Sol was easy to get swept up in "try this," he handed Ron a glass of blood. He sipped it, his senses buzzing, it was a strain of dragon blood. "How is it?" he asked.

"Good," Ron said and Sol nodded. Don and Raya had gone away to talk, he didn't blame his mentor either. Considering how long he'd been away from his wife.

"Do you speak Romanian?" Sol asked.

"Technically," Ron said and Sol made a noise in his throat.

"Not very good, then?" Sol suggested, this time in Romanian, prompting Ron to speak.

"No, I am doing my best but I mess up words," Ron said in response.

"I don't think you sound bad at all," Sol replied.

"Really?" Ron asked in surprised.

"I'll bet after some time with others here, you'll pick it up," Sol told him. "How long have you been speaking it?"

"A little longer two months," Ron said, feeling more confident, and Sol smiled.

"Then it won't take you long at all," he said. "Let's go walk around the castle, I'll show you around since it looks like Papa wants some time" Sol stood.

"You say Papa instead of Father or Dad," Ron said as they walked down the hall, he couldn't help staring all around. It was like Hogwarts all over again, the high reaching ceiling and moving portraits replaced by murals.

"Mama is from Spain, I call them Mama and Papa because of that," Sol replied.

"Do you speak Spanish?" Ron asked and Sol nodded. "And Romanian and English, that's amazing and difficult."

"And French, German, and Hungarian. Romanian, French, and Spanish is really no big stretch since they are romance languages. They have similar base words so once you understand some pronunciation and structures your halfway there" Sol said.

"You speak 7 languages?" Ron asked, "Romanian is hard enough for me." Ron admitted.

"That's only because you start out speaking the most complicated language that I know. I hated learning your language but father never let me off the hook about it since Romania is so close with the British Ministry. It would've been easier if he'd spoken English since I was born," Sol said.

"What is your first?" Ron asked.

"Spanish, of course, although I learned Romanian and Spanish simultaneously," he said. "And see, we are speaking in Romanian right now," Sol said.

Ron realized suddenly that he'd understood what Sol said and they weren't speaking slowly either. "Now that you say so," he said. H e was slightly impressed with himself by learning as much Romanian as he knew currently.

"I'll bet French will be a breeze," Sol said.

"French?" Ron asked.

"I assume you'll need to learn that next? Lucky you don't need to learn your own language, bloody English that makes no sense" Sol said.

"I already butcher the Romanian language enough," Ron said, "Listen, I'm well aware I don't sound like any native."

"I dunno, I like your accent. Especially when in English" Sol said.

"What do you mean? You speak English -English?" Ron frowned unsure how he should phrase, this may happen a lot.

"England, you mean? That's just because it was hammered into me. It doesn't have the same as the real accent. Sounds like what's the word? Posh?" Sol asked.

"You wouldn't say that if you knew how poor my family is," Ron said thinking how laughable it was that Sol thought he sounded posh.

Sol shrugged, tugging him another way; the hallway had murals who dancing in many different styles. On one wall, a man and a woman were involved in a waltz.

Ron slowed watching them then looking to the other wall where a completely different dance went on. It looked like a tango may be, the woman being spun at a rapid pace by the man.

"There's a lot of murals about dancing here" Ron commented in English this time because he didn't know the Romanian word for dance.

"That's because vampires like dancing, and fighting but mostly dancing" Sol informed him, throwing open a door where they walked down a hallway that several degrees warmer than the rest of castle.

It wasn't brick either but smooth rock, painted women who were completely naked stretched out along the slight curves in the face of the wall. They smiled flirtatiously and waved, blowing kisses and such.

"Um, where are we?" Ron asked as they walked down some stairs, he flushed a little. The paintings at Hogwarts were never in the nude, most likely because any eleven-year-old first years would faint at the sight of boobs.

"Thought that after some time in the cold, a bath might be nice. This castle has a hot spring underneath it.," Sol said.

At the bottom was an area that had many cabinets with ornate knobs. Then there was a stone shelf with towels and bathrobes. "You can put your clothes in one of these" Sol said opening one and taking off his shirt.

Ron admitted a bath sounded nice and took off his clothes. Before getting in, Sol showed him the showers "helps keep things sanitary" he said.

They were surprisingly the only people in there. "Are there not a lot of people here at this time?" Ron asked, sitting on one of stone seats under the warm water.

"Oh no, there can be, there are a few of these however around the castle. Some for guests who are split between men and women. And then in each wing of the castle" Sol explained.

"Oh, so the paintings around the castle" Ron said.

"You like them?" Sol smiled "they were painted over a long period of time by a group of artists. Started almost as soon as they built, Pay attention to them and you'll never lose your way" he said.

"It reminds me of Hogwarts except there's no talking," Ron said.

"Can you imagine if they spoke? We'd never get any peace" Sol said gesturing to one of the naked women. He noticed one of them had a tail, a siren perhaps. They batted their eyes and ran hands through their hair.

"They're so full of emotion, that's why I like them" Ron replied.

"Colore" Sol said and Ron glanced to him "it's an arm term meaning color but mainly emotion. The first king wanted to bring some joy to the normally dark looking castle so he had the paintings be done. The Monarch after him just continued the tradition."

"Sol, who's that with you?" at the question in Romanian, Ron turned and immediately looked away when he got an eyeful of breasts. He flushed.

"Mihaela, this is Ron, the one my father went way to mentor," Sol said so casually like he wasn't speaking with a naked woman.

"Oh! It's a pleasure to meet you" Mihaela trailed off "what's wrong, feeling too warm?" he said.

"Oh, I think I just forget to warn him this was a gender-neutral bath," Sol mentioned with a grin in his voice and Ron turned to glare at Sol, he got another eyeful of the woman's curvaceous body.

"Oh, I see. He speaks Romanian?" Mihaela asked.

"Pretty well, yes," Sol said.

"Okay, well Ron I don't mind if you see. It's not a big deal here," Mihaela said, she had a little bit of an accent to her Romanian. It sounded maybe Polish or something.

Ron felt a bit dizzy with how hot his face felt, he couldn't help but think he could never ever tell his mother about this. Actually he couldn't tell anyone except maybe Harry about it.

"Hm, how about this then?" water swished and he glanced at her, she sat on the stone bench so the water was covering her breasts. Only her cleavage was visible.

"Better" Ron breathed a few times to rid himself of heat, if he didn't think too hard he'd be fine. He refused to look at her for too long though.

Mihaela was blonde with delicate features and reminded him a bit of Hermione- no he was not going to go there and picture Hermione in the bath. "You have beautiful eyes" she commented breaking his torturous thought process.

"Uh, thank you," Ron said, his discomfort hadn't gone away. Did vampires really not care?

"I'm Mihaela, I take care of the animals around here," she said.

"Then you must know where Valkyrie is, with Freya right?" Ron said.

"You mean Freya's pup? Yes, she has grown so strong I almost didn't recognize her. She's been trained well" Mihaela said.

"Ron is the one who received her," Sol said "although I hadn't heard her name is Valkyrie, what a perfect name," he said.

"I really wish I could take credit but Ginny is the one who came up with it," Ron said "my sister."

"Your sister is very clever. In our culture, we give names to increase one's power or resistance." Mihaela said.

"What do you mean?" Ron asked.

"Sol's name means Sun. Being born a vampire, his name is with hopes that he never encounters an issue with the sun and he is the light of his parent's lives," Mihaela explained.

Sol flushed "Mihaela," he said.

"I was there when he was born, he was a beautiful baby" she laughed.

Ron blinked, she didn't look very old, only 20 he thought. "Um, sorry but how old are you?" he asked.

"It's a common question, I am 81," she said and Ron's jaw dropped. She only looked about 20 or so.

"Do vampires ever look old?" Ron asked.

"Our aging happens very slowly but usually by each decade. It takes about three hundred until we grey and look much older. We do prune up eventually but that's in the last 40 years of our life. Something about the amount of blood we can take in being less" Sol said.

"Yes, by vampire standards, you and Sol are practically babies," Mihaela said. Ron wondered if there would someday.

"Wizards don't exactly age quickly either past twenty," Ron said.

"That's true, I bet that's why if vampires marry humans it's usually a witch or wizard," Mihaela said.

"Is it common then?" Ron asked.

"Hm, well it's not uncommon. About like muggles and wizard folk" Sol answered "although I think it's rarer in England, much more prejudiced" he said.

Ron couldn't exactly disagree.

xxx

"Dear Harry,

I hope your time with Sirius has been well. I wanted to tell you about Nacht Castle that I've been staying in. It's as big as Hogwarts but taller with black bricks and red spiers, I wondered if it would be cold and gloomy but it's not. The inside has all these painted murals magicked to move. It's really incredible, Donovan's son, Sol is a good person.

He's a bit like the twins, mischievous but he's also been excellent in showing me around. They're telling me that there's going to be an annual Christmas Ball soon here. I'm told I'll have to learn to dance, Merlin, help me! Well, I'm also told that wizards are invited to the ball too. It's when they fully open the castle for outsiders so many people show up. Well, hoping to hear have you've been.

Sincerely,

Ron"

"Harry, what's that?" Sirius asked he walked into their living room of the house. A townhouse in London.

"Just a letter from Ron, he's staying with his mentor in Nacht Castle," Harry said.

"Right, vampire, well what's he say?" Sirius asked sitting on an armchair.

"There's going to be a Christmas Ball open to the wizarding public there" Harry explained.

"Sounds like fun, you feel like going?" Sirius asked.

"Going?" Harry asked owlishly.

"Sure, a hop on a portkey will get us there and you can surprise your mate," Sirius said.

"Really?" Harry asked excitedly. Sirius nodded "then could I invite Hermione, she's my best friend too and-"

"Harry, I haven't been able to spoil you for 12 years. You can invite whoever" Sirius said.

"Thank you, Sirius," Harry said.

Xxx

Hermione had yet to explain to her parents that one of her best friends was a vampire. Actually she was fairly certain that her parents continued to think that vampire's were not real.

So when she thought it prudent to mention, they were appropriately confused and inquired how safe it was to be around Ron. "That's prejudiced to ask," Hermione said immediately, a big word for her parents who tried their best to be very careful to respect every religion and race.

"Hermione, please explain it better?" Jane Granger requested.

"Well, vampires have a policy of asking for blood donation and they don't need blood specifically from people. They can get it from animals easily, I haven't found enough research about the nutrition needs of vampires. I think though, that they need a small amount of human blood a week. I haven't asked him exactly because-" Hermione flushed.

"Why?" Curtis Granger asked.

"It seems so personal and he's new to being a vampire. If he feels like we're watching him, he might eat in front of us anymore" Hermione said.

"So vampires are proper then? They're not like in muggle movies?" Dad asked. She shook her head. Her parents relaxed a bit.

"No, of course not. They have a culture and society and laws," Hermione explained.

"So has Ron asked you before?" her mum asked "for blood?" she asked.

Hermione blushed, she had read a few accounts in her books that a vampire's bite increased libido and nullified the pain. She hadn't worked up the courage to confirm her findings with Ron.

"No, he hasn't. I assume because his mentor, um my language professor provides his blood for him" Hermione said.

"Would you if he asked?" mum asked.

"Ron's my best friend along with Harry, of course, I would" she answered and they both frowned. "It's safe, like a blood bank. Wizard hospitals have safe ways to remove blood just like muggles do" she said.

Her parents seemed to relax a bit more "I suppose it's a bit like giving blood but are vampires common in the wizarding world? We were never told when we were in Diagon Alley," Jane sighed.

"No, they're not. In fact there's prejudiced against them because of what they can't control: their nature. It's surprising that Ron is allowed to keep going to Hogwarts-" she stopped as she heard a tapping at the kitchen window.

The entire Granger family turned to the window to find a Snowy White owl sitting there. "Hedwig," Hermione said.

"Harry's owl?" Dad asked and she nodded bounding up to open the window for her. She took the letter and a bit of ham from her plate to hand to her. Hedwig accepted the treat and waited patiently as she opened it.

Dear Hermione,

Sorry for the wait on sending an update on how its been with Sirius. It was hectic at first and a little embarrassing really because he insisted we pick out decorations for my room together. Well, I'm excited for you and Ron to visit in summer later. Anyway, I'm being brief for a reason. In case you haven't received your letter before me, Ron mentioned Nacht Castle is hosting a Christmas Ball with dancing and everything open to the public. Sirius offered to have a portkey made to take us to Romania to surprise Ron. Well, let me know soon if you can get permission.

-Harry

P.S. It's supposed to very formal.

Hermione smiled then turned to her parents "Ron is currently staying in Romania for December. There's going to be a Christmas Ball in Nacht Castle, where Ron's staying, and Harry was wondering if I might go with him to surprise Ron?" Hermione asked, trying to be patient, "also if I go, I need to go shopping for a gown," she said.

Her parents gave each other a look that was incredibly familiar to her. It meant they weren't quite sure how their daughter was able to live such an extraordinary life. "And how would you get to Romania?" her dad asked.

"Port Key" Hermione said, keeping the smile that threatened to seep into her voice at the prospect of going to Romania after only a few months of studying Romanian and seeing France. "It's a process of enchanting an object that creates a Portray. They're in common process and very safe for going long distances. Only licensed wizards or witches can do it" she said.

"And you'd be going on Christmas?" Mum asked.

"I'll likely be coming back the next day. I can ask Harry. Oh please? I have so many questions I want to know about vampires and it'll be incredible seeing Romania and testing my Romanian" she said.

Dad sighed then smiled "oh alright since you've been so convincing. Just promise me I don't have to go shopping with you? I'm sure your mum will be happy to spend loads of money on a dress" he said.

Hermione turned to her mother who laughed then stood up "well, how about we go to some stores today and go look?" she suggested.

"Thank you," Hermione said "let me just write Harry that I can go and we'll go out" she agreed. She wrote the letter as fast as she could. Shopping with her mother was something they have always done. Whether it was books, groceries, or clothes, it was fun.

It was one thing that she missed about going to school away from her parents. And a factor of having two boys, well boys who were not especially fashion literate, as her best friends. Harry and Ron preferred to ogle broomsticks in stores than look at clothes. And it wasn't as if Ron had much money to worry about what he wore anyway.

Although, she wondered how his new title as a vampire prince would affect things. Really though, a vampire prince, Ron was beginning to sound like the main character of a rather terrible and cheesy romance novel.

I thought I should probably place some more of the other character's points of view. Especially more of Hermione, I am not of the opinion that she is perfect like she's depicted in the movie. Harry and Hermione are not easy people to get along with, Ron is not just someone who happens to be friends with him. Harry is difficult and moody as anyone who read the books will know. Hermione also can be a worrier and high strung. It takes someone who is easy going and humble like Ron to balance those two combinations out. Ron's not perfect either but I really do enjoy writing him especially.