Chapter Thirteen
Author's Note: Big thanks to all who reviewed, and those who haven't, THANKS FOR NUTHIN! Just kidding, but anyhoo, sorry it's been so long, Spring Break you know and I am a party animal. Again, just kidding. But I could be a big fat loser or a six- foot cockroach for all you care. As usual, anything good in this story doesn't belong to me.
Dumbledore's big meeting was really a formal invitation to stay at Hogwarts for the remainder of the summer and to warn the twins that the Forbidden Forrest was just that.
"Well, we're off house hunting," announced Mrs. Weasley, looking less than thrilled about putting much thought into the future residence of the most abominable Muggles in England.
"Make sure there's a sty in the yard for Dudley!" shouted Fred as the two witches left the Entrance Hall.
"No, they don't have to worry about that. Dudley makes a sty out of wherever he happens to be," joked Harry, whose mood had lightened some upon seeing the dazzling new hairstyles of his friends. Unfortunately, Hermione soon set things right and Harry was forced to recall the conversation he had overheard before breakfast. Pulling Hermione and Ron aside, he whispered, "I need to talk to you."
They started to make their way down the hall when they saw the twins and Ginny following behind. As close as Harry felt to the other Weasleys and as much as they deserved to be in on this situation, Harry was reluctant to get them involved, especially if what he had heard was true. If Harry was going to become a vampire, he certainly didn't want everyone he cared about to know it. In a rather dirty trick, Harry flashed a smile at Ginny and asked her if she'd mind terribly babysitting the Dursleys, or at least seeing them back to their rooms. "I'd do it myself but…"
"Of course, Harry!" Ginny beamed. Harry felt a lurch in the pit of his stomach, but put it down to having one too many sausages. "We'll help too!" joined in the twins, matching evil smirks on both of their faces. Hermione looked as if she was going to say something, but Harry and Ron tugged at her wrists and led the way to the owlery for some privacy.
"Go on and tell him," Ron urged to Hermione, once they had reached their destination. The two had argued earlier that morning about whether they should tell Harry about the Blood Stone, then who should tell Harry about the Blood Stone, then where and when and how until, finally, they noticed that their hair was neon and all serious thoughts, apart from "Note to Self: Kill Fred and George", escaped their minds. And now Hermione suddenly found great interest in a pile of owl dropping, but soon succumbed to a harsh pinch from Ron.
"Oh, Harry, last night I…" she began, stumbling for words and gaping at Harry as if he was already the undead.
"It's ok, I think I know what you found out," Harry mumbled, finally accepting that it was all too true.
"What?" Hermione sputtered. "How?"
"Overheard Snape and Lupin talking about some vampire chum noshing on my neck. I'm guessing that the only way to stop these attacks is to become a vampire, eh?"
"No, Harry, there's another way!" Hermione sounded so desperate that Harry stopped feeling sorry for himself and turned his attention to her. "Someone can find and destroy the stone!"
"Yes, but you didn't hear Snape. It doesn't sound as if his chances are very good, and besides which, he's bloody terrified."
Ron muttered something about "coward" and "slimy" but had the decency to keep his voice low, since he was terrified of Voldemort as well. "So what are you going to do?" he asked. Of course, this was a stupid question as well. Harry couldn't do anything. Or could he?
"I'm going to go see Lupin."
"What, buddying up with him in case he's not the only monster in Hogwarts?" quipped Ron. Both Harry and Hermione, however, found this a tasteless joke and let him know it by throwing some vicious scowls at him. "Sorry," he murmured, trying unsuccessfully to shoot a winning smile at Hermione. The three of them started back to the Gryffindor common room, hoping to find Remus there. On the way there, they were suddenly blindsided by a blur of blue and gold, literally screaming down towards the Hufflepuff rooms. Once Harry, Ron and Hermione disentangled themselves from the suit of armor they had fallen into, they came face to face with Fred and George. "What was that about?!" asked Harry, even though he had a good idea.
"Just giving your family a hint of school spirit," grinned George. Ginny soon joined them in the hall. "I'm so sorry, Harry! I didn't mean for the twins to get hold of your family!" she apologized, glaring at the snickering Weasley boys.
"It's ok. Just don't call them family. You guys are more of my family than they'll ever be."
"Aww, Harry, mate, we're touched," said Fred, wiping away a non-existent tear.
"Oh, shove off," joked Harry, wriggling out of George's embrace as they reached the Fat Lady. "Oddment Tweak," Harry said. Unfortunately, Lupin wasn't there.
"We can go down to see Hagrid?" suggested Hermione.
"Or we can go with the twins to terrorize your cousin some more. But I'm staying away from your uncle. He's got a nasty temper," Ron put in.
"No, I'm going to find Lupin. Why don't you two just go on without me and I'll see you at lunch."
"Harry," frowned Hermione, "I don't think you should…"
"Wonder around by myself? Thanks, Hermione, but I think I'll survive." Harry knew it wasn't fair to snap at her like that, but when would people realize that it didn't matter who was watching over him? If Voldemort wanted him dead, a few more sessions with the Blood Stone would do it. "Look, I'm sorry, Hermione. But I'll be ok. Really. You two go and enjoy your summer. I'll be back soon." And with that, Harry headed to Lupin's old office. This time, he was not disappointed.
"Harry! How are you doing?" greeted Remus, who had resettled into his old quarters on Dumbledore's insistence.
"Remus, I know what's going on. I know about the Blood Stone and I know about Luca."
Lupin looked frozen with shock. But, this being the calm, collected Remus Lupin, it only lasted a second. "How…"
"Listen, that's not what I want to talk about," interrupted Harry. Well, he would like to ask if he was going to be drinking blood by the end of the summer, but he had something else on his mind, something he hadn't mentioned to Ron or Hermione, something he didn't even want to ask Sirius about. "I also know about Aglaia Gryffindor. So how do I use these powers?"
Hermione, Ron and Ginny were met with the booming barks of Fang when they knocked on the door to Hagrid's hut. After Harry had left the common room, the three of them had kept themselves amused by listening to the schemes of Fred and George, who were planning to infiltrate the kitchens that night and slip some new recipes into the Dursleys' breakfast dishes. But even that got tiresome and they soon found themselves crossing the grounds.
"All right, 'ermione? Ron? Ginny?" greeted Hagrid. Upon entering the room, they saw that Sirius was there as well.
"Where's Harry?" he asked sternly. He had thought that Hermione would keep a tight leash on his godson, even though she did have her hands occupied with the Weasley boy.
"He's with Remus," Hermione answered. "What are you two up to then?"
"We're helping Snape reset the security wards," answered Sirius, that familiar Marauder's grin on his face. Hermione cocked her eyebrow at him. "Looks like you're working very hard at that."
"Oh, he can manage by 'imself," snorted Hagrid, passing a rock cake along to Ginny, who, not knowing better, accepted. When she bit into it, however, Ron and Hermione were shocked not to hear the sound of teeth breaking. Hagrid chuckled with amusement. "Olympe's been helping out with me cooking," he admitted, blushing as he sat back down on his mammoth bed.
"So you two did go off to talk to the giants?" asked Ron.
"Not sayin'," Hagrid answered, which usually meant yes. "Anyways, when did you two become an item?" he winked at Hermione, making it her turn to blush, since Sirius was also taking notice of the conversation.
"Beginning of the holiday," Ron beamed proudly. "And of course, Ginny plans to marry Harry by year's end."
"Ron!" screeched Hermione, slapping her boyfriend rather hard on the knee. Ron grinned and turned to Ginny, expecting his sister's cheeks to be red as a beet, but instead found her perfectly calm, if not a bit long in mouth.
"Harry would no sooner fancy me than a hole in the head," she said, turning her attention to the tea Hagrid had placed before her. Sirius had something to say against this statement. He had noticed a change in Harry's behavior towards Ginny, but as his loyalty lied with his godson's right to privacy, he kept his mouth shut. Thankfully, Hagrid didn't. "Bollocks! He'd be a lucky man who has you by his side."
"Speaking of Harry, why is he with Remus?" Sirius broke in.
"Have you heard what we found out about the Blood Stone?" Hermione asked, obviously not joyous at the prospect of breaking such news to the very volatile Sirius Black. Luckily, he nodded. "Well, I suppose he wanted to talk to him about that," she answered, though she wasn't sure what help Lupin would be. "Do you have any idea who breached Hogwarts security wards?"
"It could gave been Arabella," answered Sirius. "But she's not exactly well acquainted with this school in modern times. I suspect it's an insider. Probably Malfoy or one of his gain."
"Malfoy? Draco Malfoy is a Death Eater?!" exclaimed Ginny.
"Ginny, where on earth have you been these past four years?" yelled Ron.
Draco Malfoy was livid. More to the point, Lucius Malfoy was livid about Draco and Draco was livid about this fact. At any rate, there had been a lot of anger at the Malfoy Manor ever since the Quidditch match. Lucius had planned a surprise for his master, a perfect scheme to capture Harry Potter. Well, near-perfect. The Golden Snitch was meant to be a port key that would lead directly to Voldemort's lair of the week. All Draco had to do was see to it that the Potter boy win, which shouldn't have been too difficult because, in Lucius's opinion, his son was a bumbling incompetent fool. Of course, he hadn't planned on Draco's inability to remember a simple concealment spell. So it was that, prior to the match, Alistor Moody snuck into the Slytherine's changing rooms on the suspicion that they would cheat horribly and he replaced the quaffle, bludgers and snitch with his own set. Thus, Harry and the Defenders won the game but failed to be transported to their imminent deaths. Thankfully, Lucius had arranged for the port key's power to disappear if handled by anyone besides Draco or Potter, and a slew of Death Eaters caused ample commotion following the match to make the whole thing worth while, but things had still gone wrong.
"We'd be at the Dark Lord's side if you had not fouled things up!" Lucius shouted over breakfast this morning. Draco, of course, had been hearing the same sentiment for days now.
"I know, Father," he drawled. "But at least we didn't spoil the master's new plans to deal with Potter." Granted, Draco wasn't privy to what these plans entailed, but he'd been ensured they were horribly painful and that was enough for him. He was more upset that he had lost the Quidditch match for nothing (Draco is the type that does not recognize his own shortcomings and thus is smugly happy with who he is). "And the Dark Lord does not know of our…my failure, which is also an advantage for us." Voldemort's use of the Cruciatus Curse on Goyle when he botched the Death Eater's Oath had demonstrated his intolerance for incompetence.
"Be that as it may, you must do something to gain more favor from our master. Being my son alone is not enough in this situation, Draco. You must distinguish yourself."
"How?"
"Get someone close to Potter when you're back at Hogwarts, or sooner if possible. Don't bother with that Weasley boy or his mudblood girlfriend. They'll be too gaurded, but I'm sure you can get hold of someone he cares about and then deliver them to You-Know-Who."
"To be killed or turned against Potter?"
"Does it matter?" Lucius asked, hoping that his son wasn't growing compassionate despite his strong upbringing.
"No, it doesn't matter." With that, Draco was left to decide who Harry would miss more. "Ginny Weasley."