Blood of Enemies, Blood of Friends
Chapter 13 - Something is Coming
Draco had been in a very good mood ever since their Hogsmeade Weekend. He knew that Dawn Summers was the cause of his good mood. Since that time, they had spoken each day before their DADA and Fighting Techniques classes. He only wished that he could find an excuse to spend more time with her without drawing the suspicion of every other Slytherin.
On a morning in early October, Draco's good mood was destroyed. He was sitting down to breakfast, when the Daily Prophet owls arrived in the Great Hall. Draco placed his coins in the purse that was attached to the owl's leg and looked at the front page of the paper. The headline, "Death Eaters Escape from Azkaban" starred back at him. Draco's heart sank as the article confirmed that his father was among the escapees.
Crabbe slapped Draco on the back. "It's just like you said last year. No prison can hold our fathers."
"Yeah," mumbled Draco. He looked toward the Gryffindor table where Granger was obviously showing the news story to her friends. Draco looked at Dawn, already feeling the loss of the girl that he wanted more than anything else in the world.
"Draco's dad was in Azkaban for being a Death Eater?" asked Shannon. "Dawnie, maybe you should stay away from him."
"Just because his father is a Death Eater does not mean that Draco is one," replied Dawn angrily.
"Dawn, we just don't want to see you get hurt," said Harry.
Dawn looked toward the Slytherin table. Draco was starring down at his plate, as he pushed around his food. "This cannot be easy for him," she said.
"Who cares if it is or isn't," said Ron.
"I do," said Dawn, " as she stood up. Her friends were not happy to see her march over to the Slytherin table.
Draco looked up just in time to see Dawn stand. He figured that she was going to leave the Great Hall. 'Probably to get away from me,' he thought. Draco was surprised to see Dawn walking directly toward him. She grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet, while motioning for him to follow her out of the Great Hall. Crabbe and Goyle stood to follow, but Draco told them to stay put.
Dawn spun around to face Draco, as soon as they had arrived in the corridor. Draco prepared himself for a tongue-lashing. Instead she quietly asked him, "Are you ok?"
"I don't know," he moaned.
"I just wanted to tell you that if you need anything, like someone to talk to, I am here for you," Dawn stated.
Draco was floored. This was the last thing he expected. It was everything he could have hoped for.
****************
Later in the week, Draco caught up with Dawn as she was exiting the Great Hall after dinner.
"How are you doing?" she asked.
"I'm dealing," he replied.
"Remember, if you ever need someone to talk to," she said.
"I know. I'm not quite ready to talk about it," he replied. "So what are you up to this evening?" he changed the subject.
"We are going on our first patrol of the Forbidden Forrest."
"I went in there once in first year. That place is really scary."
"Well, Buffy says that there is a nest of vamps that we need to take care of," Dawn explained. "She thinks they are just here because they are attracted to all the Slayers, but she and Giles want to try to question some of them, just to make sure nothing is up."
"Be really careful," said Draco. "I don't want anything happening to you."
"I'm always careful," Dawn replied. "I'm also always prepared. I never go anywhere without a few stakes on me - force of habit after living in Sunnydale for so many years."
Draco looked Dawn up and down. She had taken off her robes and was wearing a pair of rather tight jeans and a long sleeve shirt that hugged her body. He just had to ask, "Where are you carrying all those stakes?"
She grinned and in a sultry voice said, "Wouldn't like to know."
Draco turned bright red, and Dawn couldn't help but laugh at him.
"I really better go," she said. "I have some homework that I need to get done before patrol."
****************
Dawn, Shannon, Andrew, Harry, and Ron, along with several of the Gryffindor Slayers, met for a briefing with Buffy and Giles in the Scooby common room before their first patrol.
"Ok," said Buffy, "who already has their stakes?"
Several of the Slayers along with Dawn and Andrew raised their hands.
Buffy handed out various weapons to those who had the experience to use them, while Giles explained to Harry and Ron the importance of keeping their wands at the ready.
Buffy explained their plan for the night, "Last night the patrol lead by Faith and Wood found a small nest of vampires in the Forbidden Forest. They dusted several; however, many got away. Tonight we are going to try to track down those who got away and dust them."
Harry spoke, "Excuse me, but why would vampires be living in the Forbidden Forest?"
Giles answered, "We are not entirely sure. Often they are attracted to the slayer, and may simply have found there way into the forest because of its proximity. However, if they are gathering for another reason, then we want to find out what it is before killing them all. Your job is to kill as many as possible, while Buffy and I try to get some of them to talk before killing them."
Buffy lead the group out to the Forbidden Forest, while Giles brought up the rear. The teens were not entirely sure how Buffy was choosing their root.
Harry leaned against Shannon and whispered, "How does she know where to go?"
Shannon felt warm where Harry was touching her. She had to force herself to focus on what he was asking. "Slayer senses. We can feel where the vampires are," Shannon whispered back.
The group neared a cave, and Buffy stopped. She motioned for everyone to gather close. "They are in there," she whispered, and indicated for the group to fan out.
Buffy walked up to the mouth of the cave and loudly called, "Yoo-hoo, any of you ugly old vampires home?"
Several emerged from the cave, game faces on. Buffy grabbed the vampire closest to her and flung him toward the students, as she began hand- to-hand combat with another vampire.
The flung vampire was coming straight toward Harry, who raised his wand and yelled, 'Incendio." As the vampire burst into flames, all hell broke loose. Several more vampires exited the cave and came toward the group. Ron joined Harry and flamed several more vampires with the same spell.
Dawn raised her crossbow and fired, dusting one. Unfortunately before she could reload, another vampire was upon her. Shannon saw what was happening, but was engaged in some hand-to-hand with another vampire. As she blocked a kick, she shouted to Harry, "Harry, help Dawn."
Harry left Ron to contend with several vampires and turned his attention to Dawn. He turned towards Dawn, raised his wand and yelled, "Petrificus Totalus." The vampire froze, giving Dawn the opportunity to stake him. She smiled her thanks to him, then reloaded the crossbow and took aim at another vampire.
Harry returned to hurling spell after spell at the oncoming vampires, while Ron ran over to Dawn to back her up between shots. Harry was holding his own until a vampire managed to avoid one of Harry's spells. Shannon noticed that Harry was in trouble. She took off running towards him. Just as the vampire was about to bite, Shannon hurled herself at its back. Harry fell backwards with the vampire and Shannon on top of him. The momentum from Shannon hitting the vampire was enough to drive Harry's wand into its heart. The vampire exploded in a cloud of dust, leaving Shannon laying on top of Harry, starring at him. Shannon and Harry looked into each other's eyes, their lips mere inches apart.
They were torn from the moment by Dawn and Ron yelling for help. Three vampires had them cornered. Harry and Shannon ran to help Dawn and Ron. Harry flamed one vampire, while Shannon staked another. With only one vampire left to deal with, Ron was free to flame him.
While the students dusted the remaining vampires, Buffy grabbed the last by the neck and pressed him against the side of the cave.
"So, care to tell me why you are all here in the Forbidden Forest?" she asked.
"I am not going to tell you anything," replied the vampire.
Buffy called Giles over. "The evil undead here doesn't want to talk. I could torture him, but I thought maybe you would have a quicker way to get some information."
Giles smiled at her and raised his wand, "Veritas."
The vampire spoke, "Our master ordered us to take residence in the Forbidden Forest and to await his orders for an attack."
"When is the attack planned?" demanded Buffy.
"It will come in a months time."
"Not if I can help it," replied Buffy.
The vampire spoke again, "You cannot prevent this. Even as you kill us, more are being sent. Lord Voldemort requires an offering to perform the ritual."
"What ritual?" questioned Giles.
"Mandata habere ab primo malo," spat the vampire.
Giles indicated to Buffy that they had what they needed. As the vampire turned to dust, Buffy spoke to Giles, "What was he babbling about?"
Giles began cleaning his glasses as he spoke, "Mandata habere ab primo malo is Latin for empowerment by the First Evil."
"That sounds bad," Buffy replied. "I am not up for another battle with the First. We need to prevent this ritual from happening. I guess it's time to go into research mode."
****************
The Gryffindors chatted loudly all the way back to their common room. They entered the portrait hole and found Hermione and Ginny pacing the common room. When Hermione saw them, she ran toward Ron and threw her arms around his neck.
"I was worried," she admitted.
"I'm fine," he assured her. "There isn't a scratch on me."
Hermione did not seem to believe him, as her eyes searched his body. "Mione, really, I don't mind you looking at me like this, but I there is nothing wrong with me." Hermione blushed deeply.
"So what happened?" she asked.
The group sat down and told Hermione and Ginny about their night. Though the rest of their house had long since retired for the evening, the battle had the teens too pumped full of adrenalin to sleep.
"That was intense," said Harry for something like the fifth time.
"Oh that had nothing on the battle we had with those ubervamps," replied Shannon.
"Or the Bringers we were fighting upstairs, while you were battling the ubervamps in the basement," added Dawn.
"I know what you mean," said Harry. "Thankfully tonight was no where near as dangerous as the battle we had with the Death Eaters at the Ministry of Magic last year."
All seven teens sat silently, thinking about their past battles.
****************
Buffy and Giles returned to the scooby common room to find the rest of the gang diligently searching for relevant prophecy.
"We got some info," said Buffy.
As the scoobies looked up at her, she continued, "The vamps are getting ready to make an attack on the school in a month."
"So that should be around Halloween then," responded Wesley.
"Yeah, that is what Giles was figuring too. Anyway, the vamp said something about Voldemort needing an offering for a ritual to get power from the First."
"The mandata habere ab primo malo," said Cat. The scoobies hadn't realized that she had entered the common room.
"How did you know that?" asked Giles.
"In graduate school I studied with one of the foremost authorities on exorcism and possession in the United States. The mandata habere ab primo malo essentially allows a person to force his or her own possession by the First Evil. In essence, the possessed becomes true evil incarnate. Until now I thought it was a myth, but apparently Voldemort is preparing to do it."
The group was silent for a moment.
Buffy broke the silence, "So after classes tomorrow, we go into full research mode."
Everyone agreed.
****************
That night Draco received an owl from his father. Draco felt his hands shaking, as he read the letter.
Draco,
I am sure that you have heard the news of my escape from Azkaban. Our master had called us to him to prepare for the implementation of his plan. I have assured him that you, my son, are eager to serve him.
'How could this possibly get worse?' Draco wondered.
Our enemies surround you at Hogwarts. Our master requires that you keep us informed of their activities.
'A spy? My father wants me to be a spy for the Dark Lord? This just got worse,' Draco thought.
I expect to hear from you shortly. This owl will know how to find me.
Your father,
Lucius Malfoy
Draco drafted his reply carefully. He needed to make sure that his father got enough information that he would not be suspicions, but not so much that any harm would come to anyone in the Slayer program. 'Who am I kidding,' he thought. 'It is specifically Dawn that I want no harm to come to.'
Father,
Everyone at Hogwarts is aware of your escape from Azkaban. The Slayers have discovered vampires in the Forbidden Forrest. They believe that the vampires are here because of their natural attraction to the Slayer. Professors Giles and Summers had hoped to get information from the vampires this very night; however, I am not aware that they have succeeded.
Your son,
Draco Malfoy
Chapter 13 - Something is Coming
Draco had been in a very good mood ever since their Hogsmeade Weekend. He knew that Dawn Summers was the cause of his good mood. Since that time, they had spoken each day before their DADA and Fighting Techniques classes. He only wished that he could find an excuse to spend more time with her without drawing the suspicion of every other Slytherin.
On a morning in early October, Draco's good mood was destroyed. He was sitting down to breakfast, when the Daily Prophet owls arrived in the Great Hall. Draco placed his coins in the purse that was attached to the owl's leg and looked at the front page of the paper. The headline, "Death Eaters Escape from Azkaban" starred back at him. Draco's heart sank as the article confirmed that his father was among the escapees.
Crabbe slapped Draco on the back. "It's just like you said last year. No prison can hold our fathers."
"Yeah," mumbled Draco. He looked toward the Gryffindor table where Granger was obviously showing the news story to her friends. Draco looked at Dawn, already feeling the loss of the girl that he wanted more than anything else in the world.
"Draco's dad was in Azkaban for being a Death Eater?" asked Shannon. "Dawnie, maybe you should stay away from him."
"Just because his father is a Death Eater does not mean that Draco is one," replied Dawn angrily.
"Dawn, we just don't want to see you get hurt," said Harry.
Dawn looked toward the Slytherin table. Draco was starring down at his plate, as he pushed around his food. "This cannot be easy for him," she said.
"Who cares if it is or isn't," said Ron.
"I do," said Dawn, " as she stood up. Her friends were not happy to see her march over to the Slytherin table.
Draco looked up just in time to see Dawn stand. He figured that she was going to leave the Great Hall. 'Probably to get away from me,' he thought. Draco was surprised to see Dawn walking directly toward him. She grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet, while motioning for him to follow her out of the Great Hall. Crabbe and Goyle stood to follow, but Draco told them to stay put.
Dawn spun around to face Draco, as soon as they had arrived in the corridor. Draco prepared himself for a tongue-lashing. Instead she quietly asked him, "Are you ok?"
"I don't know," he moaned.
"I just wanted to tell you that if you need anything, like someone to talk to, I am here for you," Dawn stated.
Draco was floored. This was the last thing he expected. It was everything he could have hoped for.
****************
Later in the week, Draco caught up with Dawn as she was exiting the Great Hall after dinner.
"How are you doing?" she asked.
"I'm dealing," he replied.
"Remember, if you ever need someone to talk to," she said.
"I know. I'm not quite ready to talk about it," he replied. "So what are you up to this evening?" he changed the subject.
"We are going on our first patrol of the Forbidden Forrest."
"I went in there once in first year. That place is really scary."
"Well, Buffy says that there is a nest of vamps that we need to take care of," Dawn explained. "She thinks they are just here because they are attracted to all the Slayers, but she and Giles want to try to question some of them, just to make sure nothing is up."
"Be really careful," said Draco. "I don't want anything happening to you."
"I'm always careful," Dawn replied. "I'm also always prepared. I never go anywhere without a few stakes on me - force of habit after living in Sunnydale for so many years."
Draco looked Dawn up and down. She had taken off her robes and was wearing a pair of rather tight jeans and a long sleeve shirt that hugged her body. He just had to ask, "Where are you carrying all those stakes?"
She grinned and in a sultry voice said, "Wouldn't like to know."
Draco turned bright red, and Dawn couldn't help but laugh at him.
"I really better go," she said. "I have some homework that I need to get done before patrol."
****************
Dawn, Shannon, Andrew, Harry, and Ron, along with several of the Gryffindor Slayers, met for a briefing with Buffy and Giles in the Scooby common room before their first patrol.
"Ok," said Buffy, "who already has their stakes?"
Several of the Slayers along with Dawn and Andrew raised their hands.
Buffy handed out various weapons to those who had the experience to use them, while Giles explained to Harry and Ron the importance of keeping their wands at the ready.
Buffy explained their plan for the night, "Last night the patrol lead by Faith and Wood found a small nest of vampires in the Forbidden Forest. They dusted several; however, many got away. Tonight we are going to try to track down those who got away and dust them."
Harry spoke, "Excuse me, but why would vampires be living in the Forbidden Forest?"
Giles answered, "We are not entirely sure. Often they are attracted to the slayer, and may simply have found there way into the forest because of its proximity. However, if they are gathering for another reason, then we want to find out what it is before killing them all. Your job is to kill as many as possible, while Buffy and I try to get some of them to talk before killing them."
Buffy lead the group out to the Forbidden Forest, while Giles brought up the rear. The teens were not entirely sure how Buffy was choosing their root.
Harry leaned against Shannon and whispered, "How does she know where to go?"
Shannon felt warm where Harry was touching her. She had to force herself to focus on what he was asking. "Slayer senses. We can feel where the vampires are," Shannon whispered back.
The group neared a cave, and Buffy stopped. She motioned for everyone to gather close. "They are in there," she whispered, and indicated for the group to fan out.
Buffy walked up to the mouth of the cave and loudly called, "Yoo-hoo, any of you ugly old vampires home?"
Several emerged from the cave, game faces on. Buffy grabbed the vampire closest to her and flung him toward the students, as she began hand- to-hand combat with another vampire.
The flung vampire was coming straight toward Harry, who raised his wand and yelled, 'Incendio." As the vampire burst into flames, all hell broke loose. Several more vampires exited the cave and came toward the group. Ron joined Harry and flamed several more vampires with the same spell.
Dawn raised her crossbow and fired, dusting one. Unfortunately before she could reload, another vampire was upon her. Shannon saw what was happening, but was engaged in some hand-to-hand with another vampire. As she blocked a kick, she shouted to Harry, "Harry, help Dawn."
Harry left Ron to contend with several vampires and turned his attention to Dawn. He turned towards Dawn, raised his wand and yelled, "Petrificus Totalus." The vampire froze, giving Dawn the opportunity to stake him. She smiled her thanks to him, then reloaded the crossbow and took aim at another vampire.
Harry returned to hurling spell after spell at the oncoming vampires, while Ron ran over to Dawn to back her up between shots. Harry was holding his own until a vampire managed to avoid one of Harry's spells. Shannon noticed that Harry was in trouble. She took off running towards him. Just as the vampire was about to bite, Shannon hurled herself at its back. Harry fell backwards with the vampire and Shannon on top of him. The momentum from Shannon hitting the vampire was enough to drive Harry's wand into its heart. The vampire exploded in a cloud of dust, leaving Shannon laying on top of Harry, starring at him. Shannon and Harry looked into each other's eyes, their lips mere inches apart.
They were torn from the moment by Dawn and Ron yelling for help. Three vampires had them cornered. Harry and Shannon ran to help Dawn and Ron. Harry flamed one vampire, while Shannon staked another. With only one vampire left to deal with, Ron was free to flame him.
While the students dusted the remaining vampires, Buffy grabbed the last by the neck and pressed him against the side of the cave.
"So, care to tell me why you are all here in the Forbidden Forest?" she asked.
"I am not going to tell you anything," replied the vampire.
Buffy called Giles over. "The evil undead here doesn't want to talk. I could torture him, but I thought maybe you would have a quicker way to get some information."
Giles smiled at her and raised his wand, "Veritas."
The vampire spoke, "Our master ordered us to take residence in the Forbidden Forest and to await his orders for an attack."
"When is the attack planned?" demanded Buffy.
"It will come in a months time."
"Not if I can help it," replied Buffy.
The vampire spoke again, "You cannot prevent this. Even as you kill us, more are being sent. Lord Voldemort requires an offering to perform the ritual."
"What ritual?" questioned Giles.
"Mandata habere ab primo malo," spat the vampire.
Giles indicated to Buffy that they had what they needed. As the vampire turned to dust, Buffy spoke to Giles, "What was he babbling about?"
Giles began cleaning his glasses as he spoke, "Mandata habere ab primo malo is Latin for empowerment by the First Evil."
"That sounds bad," Buffy replied. "I am not up for another battle with the First. We need to prevent this ritual from happening. I guess it's time to go into research mode."
****************
The Gryffindors chatted loudly all the way back to their common room. They entered the portrait hole and found Hermione and Ginny pacing the common room. When Hermione saw them, she ran toward Ron and threw her arms around his neck.
"I was worried," she admitted.
"I'm fine," he assured her. "There isn't a scratch on me."
Hermione did not seem to believe him, as her eyes searched his body. "Mione, really, I don't mind you looking at me like this, but I there is nothing wrong with me." Hermione blushed deeply.
"So what happened?" she asked.
The group sat down and told Hermione and Ginny about their night. Though the rest of their house had long since retired for the evening, the battle had the teens too pumped full of adrenalin to sleep.
"That was intense," said Harry for something like the fifth time.
"Oh that had nothing on the battle we had with those ubervamps," replied Shannon.
"Or the Bringers we were fighting upstairs, while you were battling the ubervamps in the basement," added Dawn.
"I know what you mean," said Harry. "Thankfully tonight was no where near as dangerous as the battle we had with the Death Eaters at the Ministry of Magic last year."
All seven teens sat silently, thinking about their past battles.
****************
Buffy and Giles returned to the scooby common room to find the rest of the gang diligently searching for relevant prophecy.
"We got some info," said Buffy.
As the scoobies looked up at her, she continued, "The vamps are getting ready to make an attack on the school in a month."
"So that should be around Halloween then," responded Wesley.
"Yeah, that is what Giles was figuring too. Anyway, the vamp said something about Voldemort needing an offering for a ritual to get power from the First."
"The mandata habere ab primo malo," said Cat. The scoobies hadn't realized that she had entered the common room.
"How did you know that?" asked Giles.
"In graduate school I studied with one of the foremost authorities on exorcism and possession in the United States. The mandata habere ab primo malo essentially allows a person to force his or her own possession by the First Evil. In essence, the possessed becomes true evil incarnate. Until now I thought it was a myth, but apparently Voldemort is preparing to do it."
The group was silent for a moment.
Buffy broke the silence, "So after classes tomorrow, we go into full research mode."
Everyone agreed.
****************
That night Draco received an owl from his father. Draco felt his hands shaking, as he read the letter.
Draco,
I am sure that you have heard the news of my escape from Azkaban. Our master had called us to him to prepare for the implementation of his plan. I have assured him that you, my son, are eager to serve him.
'How could this possibly get worse?' Draco wondered.
Our enemies surround you at Hogwarts. Our master requires that you keep us informed of their activities.
'A spy? My father wants me to be a spy for the Dark Lord? This just got worse,' Draco thought.
I expect to hear from you shortly. This owl will know how to find me.
Your father,
Lucius Malfoy
Draco drafted his reply carefully. He needed to make sure that his father got enough information that he would not be suspicions, but not so much that any harm would come to anyone in the Slayer program. 'Who am I kidding,' he thought. 'It is specifically Dawn that I want no harm to come to.'
Father,
Everyone at Hogwarts is aware of your escape from Azkaban. The Slayers have discovered vampires in the Forbidden Forrest. They believe that the vampires are here because of their natural attraction to the Slayer. Professors Giles and Summers had hoped to get information from the vampires this very night; however, I am not aware that they have succeeded.
Your son,
Draco Malfoy