Sometime later, Harry woke up in horrible pain. He barely got his eyes open and realized it was well into the day; which day he didn't know. Harry saw trees all around thought he must be in a forest. The arrows were still sticking out of him and he felt very weak and cold. Reaching up with his good arm, he felt the side of his head and could feel the knot and the dried blood. He thought about trying to crawl but didn't know where to go. Even though he felt terrible, he thought there was way too much blood on him for how bad he felt. Harry didn't know if the village was still close or even which direction it may be.
Thinking for a second, he decided the only thing he could try was apparating. However, he felt so weak that he was concerned about getting splinched. Deciding where to go was hard because he really felt that he would only get one chance since he was so cold and weak so he tried to focus clearly on his chosen destination. Harry thought about disapparating and a second later, he appeared on the floor in the reception area of the Minister of Magic. He barely heard a scream before passing out again.
Hermione had gotten up and ready for school. When Harry wasn't down by the time she was ready to leave, she knocked on his door and when he didn't answer she looked in. She had expected him to be there but didn't get too worried. She thought he either stayed in Romania or went to Kristi's so she continued on to school.
Kristi had tried contacting Harry by floo but was told by Winky that he hadn't come home yet. Kristi also thought he just was detained in Romania and went on about her day.
When Hermione got home from school she quickly found out that Harry hadn't been home yet and she began to get a little worried, but kept telling herself that he was probably with Kristi. She was also telling herself to make sure and yell at him for not letting her know where he was. Hermione heard a familiar pop from the other room and quickly ran in there expecting to see Harry, but was surprised to see Kristi standing there looking at least as worried as Hermione felt. "Sorry to barge in, but has Harry made it back? I haven't heard from him."
Now Hermione really began to worry. "No, he hasn't been back here, I assumed he was with you. He probably just got tied up in some Ministry stuff. He'll probably be back any minute. You can wait here if you want."
"What would he be doing with vampires during the day?" Kristi asked obviously not believing Hermione's explanations.
Late that night when Harry still hadn't come back, Hermione contacted Sirius and found out that he didn't know anything either. Sirius said Harry was probably just finalizing things and for them not to worry, but Hermione could tell that Sirius was worried and this made her feel even worse.
Kristi stayed at the castle that night and Hermione told her she could stay while Hermione was at school since Harry would probably come back here first. A little after noon, Sirius appeared and asked Kristi to come to St. Mungos Hospital with him, telling her that Harry was there.
The scream Harry heard when he appeared in the reception area was from Jill. Almost instantly a few Ministry workers came to see what was going on and saw Harry lying on the floor bloodied, with two arrows sticking out of him. Mr. Weasley immediately got medi-wizards and then had Harry transferred to the hospital in complete secrecy.
It was well after midnight when Harry finally squeezed back at the hand holding onto his. Kristi immediately woke up and stood over him. "Harry. You're awake. Don't try to move, you're hurt pretty bad."
Harry tried to smile and said, "Probably top ten," in reference to a joke he had with Kristi about previous injuries.
He could see her start crying and said, "It's ok, don't cry."
"I was just so worried about you," Kristi said crying.
Harry was feeling very tired and weak and dozed off within a few minutes remembering feeling bad that Kristi was crying, he had never seen her cry before. The next thing he realized was hearing a scream and knowing it was Kristi. Instantly he opened his eyes and saw four figures approaching the bed. Without thinking, he blasted the four against the wall and had them pinned near the ceiling. Realizing that two of them were vampires, he summoned their swords, catching one before it hit the ground and in one step was holding the sword to the throat of the largest vampire. Kristi didn't even have time to get her wand out. Harry was trying to decide what to do when he heard, "Harry! Don't hurt him. He's with me."
Kristi glanced up when she heard a noise and saw four dark figures enter the room. She panicked and screamed. Instantly, she felt a surge of power in the room and saw bodies flying, Harry catching a sword and then bounding toward the figure with the sword in his had. She could just feel the energy right now as Harry almost seemed like a different person. He had looked so weak in bed just a few seconds earlier and now he had the four intruders pinned against the wall with a sword at one of their throat. And he didn't even have his wand. Then she heard Sirius' voice as well.
Harry glanced to the side and saw Sirius pinned to the wall near the ceiling. Not removing the blade from the vampire's throat, he let Sirius down and yelled, "He's a vampire. That's what attacked me. I won't let them near Kristi."
Sirius quickly came to Harry's side and said, "They're not here to hurt anyone. They want to help. Please, I trust him."
Harry looked at Sirius and saw that he meant what he said so he backed up and released the men. Harry kept the sword and nearly stumbled trying to return to bed after the pain and weakness returned. Sirius and Kristi both went to his side and helped him into bed. "Oh, you've torn open your leg, let me get the nurse," Kristi said obviously worried.
"No! It'll be ok." Harry said and quickly summoned his wand from the table next to the bed. He used some of the healing spells he had learned and stopped the bleeding.
"What's the story Sirius?" Harry asked trying to stay conscious.
Sirius went on to introduce the vampires who were standing far behind Sirius. The large one was called Nathan and he was a high ranking person in the vampire community. The other was his assistant. Sirius explained that Nathan had contacted him when the vampire had learned about the attack.
"You were led into a trap. The vampires you met do not want better relations with all wizards, but didn't hesitate taking money from a wizard to set you up. You should not have been meeting those men; you should have been meeting me," Nathan said. "Miss Veganos was not the only one who desired better relations between our races."
"What do you know about R.J.? One of you killed her right in front of me!" Harry yelled, mentioning R.J. made him furious.
"I know a great deal more about her than you do. You see I am the one who made her what she was," Nathan said calmly and without emotion and this shocked Harry. Nathan went on to explain how he loved her and the story of her becoming a vampire. "I mourned for a long time when I learned she had been killed, and have wanted to meet you since then. I couldn't believe it when I heard she had fallen for a wizard."
Harry still didn't say anything so Nathan motioned to the other vampire who pulled something from a pack on his back. Harry saw the crossbow come over and immediately pointed his wand at the man, who quickly held the crossbow pointed at the ceiling. "This is one of the weapons you were attacked with. You should have it." Nathan laid the crossbow on the bed. "We found their bodies in the forest, near where you were supposed to meet them. Two of them were impaled with tree limbs and the other two," the vampire hesitated studying Harry and then said, "Well; something must have come along because they were torn to pieces."
Harry hung his head when he heard this and Sirius spoke up quickly, "They got what they deserved as far as I'm concerned."
"If your world hears about this attack, it will taint any hope of better relations. That had to be part of the reason you were attacked. That and one of the vampires had a large sum of money and a picture of you. Many vampires do not want good relations with wizards because they fear you. More and more of us do however and that is what we must work for. I also think that you have enemies in your community that exploited the situation."
Sirius spoke up, "I agree with him Harry. We don't want the press getting into this story. Imagine how the public would feel if they found out vampires attacked you. They wouldn't give the Ministry any chance for better relations with them."
Nathan spoke up, "Please, meet with me and other representatives once you are well. I will personally handle the details to make sure nothing happens."
Kristi was squeezing his arm nervously but Harry said, "I agree, but I will also never come into a meeting with vampires unprepared again."
Nathan calmly said, "I gathered as much from the welcome you gave us."
Harry gave the sword to Sirius who handed it back to the vampire and the vampires left.
Kristi said, "I can't believe you're going keep this quiet." She sounded quite upset by this.
Sirius kept trying to explain to her that it would be better this way. Harry had fallen asleep while they were still talking and saw it was light outside the next time he woke up. Kristi was still there.
"You didn't have to stay here," he said.
"I see you've woken up again. I wanted to make sure you were ok," she said sounding strange.
Harry looked sad and said,"I'm sorry you had to see me like this. I never wanted you to have to worry about me."
Just then Sirius and the Dr. came in. "When can I go home Dr.?"
"I would prefer you stayed here but the Ministry would rather you go someplace less public. If you agree to rest, I'll allow it," the Dr. said.
"I agree," Harry said before slowly getting up and changing. They all apparated to Harry's home. Sirius left but said he would be back later to take an official statement.
"You don't have to stay if you have other things to do," Harry told Kristi.
"This isn't going to be a regular thing with you is it?" Kristi asked still sounding a bit strange.
"Oh no. I learned my lesson. I'll be much more careful next time," Harry said. "Are you ok?"
"I just don't like seeing you hurt," Kristi said.
"Hey, I was in the hospital longer after the Quidditch match," Harry said trying to make her see that even in their job he had been hurt before.
"I understand the risks of Quidditch. I don't understand why you put yourself in situations like that."
"I was just doing my job and obviously should have done it better."
"I guess I just don't like worrying about you. When you weren't back the next morning, I was really worried. I can't remember ever worrying about anyone like that," Kristi said softly.
Harry said, "Don't worry about me. I came back. I promise I'll be more careful and do my best to not make you have to worry."
"You came back in a bloody heap on the Ministry floor from what I heard. I don't know how you even apparated in that state," she said sounding very upset.
"Let's forget about that. I'm glad you're here," Harry said pulling her tight hoping she could put this behind her.
Not long later Hermione came home from school. "Harry. Are you all right? They wouldn't tell me hardly anything and I couldn't come see you."
Harry joked. "I bet that annoyed you, someone telling you that you couldn't do something."
"This isn't funny Harry. What happened? All Sirius would say was that you were back and going to be ok," Hermione demanded. She looked at Kristi who wouldn't say anything.
"Sirius will be here in a bit for a statement. Wait until then and I only have to tell it once," Harry said.
Sure enough, it wasn't much longer until Sirius and Jill came to the house. Jill said, "You look much better than the last time I saw you."
"Sorry about that Jill, I just didn't know where else to go," Harry said, feeling bad for letting the receptionist see him hurt.
Harry started telling the story and could see the others flinch when he mentioned the arrows that went into him. Then he mentioned starting to retaliate against two of the attackers and Sirius said, "Those would be the two impaled by tree limbs." Harry nodded and went on and said he was then hit in the head with something and didn't remember anything until waking up in the forest.
Kristi quickly asked, "What about the two vampires that were torn to pieces?"
Hermione and Jill's eyes were huge when she asked this. Harry looked at Sirius who nodded. Harry hung his head and said, "I think I did that. I'm an animagus and I felt myself changing before I passed out."
Jill turned to Sirius and asked, "Is he registered?"
Sirius shifted uncomfortably but answered, "Kind of. He filled out all the paperwork but Dumbledore never turned it
into Fudge since we didn't trust him.
And, we didn't want Voldemort finding out."
Harry continued, "When I woke up, I didn't know where I was or how far the village was. The arrows were still in my shoulder and leg and I knew my head was hurt. I was cold and weak and all I could think to do was to try and apparate, but I was worried about getting splinched. It was daylight and I knew I needed to be someplace with people since I couldn't stand, so I went to the Ministry. That's where Jill saw me."
Jill described seeing Harry fall on the floor with blood all over him and how her screams caused other people to come. She described the arrows still in his body. She then said that Harry was taken to the hospital secretly so the press wouldn't find out.
Then Kristi described what happened in the hospital and what happened when the four men came in.
Jill was writing everything and just shaking her head the whole time. After Sirius double-checked that Harry was feeling ok, he and Jill left. As soon as they were gone, Hermione who had been pretty quiet for all the stories started yelling, "What did you think you were doing meeting vampires in such a remote place without anyone else with you? Do you have any sense at all?"
"Hermione, it's my job," Harry said.
"Then quit! The Ministry is to blame for asking you to do that. They can get along just fine without you Harry. They're just using your connections to help their sorry arse out," yelled Hermione.
Kristi spoke up, "I agree with Hermione."
"How about I promise to never let myself get put into that situation again?" Harry pleaded.
"Ok, how about you tell us exactly what your plans are before going on any more trips? If both of us feel you've taken enough safety precautions you go but if not, you don't," Hermione said sternly.
"I'd rather you quit. You don't need to put yourself in danger anymore, and you don't need the job," Kristi added.
"Oy! Women! I'll run every trip and meeting by both of you first and I'll try my best to not go if you have issues," Harry said.
"You'll do more than try your best, you won't go," Hermione said.
"I don't think that's good enough for me. I don't like worrying about you like that," Kristi said very seriously.
Hermione could tell that Kristi was really bothered by this so she said, "I'll leave you two alone."
"That's not necessary Hermione. Harry you need to decide what's really important to you. I'm going home," Kristi said quickly before disappearing.
Harry looked at the spot where his girlfriend had just disappeared from not actually believing what happened. He suddenly felt very tired and slowly sat on the couch staring straight ahead. "Well that didn't last long," he said with fatality.
"She'll be ok," Hermione said sitting next to him. "That couldn't have been easy on her."
"She's seen me hurt before Hermione. I was in the hospital for three days after a Quidditch match."
"Once you talk to her, you can work it out," Hermione offered.
"You don't know Kristi. She says exactly what she really means. I'll talk to her tomorrow, but I really want to sleep right now," Harry said and slid over onto his side.
Hermione hated to see him like this. The physical pain was one thing. It bothered her, but once she knew he was going to be all right, she knew he healed amazingly fast. But she also knew he again doubted himself in relationships. He didn't realize how hard it was to deal with everything that was Harry Potter. Dealing with Harry the man was easy, but the rest of the package is a bit overwhelming. She got up and helped him get his legs onto the couch and then went to the library to study. Harry was still in the same position when she went to bed that night.
The next morning, he wasn't there but Winky informed her that she had changed his bandages, helped him into bed and that he was feeling much better. Hermione went on to school with an awful lot on her mind.
When Hermione came home she found Harry on the couch reading and noticed he did look better. "Did you go talk to Kristi?"
Harry grunted a "yeah."
"Were you able to make her feel better?" Hermione asked wanting to know what really happened.
Harry really didn't look up but said, "Not really."
"Do you want to talk about it? I'm supposed to go to diner with Mark, but we could talk for a bit first," Hermione offered.
"No thanks. I wouldn't want you to be late on my account. I'm just going to read for a while."
"Are you sure?"
"Hermione. I'll be fine, don't mess things up with Mark. Get going," Harry said and gave a fake smile.
Harry was in bed when Hermione got back and had intentionally not been around over the weekend so he wouldn't have to talk about Kristi. Hermione noticed that Harry was still going away some nights so she assumed he had worked things out. France again won their next Quidditch match and was still undefeated this season.
Christmas came quickly, so Harry went to the Burrow early in the morning and Hermione went to her parents but planned to join the others at the Burrow later. Harry appeared right outside and knocked. The door flew open and Ginny gave him a big hug. "Harry! When are you going to learn to just appear inside?"
Harry hugged her back and they moved into the kitchen. "It's good to see you Ginny. I'm glad to see you're talking to me again." She hadn't written him or anything since the picture came out in the magazine.
"Well, you've seemed to keep your clothes on lately. Do you have any idea how embarrassing that was for me at school?" She replied.
"You shouldn't have been looking at things like that at school anyway," Harry said trying to joke.
"Hermione said that Katie Bell took those pictures. I can't believe you got naked in front of Katie Bell. What's gotten into you?"
"Those pictures? You mean you looked at the ones in the other magazine as well? You shouldn't have looked at them if you were so angry at me." Harry raised his eyebrows at his friend.
Ginny blushed and said, "Whatever," before pulling Harry into the living room where everyone else was waiting.
The rest of the Weasleys greeted him warmly with the twins saying it was about time he was there or they were going to start without him. Harry loved Christmas at the Burrow. The family had gotten used to Bill and Charlie not making it back. They both had girlfriends or worked too much, but it was still uncomfortable for them that Percy wasn't here. Things hadn't gotten much better since Mr. Weasley became Minister of Magic because Percy had supported his rival and was still closer to the other man. The other kids and Harry were still happy to celebrate at the Burrow.
Everyone liked the presents and soon the twins were demonstrating new items they were about to put into their stores. At first Mrs. Weasley was very much against the idea of them starting a joke shop but now it had become very successful. Harry could tell Mr. & Mrs. Weasley were now very proud of the twins. Harry did notice that Parvati didn't seem like she thought Ron's gift was very special. Ron had given her a nice sweater, and she obviously had no idea what was coming later.
It wasn't much longer until Hermione arrived with a large book under her arm. She greeted everyone and then opened her present which was yet another book. Ron asked about the book she had brought with her and she said it was a present from someone she studied with at school. Harry spoke up, "Oh, it's from Mark. Her special study friend." Harry said this last part with as much teasing as he could muster.
This drew an evil glance from Hermione but the twins picked up on it immediately and began teasing her. So Harry added, "I went to surprise her and her study group with lunch since they were so busy, but when I got there Hermione was off having lunch with this guy so I had to leave the food with the rest of her group." Hermione gave him a really dirty look.
"Oh, must be serious if she stood up Harry for him," Fred added.
"I don't want to talk about it," Hermione stated.
"Ginny. You'll give us the details later," Ron joked
Harry got up and went to the kitchen for some more water. Ginny noticed her mum glance at her dad and then watched her mum get up to follow Harry. She thought her mum was going to give Harry a hard time about the pictures so she quietly followed so she could hear.
"How are you feeling dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
Harry was startled by her being there. "I'm fine. Why?"
Mrs. Weasley hugged him tight, and when she released him she said, "I heard about what happened. Arthur came home shaking and very upset. He blames the Ministry for getting you into that situation."
"I'm ok, really. It's not the Ministry's fault, I should have been more careful," Harry answered. "I was out of the hospital in a few days and back to work the next week. I'm fine."
"He said you were just on the floor in a bloody heap with arrows sticking out of you. I'd rather you didn't work for the Ministry if things like that are going to happen."
"That's what Hermione said as well. I'll think about a change of profession. Does this get me off the hook for those pictures?" Harry said trying to smile.
"Hhhrump. Well it did put things in perspective. Having you almost die made me realize that a few pictures weren't the worst thing in the world. Just don't do that again either."
They were both startled when they heard, "How did Harry almost die and why didn't I hear about it?" Turning they saw a very angry Ginny glaring at them.
"Um... Well dear you see no one really knows about it. It was kept very quiet and you see, Harry's fine now," Mrs. Weasley was saying.
"It wasn't kept very quiet. You know, Kristi, Hermione and Ron know. Why didn't I know? He's my friend as well," Ginny again said angrily.
"Ron doesn't know," Harry added. "Hermione didn't find out until I got out of the hospital and we had to tell her since she's my roommate and wondered where I was. Kristi stayed in the hospital with me."
"Fine, but now that I know something happened, I want to know what. You can tell Ron and me at the same time."
"I can't tell Ron, not today."
Both women looked at him confused. "Why not today?" Ginny asked.
"Um…Just because... I have a good reason. I'll tell you when we get a chance today, but not Ron," Harry said and they heard Fred asking where they had gone to, so they went back into the other room.
Later, Harry saw Ron take Parvati for a walk. Hermione noticed too because she gave a smile to Harry. Harry took this opportunity to get Hermione and Ginny so he could tell Ginny what happened. Ginny was upset that she hadn't been told of this and also angry with Harry for letting it happen. "Hey, at least it got me out of getting yelled at by your mom. I was dreading coming over here because I thought she'd scream at me about those pictures."
"Well there are easier ways to not get yelled at. Just keep your clothes on," Ginny said. "Now, why couldn't you tell this to Ron?"
Hermione smiled and said, "Ok, you'll find out soon enough. Ron's going to ask Parvati to marry him. He's probably doing it right now."
Ginny squealed and the two girls hugged. "She'll be surprised. I don't think she liked the gift Ron gave her earlier."
They went downstairs to wait for Ron to come back. The twins kept asking the girls what was up since they couldn't stop giggling. Soon, the door opened and Ron and Parvati walked back in. Ron looked nervous but Parvati almost couldn't control herself. "Mum, Dad, I...We've got something to tell you."
Ron hesitated so Parvati yelled, "We're getting married!" Ron just stared at her.
Mrs. Weasley was up in an instant hugging them followed closely by Ginny and Hermione. Everyone congratulated the couple and then the teasing began. After a while, the two announced they were going over to Parvati's parents to tell them. Ron again looked a little pale before he left.
Harry announced that he was leaving but heard Fred yell out, "Oy! Harry. We almost forgot. Katie was in the other day, something about selling Cho some of the shots that didn't make the magazine. Seems they couldn't be printed or something like that."
The twins started laughing but Mrs. Weasley and Ginny gave them a dirty look. "You're kidding, right?" Harry asked, the color draining from his face.
"You'll have to ask Cho. Make sure you knock before going into her office though," George joked.
Harry hung his head and went to spend some time with Sirius and Kelly. After an enjoyable meal with them, Harry wanted to talk to Sirius alone. "I'm thinking about quitting my Envoy position," Harry said meekly wanting to get his godfather's opinion.
Sirius breathed deeply and said, "I was hoping you'd give it up." This wasn't what Harry expected and Sirius must have realized it. "Being part of the Ministry has made me realize even more that you can't really trust or count on them. There is so much politics, even in the law enforcement division that it's driving me crazy. They care about the image of the Ministry more than doing the best thing for the community."
"I just don't like the politics. That's why I like the Unspeakables so much, they don't care at all about what the normal Ministry thinks," Harry replied.
"I don't know how long I'll last as chief. I really like helping catch the bad guys, but not all the other crap." Sirius paused, "When are you going to tell Arthur?"
Harry thought for a second and said, "I'm supposed to meet the dementors soon. I kind of want to do that since one of them saved me. Then I'm supposed to meet Nathan and feel like I need to do that one, but then that's it."
"The Ministry has dealings with dementors now, so I don't think that will be too bad. And, I do trust Nathan so that should go ok as well. Arthur will understand, even though he's the Minister of Magic, he's a good man," Sirius told his godson.
A couple weeks later, Harry was preparing to meet the dementor's representative. Harry had been told that dementors couldn't talk. They didn't actually hear either. They communicated telepathically, and he learned that if you spoke to them, they actually knew what you were saying by seeing it in your mind, not actually hearing it. This meeting was being held in the main Ministry building, near where prisoners were held for trials. Harry filled his pocket with chocolate just in case he was affected by them.
Harry walked up to the door of the meeting room, took a deep breath and entered and suddenly came face to face; well hood of two dementors. He couldn't help but recoil a bit and one of them must have sensed it, because in his mind, Harry heard, You have nothing to fear from us.
Harry regained his composure, closed the door and thought, "I am Harry Potter, the Envoy and it is an honor to meet you." Harry's heart was beating very fast and he was trying to keep calm, but so far hadn't felt anything from the two dementors.
It is our honor to meet you. You may call me five as we do not have names as such. I am second in command of the guards of Azkaban.
Harry still thought communicating this way was strange, but concentrated and thought, "If you know who brought me out of the forest a few years ago, I would like to thank them very much. I owe them my life."
I will pass that on. We feel fortunate to have chosen the correct side in the struggle.
"What happened to the ones that didn't?"
Most were tracked down and destroyed by us. Some are still in hiding.
The meeting continued for a couple hours with the dementor explaining to Harry about how their social structure was and about their concerns. Dementors really did enjoy feeding off of the positive emotions of humans, so they actually enjoyed their work. They didn't seem to have any real desire for more access to humans and were content with their place in the wizarding community.
Harry had ended up telling the dementor about the Death Eaters and how he was a little bothered by them still not being punished for all the crimes they committed. Harry was taken aback when the dementor said they would gladly take anyone Harry brought in and keep them in total secrecy. Harry's mind flashed to Lucius Malfoy, but he knew that he couldn't bring himself to really do that.
The next day, Harry filed his report, leaving out the part about hiding anyone Harry brought to them. Now, Harry only planned on doing one more mission before he resigned, he still had to meet the vampire again.
Harry went to watch one of Ron's practices and was really surprised by how much better Ron had gotten in the short time he had been practicing with Puddlemeyer. Harry supposed a lot of it was the modern broom Ron was able to use, but also saw that Ron seemed more confident and aggressive. Quite a few times, Harry was just amazed that Ron had been able to save shots that Harry felt could have gotten by the keeper on the French team.
The two friends were talking Quidditch at Harry's when Hermione came home from school earlier than she normally did. "You're home early," Harry stated.
Hermione kind of blushed and said, "Oh, Mark's taking me to the theatre tonight."
"You're not doing schoolwork and going to the theatre! Harry, are you sure that's our Hermione?" Ron joked drawing an evil look from Hermione as she headed up the stairs.
"She's been seeing a lot of the guy. I haven't met the bloke yet, but supposedly he's really smart," Harry told his friend.
"She does seem happy. We should make her bring him around so we can see if we approve or not," Ron added.
"Do you think it will matter what we say?"
Ron snorted, "Not in the least."
The two went back to Quidditch talk until Hermione came down dressed in a very nice dress. She had also pulled her hair back and almost looked like a totally different person. "Blimey Hermione, are you sure you're not off to marry the bloke?" Ron asked.
Hermione stared defiantly at her friend and said, "I'll take that as a compliment Ron."
"I suppose I shouldn't wait up," Harry added.
"Oh, you too. I won't be out that late, it's only the theatre," Hermione said and then disappeared.
The two friends spent the next hour talking about Hermione and the quirks they liked about her. Then, Ron was supposed to meet Parvati, so he left Harry to think about his next Envoy mission that was fast approaching.
Harry had been nervous about his next Envoy assignment since he was going to meet vampires again. This time, the meeting was to take place in an old Ministry building in a very old part of London. Harry put the sword R.J. gave him in a sheath across his back and then put his cloak on over it so the sword wasn't noticeable. He felt very uncomfortable taking a weapon to an envoy meeting but he didn't trust vampires at all. Harry had told Sirius and Hermione all about this meeting and when he was expected home. They both agreed he was taking necessary precautions and since Sirius had already met Nathan, he felt comfortable with this meeting as well.
Harry apparated outside of the building and knocked as he was directed to. The door slowly opened seemingly by itself and Harry proceeded through. Once inside, he shut the door and saw two vampires near the center of the room. He recognized one of them as the vampire that came to his hospital room, Nathan. Harry relaxed a bit and walked to the two men and as he approached he was greeted by. "Harry, I'm glad to see you fully recovered."
"Hello Nathan," Harry said shaking the vampire's hand. "I can't say I'm totally comfortable with this."
"Understandable. Please, sit down and let's just get to know each other better. I'm very interested in how you got along with R.J.," Nathan said.
"And I'd like to hear about her earlier life if you don't mind," Harry replied feeling a bit more comfortable. As Harry started to sit, he felt the sword start to catch on something so he straightened up. "I need to remove my cloak," Harry informed the vampire. Harry removed his cloak and then pulled the sheathed sword over his head as well.
"I see you kept your promise to come prepared," Nathan said. "I wouldn't have expecting anything less."
Harry laid the sword on the table and said. "I don't like that I thought it may be necessary." Harry continued to sit down.
"I agree Harry; our meeting shouldn't have been poisoned by the actions of a few. I am truly sorry." Nathan said and Harry felt he could trust the man.
Harry went on to tell the man all about his time with R.J. He told Nathan about meeting the vampire and about the Halloween ball. Nathan was visibly shaken when Harry told the man the details of how R.J. was killed.
After the story, Nathan said something to the other vampire and quickly, the vampire came back with a bottle of whiskey and two small glasses. "This is from 1812 and I've been saving it," Nathan said before pouring two glasses. The two men each took a glass and Nathan said, "To R.J."
Harry replied, "To R.J.," and the two men downed the alcohol. Harry fought with everything he had to not cough it back up. He was more of a wine and butterbeer drinker. Once the burning stopped, Harry asked, "And now could you tell me about her early life?"
Nathan went on to tell Harry about Princess Rebecca Jane Veganos. The story lasted a couple hours and Harry was even more amazed at the kind of person she had been. Once Nathan was done, Harry poured two glasses of whiskey and said, "To Rebecca."
Nathan also said, "To Rebecca," and the two men downed their drinks. Again, Harry worked to not embarrass himself.
The two men talked about the Ministry and what they felt could be done to help relations between the two races. In the end, they both felt they had significant opportunities and agreed to get other people involved from this point on.
"One additional thing I wanted to mention." Nathan said turning very serious. "After some investigation, we found out that two of the vampires that attacked you had been involved with illegal smuggling between your world and the Muggle world. One of the wizards they dealt with apparently offered them a large sum of money if they could deliver you, dead of course. So the attack was apparently to serve two purposes, one to kill you and in doing so, poison all relations between vampires and wizards."
"It seems some things just never change." Harry said and then added, "I do appreciate this last bit of information. Now I know just how far people will go for revenge."
When the meeting was over Harry said, "Thank you for this meeting Nathan. If there is anything I can do for you, don't hesitate to ask. I wouldn't mind even hanging out sometime not talking shop."
Nathan actually laughed. "That could be very interesting Harry. I doubt we run in the same circles but I'd be up for giving it a try."