Blackmail

Harry sprung from his chair sniffing the air carefully and discretely. Draco's eyes were fixed on the librarian, watching the ever-growing pool of blood band around her head, staining her stringy, gray hair.

"W-w-w-w-," he stuttered, pointing a shaky finger at the corpse.

"Shut up," Harry whispered harshly. He could hear something breathing, but it was very faint. Not to mention it was hard to concentrate with Malfoy whimpering in his ear.

Without warning, Madam Pince's body sat up; her eyes glazed over from death and her mouth left hanging open. Draco and Pansy released screams, both alike in volume and pitch, and bolted from library. Harry, on the other hand, did nothing.

He leaned gently against the table and watched as the body struggled to get on its feet. As his former librarian turned to face him he noticed some movement in the hole within her forehead. The hole looked to be big enough to fit his fist in, as well as any brain-eating demon that size.

Mingled in with the nauseating scent of blood and death wafted the unmistakable stench of a demon, and it hit him like a wave the moment she was on her feet.

Pince suddenly flew at him like a puppet on strings, her eyes rolling madly in their sockets, a trail of saliva and blood trailing behind her from her slack mouth.

Harry dodged, allowing the corpse to hit the table and chairs behind him with a crash. He quickly dropped his glamour charm, and without the magic swirling and bared his fangs at the demon he knew to possess her body. Pince's body simply lifted itself out of the mess and flew at Harry again. This time Harry stood his ground. Reaching back a clawed hand, he thrust it forward the moment the corpse was close enough and plunged it into the hole in her forehead. He grasped his fingers around the struggling demon inside, absently noting the lack of brains he felt. Either the demon ate them out or the woman really was an idiot. He finally managed to rip the black, hairy, rodent-like demon from its hovel.

Gleefully picturing it as Pettigrew, Harry crushed it in his fist.

"Uhg, nasty," Harry whispered with a disgusted face as he stared down at the body in his blood-soaked hand. He burned what was left of the demon using blood magic with Madam Pince's blood. Obviously, it was possible to use another's blood for blood magic but it was never as powerful as using your own.

He turned to face the body, wondering what the hell he was going to tell Dumbledore. He could always destroy the body and claim Malfoy and Pansy insane. It wasn't like there were any witnesses, right? A noise from the hall startled him out of that idea.

"She's dead! I swear she's dead!"

His nose told him Malfoy, Pansy, Dumbledore, and Snape were quickly making their way to the library with Ron and Hermione not far behind. Without bothering to put his glamour charm back on, Harry leapt out the open window, jumping from windowsill to windowsill until he reached Inuyasha's quarters.

In his haste to get out of the library, Harry didn't notice a shaking and frightened redhead crouching under a library table.

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When Harry arrived at Inuyasha's window, he wasn't surprised to find Professor Verchik there as well, sitting in a refined manner with her legs crossed and clearly very annoyed with his adviser.

"Please," Inuyasha begged with the most adorable puppy dog look he could muster. And that was pretty damn adorable considering he had his ears out.

"No."

Alas, it was not adorable enough for Morgana.

"Please."

"No."

"I'll give you a massage."

"Don't touch me."

"You really shouldn't deny yourself such great pleasures in life. People will think you're a frigid bitch by choice."

"Are you finished? There's someone who'd like to see you on at your window."

"He can wait."

"He's covered in blood."

"He's into that stuff."

Morgana sighed and waved her hand, allowing the window to unlock itself and Harry to let himself in.

"Er...am I interrupting?"

"Potter, please try and refrain from following in his footsteps. It's bad enough you've picked up his uncouth language in only a few short months," Professor Verchik said, who had fallen into quite a sour mood.

"Now, now," Inuyasha said with a saucy grin. "Just because you want me against your better judgment doesn't mean you have to take it out on him."

Morgana threw her hands in the air and began making her way to the door, "I can't handle you right now."

"You couldn't handle me, period."

The vampiress swung around, fixing Inuyasha with an icy and defiant glare. Harry felt a chill go down his spine and the look wasn't even directed at him. Inuyasha seemed to be basking in it.

"Fine. Next Hogsmeade weekend," she said starkly and then stalked out the door.

Inuyasha leaned back in his chair with his arms folded behind his head, looking very much like the cat that got the canary. Or, in his case, the dog that got the cat.

"You have the strangest taste in women, you know that right?" Harry asked warily.

"Well, women are women," Inuyasha replied insightfully. "Except for priestesses. I'm through with them. So what happened to you?"

Harry shrugged and plopped down in the chair across from Inuyasha's desk, "Oh, you know. Same old, same old. A demon made a home out of the librarian's head. Now...are there actually wards protecting the castle from demons?"

"Uh..." Inuyasha squinted and looked around like he was trying to feel the wards right then and there, "...No. But I did warn you about this. Without anyone guarding the ninth gate, the demons have pretty much free reign in that area."

"Well, more fun for me I guess; it's about time they started coming. But Dumbledore's found the body by now. I bet he'll make it a real pain in the ass to go hunting without being detected. Damn...I should have destroyed it when I had the chance. Do you think it's too late to just destroy all the evidence? How many do you reckon have seen it?"

"Oh, a fair few so don't even bother. What I want to know is how come you didn't sense it earlier."

Harry blushed, "Uh...I don't really know actually. I think it was because I was so excited to be able to finish the project I spent four weeks working on."

"Really? Because I think it is because you let your guard down after doing nothing for so long."

"Heh heh...hang on, why didn't you sense it?"

"You didn't actually think a low class demon like that could have made it into the castle without alerting me, did you?" Inuyasha said, looking slightly hurt that Harry would think so lowly of him.

"If you sensed it, then why didn't you do anything? How the fuck am I supposed to get my freaking books when I'm one librarian down?" Harry asked, trying to maintain his angry face. A woman was dead, and he was starting to think it was funny. What was wrong with him?

"Um, hello, did you see the hot babe sitting in that chair a moment ago?" Inuyasha said as if the answer was obvious.

"There are demons running amuck, killing my librarians, and you're more interested in wooing my DADA teacher?" Harry asked incredulously.

"Well, she's a very interesting woman."

"You're hopeless."

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"Students, I have a very grave announcement to make," Dumbledore called over the sea of children in the Great Hall who anticipated their dinner. But the air was thick with fear and apprehension, for the news of Madam Pince's demise spread like the wildfire gossip is.

"Harry, I have to talk to you," Hermione whispered severely to him from across the table, "Malfoy told me you were the last person in the library with Pince's body and when he left there wasn't blood and chairs everywhere. What happened?"

But her inquiry was cut short by Dumbledore's booming voice.

"As I'm sure many of you have heard already, Madam Pince was found dead a few hours earlier. However, the cause of her death remains unknown. We will be doing further investigations immediately and ask for your cooperation in finding the perpetrator. If any of you have any information on this matter, please come forth and allow us to put this heinous deed to justice. This may very well be the act of Voldemort, who has been unusually quiet these past few months.

"The library is now off limits until further notice," Hermione took that moment to look up at the headmaster, appalled. "Aurors will be arriving shortly and will take up posts throughout the school for the remainder of the year. All students are to be in their dormitories by no later than seven o'clock and no one is to venture the hallways without being accompanied by at least two or more people. Failure to comply with these rules will result in a detention, loss of house points, or more. This is for your own safety."

No one thought to vocalize against the new rules; hearing of a violent death in a seemingly safe school shook the defiance right out of the teenagers.

Hermione leaned forward once more, "Harry, if you know something you have to tell me!"

"Why? So you can go tell your boss?" Harry asked scathingly before biting into a buttered carrot.

"Why are you being so difficult?" Hermione replied maddened as she ran a hand through her snarled hair.

"Come on mate," Ron piped up through a mouthful of mashers. "Just tell her what you want and she'll leave you alone."

Harry was about to tell them both to get off his back when Dumbledore spoke again, this time standing right behind him.

"Harry, would you meet me in my office, now?"

"Great," Harry deadpanned; abandoning what was left of his dinner to go chat with his favorite psychotic old guy.

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Surprisingly, Dumbledore was already in his office when Harry arrived.

"Have a seat Harry," he said, starting off in the 'grandfather' mode. Harry sat down guardedly.

"Now, from what I've heard, you were in the library when Madam Pince was killed."

Harry shook his head.

"I don't know when she was killed, I just saw her body."

"And then what did you do?"

"I left."

Dumbledore blinked and then sighed.

"Please, Harry, I need to know what happened during the time Mr. Malfoy and Ms. Parkinson left the library and when you did."

"I left right after they did. I saw that bloody hole in her head and left."

Harry knew Dumbledore knew he was lying—he never did master occlumency. Dumbledore then sought a new tactic.

"I've noticed you're spending a lot of time with Professor Nagasaki, Harry."

Harry could feel himself growing agitated.

"Your point, sir?"

"I prefer it if you don't get too close to the teachers. I'd like the keep all relationships between students and teachers strictly that. Perhaps you should spend some more time with your friends; you've hardly interacted with Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger. They're worried about how you've pulled away from them. This isn't healthy, Harry."

Harry rolled his eyes thinking, 'This is bull shit, that's what this is.'

"What about Lupin? You sure as hell didn't mind me spending time with him."

"Language Harry. And that was a special case. I knew exactly what he was teaching you, as I also understood your need to find a connection to your parents."

"No. It's because he was so loyal to you. Because he reports everything I do to you." He really hated to say such things about the werewolf but he couldn't trust anyone who was so trusting in one person.

Dumbledore sat back in his chair, staring curiously at the young Gryffindor.

"That was certainly not the case, Harry. As for the current matter at hand, I am simply implying that I could revoke any privileges of yours to speak to him if you don't willingly divulge the information you are withholding from me."

Harry gaped at him for a full ten seconds.

"Are you blackmailing me, professor?"

"Please do not think of it like that, Harry. Just tell me what happened."

A growl nearly burst forth from his throat—one that clearly would have sounded inhuman—and Harry quelled it with all his will power.

"I. Don't. Know."

Dumbledore peered at him over his half-moon glasses, "Harry, we both know you're not telling the truth."

Harry rubbed a hand over his face, totally fed up.

"Sir, did you interrupt my dinner just to waste my time?"

Dumbledore looked taken back by that comment.

"Of course not. I simply need to know if Voldemort is involved in this," Dumbledore said as if it were obvious. This was the last straw for a tired and hungry teenage boy.

"Well than why the hell couldn't you ask that in the first place instead of beating around the bush? No. I haven't had any dreams or funny feelings or scar issues the entire year so far, happy? Now, with all due respect sir, I'm going to eat."

Harry stood from his chair and stormed out of the office, ignoring the headmaster's calls for him to return.

Naturally, the first place he went was the kitchen, seeing as dinner in the Great Hall was certainly over and he didn't want to deal with twenty questions from Hermione.

He tickled the pear and entered the kitchen, expecting about twenty house elves to jump to his aid. What he didn't expect, however, was to see the tip of a wand in his face.

"Alright. Who the hell are you?"

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