There's no need to worry about your son." she told them. "He and Miss Constance are already downstairs and he's been getting along with everyone famously from what I've seen."
The parents looked reassured that someone actually knew where he was. Mrs. Weasley cleared her throat.
"Where on earth did he stay last night?" she questioned. "None of us saw him again after he ran off..."
Samantha gave her a small smile of understanding. "I believe he slept in Miss Constance's room. And not to worry." she went on with upheld hands, seeing the sudden shift of expression on the woman's face. "The young very mistress has a very comfortable sofa in her room. I took some blankets and a pillow to set him up to sleep there, and the door was left open all night. Master Mihnea's room is only a few doors down from Miss Constance and he is extremely protective of her. There was no funny business."
Mrs. Weasley didn't look the least bit happy about that, but there was nothing that could be done about it. The young woman then gestured for Hermione to come inside to inspect the room. The girl's eyes went wide at the sight of it. It was positively massive compared to what she was used to. Even the dorm rooms at Hogwarts weren't so large, and they served four students at a time. An elegantly carved four poster bed was situated against one wall, and there was a matching desk, wardrobe, and set of shelves for her use. A huge picture window hung with heavy rose colored drapes appeared to lead out to a balcony. With the weather as cold as it was, Hermione couldn't imagine ever using it, but it provided a stunning view. There was also a sizable fireplace directly across from the bed to provide warmth and ambient light once it started getting dark.
"It's beautiful..." she whispered, peering around at everything. "And big." she turned to glance at the maid. "All of this is for me?"
"Of course, Miss." Samantha replied with a gentle smile. "One thing Sir Integra is known for is taking very good care of her house guests." she gestured toward a door on the left side of the fireplace. "You have a full bathroom all to yourself. There's a hamper in there to put any used towels or clothes you need laundered. I'm usually responsible for this part of the house but if I'm not around for any reason, one of the other maids will take care of that for you and have them back by the end of the day. And if you need anything at all, don't hesitate to ask."
Wow... Hermione thought. This was almost like staying in a fancy hotel or something. She thanked the woman, then Samantha turned to address them as a group.
"Now then, if you're all ready, I'll escort you downstairs for supper." she said. "Sir Integra has been eager to meet you."
The journey back down to the main floor of the manor further emphasized the scale and grandeur of the house. The whole way, Hermione found herself wondering how anyone could be in such a place for any length of time and not get hopelessly lost. But then, she supposed that actually living there made a difference. She recalled that Connie had taken to moving about Hogwarts more quickly than most of the other students did first year, and now she understood why.
When they finally arrived outside the dining room, they all could hear the sound of conversation coming from within. The normal banter of a family sitting down together for a meal. When they entered, they found themselves inside of a large rectangular room with a long dining table perched in the center. Five people were clustered together in seats at one end. Connie was sitting with George on one side, while across from them – their backs to the door – was her father, Edmund, and a shorter woman with the most vivid shade of red hair Hermione had ever seen on a person before. Then, sitting at the head of the table was a woman in a dark colored trousers and a long sleeved button down shirt. It looked almost like she normally wore business suits, but had taken the jacket off for comfort's sake. Platinum blonde hair spilled across her shoulders clean down to her waist. Samantha cleared her throat to announce their presence.
"Your guests, Sir Integra."
Everyone at the table sat up straighter and looked over at them. Both Edmund and the redhead next to him turned in their seats to get a look. The sight of her bright and bordering on unnatural green eyes confirmed Hermione's suspicion that she was Syn Newsom. She was surprisingly lovely and youthful looking, considering how old she supposedly was. When the blonde woman turned her face in their direction, the girl was taken aback to see that there was a dark colored patch covering her left eye. Everyone except Mr. Weasley seemed a bit astonished by that as well. He must have recognized her from the last time he had seen her.
"Ah, very good." she said. She made a sweeping gesture of invitation. "Please, join us."
Samantha gave her a respectful curtsy and turned to leave, while everyone else came forward to pick out seats around the table. Hermione couldn't help but notice that Fred deliberately sat down next to his twin, as if to put more space between him and their mother, whom he appeared to still be upset with. Constance glanced around at everyone cautiously, then leaned forward to look down at her.
"How are you?" she asked quietly, looking a bit nervous. "I wanted to come to see you, but I didn't know how it would go..." she paused to glance meaningfully at the others.
Hermione recognized where her comment was going. "It's fine." she said before she could finish. She gave her a reassuring look, hoping she would be able to discern that she understood. "They told me about what happened."
Constance bit down on her lower lip and nodded. They would talk later. She sat back in her chair and went back to poking at the roast beef and selection of vegetables on her plate.
The woman at the head of the table – who had to be Sir Integra – watched their small exchange, then cleared her throat. "I was sorry to hear about what all of you went through last night, and I regret we had to meet under these circumstances." she told them in a sincere sounding voice. "I was out of the country at the time these attacks took place, but I have been briefed on what happened and I can assure you that we will do everything in our power to ensure the safety of your family, as well as Mr. Potter and Miss Granger." she paused half a moment to glance in George's direction. "I also couldn't help but notice that there has been some conflict going on. I'm not usually one to get involved in the personal matters of others, but I do hope that we will be able to set aside any differences that exist between us. For the sake of our children, if nothing else."
From her very specific expression, Hermione gathered that she was referring to the fact that both Fred and George had obviously been in a fist fight. Fred noticed as well. He made a face, then slowly raised his hand.
"If you're talking about him, that was all me." he said, jerking a thumb toward his brother. "And he totally deserved it."
George sniffed. "Yeah, and you deserved what you got back."
"Boys..." Mr. Weasley began with a note of warning in his voice. He shook his head and turned toward the knight. "I'm sorry about that, Sir Hellsing. I think all of us have been... worn ragged by this whole mess. They wont be fighting any more."
Sir Integra made a small wave of her hand. "There's no need to apologize. I deal with my soldiers on a regular basis, so I'm well aware of the male proclivity for getting into fights. However, I've always understood a punch to the face to be a sign of something serious." she looked at the twins. "The issue has been rectified, I hope?"
They both nodded. "It has." they said together.
"Good." she replied with a small note of approval.
The woman then sat a bit straighter and clasped her hands together on top of the table. "Now then, I know you've all been through quite the ordeal and all of this must be overwhelming, but there are a few things we need to work out as quickly as possible. I thought it would be best to have a discussion with all of you present so that we're on the same page about what is going to happen."
Mrs. Weasley looked incredibly uncomfortable by the statement. She shifted in her seat and leaned forward to peer down the table. "No offense to you, Sir Hellsing, but if it's something important we're going to be talking about, then I would rather the children not be here. They don't need to be put in the middle of something like this..."
Sir Integra slowly arched a brow. "I'm afraid they're already 'in the middle of it', as you say. Of course, if you wish for your children to be left out that's your decision to make, but there are some issues directly affecting Mr. Potter and Miss Granger which I must speak to them about. It has been my experience that things of this nature tend to go more smoothly when there are friends around to provide some support."
It was thoughtful of her to take that into consideration, Hermione mused. She didn't know about Harry, but she personally felt more secure knowing that her friends were around as opposed to her being isolated with a bunch of people she didn't know. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley shared a considering look between themselves. The older woman pressed her lips together in a thin line and nodded – a silent sign that they had reached an agreement on the matter.
"The children wont be leaving." Mr. Weasley announced.
The knight inclined her head in acknowledgment. "Very well." she said, then her tone shifted to become more businesslike. "Concerning your family specifically, I contacted the Prime Minister's office to inform him of the attack made on your home. He will see to it that the Ministry of Magic is filled in, and I imagine we'll have to meet with one of their representatives on the matter. You should be aware that when this meeting takes place, I am going to insist that all of you remain in our custody until the Ministry sends someone to your house to ward it against any further attacks."
"Custody?" Harry questioned, his eyes widening.
"You mean like prisoners?" Ron asked.
Connie's dad shook his head. "Certainly not." he replied. "All it means is that you'll be staying here so that we can ensure your protection. We don't want you to feel trapped here, but we have to play it safe."
Sir Integra nodded in agreement. "You must understand, vampires who attack people for a specific purpose aren't easily dissuaded. If they were looking to capture Mr. Potter, you can be sure they will try again. I'm not one to rescue someone only to turn around and throw them back to the wolves." she paused half a moment and gestured to the two adults sitting closest to her. "Of course, both Edmund and Syn are perfectly capable of placing these protective enchantments themselves but due to my daughter using his name for school, we cant allow the Ministry to catch on to my husband's attachment to Hellsing. And I'm not foolish enough to believe that anyone in your world would trust Syn to actually protect your home with her... unique brand of magic. We're on uneasy footing with the Ministry of Magic as it is, and I want to avoid any unnecessary conflict with them if at all possible."
Down the table, Mr. Weasley appeared thoughtful. He actually worked at the Ministry of Magic, so he understood how things worked there better than anyone else did.
"We understand." he told her, his brows furrowing. "It might take them a while to send someone out to do that, though. The Ministry is always short staffed during the holidays..."
"That's not a problem. You can stay here for as long as it takes." the knight told them. "I also understand that your home sustained a great deal of damage. Since Hellsing is partially responsible for that, you wont have to worry about paying for repairs. I'll make sure the expenses are taken care of."
Again, her thoughtfulness was surprising. In the stories spread around the magical and muggle worlds alike, no one ever mentioned generosity as being one of Hellsing's 'virtues'. With that out of the way, Sir Integra then turned her attention onto Harry.
"You're Harry Potter, I presume?" she questioned.
Harry gave a start at being addressed directly and nodded. "Yes ma'am." he said. His face then went a shade pale and he hesitated, like he thought he had made a mistake. "Or... is it 'sir' or 'ma'am'?"
The woman shot an glance at her husband and the redhead then looked back with a small smile of amusement tugging at the corners of her mouth.
"I'm normally referred to as 'sir' due to my title, but under the circumstances I don't see any need to get hung up on formalities. Either one is fine." she told him, then began more serious. "Mr. Potter, I am sorry about the death of your uncle. However, you should know that we found your aunt and your cousin at the location you provided to Miss Newsom. They are both alive and well. We sent a small group to keep them under surveillance for the time being."
That was a small piece of good news, at least. Hermione watched as Harry let out a long stream of air.
"Do they know?" he asked carefully. "About what happened?"
"Not yet." she replied. "We thought it would be best to get this mess sorted out first before adding to it. I will send a representative from us first thing in the morning to let them know." she paused with a glint of understanding in her visible eye. "As far as your family is concerned, they'll be told this attack was random and your uncle happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I understand your living situation is problematic so to speak, and I don't want to give your relatives any room to place the blame on you."
Harry blinked at her, then his expression shifted to one of relief. He had already been thinking about that. "Thank you." he said, genuinely meaning it.
The knight inclined her head in acknowledgment. "I have heard that it would be impossible for you to leave your aunt's custody without breaking breaking the magical protection provided by your mother. However, it is obvious that either this protection applies only to you and not the rest of your household, or it isn't effective against vampires. To prevent something like this happening again, Syn or Edmund will be going to your house sometime before you return there to place accessory enchantments that will further protect your family."
Harry sat back a bit in his chair, surprised about the depth of their knowledge about his situation. He shot a small, questioning glance toward Constance.
"I guess Connie told you guys about them, huh?" he asked.
Sir Integra's lips turned upwards ever so slightly. "Not in so many words, but one can't help but hear interesting things mentioned over the dinner table." she replied. "After the events that took place during your first year at school, Professor Dumbledore consulted with us about the strength of the magical protection you have against Voldemort."
"Whoa!" Fred and George exclaimed, going wide eyed. "You guys have been talking to Dumbledore?"
Hermione noticed George looking at Connie in surprise, which she responded to with a shake of her head and a quiet 'I knew they were talking, but not what it was about'. She had always thought that Dumbledore was an expert in all sorts of magic! She couldn't fathom why he would turn to a muggle organization for a consult on something.
Next to Edmund, Syn cleared her throat to speak up for the first time since the meeting began. "After Voldemort..."
Everyone winced at the sound of that word. "Don't say his name!" Mr. and Mrs. Weasley proclaimed in unison.
The woman paused and quirked a brow. "Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself." she said. "The guy would be a lot less scary if you stopped with that ridiculous 'You-Know-Who' business." she shook her head, giving the impression of someone who was mildly irritated by another's ignorance of something simple, and turned back to Harry. "Anyway, after Voldemort got so close to you during your first year at school, Professor Dumbledore was understandably concerned. Since the protection provided by your mother stems from sorcery, he discussed your situation with Ed and I..."
"Sorcery?" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed in confusion. "Lily Potter? I'd be the first to admit that I didn't know her well, but she was no sorceress!"
Syn gave her a look. "I never said that she was. But, it is entirely possible for a very powerful witch or wizard to perform rudimentary sorcery without intending to – especially when they are in a very traumatic situation or high emotional state. Obviously, none of us were there that night, but I believe that a mother confronted with the impending death of her infant child falls into that category, regardless of what specifically happened. Witchcraft isn't capable of the sort of complexity found in this situation. If it were, then every witch or wizard who had a parent die protecting them would have the same degree of protection that he has. It is an extremely rare magical effect to find in your world." her vivid green eyes narrowed a hair. "And you don't have to say the word 'sorcery' like it's a curse. Your lack of understanding doesn't make it evil. If it weren't for sorcery, not a damn one of you people would be able to use your magic and that's a fact."
"Excuse me?" Mrs. Weasley demanded, taking offense. "What sort of rubbish is tha..."
"You all use wands, don't you?" Syn countered before she could finish. "It's an accepted fact in your world that the wand chooses the wizard, not the other way around. A wand is an inanimate object imbued with a level of intelligence and discernment which allows it to make decisions for itself without human influence. There is no level of witchcraft on this earth capable of producing something with a mind of it's own. Only sorcery is powerful enough to do that. You people just refuse to call it what it is because your magic is too difficult to control without a wand, and admitting that you need sorcery to make them is too scary. It probably gives the wandmakers in your world the upper hand as well, since they don't have to worry about ordinary people catching on to what they're actually doing and infringing on their business."
Everyone stared at her in astonishment. Hermione had never once considered that was where wands came from but... thinking about it, it did make sense. She remembered thinking that Mr. Olivander must have been teetering on the boundaries of madness with how he talked about his wands like they were alive. Maybe he wasn't so eccentric after all.
After watching their now thoughtful expressions for a moment, Sir Integra cleared her throat. "While all of this is very interesting, I'm afraid we still have some business to attend to." she turned her gaze onto Hermione. "Miss Hermione Granger?"
Hermione shook herself out of her musings and sat up straighter. Given the situation, she could imagine this wasn't going to be a pleasant conversation. "Yes, ma'am."
The knight interlaced her fingers together in front of her, while her visible eye softened with an expression akin to understanding. "Miss Granger, I understand that you have been through an incredibly difficult ordeal. The death of one parent, much less two, is no easy thing and you have my sincere condolences. Unfortunately, the world we live in doesn't allow much time for processing and grief. I'm sorry that there isn't a better way to handle this, but I must ask you: do you have any relatives you could go to live with?"
A deep, unnerving weight settled in the pit of the girl's stomach. She would really never go back home, would she? Trying to push back the wave of emotion she felt so she'd be able to think, she took a deep, shuddering breath.
"I... have some cousins in France." she replied, her voice breaking more than she liked. "But I've only seen them a few times and I don't know them very well..."
Sir Integra frowned thoughtfully. "I see." she said. Her lips pressed together in a thin line of consideration. "I'm afraid, Miss Granger, that your being a witch places you in a unique situation. Since you are already integrated with magical society, your case falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Magic." her gaze turned toward Mr. Weasley. "I have no knowledge of the Ministry's protocols for something like this. Do you know what her options are?"
The man sat back in his chair with a furrowed brow. He didn't look happy about what he was going to say. "Hermione, I highly recommend going to live with family if you could." he said, turning to look at her directly. "There are group homes for magical children who have been orphaned, but it is very unusual for a muggle born to be placed in one. The general consensus at the Ministry is that children who grew up in a muggle environment are better suited for a muggle orphanage. I've never seen one so I don't know what they're like."
Connie's father sniffed in disapproval. "They're awful places." he declared. "Not from lack of trying, but they're overcrowded with kids from bad environments and they don't get enough funding to employ the amount of people they really need."
Syn nodded somberly in agreement. "I was lucky enough to avoid them, but Seras was placed in an orphanage when her parents died. She said those were the worst years of her life."
Hermione's eyes turned down toward the table. She herself had never heard of a good orphanage for all the reasons that Edmund stated. But Hogwarts only took students from the United Kingdom. If she moved out of the country, she'd have to transfer to another school. Oh God, how terrible would that be? She'd already lost so much so quickly, she couldn't stand the thought of losing all of her friends too...
"I... I don't know..." she began, feeling tears well up against her will. She gave her head a violent shake. "Hogwarts is all I have left now... I just can't leave!"
"And you shouldn't have to." Mrs. Weasley stated in that voice she got when she had made up her mind and wasn't going to be argued with. "And you're absolutely not going to one of those awful orphanages! You can come live with us. Can't she, Arthur?"
For a brief moment, the man blinked, then nodded in full agreement. "Absolutely, she can live with us!"
Hermione's head shot up and her wet eyes widened with shock. Do what? "Oh, no!" she said, shaking her head. "I couldn't do that! You have enough to deal with as it is without me adding to it!"
"Oh hush." Mrs. Weasley said, waving her off. "We're used to having a house full, so adding one more would be no trouble. Besides, it would be good for Ginny to have another girl around." she peered down the table at her daughter. "You wouldn't mind having Hermione stay in the room across from yours, would you dear?"
Ginny immediately shook her head. "Of course not! I'd love it!" she whirled around in her seat to grab at Hermione's hand. "Please come live with us! It's awful having nothing but boys around. It would be great! Please?"
"Come on, Hermione." Ron pleaded, joining in. "You know you're already as good as family. Harry practically moves in with us during the summer, so we'd always be together!"
Hermione wasn't really sure what to say. She hadn't intended for something like this to happen, but the offer was incredibly touching. She bit back the sudden well of emotion she felt at being so warmly welcomed. It was like they couldn't imagine any other option for her.
"You'd... really do that for me?" she asked with a sniffle.
Fred and George looked at each other. "Like we'd let you live out on a street somewhere?" they scoffed together. "Honestly Granger, you're supposed to be the smart one of the bunch!"
That got a small laugh out of her. This was real, wasn't it? They were truly willing to take her in. Seeing the expectant looks on everyone's faces, she took a deep breath and nodded.
"Okay." she said. "I'd... like to do that."
Ginny let out a restrained squeal of excitement and moved to pull her into another of her hugs. Meanwhile, in the background, Hermione caught faint traces of the conversation between Mr. Weasley and Sir Integra. The knight was making sure that them taking her in a ward was feasible and that he could get the paperwork for it done without any trouble. Mr. Weasley told her that he would have to talk to a few of his contacts to get it pushed through before the holidays were over, but otherwise it wouldn't be a problem.
When Ginny and her brothers finally got through with their welcoming embraces, Syn was looking over at them with a small smile.
"By the way, Miss Granger, I should probably tell you that your cat is here." she told her.
The girl's eyes widened. "Crookshanks?" she asked, not daring to believe it. "He's here? But... how?"
The woman's smile grew a bit wider. "My son brought him along when he got you out of your house." she explained. "We would have let him stay down in the medical wing with you, but the staff doesn't allow animals down there if they can help it. Mihnea has been keeping him up in his room."
Connie's dad arched a brow. "How's Pixie taking that?"
Syn sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "Last I heard she was throwing a god awful fit about it." she replied. She paused to fill the others in on what she meant. "My son's cat is used to being the queen of the castle, so she's not happy about having to share all her stuff. She'll get over it."
Hermione felt an overwhelming rush of relief and thankfulness at the knowledge that Crookshanks was alive. Maybe not everything had been lost. She still had her pet. But something else pushed itself to the front of her mind and gave her serious pause.
"Wait. You said... Bassarab was the one who got me out of my house?" she questioned.
The woman nodded. "We were short staffed at the time and since we were dealing with three attacks at once, he volunteered to go out."
Thoughts began rushing through the girl's brain so fast that she only vaguely heard the sound of Mrs. Weasley questioning the logic of a woman who allowed something so dangerous. She was busy putting pieces together. She had heard a voice before she fell unconscious. A voice she recognized, but couldn't place at the time. Suddenly, she knew where she had heard it before. It had been him at her house! And she had...
"Oh my God!" she exclaimed, bringing the other conversations to a screeching halt. Her hands planted themselves on the table and she leaned forward with a horrified expression on her face. "I didn't know who he was! All I saw were these glowing red eyes and I thought it was one of the vampires coming back... oh, is he okay?"
The younger people sitting around her blinked in confusion, then put together what she was so upset about.
"Wait a minute." Harry said, studying her. "Is he okay? Did you...?"
"Guys..." Connie interjected, only to be cut off by a surprised exclamation from Fred. He seemed to have figured it out.
"Sweet Merlin's baggy y-fronts, Granger, it that was you?" he asked, staring at her open-mouthed. "We only got a quick look at him when we got here, but Bassarab looked like death warmed over! There was blood everywhere! We thought he got into a fight with a vampire or something!"
On the other side of George, Connie shot him a harsh look. "You weren't supposed to see that."
Oh God, they made it sound bad. Hermione couldn't believe it. What on earth had she done? The details were fuzzy, but she distinctly recalled the feeling of being afraid for her life and hiding in her pantry with a knife. If she had known... How could she have hurt someone who had been trying to help her? And now she was sitting at a table with Mihnea's family... His mother was sitting right across from her, for God's sake! How was she supposed to look her in the face after doing something so terrible?
"I am so sorry." she told her as sincerely as she possibly could. "I didn't know who he was... if I had known I swear I wouldn't have hurt him..."
The redhead's face twisted into a pained expression, and she lifted her hands to wave at her.
"Oh, no, no, no, baby, don't do that." she said in a soft, comforting tone. "Calm down. You were defending yourself and that's exactly what you were supposed to do. No one is upset or angry about that." she pressed her lips together in an understanding frown. "One of the things you have to understand about Mihnea is that he's a lot like his father. He has an annoying habit of believing he's invincible when he's not. He all but admitted to me when he got back with you that he didn't announce himself like he should have and the whole thing was mostly his fault. Considering what was going on when he got to your house, there is no way you could have known who he was by looking. Trust me, I've been around him his entire life, and I know how scary he looks when he's mad. If it had been me in that situation, I would have done the exact same thing. It's okay."
Even though she still felt awful about it, Hermione was somewhat comforted by the fact that she wasn't going to have to deal with an angry parent. As she was debating the wisdom of prodding more about how much damage she had done, Mrs. Weasley couldn't seem to restrain herself.
"I still don't understand what sort of mother would force her child to go off hunting vampires on his own like that." she commented with a sniff of disapproval. "And isn't Mihnea Bassarab in the same year as Fred and George? You don't look nearly old enough to have a son that age."
Mr. Weasley sensed the beginning of an argument. "Molly, don't start this again."
Meanwhile, the redhead had turned her full attention onto her with a deep scowl of dislike. "I'm thirty-seven, thank you very much." she declared forcefully. "And I have never forced my son to do anything. He goes out on missions because its what he wants to do and he never goes out alone. There was an entire garrison of soldiers with him last night. Now this might come as a shock, but some of us don't have the privilege of pretending that the world is a nice, happy place where bad things never happen. At least I know that when Mihnea finds himself in the middle of a deadly situation, he'll be able to fight his way out of it on his own without having to hide behind a thirteen year old girl like a damn coward."
Constance's mouth dropped open. "Aunt Syn!"
Everyone pressed themselves as far back into their seats as possible. There was so much tension pouring off of the two women that the air seemed to sizzle with the intensity. Neither of them had raised their voice yet, but it was easy to imagine that if one of them did, something would wind up exploding.
"Miss Newsom, I believe I gave you fair warning before our guests came downstairs." Sir Integra said, slicing through the tension like a knife. It was an icy tone that left no room for argument. She lifted her hand and extended a finger toward the door. "It will be getting dark soon. Go keep Alucard occupied so that he doesn't disturb anyone tonight."
Syn tore her hard gaze away from Mrs. Weasley to blink at her. "Sir?"
"You heard me." the knight told her. Her good eye narrowed in warning. "Leave. That's an order."
The redhead stared at her for a long moment, then pressed her lips together and pushed her chair back from the table. Connie's dad turned to whisper something to her, then shook his head and sighed deeply once she was gone.
"You'll have to forgive her." he told them. "Syn is stubborn and opinionated, but she really is very sweet once you get to know her. She's just... defensive."
"You call that defensive?" Mrs. Weasley questioned, appearing stunned. "No offense, but she acts like she hates wizards!"
George, who along with Connie had pretty much stayed out of the entire conversation, paused in chewing his food. "She's been nice to me." he said. "I think she's awesome." he gave Fred a small nudge to the ribs and lowered his voice so the adults wouldn't hear. "Said she'd hook us up with some different types of gunpowder to play around with."
That got Fred's attention and the two of them immediately began whispering back and forth to each other about it. Edmund shook his head at them then went back to the parents.
"I wouldn't say she hates wizards." he said. "But she does have a... strong dislike of the magical world in general." he shrugged. "I'd be lying if I said there weren't things about it I didn't like either, but I'm able to get around the rules a little. Syn can't. When the first reaction a person has when they see you is fear, it affects you. I promise, she's trying."
Mr. Weasley leaned over to whisper something quietly in his wife's ear – probably an attempt to get her to settle down, no doubt – then straightened and cleared his throat.
"Who is this... Alucard, did you say?"
"He's the master vampire of the Hellsing Organization." Sir Integra said informatively.
It was the first confirmation of the presence of vampires any of them had heard from them, so it got everyone's attention. The twins stopped talking and sat up straight.
"Wait, there's another one?" Fred asked with a blink. "How many vampires do you guys have here anyway?"
"Three." Connie's dad replied. "Alucard's the only one you might need to keep an eye out for. He has a thing for messing with people for the fun of it. Seras and Pip are his fledglings and both of them are very friendly. You'd never have to worry about either of them."
Harry frowned, like the gears inside his head were turning at a rapid pace. "Those names sound familiar..." he said slowly. "Wasn't..." he looked around at all the Weasleys. "Didn't Miss Newsom call that blonde vampire at your house Seras?"
"That's right, she did!" Ginny chimed in. "But... I swear I've heard that other name somewhere too..."
Constance coughed meaningfully. "You guys met Pip. He's the one who picked Mihnea up from the train station."
Everyone stopped to stare at her. "No bleeding way!" Ron exclaimed. "That guy was a vampire? You said he was Bassarab's brother-in-law!"
"He is." the girl shot back, crossing her arms over her chest.
Fred shook his head. "But that's not possible is it? Vampires can't go out into the sun and that man we saw was out in the middle of the day! We talked about vampires in Defense Against the Dark Arts, and that's one of the things Professor Lupin kept going on and on about."
The knight at the head of the table let out a small laugh. "It is dangerous to assume things when it comes to vampires." she commented. "The vampires who work here all come from a special bloodline which gives them strengths and abilities other vampires don't have."
While everyone else descended into questioning and bickering about these impossible things they were claiming, Hermione found herself focused on something else. Something about this new information had pricked the interest of her logical side. A thousand different puzzle pieces were strewn about, just begging to be pieced together. Small things – things that had always been there, but she'd never paid much attention to – suddenly grew importance. Then, when the pieces finally slid into place, her eyes went wide in realization.
"Wait a minute!" she said loudly, holding up her hands to get everyone to quiet down. She shot a look down the table at Sir Integra, searching for some sort of answer to her question. "Count Dracula isn't dead, is he? He's here."
"Do what, Hermione?" Mr. Weasley asked in confusion.
Mrs. Weasley gave her an odd sort of look, then the expression shifted to one of concern. "All this stress must be wearing her out, poor thing." she reached past Ginny to pat at her hand. "Don't let all this business about vampires get to you, dear. That vampire has been dead and gone for more than a century now, so don't you worry. Maybe you should go lay down..."
The girl shook her head resolutely. "No, I'm not tired or confused!" she insisted, pulling away from her. She looked back down at the knight. "There are three vampires here, two males and one female. If Pip Bernadette is Mihnea's brother-in-law, then that must mean the other is his father. I never paid any attention to it before, but 'Bassarab' is the name of the royal dynasty of Wallachia that Count Dracula was born into. The name 'Alucard' is just 'Dracula' written backwards. So that means..." she paused to swallow. "Abraham VanHelsing never killed Dracula. He's still alive, and... Mihnea Bassarab is his son."
The Weasleys and Harry all gaped at her like they thought she might have lost her mind. George, though, seemed to realize that she might be onto something and turned to Connie with a silent question in his eyes. She mouthed something to him that made his eyes go wide. But it didn't really matter how crazy the others thought it was. The looks on the faces of Constance's parents was confirmation enough.
"Good God, I don't think Syn figured things out that fast." Edmund said as blew out a long stream of air. He pointed a finger at her. "She's good."
"What the devil do you mean, 'figured things out'?" Mrs. Weasley demanded. "Count Dracula is dead. Even muggles know that!"
"The only knowledge muggles have about Dracula comes from a book they believe to be a work of fiction instead of an alternate history." Sir Integra announced. She inhaled deeply and interlaced her fingers together in front of her whilst shooting a look of approval in Hermione's direction. "Miss Granger is correct. I'm impressed."
"Correct?" Mr. Weasley asked, looking around at the shocked expressions on his children's faces. "So all the stories... the history about VanHelsing killing Dracula... none of it is true? He's still alive?"
The knight inclined her head in acknowledgment. "Indeed, he is very much alive, though he no longer answers to that name." she said. "The story itself is much too long to explain all once. In essence, when my great-grandfather fought Dracula so long ago, he defeated him, but found that he was too powerful to kill. It was too dangerous to allow him free reign, so Abraham – with the assistance of the Newsom family – found a way to permanently bind him to our bloodline. Since that day, Alucard has been an obedient servant of the Hellsing family and acts as our most powerful weapon against the monsters we fight."
While everyone else was too shocked to speak, Mr. Weasley looked more confused. "I thought during our meeting you said that it was impossible to imprison a vampire?"
"It is impossible to imprison a vampire using any ordinary means." the woman replied. "The magic practiced by the Newsoms is far from ordinary." she allowed herself to relax a bit and leaned back in her chair. "And while it is true that Alucard was once considered our 'prisoner' or 'slave', he hasn't been seen that way for a long time now. He now serves us of his own free will and I sincerely doubt he would leave, even if I wanted him to. You have nothing to fear from him. He has a flair for the dramatic and often makes a pest of himself, but he poses no real danger, I assure you."
The most powerful and monstrous vampire that had ever walked the earth - not dangerous? That pushed the bounds of believability to the breaking point. It looked like she had sent that Newsom woman off to keep him away from everyone, so they would have to take her at her word, wouldn't they? This was almost to unreal for words. Attacked by vampires, brought to the home of the most famous (and infamous) vampire hunters and sorcerers in the world – who two people they knew were secretly related to – and now this.
Dracula was alive and in the same house with them. Hermione made a mental note to corner Constance the second she was able to. That little talk she wanted to have was now a great deal more important that she thought it would be.
A.N. I am soooooooooo sorry for taking so long to update. ~falls on knees to beg forgiveness~ But see, I'm giving you the longest chapter I've written thus far, so that makes it all better, right? Guys?
I didn't see Integra letting Alucard anywhere near her new house guests until they were filled in on the basics. He'd probably scare the piss out of them and make them even more freaked out and less likely to listen to reason. However, I can assure you from the bottom of my heart that our favorite vampire will be making an appearance in the next chapter. I'm not sure how this is going to go, but it's definitely going to be interesting.
