Morticia found her grandfather and Harry in the Great Hall. Harry was telling him about the first time he had seen the ceiling. She smiled at how easily Harry had taken to Vlad. "Is he being nice to you, Harry?" She asked as she came up to them. "No new holes in you anywhere, I hope." Her eyes traveled over him.
Harry shook his head. "He's cool. He should stop by more often."
She smiled at him. "Cool?" She had never heard her grandfather described in such a way.
"Yeah! He's got great stories."
"Oh no." She sighed. She could only guess what Vlad had been telling Harry.
"Some people appreciate me, Morticia." She could tell he was still unhappy about her lying. He had not raised her to do such things.
Morticia mentally sighed and rolled her eyes. She was not going to let him know how she viewed his... idiosyncrasies. "I am sorry, Grandfather." She was as truthful as she could be.
"As you should be. You were raised better than that." He eyed her.
"I know," she replied in defeat. He seemed satisfied.
"Harry was going to show me Hogsmeade. You will accompany us, Jewel."
"Yes, Sir." She glanced up to make sure outside conditions were safe for him. She made no comment about his ability to 'ask' her to go.
"You are still my heart. Do not forget that." She nodded, biting back a comment on dramatics. "Come along. I will buy you some of those lollipops you have written me about." He draped an arm around her shoulders.
She gave him a smile. "Okay. Though, I've hardly ate any of the ones Harry got me."
Harry blushed. "How did you..."
She smirked. "I just did."
"I approve of him. Pity he finds pleasure elsewhere." Harry's blush deepened.
Morticia nodded. She made no comment about who she was attracted to. She had little doubt he would highly disapprove of Draco. Of course, Draco wanted nothing to do with her, so all was well. As if summoned by her thoughts, Draco and his... 'friends' Crabbe and Goyle walked through the door.
"Great. Malfoy." Harry muttered.
Morticia nodded to Draco as they started to walk by each other. She could not help herself. "Draco."
"Blood sucker," he sneered back, as was expected.
"What did you just say young man?" Vlad asked in a deadly voice.
Morticia cringed. Oh, Draco. "You shouldn't have done that," she said softly, sadly. Vlad grabbed Draco by the neck and held him up. "Grandfather..."
"Yes, Jewel?" He did not take his eyes off his prey. His eyes were red and narrow. Draco looked pale as he struggled against Vlad's hand.
"Leave him alone." She placed a hand on his arm. "He is not alone in his opinions." She could not let him harm Draco no matter how Draco treated her.
"He does not deserve to breathe the same air as you," Vlad growled before dropping Draco. He turned and walked out, motioning her and Harry to follow. Harry immediately did so.
Morticia moved slightly closer to Draco then caught herself. "Draco..." What could she say? He did not want her words. "I am sorry for that." She gave him a small apologetic smile before following her grandfather.
Draco glared at her back. He hated the humiliation he just suffered. He also hated that he was suppose to hate Morticia and found he could not. He was not sure what he was feeling but he knew it was not hate, far from it.
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Harry, Morticia, and Vlad made their way to Hogsmeade. The sky was dusky but not quite dark. Most of the student body still milled around from one shop to the next. Vlad was not overly impressed. "You like this place?" He found all the people to his dislike. The noise grated on his nerves and sensitive ears.
"Not particularly," Morticia answered dryly. She, too, found the noise irritating. Not to mention the looks everyone gave her. She could only imagine how everyone was going to stare and avoid her grandfather, if he did not charm everyone.
Vlad looked to Harry. "It has cool stuff." He shrugged. Vlad nodded, still looking around.
"Sure it does." Her voice was still dry. She found the people annoying, tiresome. At least they were not muggles. She found muggles to be even more so.
"Get your lollipops here, don't I?" Harry asked with a small smile.
"Personally, I found Nocturne Alley to my liking," she continued as though Harry had not spoken. Harry shook his head. He was not that surprised anymore by statements like that from her. He started showing Vlad around.
After some time, Vlad had stopped in the pet shop. He spent the rest of the time they were in Hogsmeade inside the shop. The place was dark and quiet. Not to mention he liked the animals. He was petting a small rabbit when Harry walked back to him.
"You aren't going to eat that are you?" He looked at Vlad in horror that he may.
"I hadn't planned on it." Vlad smirked at the boy. "Humans are tastier." Morticia, having been behind Harry, shook her head. "I know you have indulged, Jewel. I can still smell it on you. Who have you fed on?"
Morticia, who was looking into the cages of the cowering cats and dogs, turned to him. "I haven't fed on anyone. Someone decided I needed blood and had Poppy draw some to feed me." They could tell by her tone she was still not pleased by it. She wondered why he had not been able to tell the blood was Harry's. Maybe it had been too long since she had consumed it.
"You were hungry. I didn't know how long we'd be in there. Could have been a week or month or something." Harry shrugged. He would do the same over and over if the need be.
"And I could have eaten normal food."
"He is different," Vlad told Morticia with a raised brow.
"No kidding," she replied dryly. Her grandfather brought that out in her.
"You should cherish such a friend."
"With Voldemort after him, what would you expect?" She continued as though Vlad had not spoken.
"Voldemort is a fool." He looked over Harry. "Why does he wish this young man harm?"
Harry fidgeted a bit. He hated being the center of attention, especially in context to Voldemort. Morticia sighed. Sometimes Vlad was so exasperating. "Ever hear of the boy who lived?"
"Legends, yes." She rolled her eyes at his answer and pointed to Harry's scar. Vlad pushed the hair off Harry's face and touched the scar. Harry's past flooded into his mind. He saw all that had happened that night. Vlad looked into Harry's eyes as he pulled his hand away. "Years ago, a young man named Tom Riddle came to me. He wanted to be changed, have immortality; but, I knew his heart and turned him away. Later, I heard stories and rumors about this Voldemort and one day, to my surprised, he came to my door. I knew him but could not place from where. Then, he told me who he was; explained what he had become; offered an alliance, which I turned down. He left most unhappy."
Morticia looked at him. "I never knew..." Why had he never told her about this? Granted, Voldemort meant little to them. They were beyond his fight with the wizarding world. Still, she was now in the wizarding world. If he wanted the gift bad enough, he could try to use her to get it. One thing she disliked was being used, especially against her grandfather.
Vlad looked at her. "You were young." Fifty years did not make her that much younger, but he had not wanted her mixed up in such affairs. Had Voldemort known of her, he could have tried to solicit her. "Besides, it was not your place to know."
Morticia held back her comments on it having only been fifty years. She also kept quiet that she had been more than old enough to know, and such things happening in his life were hers to know. She merely nodded in affirmation.
"You stood up to him, not afraid?" Harry was shocked. He figured even Dumbledore would feel some fear standing up to Voldemort.
Vlad looked at Harry with soft eyes. The boy before him needed handled with care after all he had been through. "Yes, as your parents did."
Morticia rolled her eyes. Harry was dense at times. "You really need to read up on Dracula."
"Why?" Harry smiled. "I can get it from him and no exaggerations, as you put it."
"True," she agreed as Vlad smiled and nodded. "He loves to talk about himself." She hid a smirk.
"I talk about your history, Jewel, something you should be aware of."
A commotion from a cage in the back of the shop cut off her reply that he had told her said history more than once and she was quite aware of it. "What is that?" She looked around until she spotted the cage the noise came from. She moved to it and lifted the cover off. Vlad put down the rabbit and followed. He knew the look on her face. "He's so beautiful!"
"They should not put such a noble creature in a cage." Vlad sounded unhappy.
"Thing scares all the other pets," the clerk told them as he walked back to them.
"It's a bat," Harry declared as though none of them knew.
Morticia reached for the bars. "Careful, Miss, it bites," the clerk warned. He gaped as the bat nuzzled against her hand. "I can't believe it." He had been injured by the thing, as had three other people in the last two days.
She looked up at Vlad pleadingly. "Grandfather?"
He had been waiting. He smiled at her. "What will you name it?"
"I don't know." She did not take her eyes off the bat.
"Can I touch it?" Harry asked. He had never been close to such a creature before.
"Very slow and careful," she answered. He slowly put his hand to the cage as she cooed to the bat, "It's okay. He won't hurt you." The bat nipped at Harry's fingers then lapped at them. Harry did not back away, watching as the bat licked the small trickle of blood. Morticia smirked. "He's so cute!"
Vlad looked to the clerk as the bat let Harry begin to pet him. "How much?"
The clerk gave him a very cheap price as no one else had ever showed any interest in the creature. "Just get it out of here. Boss hates that it was brought in to begin with."
Vlad handed over the money. He would have given any reasonable price so Morticia could have what she wanted. Otherwise, he would have thralled the clerk and got it that way. "Shall we go?" He looked at Harry and Morticia.
Morticia took the cage in hand and nodded with a smile. "What now?"
"I wish to go back to the castle. This noise is bothersome."
Both nodded in agreement. "Good idea," Morticia said as she held the cage close to her. She wanted to get her new pet back and settled. So, they made their way back to the castle, Morticia heading straight for her dorm room.