Summary: Everything's not always as it seems, a fact that Harry is reminded of when a mysterious stranger confronts him with the true interpretation of the prophecy and offers him a gift which Harry finds himself hard pressed to refuse. VampireHarry fic.
CHAPTER ONE: WHEN DARKNESS FALLS
Night fell swiftly upon the town of Little Whinging on the eve of July 23rd, covering it in a cloak of impenetrable darkness. The sky was clear and the stars glittered in the pitch black surrounding them, but the waning moon shed little light. The shadows were dense, though not oppressive, seeming more sheltering than foreboding.
There was little sound besides the chirping of crickets and the rustling of leaves due to the slight breeze. Most people had retired for the night and were therefore sleeping soundly tucked up in their beds. But one young man, an inhabitant of Number 4 Privet Drive, found himself wide-awake and walking inexplicably in the direction of the nearby park at this late hour.
Harry Potter was, for some reason unbeknownst to him, plagued this night by thoughts and memories that simply would not let him sleep. So he had decided, in order to distract himself, to sneak out of his aunt and uncle's house for a walk, unintentionally finding himself heading in the direction of Fairfield Park where he used to go to escape from Dudley's gang in years passed.
The cool night air ruffled his hair and caressed his face as he made his way unhurriedly over to the swings. He sat down on one of them, smiling as he thought back to one of the few good memories he had from his childhood when a nice lady pushing her daughter on the swing next to his had offered to push him too. He let himself be distracted by the pleasant memory for a few moments, idly swinging his feet back and forth and letting them drag in the sand lazily.
The crisp noise of dry leaves being crunched underfoot brought him swiftly back to his senses as he spun around, his heart racing and his eyes wide, to see who the intruder was. His wand was in his hand in the blink of an eye, dexterously slipped out of his sweater sleeve and into the grasp of his right hand. He wasn't sure what he expected: a death eater, a gang, maybe even a harmless old elderly woman out for a late night stroll, but he certainly wasn't expecting what he found instead. It was a cat. A little orange tabby cat had been the cause of his fright.
He lowered his wand, letting out a sigh of relief and a small derisive snort at his paranoia, as the cat scampered off into the bushes across from him. Of course it would be something mundane, nothing to worry about. He was safe here, wasn't he? Or at least as safe as he'd ever be. Yet he wasn't ashamed of his overzealous response. It could have been a death eater; it could have been any number of things out to get him. After all, there was that incident with the dementors last year, and Sirius showing up three years ago…
Sirius…one of the many things that troubled his mind and kept him awake at night. The guilt hadn't completely disappeared and it probably never would, but he wouldn't think about this now, he couldn't. He had come here for some peace and quiet, not for another place to drown in his sorrow. He had to think of something positive, something good that he could look forward to.
Sixth year would be starting soon; he'd be able to see Ron and Hermione again. Everybody actually believed him now; they no longer thought him a crazed lunatic. Umbridge is gone; maybe things could actually go back to normal now. And quidditch; finally he would be able to play quidditch again after so long. Maybe it would help him take his mind off of everything else that was bound to happen next school year.
So wrapped up in his thoughts and relaxed from his earlier false alarm, Harry didn't notice the figure creeping steadily up behind him, veiled in darkness and looking to the human eye like no more than an extension of the shadows. It didn't make a sound as it moved slowly forward; in fact, all sound seemed to have ceased with the shadowy creature's presence. Everything had become deathly silent, as if the very earth was holding its breath in anticipation.
The silence soon became almost deafening and it was then that Harry finally sensed that something was wrong. But before he could even think about extracting his wand for the second time that night, his arms had been bound tight to his sides and his legs clamped together by the force of a whispered spell which sounded unfamiliar to Harry's trained ears. Panic seized him, as his blood seemed to suddenly run cold. He was trapped, prisoner to this mysterious stranger's will.
"So, we meet at last, Harry Potter," a silky voice spoke from Harry's right, sounding quite serious, though not as smug as Harry would have guessed.
He was scared. This person, whoever it was, had managed to get him alone and bound, and knew who he was. He had no idea who this person could be—he did not recognize the voice—and he could only guess at what they wanted, most likely his death. But he wasn't about to give in just yet. "It seems that you know me, but I haven't a clue who you are. Seeing as how I am in no position to fight you, you might as well show me your face or tell me your name at the very least," Harry spoke boldly, hoping to stall the figure for time, though he didn't know yet what he would do after that.
"I am afraid neither will do you much good, but I shall grant your request," the person spoke, coming into Harry's peripheral vision as it did so. "My name is Raüssādomé, though I doubt you have heard of me, and my face is so altered that I doubt seeing it will do you any good," the figure informed his captive nonchalantly, coming into full view so that Harry could finally see him.
He was fairly tall, about 5'11", and of a medium build, slender though muscled. His eyes were dark as was his hair, almost onyx in color. His face appeared very pale in comparison to his dark features, though it was shadowed. His lips were average in size and brownish-red in color, making them stand out against his skin. His nose was straight and medium in size, fairly non-descript. Overall, he was fairly average looking, if a bit dark, except for one thing. His teeth.
They weren't so much teeth as fangs, elongated canines that hung down slightly over his lips and came to deadly sharp points at the end. They were the mark of a vampire and as the realization of that fact dawned on Harry, his heart nearly stopped in fright.
But hadn't this, what did he say his name was? Raüssādomé? Hadn't he said that he was wearing a glamour charm? Therefore it could be anybody…not necessarily a vampire. But could you fake such a thing? "Are you really a…vampire?" he managed to ask without his voice trembling.
Raüssādomé smiled then, though it looked more like a horrifying smirk as his fangs became even more noticeable than they already had been. "While I have changed quite a few things about my appearance, the teeth are all mine," he stated, sounding slightly amused, a fact that Harry found quite disturbing.
"Now let's get down to business, shall we?" the vampire continued, as Harry's thoughts suddenly turned to the fact that he did not want to get down to 'business' whatever that may be. But instead of voicing his opinion, he nodded his head for the figure to continue speaking. "Very well. First off, I am not a death eater and have no association with Voldemort whatsoever," here he paused as Harry's face contorted with confusion, "That, however, does not mean that I am in allegiance with Dumbledore and his Order, though. I am the leader of an opposing group known as the Ċalæ Fặranaÿ, which translates roughly to 'Dark Alliance' in your tongue. It is composed mainly of vampires, though there is the other rare dark creature, such as veelas and werewolves. Our objective is to make sure that power doesn't fall into the wrong hands, namely hands that will use it to oppress us or work against our ideals. Being a major player in the upcoming war, you are of course under close surveillance."
In the pause that followed all of the information that had been given to him so far, Harry attempted to make sense of it all and figure out what it might have to do with why this vampire had captured him. "Why have you captured me if you say you are not allied with Voldemort?" he couldn't help but ask, curious as to the answer to this question more than any other.
The vampire paused, collecting himself as he pondered what to say, pacing back and forth before Harry a few times before answering. "As I have already said, and I'm sure you are already very much aware, you have a major role to play in the war that is almost upon us. You are the key to which side will win and what will consequently happen. Of course, Voldemort is also a major factor in all this, but he is beyond our reach at this point. You, however…have you ever wondered what the prophecy means?" Raüssādomé asked, looking intently at Harry as if to gauge his response.
"I-I think I alre—What do you know of the prophesy?" Harry responded guardedly, thrown off by the fact that this vampire knew something of a prophecy that was supposedly a secret to all but the Order and Death Eaters. How could this person possibly know about the prophecy unless he was a Death Eater in disguise? Was he trying to trick him into revealing what Voldemort had been unable to attain at the end of last year?
"I know what you are thinking. I have my ways of obtaining information, even the most guarded. I know the prophecy in its entirety. The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches. Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies. And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not. And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives. The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies.' More importantly, I know what it means. Dumbledore, the fool, has only speculated what it entails and twisted its words until they suit his purpose. No doubt, he has led you to believe that either you or Voldemort must die. This is not precisely true. While the only way that either of you can be truly killed is by each other, it does not mean that you have to kill each other. The prophecy states that neither of you can live while the other survives. There are ways for you to be neither living nor dead." Here the vampire paused, running his tongue over his fangs as if to emphasize them. Harry understood almost immediately what was meant by that: this mysterious vampire wished to turn him.
"Why? Why would you want to turn me?" he managed to get out, despite his erratic breathing and the furious pounding of his heart. "Why should I believe you?" Despite his fear, though, Harry found himself almost wanting to believe this stranger, curious about what he had said so far. It all had made an odd sort of sense.
"You do not have to believe me; I will not force you to. I am offering you a gift, the gift of immortality, which comes with many other useful skills. I am not going to make you decide immediately; I will give you until tomorrow. Meet me here again at midnight. You will have until dawn to decide, but no longer. Use your time wisely, for this decision may decide the outcome of the war." With that, he was gone, absorbed into the darkness amongst the many shadows once more, leaving Harry there all alone, free from the binding spell, yet immobile with the realization that he had only one day to make a decision that would impact the fate of the entire wizarding world.
TO BE CONTINUED…
AUTHOR'S NOTES: I have always loved the idea of Harry being turned into a vampire. I think it gives him a wonderful opportunity to express his dark side and is an interesting way to make him stronger both physically and mentally. Although JK Rowling has shown other dark creatures who are not evil but good, such as Hagrid the giant and Remus the werewolf, she has yet to show or even really discuss a vampire of any sort. Because of that, I believe that it is plausible in the HP world for there to possibly be a secret society made up of vampires and other creatures, ones that aren't working for Voldemort. My plans for this story are to have Harry turned into a vampire and show how that affects him in his sixth year at Hogwarts. It will, of course, be fairly dark and angsty and will feature a more independent, Slytherin Harry. Anyway, I hope you liked the first chapter and will return to read the second (whenever I am able to get around to posting it). ;)