Chapter 11: A Deadly Alliance

Ronald Weasley laid face first in a dark cell when he awoke. It took him a while to remember a dark swooshing cloak, a low laughter, and hanging upside down in midair before he was knocked out cold. He had been the last one to try and step over the threshold of the Hogwarts Entrance Hall but was kidnapped by an unknown assailant.

One question lingered in his mind thru all of his trauma. One question. Who? Who would do this and why? Was it Voldemort? Did Voldemort capture him as bait for Harry? This was the scariest moment in Ron's life. He knew he had to escape, but how? He was in total darkness. He had no idea what lay ahead of him and no idea how to get out. Why was it so dark?

Then he heard it. An earsplitting scream, echoing over the whole area he was in. The sound of a woman being tortured. What is going on here? What have I stepped into? He felt around the walls for any hollow point in which he could break out with magic. Oh my god! Where is my wand? WHERE IS MY WAND? So now he had no wand, no clue where he was, AND there was an annoying splattering sound echoing thru the hall.

Splat.

Splat.

Splat.

What is that sound? There it is again. He crawled on the floor, spreading his hands out wide to find the dripping substance. Then as the splat sound came from right in front of him he saw a pair of leather boots outside the cell bars. He saw the substance hit the ground in front of him and he lifted his gaze up slowly. Bottom of a

Ron gasped. A pale white face broke the darkness and sent a dagger into Ron's heart. A blood-stained mouth... a shaven face... eyes with no pupils... These factors revealed the man in the shadows for what he truly was.

"A V... V...V..."

"A VAMPIRE!" Harry exclaimed loudly. He was in Dumbledore's office and Professor McGonagall had just told him that Ron had been captured by a deadly vampire. Hermione tensed and grasped his hand. She was freezing cold. There was no hiding her fear of Vampires.

McGonagall sighed. Her face seemed bombarded with extra wrinkles out of stress. She contemplated her next words very carefully before speaking. "Yes, Mr. Potter, a vampire. Now don't go crazy, we are—

"DON'T GO CRAZY?" DON'T GO CRAZY? MY BEST FRIEND HAS BEEN CAPTURED BY A VICIOUS VAMPIRE AND YOU ARE TELLING ME NOT TO GO CRAZY?"

"YES MR. POTTER, I AM. AND IF YOU TAKE THAT TONE WITH ME ONE MORE TIME I WILL CUT THAT WAND IN HALF AND SEND YOU TO PRIVET DRIVE." At these words, Harry sat down quickly, but with an edge to it.

"His name is Kinkou," McGonagall said seriously, "he is the Vampire leader and son of the King before him. He has had a grudge against you for some time now but no one but him knows why. We thought him to be dead but recent Vampire sightings have told u different. You see, Vampires can only exist while their king is still living or unless that king has a son to take over the throne. Kinkou has no son so his death would mean the end of the Vampire community and a dangerous enemy. I believe that your friend Hagrid has set off with Grawp to rescue him. It seems that he held Kinkou off for a while but not long enough. He thinks it is his fault that Ron was captured."

"It wasn't his fault," Harry said, "He did what he could."

"You know that and I know that, but Hagrid doesn't," said McGonagall. Harry didn't want his friend going after a murderer. Still, something was not clear to him.

"So why doesn't he just have a son so that the Vampires can live if he dies?" Harry inquired.

"He has been in seclusion from the rest of the Vampires all of his life. The only women he meets are dead after the first minute," answered McGonagall.

"I thought that if you were bit by a vampire, you would turn into one," Hermione asked, speaking for the first time.

"Yes that is true Ms. Granger, but not if you are torn to pieces and had the blood taken out of you in pools." Hermione suddenly wished that she hadn't asked. "You see, Kinkou hasn't had much opportunity for 'food' lately. Not many people travel wherever he is stationed."

"Well if you do not know where he is, how do you know that he has no visitors?" Harry inquired. McGonagall's eyes flickered for a while, before answering his question delicately.

"Because, Mr. Potter, we believe that he is somewhere where no one can find him. But, his recent exposure leads me to believe that he has no trouble finding food these days. I daresay that someone is finding it for him."

"Who would do such a thing like that," Harry ejaculated loudly.

"Please, Mr. Potter, do use your brain one day. Can you not think of someone who would want to have the Vampires as his ally?"

Realization swarmed over Harry instantly. "Lord Voldemort," he said grimly. McGonagall, who had jumped viciously at the name, picked her glasses up off of the floor and faced Harry.

"I believe that HE-WHO-MUST-NOT-BE-NAMED has been delivering him muggles to feed off of. The one thing that I am most afraid of is that Kinkou will have enough blood to quench his thirst and he will start to bite the neck of a victim. This would bring more vampires to the table." Harry shifted uncomfortably at this statement.

"Why hasn't anyone told me that there were two psychos chasing me instead of one? I think that I had a right to know." Professor McGonagall tensed, her wrinkles becoming more prominent by the second.

"Harry, we thought him to be dead and we didn't want to have another problem to deal with at such a young age for no reason." Harry saw the reason in this, but couldn't help but feel angry at the fact that it took a kidnapping for him to be enlightened.

"This war does not look good for the light side, does it?" Hermione said

"No, I am afraid that it doesn't, but luckily we have something that the dark side doesn't."

"What could that be?" Harry asked, "They have the Goblins, the Vampires, the Trolls, the Ghouls, the Dementors, and not to mention the Death Eaters." McGonagall seemed amused by his statement.

"Maybe so, Potter, but we have the House Elves, the Dwarves, the Giants, and... you." Harry was taken aback by her last statement.

"Me? What can I do? I am not strong enough to take on all of those, plus Voldemort and Kinkou."

"Well, Mr. Potter, you may be stronger than you think," she said with a smile tugging on her lips, "It seems that you have proven strong enough to destroy over a hundred Goblins. Something that not even Dumbledore could do."

Harry, wanting to change the subject, asked, "How is Professor Dumbledore doing, Professor? Minerva McGonagall looked on the verge of tears for a moment, but quickly stopped herself.

"I am afraid that Albus isn't doing well at all. The Healers say that he hasn't awoken from his comatose state yet,"

"But he still can wake up, right, Professor?" Hermione said worriedly.

"Yes, yes he can but... I am afraid that at his age, even if he does awake, he won't have much time left." Harry and Hermione were dumbfounded.

"W... W... What do you mean, Professor," Hermione asked, though she already knew the answer.

"Mrs. Granger, Albus Dumbledore is dying."

Somewhere far away from Hogwarts, a boy about age 16 screamed for his life.

"CRUCIO"

To my reviewers: Sorry for this chap being so boring, but I needed an informational chapter. Next one will be more interesting I hope.

Charmedsisters: Thanks for the great review and I hope that you continue to read this, even as this fic grows a little darker.

Shitza: Hey, I hope that you liked this chapter and please keep reviewing.

GoldenEyes86: Hope you're right about the potter books and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Ok everyone, next chap will be in before next Friday. And if you were wondering why this story is PG-13, believe me, it will get darker by the chapters.

CYA