Disclaimer: I do not own, nor do I claim to own Harry Potter in any way, shape or form. No profit is being made from this fic and therefore no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. He is copyrighted to though not limited to: JK Rowling, Warner Bros. and many other franchises.
A/N- Thanks to all my lovely reviewers, I do heart each and every one of you. So as a treat to you all, this chapter is longer. To sum this up, today's chapter has a diary entry, a recovering Hermione, Luis almost getting hit by a 'large metal creature with beams of light', I bring in a character from Luis' past and a mysterious Draco. There's a lot here to center on Luis and the new character so please read carefully. Enjoy!
This chapter is dedicated to Bwendan, because I'll always remember your vampire-ish side.
Dark Souls
By Bellatrix Black
Chapter Six: Shadows Of The Past
Alexandra, yes she was my beloved, both in flesh, blood and bone. My lover, my sire, my comrade and my mentor, she guided me through the first of my many turmoil filled years teaching me all she knew of our kind and nature. She used her beauty to attract her men of all trades. Her innocent face was always the last thing many vulnerable yet deeply stupid men saw before she took their lives.
I often questioned her on why I was not among the dead. She had allowed me to live, given me life to some extent and in doing so, traded in her life within the pack of vampires I had met that fateful night many years ago. She merely smiled, giving me some mere task to do to distract myself from the question. It was the same each time and I eventually learned not to press onwards.
Never once in all the time I had known her, did she turn another mortal. But I soon realised the very answer for this: She did not want me to do so either. After returning to London, we soon discovered another group of vampires who roamed the fair city. Young, hot blooded, careless, Alexandra soon decided to lead them. Most of them knew not the identities of their sires, others had merely left their own as they disagreed with the prospect of 'control'. These ones were the most dangerous of our kind.
We called them the predators among the dead. Their viciousness had driven them out of neighbouring villages and their lack of human pretense had them hunted by the very humans who had wished to contain them. They knew no bounds and truth be told, they only cared about the kill. I was looked down upon by them, something I did not care to dwell on. They were but mere humans trapped with a vampires thirst. Their belief that I was weak simply because I was lead forward by my sire was meger and down trodden. Alexandra urged me to ignore them, saying that they themselves were the worst of our kind.
Unfortunately her words had fallen on deaf ears.
This part of my story, of my life, is a chapter which I myself have blocked away to the back of my mind. Thinking of it now it seems like a memory long forgotten. Like some nursery rhyme I had heard as a child, though this nursery rhyme was not sweet and happy. It was of great pain, anguish and loss.
As much as my heart had belonged to Alexandra, I could not ignore their words and in a way they had made some kind of sense in my then feeble young mind. Was I but a lapdog then? But my master's play thing? They soon insisted that one day she would leave me; that I could not possibly be the only vampire she had sired in her lifetime. My loyalty was wavering ever so slightly and her words sealed the ever lasting fate of our paths.
'Don't you dare question me,' she had snapped at me, her sweet angelic face contorting to a devilish alter-identity, 'Many others have done so and as you can see, I have cared nothing for them onwards.'
Her words had cut into me and it was then I knew that I could no longer stay. My pride had been destroyed and my trust in was gone. At the time, it seemed to me like her loyalty to me was dependent on my dedication to her. Rage filled me and I gathered my cloak and hat, bidding my good-byes to the few who passed me I walked out of the door into the dead of the night and I knew only one thing.
I was now truly alone.
Hermione closed the small black book and tucked it under her pillow. Her eyes were heavy and she felt sleep nearing her. Now, she was beginning to understand this man even more. Perhaps if she could understand him then she would be able to escape him. Her thoughts had been travelling back to him every spare second since she had returned to her dorm. The eerie silence as Parvati and Lavender lay in their beds sleeping had caused her to once again think about the man who had visited her the previous night.
After reading through another passage in the book she couldn't help but imagine Luis himself doing these actions, she oddly enough realised that she did not know him as well as she had thought. She wondered if he would be visiting her once more but pushed the thought out of her mind. She had spent two hours in the common room playing gobstones and drinking butterbeer with Harry and Ron, she had been having the most fun she'd had in ages.
Hermione had put all the stress, all the worries of the previous twenty-four hours to the back of her mind and concentrated on the present; which was a relaxed and delightful evening with her friends where she should be able to go to bed with a clear head and soul.
The last thing she needed to worry about was a blood thirsty killer visiting her in the middle of the night.
'Let's hope it doesn't come to that' Hermione insisted as she drew her covers over herself, laid her head on her pillow and wished for her body to sleep. Her body was tired. Her mind, it would seem, was not.
~*~*~*~
'So the Malfoy heir was at Hogwarts,' Luis mused to himself as he exited Hogs Head and strolled down the long winding street. This had not been something he had anticipated, 'And his father is an escaped felon'.
He almost laughed at the mere notion of such a thing. For a Malfoy to disgrace his name was something he had never heard of; well, other than himself of course. And this one had been following some 'un-named' person. She shook his head, almost feeling a spring in his step as he walked. This had turned out better than he could have possibly imagined. The Malfoy boy was so close now and his father was just out of his grasp.
He could feel his skin burning with delight, before he suddenly realised that it was not delight causing it. It was hunger; for even though the night was young and the clock was yet to strike twelve, he felt the thirst stir within him. Luis growled softly under his breath, noticing an elderly couple walk past him, he shook his head in an attempt to keep his thoughts clear.
'No,' he told himself, 'Not here, you should have more sense than that.'
His eyes lingered on them and soon came to rest on a small piece of wood hanging out of the man's side pocket. Luis silently plucked it up and continued on forward until he could no longer see the two. He waved it around in front of him for a moment, a large smirk on his face as he observed it. He had not held one of these in centuries. Even as a vampire he had not bothered with magic, but had become dependent on his strength to perform most of his deeds. He pocketed the wand on the inside of his cloak and closed his eyes, breathing in the fresh nights air.
And the scents that lingered upon it.
He found them too hard to define at this time. Sighing he opened his eyes and found himself nearing a clearing, a large wooden sign marked it with the words Hogsmeade Station.
Luis was on a large solid granite platform and looking down he saw large bars of metal which lay pinned to the ground. Curious, he soon jumped down onto the dirt, wood and steel, studying the design and wondering what kind of Rune it was exactly. Not only this, but what was it doing right here where anyone could walk on it? And since when were Rune's made of metal and wood? He ran his fingers over the cold steel and looked up as he heard a loud siren echo into the night.
The noise was erupting from a large metal creature which seemed to be heading straight for him. It's eyes were that of bright light and Luis stood awe struck, unable to move as it came closer and closer, making it's devil cry sound off into the night.
And suddenly he felt a hand gruffly grab him, pulling him up onto the Platform once more. Behind him he could feel the wind building as the metal creature past him but inches behind his very back. It's speed was so fast that he could not see it clearly as he gazed over his shoulder. It soon passed him, it's devil cry no more and the light it shed drifted off until it was no more but a star on land.
"Are you completely mad Luis?" A voice infront of him hissed and he spun his head back around. Infront of him stood a beautiful raven-haired woman. Her almond eyes were those so familiar to him and her pale skin reflected her blood red lips. She wore a dark red blouse, her long silky skirt was black as was her cloak. On her face sat a large frown.
"Dear god…" He gasped and the corner of her lips curved upwards into somewhat of an amused smile.
"There is no god Luis," she began, watching the surprise flow over him, "For if there were we would certainly be his mistakes."
He ignored her words, not caring for them in the least as he searched her face, the seductive smile and the same features he had had imprinted on his memory came flowing back to him.
"So what brings you back to me, my beloved?"
~*~*~*~
Luis Malfoy lives. The mudblood has his journal. There has already been a death in Hogsmeade. I doubt he has appeared to the mudblood yet. Curiosity rules me as I wonder just what to do next.
Draco.
Draco re-read the letter after what seemed to himself a thousand times. Yes, it was discreet. Discreet enough anyway. It would have to do, if it were to be intercepted he could just claim it was some notes he himself had written to remind himself for any careless reason. He took a hold of his wand, tucked the note into his pocket, stood up from the desk in the Slytherin Common Room and quietly strode over to the Portrait Hole. A few Slytherin's were still awake, though they were silent and did not so much as glance at him as he left the Common Room.
He made his way silently up through the Dungeons, careful of any noises he may hear, knowing well enough that Filch could be lurking just around the corner. He was indeed silent, one of the many traits he had earned himself from lurking around his father's library when he knew he was not supposed to. After what seemed like an eon, he found himself at the Owlery and he hurried inside.
The musty smell of owl droppings and old hay filled the room and he almost wretched in disgust. This room was most definitely not one of his favourites and usually he would have waited until the morning before he were to send the message, as he could do so when his eagle owl came in the mornings; most commonly with a box of sweets from his mother. Instead he bore the smell and hurried over to a common barn owl, something else he usually would not have used.
'But one must be discreet,' he mused to himself as he attached the message to the owl's leg and issued it to go to his father. Watching it swoop down out of the window, he waited the few seconds before it was no longer in sight before turning back around and hurrying out of the disgusting room.
~*~*~*~
"Alohomora," Hermione whispered and the lock infront of her gave a soft click. She turned the knob and entered the large room, piled high with mountains upon mountains of books. It was the library.
Sleep was wasted on her, she had finally agreed after suffering for an hour tossing and turning beneath her covers. Instead she had decided to leave her room and go to the one place she was sure would have some answers for her. It always did. She hurried past large shelves and through assorted sections until she came upon Madame Pince's desk, behind which stood two large doors with a large sign posted.
The Restriction Section
Hermione shrugged off the guilt she felt for inadvertedly 'breaking' into the library and alohomora'ed another set of locks infront of her. If seeking knowledge was a crime, then she had most certainly been a criminal during her entire time at Hogwarts. It was not as if she were doing anything dangerous, she had come here for one specific reason.
To find out all she could about vampires.
She had already read through almost all of the other books concerning the species and she knew that they could be no help with anything she had to face. Luis seemed to haunt her and in a way she was disgusted that she had continued to read his journal. He was a murderer, a stealer of souls and yet his words… they had entrapped her. She had wondered if the answers she had been looking for could be found in the journal, but she could not bare to just skip the tale to the end.
She held a torch infront of her as the titles of the books ran infront of her eyes. Finally they came to rest upon a large navy blue book, it's spine welded the title "Vampyrs: The Lost".
She pulled it away from the shelf and sat down on the cold stone floor, flicking through the pages absentmindedly. The preface bore the most common of facts and she began skimming the first chapter; for what? She did not know. She had no idea what she intended to find in the library that night, she had come merely out of on a whim that it would ease her mind and grant her something to do as sleep evaded her.
"Well this is certainly interesting," Came a soft voice from the doors of the Restricted Section. Standing infront of them stood Draco Malfoy, his expression one of hidden amusement. Hermione slammed the book shut quickly and stood up, attempting to hide her shock and guilt as the young man watched her from afar.
"What are you doing here Malfoy?" She insisted and his custom sneer found it's way back to his face.
"I could ask you the same question. It's not very common for Hogwarts favourite mudblood to be breaking into the Restricted Section, least of all if she doesn't have Wonderboy and Weasley by her side," Draco muttered flatly as he slowly walked across the otherwise silent room towards her and tugged the large book out of her hands. Her eyes narrowed in annoyance, perhaps even embarressment as he read the title.
"Vampyre's? Well…" He began, his grey eyes glinting malevolently in the torchlight, "It would seem I did not waste my breath on you today".
"What are you doing here?" Hermione repeated, her gaze was cold and calculating. Of course, Draco was used to this behaviour from many a person and merely brushed it off.
"I saw the library doors were opened, considering Pince usually locks up around nine I thought I may as well see who had been so daring as to enter."
She was unimpressed by his sarcastic tone and rolling her eyes, she reached over and retrieved the book from his fingertips.
"Cut the crap Malfoy and tell me, why are you really here?"
He went silent for a minute or so, as if thinking over which approach to take with the young girl. His earlier attempt after Arithmacy had been a failure to say the least… But he had made her curious, he decided. And perhaps curiosity would be the key to having the journal returned to him.
"Actually, I'll be honest with you, I was just strolling by the library to find the doors open. The only thing that's causing me to still stand here at this very moment is the fact that you have something I want."
"I told you before Malfoy, the journal is mine."
The silver-blonde boy let out a haunting, throaty laugh; something Hermione had never once heard him do during the five years that she'd been acquainted with him and she shuddered slightly.
"It's the other way around Granger, a person cannot simply own something as dark and cursed as Luis' journal. On the contrary, the journal owns the reader. From the very moment you turned the first page it has owned you in some way, shape or form."
Hermione shook her head, it didn't make sense at all. The journal was a possession, not an alive being which could order her around. It was just a book. What harm could come from reading a book?
"You've been down in the dungeons too long, your beginning to confuse your own thoughts with fantasies," She muttered to him and his face turned sour.
"So tell me, are you still reading it then?" He spat at her and she frowned slightly, not wanting to answer. Draco smirked knowingly, turning to the bookshelves and running a finger along the spines of a the books infront of him. There was nothing but silence between the two as he seemed completely enraptured in waiting for her answer.
"Why do you want the journal?"
He turned to face her quickly as she had just asked one of the questions he had not expected, let alone knew how to answer.
"What's so special about it that has you come to me and ask nicely for it?" Hermione continued.
Draco opened his mouth, then closed it; thinking of the best plausible answer. She had read between the lines, he should have expected this. But now came the even bigger task of explaining something he himself did not fully understand. Did he need to explain though? She was just a mudblood after all. But she was a mudblood who had played her cards right and who had something which was just out of his grasp.
"The journal, you do realise that by opening it you released him?"
Hermione nodded.
"Well did you ever wonder why he was locked away to begin with?"
"Of course I did," She shot back defensively.
"And have you ever wondered who locked him away?"
Hermione's eyes widened, first in surprise and then in confusion. No, it couldn't have been Draco who had locked away this vampire, after all Luis had claimed he had been binded for over a century. Luis had been before Draco's time. Hell, he'd been before Tom Riddle's time as well.
"Your ancestors?" She quipped.
"Exactly."
"Why?"
"Because Granger," He muttered darkly, his eyes locking with her's and his pale face now contorted with some unreadable expression, "Luis Malfoy did not just dislike his family. He killed them off. One by one."
Draco's darkened face and the eerie silence that seeped into the room caused Hermione to shudder. Something about this situation wasn't right. So now she knew who had locked Luis away and more importantly, why.
"Perhaps he thought he was doing the world a favour," she muttered, wanting to break the silence and still come off as the victor of this war of words. Draco pursed his lips and crossed his arms before asking in a sweet voice, as if he were speaking to a child.
"You really aren't that dense to believe we Malfoys are the only people he would and will kill?"
Hermione shuffled her feet and gazed down at the ground, as if it held all the answers to the universe and if she kept looking, she would some how get them all. She knew what he was implying and knew what he was trying to do. Somehow he was guilting her into believeing she was responsible for Madame Rosmerta's death. She shook the thought from her head and glanced back at the boy infront of her.
"Why do you want the journal back?"
Draco didn't reply. She repeated her question, louder this time and with more strength in her voice. He rolled his eyes, "I can damn well hear you Granger."
"Then why don't you 'damn well' answer me Malfoy?"
"Because last time I checked, Malfoy's weren't required to speak to Mudbloods, let alone answer their questions."
She huffed slightly and Draco inwardly rejoiced. He had the upper hand once again.
"I'll not just hand the journal over to you Malfoy unless I know why you want it. For all I know, you could use it to for god knows what."
"For what? Aiding and abetting the dark lord?" The boy asked sarcastically and she raised an eyebrow.
"Precisely."
"Come off it young Gryffindor, the last thing I have in mind right now is helping Voldemort get to power. Not before I've had my morning coffee, read the Daily Prophet and shoved my morning load of Dungbombs down Longbottom's trousers," Draco muttered airly as tapped his foot impatiently.
"Then you'd better tell me why you want it now, otherwise I'm going back up to Gryffindor Tower and going to sleep."
He sighed deeply, in obvious frustration which stunned Hermione. Never before had he openly allowed her to see how annoyed he got with her, but this was most certainly a change. Whether it was for better or worse was another story. It was obvious that this was important to him, otherwise he wouldn't have taken the time of day to even speak to her.
"Granger, the journal binded Luis away. I'd have thought it would be rather obvious, if anything, it should help with locking him away once more," He insisted, though she could sense that there was more to it. He had chosen his words carefully, but Hermione had seen the Professor's do this time and time again; whenever something slightly horrific had happened.
"And?" She asked.
"And what?"
"And what aren't you telling me?"
He narrowed his eyes and sized her up for a moment, "I'm not your friend Granger, I don't have to tell you all the little little details at will."
She snorted, "Perhaps not at will, but if you want to be living and breathing when Graduation comes around, I guess your best bet would be to play nice and let me in on this big secret you try to frivourlessly to hide."
"Fine!" he steamed, "But if I tell you, then you have to promise not to tell a soul about what I say."
She raised an eyebrow and he scowled.
"Why do I have an inkling that this has something to do with Voldemort?"
Draco mimicked her sarcastically and she rolled her eyes.
"Quit being such a toddler Malfoy and just tell me!"
"Not until you promise not to tell anyone," he ordered and she scowled. It would go on forever at this rate, so sighing almost defeatedly, she nodded, "Fine, I promise I won't tell another living soul."
"Granger! I know what you're trying to do, so stop it! Now say the exact words or you're not going to get anything out of me!" He hissed loudly and Hermione cursed him under her breath.
"OK, I promise not to tell anyone."
"Now that's a good girl," he muttered, like she was a small child who had just done something rather pleasing.
"Shut it Malfoy and tell me, why do you really want the journal?"
"If I can get that journal and am able to find someway of sending it to my father, then hopefully he should be able to bind Luis for us."
"That's all?" she asked, almost laughing at the fact that it was nothing of a secret.
"NO THAT IS NOT ALL!" Draco practically shouted as he saw the amused look on her face. She chastised him silently for raising his voice, knowing well enough that Madame Pince was prone to waking up at the slightest of noises. Many students had attempted to break into the library from time to time and most of them had come back complaining of the detentions they had received due to such a foolish act.
"So continue then!" she ordered, her voice hushed.
"If my father does manage to bind Luis, it won't be as simple as some little spell or potion. It'll take a lot of dark magic and I doubt he'd be able to do it alone. Not only that, but if Voldemort discover's that one of his close deatheaters has a vampire of Luis' calibre out to kill him… it could get rather nasty. Vampires are creatures of darkness and their blood is mixed with that of their victims. Voldemort considers these kind of creatures to be the same as the people they feed off of. He considers them to have dirty and tainted blood."
Hermione nodded slowly, it was making sense in an odd and cynical way. So, Voldemort considered Luis to be a 'mudblood' in other words. Of course, this 'mudblood' had enormous strength, sharp teeth and a rather large thirst for all things red and tangy. And Draco had kept this all a secret, why? Because he was protecting his father. His father's weakness, his father's vulnerability and his father's likeliness to be blasted to smitherins if caught.
"You said your father can't do it alone," she stated and he nodded slightly, his silver blonde locks falling in front of his eyes for a moment before he brushed them aside absentmindedly. He seemed to be in a deep rivine of thought.
"We may have to help him with the process. I don't know what it contains, but I remember that the journal will be an integral part to locking him away once more."
"And if I don't wish to help?" she shot at him but he merely shook his head.
"It's not like you really have a choice. You've let a monster out into the world, so now he consider's himself in a candy store and everyone he see's are all just chocolate frogs for the taking. Either you help stop him or their blood is on your hands."
Hermione was silent. She said not a word and appreciated for a moment that Malfoy was not looking at her with that custom smirk of his. Then she realised why he wasn't. He had stated the harsh reality of it all. She had done this, she had let Luis kill again. She felt a large lump form in her throat, but she swallowed it.
"Does your father know what's happening?" she asked, changing the subject abruptly.
"I've owled him, I should have a reply soon. He's not the kind of man who keeps people waiting," and with that Draco turned on his heel and headed back towards the doors of The Restricted Section.
"Carry the journal with you tomorrow and don't let it out of your sight," He called over his shoulder, "Once I have a reply from my father I'll let you know what's happening."
And then he was gone. Hermione sighed deeply and returned the book to it's proper shelf. It had been a long night. A very, very long night.
~ENDCHAPTER6~
A/N- Chapter six, longer and completed with much more energy and effort put into it. I hope you've all enjoyed readingand please feel free to let me know what you think about it in a review. A special thanks goes out to The Marauders (once more for your incentive), Adel, AndinaofRivendell, Athene Saile, Fire-And-Ice1314 and one reviewer whose been around from the beginning and who I owe a lot of my dedication to, wildchartermage.