Donovan chuckled as he read Ron's letter before laughing out loud at the question about sex. "Is it a letter from that boy? He's that amusing?" Raya, a woman who was beautiful with auburn hair that cascaded down her back.
"Seems I didn't give him as much information as I should have" he handed her the letter.
She smiled "hm… well, I think I'd be concerned if he didn't have a dream like that. He is a young man. So how does this Ron look? Is he handsome?" she asked.
"Shouldn't you know this? Your sight is perfect."
"I know what he will be like in the future but not of what he looks now" she replied.
"Hm, then he is, handsome I mean. Makes me hesitant to introduce him to our son," Donovan chuckled then kissed Raya, his wife, on the cheek.
"Our little ray is quite the flirt with every being," she laughed, her tanned skin shone in the dim light of their sitting area "you should really take the time to answer the boy's questions."
"I plan to, although I doubt he wants the conversation we need to have about vampire sexual relations" he chuckled
"Little ray was never very happy to get it either," she said "this boy, just how close do you intend to get? Do you think he will go toward his path so willingly?" she wondered.
"I hope that if I offer the guidance and support then perhaps, he will learn to trust me. The boy isn't likely to accept such a prediction, he's only thirteen, but I have no doubts towards his intelligence. He can no doubt be a leader in the future," Don replied.
"You like him," she commented.
"I do, Reya, he reminds me of my brother," he said wistfully. Raya carded her fingers through his dark hair then kissed him several times.
"Then I give you permission to spend the time being his mentor but promise me something?" she asked.
"Anything," he said.
"When winter comes, he needs to come here, to the castle. He needs to understand our ways even if he won't know it's part of his future. Besides I would like to meet him, you know as well as I do that leaving here wouldn't work well."
"Then I will have to convince him," Donovan agreed.
Xxx
If the staring at Kings Cross was uncomfortable, they were increased tenfold at the feast and that was before the first years were sorted. Everyone seemed to be sneaking glances at him then whispering.
"So it's true? It's not just Daily Prophet gossip?" Seamus asked Ron who turned to look at him. Everyone was very prone to look him straight in the eyes due to the newly fascinating dual colors of them.
"Yeah, it's true," Ron nodded.
"Wicked" Dean said then glanced at his empty plate "so what do you do?" he asked like it was a neat trick he learned
"Um well I just drink a jar of blood, once a day is enough" Ron replied.
"Where do you get it?" Neville asked, his interest peaked.
Seems he didn't have to worry about people being afraid of him where Gryffindor was concerned. At least for now. "Sometimes it comes from animals, sometimes a willing donor that my mentor knows," Ron replied.
He put up with the questions until the first year ceremony went on. Finally, the topic strayed to normal things as they finished then Dumbledore began to speak. First staying on dementors unfortunately there to guard the school.
"Finally there are 2 new professors at Hogwarts this year, Remus Lupin is here as your Defense Against the Dark Arts professor" Dumbledore introduced, Lupin stood and nodded as everyone clapped looking curious.
"And then we have a new Professor in a new course here, Donovan Grey is fluent in no less than six languages. He is offering two language courses including French and Romanian. Those 3rd year and above interested in switching one of their classes in favor of those courses should speak with their Head of House" Dumbledore explained, "Donovan Grey has wished to speak."
Donavan, in a black cloak and under the warm Hogwarts light looked ethereal with his pale skin glowing and Ron wondered if he looked the same.
"Hello students, you may recognize me from the Daily Prophet as the Vampire Council Representative. I thought I would speak on the incidents that went on this summer. Vampires do not attack people outright, it is strictly against all our laws to attack, to bite and turn someone without permission and ceremony. The vampire who did was mentally ill and so this was an unusual event. They have been punished. You have nothing to fear from me nor my newest mentee," he said then sat down.
There was silence and then food appeared, people erupted into speaking and Ron attracted more stares then before. A first-year stared at him unabashedly and Ron turned to look him straight in the eye. The first year flushed then looked down at his food.
"You know this could be kind of fun" Fred whispered in his ear. Ron turned to him and smirked then shrugged.
XXx
After the feast and after hanging out, Ron said goodnight to Harry and the rest to walk downstairs to the common room. Even Valkyrie was sleeping in the corner eventually.
It was late now and Don was waiting for him on a couch "ready?" he asked standing up. Ron nodded, it was strange for it be so dark and for him to not be tired in the least amount. In fact he was wide awake, he had energy even.
"Yes sir" Ron nodded, Don leads the way out of the common room and they began to walk down the hall. His night vision was a whole new experience at Hogwarts. He could see as well at night as he could in the day. Don lead them upstairs then a corridor and paused at a wall. The wall shifted and a door appeared, Ron's eyes widened in surprise.
"I assume this is a new feature of Hogwarts you never encountered? Excellent piece of magic, isn't it?" Don suggested.
"Brilliant" Ron agreed.
"I'm told it's called the Room of Requirement, it transforms itself for anyone in need of a room. It is choosy, however, come with the intention to harm those inside and it will seal off" his mentor explained opening the door.
Ron walked in, it was a small room with a comfortable looking chair and desk area with a fireplace already going plus shelves. Ron sat one of the chairs, sighing at the warmth in the room. That was one thing he noticed about his vampiric state, he got cold fairly easily.
Don was pouring himself a cup of tea as he finished "why can we drink and eat?" Ron asked. Don poured Ron a cup.
"It's not that we can't, it just doesn't do anything for us. We can have food but we don't crave it, although if you tried to eat more than a pastry or two your body will reject it. It's like if a human tried to eat raw meat" Don explained.
"Oh," Ron replied bringing the tea to his lips and sipping. It was nice, the warmth coursed through him, he enjoyed hot drinks more than when he was human. "And we need blood?" he asked.
"Very necessary" he responded. He took a moment of silence to sip his tea, "You've been having dreams" Don commented.
"Yeah… they've been quite vivid and I'm not sure how to take them" Ron explained about the dream he'd had about Hermione. He flushed about sinking his teeth into her wrist and how she'd put her slender hand to caress his skin.
"You are attracted to this girl," Don told him, it was a statement and not a question. Ron nodded, of course, he was, she wasn't any other girl he'd ever met.
"Then you already know what that dream means but I can outline it for you. It is going to different from now on, what's going to attract you won't be innocent. Blood is our diet but in the past, sex was our path to getting food," Don explained.
Ron's stomach twisted, then he was attracted to Hermione because he wanted to feed off her?
"They've become synonymous with each other. I have given you leeway because of the traumatic nature that turned you. For now, I have given you the blood you require but you will need to find it for yourself eventually. Some are happy to provide, however."
"Who would volunteer to become food?" Ron asked.
Don sighed sipping his tea "you are still a child but at the edge of becoming a man. You should be able to figure out why someone would do such a thing."
Ron flushed then buried his face in his hand "so I can't just want to be close to her?" he asked.
"When did I say that? Most men that are attracted to someone eventually want something even at an unconscious level," Don explained "now that we're on this subject, you should be aware that vampires have an ability we call allure. It's allowed by law so long as the wizard or witch has given consent. That's very important, it's similar to an aphrodisiac."
"A what?" Ron asked.
"A sex drug that increases ones sex drive" Don said.
"Then... why did it hurt me when they...?" he could barely remember getting turned, he'd lost so much blood then he'd lost consciousness.
"You weren't getting fed off of, you were getting turned" Don explained.
Ron didn't think he could get any redder or warmer "can we skip this part?"
"No, you need to know this. It's your body," he said firmly. Ron kept silent. "Now this increases their blood flow. It helps us get as much as we can from one bite and also everything gets translated as pleasure so the bite doesn't hurt them. Saliva can also have a healing factor for us and for others. It's how we heal the wounds we make" Don explained.
"So how big a wound?" Ron asked thinking a mile a minute now. That would be useful considering how often Harry got hurt.
"Well, it won't help with a gaping wound but it will help larger cuts" Don responded but wasn't going to let the embarrassing conversation end.
"Now about real sex and children, it's mostly myth that vampires are infertile. The truth is that two vampires cannot have children, they are incompatible but say your partner is human than it should work. It may be difficult though."
"Would the baby be born a vampire?" Ron asked.
"It has a higher chance of being one yes but there hasn't been a vampire child since my son was born. It's not common for vampires to want children."
Ron suddenly had a thought "um Don, how am I going to age from now on?"
Don chuckled "I was wondering when the question would come up. You should age fairly normally until you are around 18 or 20," he said.
"How old are you then?" Ron asked.
"Me? I'm 229" he said and Ron's jaw dropped.
"I'll be that old?" he said.
"Oh yes, our oldest advisor is going on 400, pushing it really" Don explained. That was pushing it for a vampire?
"I think that's enough information for me tonight," Ron said.
Don chuckled "Yes, well Ron I think I should send you off soon. Did you want to bathe before bed?" Don asked.
"I guess?" Ron said.
"I can see your confusion, I just wondered if you wanted to use the nicer prefect bathrooms. Are you familiar with communal bathing? It's common with vampires" Don explained.
Ron nodded "yes, I'm used to it since we do that a lot here," Ron flushed a little. He still felt a bit awkward with Donovan even though he kind of liked him instantly.
"I don't mean to make you uncomfortable, I understand that British wizardry customs are different" Don began diplomatically.
"It's okay, I can- you know what let's just go take a bath," Ron said.
So after walking down the corridor and his mentor starting the water then getting in with a water around his waist. Ron did the same, sighing as the hot water seeped into him.
Ron scrubbed his face with a cloth "this really is a large bathroom" he mentioned glancing at the stained glass windows.
"When you visit Romania one day you'll see that's not true. There's also a large hot spring in a cave by a friend of mine's. It's quite the marvel" Don said glancing at Ron with burgundy eyes.
"Huh," Ron said "so can I ask why my eyes changed?" he asked.
"Hm? I thought you were done with asking questions tonight?" he asked.
"Well…" Ron sighed.
"I'm only teasing. There aren't many newly turned vampires to compare you to. Most vampires get turned as babies when they're adopted or they simply change as human babes do. Babies of course are subject to change eye color so it's not so surprising. The best theory is likely our ability to see in the dark caused your eyes to develop differently."
"And my ears?" Ron asked gesturing to his slightly larger pointed ears.
"Better hearing, you'll notice your ears do move a little. It's not visible to you but your nasal cavity has also shifted allowing for an acute sense of smell" Don said.
"They move?" Ron asked stunned, reaching up to touch his ear.
"Goodness, I forget you really are a baby to vampire knowledge," Don said outright laughing at his reaction.
Ron sighed, Don felt like another brother to him or like another father.
"Is it… strange that I'm not angrier that this happened to me?" Ron asked, rubbing at his porcelain skin with a sponge so he could look at something else while Don thought of an answer.
"Hm, it's maybe a little strange but fate may have had a hand I think," Don said.
"Fate?" Ron asked.
"You don't believe in it?" Don asked.
Ron thought of his accounters with so-called fate "I dunno, maybe."
"That's a fair answer, it's not a bad thing to not know," he responded with.
"Tell that to Hermione, she seems to know everything," Ron said.
"Perhaps you ought to analyze that, you might learn something that will help you. Consider why you do things, second guess yourself before you speak. That's my homework for your first day back. Think of it as a social psychology assignment. Watch what people do, consider why they do it and do the same for yourself" Don said climbing out of the massive tub.
"Is everything homework with you?" Ron asked rinsing his skin.
"I think an education in life is the best way to learn" his mentor replied with a smirk, as he wrapped a large towel around himself.
"Right" Ron sighed then took a few more minutes, scrubbing his hair then rinsing then climbing out. Don was now dressed in pajama pants and t-shirt when Ron left the bathtub area. Ron dressed in his own pajamas. "Well off to bed," Don told him.
Ron went to sleep at 3 am in the morning, thinking about what Don had told him to do.
Notes:
Whoo, this chapter was kind of up and down. I hope this answered questions about vampires work physically. Also setting up lots of answers about Ron's new conflicts in himself.
I made vampires a bit similar to how Veela work because of how they would get a food source. By no means is this all that vampires can do and I plan to elaborate soon on how they govern and stuff.
Let me know how you liked this chapter.
