Disclaimer: I do not, nor do I claim to own Harry Potter in anyway shape or form. No profit is being made from this and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. All I do own is Luis, his journal and the plot for this fic.

Dark Souls

Written By Bellatrix Black

Chapter Five: Opened Eyes

Shock... no, it couldn't at all be shock. There was nothing to be shocked about; Luis himself had stated that he had needed to feed. But Madame Rosmerta? Of all people ... Hermione felt a strong feeling of disgust seep into her system. Silently she reminisced to herself about the beautiful young waitress from the Three Broomsticks who used to greet them at the door, smile sweetly as she brought them their butterbeers and give them ideas of even more wonderful things they could do whilst wandering around Hogsmeade.

And now she was gone. Murdered to be more precise. But who was to blame? Hermione shuddered. Luis? The bloodthirsty vampire whose life she had read right in front of her eyes the past few weeks? The one ... the most probable to have committed this murder. There had been no other warnings of vampires in the area. During the five years Hermione had been at Hogwarts; never once had there been any insinuation of active vampires in Britain, let alone Hogsmeade.

Or was it herself? The very person who had unknowingly unlocked this creature of the night and allowed him once more to roam the world of the living. Hermione looked back over to where Malfoy had stood. There was no one there and she could hear the faint chatter of students down the hall adjoining to the one she was in. Glancing once more at the newspaper, as if expecting for a moment for the words to change and loosen the knot in the pit of her stomach, she quickly shoved it into her backpack, turned and headed back towards the main hallway. This would need much contemplation. But it was neither the time nor place for such.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Harry Potter stood impatiently, waiting for Hagrid to leave his hut and commence the Care of Magical Creatures, which he loved almost as much as he dreaded. No doubt Hagrid would probably have some insane idea of a creature to introduce to the class of sixth years. Ron ran up and gave a sharp knock on the large wooden door of the hut. The door swung open and out stepped the giant sized man. To many his appearance would seem menacing, but Harry knew different as the custom warm smile passed over the larger man's face as he glanced back and forth between the boys.

"'ello 'Arry, Ron" he nodded quickly as he dragged a large black crate out into the yard in front of the students. "But where's 'ermione?" he asked as he noticed one third of the trio was missing.

"She had Arithmacy, I'm sure she'll be here soon" Ron answered reassuringly, glancing back up towards the castle in some hope that Hermione would suddenly appear before class commenced.

"She'd better get here soon, we're already late is it is" Hagrid grunted as he received furtive glares from the impatient Slytherins, all of whom had of course been looking for some excuse to complain and poke fun at. Malfoy groaned and muttered something incoherent to the Slytherins by his side and sure enough they each in turn broke out in laughter.

Hagrid sighed and told Harry and Ron he'd have to begin the lesson anyway. Opening up the large black crate he reached in and began extracting small, black, pointy creatures from within. The lesson went on like usual, with Hagrid explaining the creature ("'ey're called Gremlins, these ones are from South Africa") and the Slytherins cracking a snide joke every sentence or so. Halfway through the lesson, Harry noticed a figure exiting the Castle and heading down towards them.

"Hermione!" He greeted softly and she smiled slightly. Giving Hagrid a quick apology; claiming she'd gone to the library and lost track of time, she promptly took her place by Harry's side.

"Why'd you go the library anyway?" Ron questioned as Hagrid returned back to instructing Seamus how to hold one of the small fidgeting creatures.

"There was a book Professor Vector mentioned in today's lesson, I wanted to see if there were any spare copies" She lied quickly and faced Hagrid, hoping that they bought her answer. Harry and Ron exchanged glances but said nothing. Like always, she noted to herself, they said nothing.

~*~*~*~

The sun soon set and the world around him was plunged in darkness. The night was young, the air full of many scents; human, beast and often a mixture of both. His handsome face was one of glee that night as he relished his freedom. The girl, this Hermione was still plaguing his thoughts though and this was one of the few things that would remain unfinished business. Freedom was not true unless one was not binded to anything; and she had unknowingly binded herself to his every thought, whisper and word.

There was still much to do though, he noted to himself. And he had still not chosen a proper reward for this young girl. It had been but a day and still now it was one of the few things he could concentrate on. Luis had taken board in the unused shack many of the locals had spoken of in the quiet town not far from the school. Legend had it that it was haunted, my how easily frightened mortals were. He had taken any last money off of the beautiful waitress he had fed off of the previous night and had used it to buy a spare change of clothes for himself. Not much more would be needed.

He would not be returning to the lavish bar in which he had captured his kill the previous night. It was far too dangerous and Luis was always one to learn from his mistakes, not admitting them to anyone of course. Pride was a trait he himself would always reign high for himself; one of the few Malfoy traits he would ever pride himself on. His shoulder length silvery-blonde hair, his dark steely grey eyes and his pale and sallow face were the looks on which he hated as much as cherished. But the arrogance, the dedication and the ambition were all lost on him.

Inadvertedly, he tired of the silence surrounding him and made his way across the finely lit village until he came to the other, less used bar. The Hog's Head. He of course, would not be feeding here. It was much too dangerous and if anyone there so much as noticed him; his identity and release could soon be known by the very same who had locked him away.

The times had changed, the world was different now and other than his previous interaction in that cheesily named bar; The Three Broomsticks and his feast upon the occupants of the small cabin, he had endured no encounters with those of this time. Their behaviour was different now, mortals... they had evolved into somewhat more of a drunken society. He chuckled softly and entered the dimly lit bar, seating himself at one of the tables in the corner and ordering a Gillywater for appearance sake. He glanced at the newspaper on a table next to him and his lip curled.

Pulling it towards him, he flipped it open until he came upon the article he had expected: A report on the death of that waitress. He read it through, lavishing the detail and bewilderment of the wizards in the featured pictures; their puzzled expressions only added to his belief that one of the things to have not changed in all this time was the incompetence of the Ministry officials. Closing the newspaper, his gaze swept across the cover of The Daily Prophet and he growled deep in his throat. His kill of the waitress had not been the spectacle of the front page; though this wasn't the cause to arouse his anger. There stood a large bolder headline and pictures of several different men: all looking like the prominent snide wizards that they were. Though it was only one of them that stirred the anger deep inside of him, one of whose eyes were causing his blood if anything to boil. One of who looked all too familiar...

Deatheaters Escape From Azkaban

By Oriver Prodfickle

The Ministry has now fully and officially declared the truth to the rumour that several of Azkaban's high security prisoners have indeed escaped the elusive prison. The men were all known followers of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named (in other words, deatheaters); in fact it was for this very reason that they had been jailed. Warren Nott, Burke Rookwood, Watson Macnair, Lucius Malfoy, Theodore Privet, Thomas Crabbe and Ulric Goyle had all been detained and held in the Prison following the Ministry's acceptance of the words of both Professor Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter; the Boy Who Lived. No official conclusion has been met concerning how they seven managed to escape as the prison is now guarded by top Aurors after the Dementors abandoned their posts. It is suspected that they received help You-Know-Who but there is much speculation concerning this....

"Lucius" he hissed softly, his voice so sharp it caused a man on his side to glare at him in annoyance, his eyes already red from an excess of alcohol and lack of sleep. Holding a finger to his lips, his red rum induced faced bobbed side to side as he whispered, "Shhhh". Luis shook his head and grunted; you can change the time but you can't change the drunks. He stood up and headed for the bar, watching the bar owner carefully. He was an old balding man, what was left of his hair had gone grey and his dirty and stingy shirt showed he cared nothing for his self image. Casually, Luis leaned against the bar spreading the newspaper in front of the man.

"My, it's such a tragedy" he said softly, indicating towards the blurb concerning the death of Madame Rosmerta. The bartender nodded absent mindedly, glancing over the newspaper boredly.

"And just think, first a vampire attack and now escapist's from Azkaban" he continued, watching the man's face expression to one of slight worry and agitation.

"With all luck Harry Potter or Dumbledore will put an end to You-Know-Who and we'll be able to get on with our lives" The bartender muttered, cleaning one of the empty glasses on the counter top with an old rag. Nodding, the vampire sized up the man. This was a relatively busy town, even he himself had heard of it back in his day. One thing he would always remember was all the bits of gossip that floated in the air from scenes like this. Perhaps... just perhaps...

"Tell me, what do you know of these deatheaters," He asked coolly, not letting his eyes stray from the paper, "The ones who have escaped".

But the bartender merely shook his head, "Practically nothing. Most of them had pretty high positions in the Ministry before they were jailed; some of them even have kids at that there Hogwarts". The old man gestured out the window into the darkness and Luis' lip curled.

"Which ones have children studying there?" He questioned and the old man's eyes narrowed.

"Why? You planning to teach them a lesson or summat?" He asked but Luis chuckled lightly.

"Of course not, after all they're just children. A child cannot be held responsible for the sins of the father" he gestured and the old man's face softened.

"Well some of those kids are just as bad as their parents, I'd say. This one kid there acts like he owns the god damned place. Mind you, his father was a school Governor until a few years back. But nonetheless, he comes in here with that Parkinson girl every Hogsmeade visit and acts like the same pompous git that his father would. Mind you he probably would never have been caught dead in a place like this" The bartender began issuing around the room; it was obvious that this was definitely one of the seedier parts of Hogsmeade. Luis almost jolted upright at one specific word.

Parkinson

Perhaps it would be too much of a coincidence; perhaps he was just too desperate for some insinuation that he was close to the knowledge he was seeking... Perhaps...

".... At least he doesn't bother bringing his two lunks into here, they cause more trouble than they are worth. I have no idea why he even bothers coming in here himself though methinks he dislikes the crowd at The Three Broomsticks..."

Luis cocked his head to his side, glancing once more down at the newspaper before back to the old man.

"Who is this child you speak of?" His soft voice questioned.

"That Malfoy kid, Draco I think..."

~*~*~*~

"Hermione, we need to talk" Harry beckoned and the girl closed her eyes exasperatedly. This was the third time today they had tried to get her to speak and she had managed to give them the slip. But now she was in the common room, a group of third years were standing by the doorway to the dorms chatting and Seamus Finnigan was leaning against the portrait hole casually surveying a game of chess between Dean and Ginny. There was no way out and unless she wanted to cause a scene; she'd have to stay and attempt to make do with whatever conversation they had in mind. Of course, usually she would have been more than pleased to sit down with her two best friends, to chat and perhaps even argue over trivial things. But not tonight, tonight of all nights she needed to be alone and alas it was the only luxury she was being deprived of.

Sighing in frustration she flung her bag down onto the couch where Ron sat and sat down across from him.

"Okay, fine. What is it you want to talk about?" She quipped and Ron and Harry glanced back and forth between themselves. Now was their chance to finally get some answers concerning her ... unusual behaviour during the previous weeks.

"Lately Hermione you've seemed a little... well..." Ron started though he was obviously searching for words, which would not upset or enrage her.

"Different" Harry cut in and Ron nodded.

"Different how?"

"Well, you've been acting a bit ... high strung and we just wondering, what's wrong? What's going on?" Harry's voice coursed with concern and Hermione sighed, feeling guilty as she noticed the eagerness in Ron's face.

"It's nothing really Harry, its just school. If I can get higher marks this year in my OWLS then hopefully next year my NEWTS will be easier. I'm sorry, really I am for making you worry and all. But seriously, I should be fine" Hermione's voice was strong and she tugged all the rest of her frustration's to the back of her mind. These were her friends, if anything perhaps she should be confiding in them about the journal. Perhaps they could even help her discover what she should do about Luis, if she should choose to do anything at all. But her inner anxiety won over and she began shrinking back into the shell of her former confined self.

Luis was dangerous, she was sure of this. Harry had enough on his plate already since Voldemort's return. He was constantly being frisked off to Dumbledore's office for some odd meeting of some sort with Fudge or the Order. Adding to that the loss of Sirius... Maybe it would be too much for him to deal with right then and there. And as for Ron, as much as she loved him for his concern and care, he was still struggling to come to grips with his position as Keeper on the Quidditch team. The last thing she wanted for him to worry about was some bloodthirsty vampire that had also claimed that he was not going to hurt her. It would be far too much fuss over a rather trivial thing. Perhaps she was just looking for excuses; she scolded herself mentally and shuffled in her seat.

"So it's just the books then? Just studying and all that jazz?" Harry's worried voice broke through her thoughts and she nodded quickly.

"Of course it is Harry, I mean what else could it be?"

"Look Hermione, forget about the books and the exams. Halloween is in a few days, just concentrate on having a little fun and enjoying yourself. There's nothing to worry about! Now come on, let's have a game of Gobstones before bed" Ron issued towards the small marble-like stones on the desk in front of him. Hermione smiled a genuine smile, of all things at all of times and leaned over placing the stones in front of her. These were her friends and she was going to be damned before she let some careless worry come between herself and them.

"Sure, of course" she said as Harry seated himself next to her at the small table.

~*~*~*~

Draco Malfoy leaned back in his chair, letting the dark embers from the fireplace, which sat before him, shower his face in crimson light. Behind him he could hear the soft whispers of his house mates either gossiping of muttering something concerning the latest news concerning the freed deatheaters. His thoughts however were no longer on his father, nor the murder of that waitress from Hogsmeade or even Halloween. His thoughts had strayed to that journal which the mudblood had in her possession. His thoughts had strayed and they stayed as he tried to recollect every detail the small black book had had to offer.

Luis Malfoy...

The name resounded in his head a thousand times, like a bedtime story from which he could faintly remember. Though it had not been a bedtime story, more of a legend to be exact. One of which his father had referred to quite a few times whenever their discussions had turned to their ancestors. The Malfoy family tree was long and extensive. Lucius Malfoy had made sure Draco was one to study it and perhaps even learn from the mistakes of he past. Luis was an old soul, who Lucius had referred to in disgust, who had been turned because of his own weaknesses. This of course had been the very reason keeping the Parkinson's and Malfoy's divided. A gap that only recently Draco believed he would be able to bridge.

But now Luis was free and this could mean only one thing. He would have to contact his father. Needless to say it would not be an easy process; Dumbledore had been watching him rather closely since his return for his sixth year at Hogwarts. But he had to reach his father and tell him of this little problem. Luis had been binded for a reason, one of which Lucius had made sure Draco had known ever since he had first heard the utterance of his name.

Luis had been imprisoned and what's more was it was done by his own family, neither because of wealth or love.

But because of life.

~ENDCHAPTER5~

A/N- Chapter five complete and i hope people have enjoyed it. So now Luis knows of Draco's actual existence, fascinating. And Draco must contact daddy dearest. But what of Hermione? What plans does Luis have in store for her? Review and perhaps the answers might come faster :p

Bellatrix Black