Okay, there is probably one thing I should mention before this one starts; TIRUI IS NOT THE VIVI FROM FINAL FANTASY IX! He is a character who is masked to look like him, yes. I probably should have mentioned that before, but...heh! Sorry!
***
Chapter 15: Tirui Dark
Since I had met Tirui Dark, formal introductory style, I couldn't help but watch him closely. I felt like he was some terrible demon from my past, ready to spring up and take me back to his master. Yet at the same time I realized that he was almost as confused as I was.
It was Thanksgiving afternoon that I discovered something odd about the shadow-faced boy. I will admit, at first I found it strange that his hair was steepled like Vivi's from Final Fantasy IX, but I figured it was probably something to do with his pride or something.
Tirui and I were both studying in the library, separately. He didn't even know I'd been in the room, at least, I don't think so. If I hadn't been so absorbed in my book, I would never have noticed the tiny smudge in the corner of the page.
***FLASHBACK***
"What on Earth...?" I whispered to myself, studying the smudge. I had always been very careful with my books, especially library books, and I was certain the smudge hadn't been there before I had begun reading the page.
A loud scrape of a chair being recklessly pushed back interrupted my interpreting of the insignificant smudge of red paint on the book. When I saw it was only Tirui leaning back in his chair, I began to regard my book again, yet I glanced up quickly against as his hair flew back. Obviously, I was curious what his face looked like.
What I saw was no human face.
Slits for a nose and a lipless mouth characterized very pale skin, chinless. He opened his mouth to yawn and I saw the glint of a sharp fang embedded in his gums. The yellow eyes, round and glowing, opened with a snap.
He had seen me. He knew I'd seen him.
There was a flash of blackness that others could not see, had there been anyone to see it in the first place. In an instant, I was no longer in the library, but in a dark, dank room, which reeked of blood and death. Tirui's steepled hair still had not fallen, and he was glaring at me with unmistakable, unmitigated fury.
"You're right," he growled at me, his voice contorting and quite unlike his true voice. Or was this his real voice? "I am a vampire. Tell anyone--anyone, and I will bite you myself, and believe me, you won't ever have a will of your own again. Got that?!"
I nodded quickly, backed up against the cold stone wall of the dungeon he had apparently brought me to. There was another flash of black, incomparably deeper than the darkness of the dungeon, and I was back in the library, seated at my table, staring at the smudge of red ink. The ink had changed quickly, and I believe it was now written in blood.
No. It was blood. Mine. Tell anyone, you die.
***FLASHBACK***
Tell anyone, you die...The words echoed around in my head worse than the small crush Draco seemed to have on me. Draco had gotten to be a better friend than I had imagined before. He was excellent at Potions, and Snape seemed to favor me only when I sat with him. We exchanged notes every day to make certain neither of us had missed anything that may have been of importance.
Back to Tirui, though. It was hard to believe Professor Dumbledore had let him into the school, knowing he would need human blood to drink of. Surely Dumbledore had considered the danger to the students?
Wait, would Dumbledore even know that he was a vampire? Maybe I should tell him about Tirui! Tell anyone, you die...The words came back full force, as though they'd been shouted in the dungeon in which Tirui had taken me.
So I simply dredged along, trying to act as though nothing had happened. Obviously, everyone knew something was up. When it came to acting like nothing was wrong, I wasn't exactly a genius. Of course, I'd done a good job when Stephen betrayed me, but that's a whole different story from this one.
I dredged along the dismal halls of the proud Hogwarts School, keeping a secret as deep and dark as the Forbidden Forest's deepest depths. Tirui is a vampire, one out for my blood if I tell a single soul...
Draco!
With a start, I realized it all. Draco knew about Tirui! Why else would he continue talking to me normally, as though he noticed nothing? I had forgotten completely that Draco could read my mind as plain as he opened his Potions book beside me and as I sat down next to him.
"You know, don't you?" I whispered to him quietly, seeing as Tirui wasn't in the room yet.
"Of course," he said silkily, as though it did not matter. He was putting on an act, I knew it from the start. "He is very pale and seems drawn to moonlight."
"Yeah," I nodded quickly. He was trying to make it seem like we were talking about Professor Lupin! Draco, you're a genius! "I wonder, really, if it's really safe to have him around?"
"I do not know, Angel," he whispered in my ear as Tirui came into the room. "But I do know one thing; the other teachers seem not to notice. Have you noticed that?"
The bell rang and I nodded in agreement. It was strange that unless you really looked for him, Tirui was no where to be found at all. It was very strange indeed.
I went to sleep that night under the presumption that I was safe. At least Draco knew my peril and how great a danger I was in. He could help protect me from the steeple-haired vampire.
***
"I grow tired of your weakness," growled a soft voice in the dark. "Tirui, you are my servant. I would hate to destroy you so early in this chess game."
"I will destroy the girl as soon as I can get her alone, milord. She is vulnerable, I think," Tirui, the only person I could see, said. "She does not know of her power. She believes herself deformed and stupid and extremely open to attack. Therefore she is."
"It worries me, the Dragon."
"The Dragon will be disposed of as well. I think we shall leave the other, the original choice, to destroy your opposition, milord? Is that plan worthy?"
"Yes, as long as he keeps strong despite kin's death. If he weakens, kill him, too," the person in the shadows flexed gloved hands and I felt I knew them. "Kill the werewolf, most of all. He grows a nuisance with every breath."
"Of course, my liege. Is there anything else?"
"The other girl, Hermione. Destroy her and the redhead as well. It will leave Harry no choice but to attack his main opponent. He is defenseless because of lack of training, and therefore he will also be gotten rid of."
"A wonderful plan, my lord," Tirui knelt before the dark shadow. I drew in a quick gasp of breath, causing the vampire to stand quickly.
"I heard it, too," said the voice. "See who is there. They must be destroyed as well. It is rude to eavesdrop."
"Quite," Tirui walked right over to my hiding place and touched with his black hand. I was tempted to bite it, but found that my jaws went straight through him. "I see him not, sire. Whoever it was, he's gone now."
"Hmm. Let him rue the day he listened to us. Be cautious, Tirui. Things are not always what they seem."
"Thank you, milord. Good night," and a whisper of wind stole him away, leaving only the black figure. I made my way toward him, but the winds picked up and I coughed and wheezed to get air. The area went black around me and I felt a sudden pain in my neck before I lost consciousness.
***
I awoke a small while later to the smell of some kind of potion, unnamable to me. The murmurs around me grew to a crescendo as I sat up with a weary start. The entire room spun as though I'd stood up too quickly after a movie.
"Angel!" David's face came into view, as did Hermione's, Harry's, Ron's, and Draco's. Among the background faces, I saw Professor Dumbledore, Professor Lupin, Madam Pomfrey, and Oliver Wood, though why he'd be there, I wouldn't know.
"W-Whut huppen'?" I asked, my voice unused to speaking and slurring terribly. "Why ehm ah in da hospitsal weenga?" It surprised me just how much my voice had gone out. It made me question further. "Howa lon' ah bin 'ere?"
"We discovered a certain Tirui Dark hovering around in your dormitory," answered Professor Dumbledore gravely. "Had I known he was here under the pretense of a student, I would have sent him away immediately. He somehow made himself invisible except to those who wished to see him. Luckily, Mr. Malfoy here informed me of your imminent danger and I've been surveying your dorm for quite some time now."
"We' 'ow come ah'm in 'ere? An' whuy can' I tulk righ'?"
"You haven't used your voice in over a week," Dumbledore smiled sadly. "Dark got to you a little bit before we did. He was able to bite you, but not long enough to get more than a pint of blood, if that. Almost like being at the doctor's office, only much, much worse."
"Are you all right, Angel?" Hermione quivered.
"I wish I had such loyal friends," smiled Madam Pomfrey happily. "This lot's been up here ever since it happened and refused to leave and insisted on helping out at every turn."
"R'ally?" I slurred.
"Yes, very much so," Professor Lupin said. "Much like James and Sirius when we were young." His face darkened a moment but it did not remain.
"It's only gonna get worse," Draco said gravely. "They're after us all now, aren't they, Angel?"
The others looked at me expectantly, and I nodded shame-facedly.
"Ah had a duh-ream," I slurred out again.
"Tirui was speaking with a dark, shaded person, without any details in his person," Draco offered. "Whoever he is, he's after all us kids and Lupin."
"Great, just what we needed," David said sarcastically.
"Nah, i's all righ'," I said. "E'rethin's gonn' be all righ'."
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Sorry if my slur-voice is a little bit...weird. I tried to make it sound like me when I was really, really tired this one time...oh, well. Next chappie! Sorry to anyone who thought Tirui was going to be a good guy!