To Howl in Harmony
Chapter 8: Pointy Teeth
The next morning, Harry walked down to his parents' quarters, the Pack at his side. They walked him right to the door before he waved them away. Ginny hung back slightly, letting the others walk ahead for a moment to talk to Harry alone.
"Good luck, love," she murmured softly, pressing her lips quickly to his before running after the others, not even pausing as she called back, "And behave!"
Harry's lips curved into an affectionate smile as he gently shook his head, watching his mate walk away. With another, fond shake of the head, Harry turned back to the door, his smile promptly dropping and his face going blank as he raised his fist and gave the door two sharp raps.
The door swung open a few seconds later and Lily, eyes wide, said, "Harry!"
"I need to talk to James," Harry said expressionlessly, his eyes staring vaguely at a point behind her head, "Please."
"Um, okay. Come on in," Lily said nervously, opening the door wider for her son to enter.
Lily led him into the living room, where he refused the offer of a seat, choosing instead to stand in front of the green couch. His back was tensed, hi hands stuffed into the front pocket of his white hoodie, one black-khaki-clad led jiggling slightly.
"Just a moment, I'll go get your father." Lily said, leaving the room only to return a few minutes later with her husband to find Harry in the exact same position as she'd left him.
The couple shared a confused look but sat silently on the couch, regarding their silent son. Neither said a word, waiting simply for Harry to start.
"I wanted to apologize," he said stiffly, still not looking at either adult, "for yesterday. I was out of line and I shouldn't have hit you-I've been trained to have fast enough reflexes to have stopped my fist from hitting you."
"Oh Harry! Apology accepted!" Lily exclaimed excitedly, jumping up with her arms open widely.
Harry tensed even further, stepping out of her reach as he said tightly, "That doesn't mean I forgive you. I only apologized because Sirius and Remus wanted me too. But I'm still not going with you on Easter Break."
"Damnit Harry," James said heavily, "We're trying here!"
"You really don't get it, do you?" Harry demanded, "I lived in a damn cupboard for eleven years! I was treated worse than a House Elf, for Merlin's sake! You can't just erase that with a couple of half-assed 'sorry's!"
"Harry James Potter!" Lily snapped, "Watch your language!" she paused, her angry face falling as she wearily added, "Please."
Harry stood, silently regarding the tired pair in front of him. They looked extremely weary and heartfeltedly sorry. He still didn't forgive them, but maybe…maybe they weren't all bad.
The silent scene was interrupted suddenly by three quick frantic bangs on the door. Lily sighed sadly and stood from the couch, moving to the door, James and Harry following her for lack of anything better to do. She opened the door to reveal a flustered looking 2nd year Ravenclaw.
"E-Excuse me, Professor Potter," the boy said quickly, "B-But the Headmaster needs to speak to you and the other Professor Potter and Assistant-Professor Potter."
"Is something wrong?" Harry demanded, drawing the boy's attention to himself.
"I-I-I don't know sir," the boy stuttered, "H-He just asked me to g-get you. Th-The other Professors and Assistant-Professors are already with him."
"Thank you," Harry said curtly, gently pushing his way past his parents to sprint down the halls.
James and Lily caught up with him just as he reached the Gargoyle. The three said the password in unison ("Smarties!") before moving quickly up the staircase and bursting into the office-which was packed with the Order or the Phoenix's inner circle and the Pack.
"Headmaster, what's going on?" James asked, brow furrowed in confusion.
"Everyone, please, take a seat," Dumbledore called out in answer, creating a long table and enough chairs for all with a wave of his wand, "And then we can begin."
With worried-and annoyed- mutterings, the small group all took their seats. Harry quickly separated himself from his parents and moved to the Pack, seating himself between Ginny and Ron. Once everyone was seated-and quiet- Dumbledore began.
"This past week I sent two of our members to the Vampire Coven," Dumbledore said, "For those of you who don't know, the major population of the vampires live in the Coven-'though not all do. They are led by one King, but they have a council of 5 Elder who can overrule the King should the need arise. I sent them in hopes of an allegiance.
He paused, eyes filling with sorrow and regret as he stated, "Charles Weasley and Nymphadora Tonks have not yet returned or sent word."
"Oh, Merlin!" Mrs. Weasley choked out, one hand at her breast and the other at her throat.
Ashen-faced, Mr. Weasley slipped an arm around her shoulders and she immediately leaned into her husband, burying her face into his shoulder. At his side, Harry could almost feel the blood drain from Ron's face as Hermione reached over the chair arm to grab Ron's hand. Glancing over at Ginny, Harry saw the tears streaking down her face. Without hesitation, Harry opened his arms to her, and, ignoring the room's other occupants, she immediately climbed into his lap, burying her face in he neck as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
Harry wrapped his own arms around his sobbing mate, gently kissing the top of her head. Gently, he let his forehead drop to Ginny's head, burying his head in her hair as he closed his eyes tightly against the emotions warring to surface-guilt, anger and sorrow-and the relief that it wasn't Remus or Sirius who was missing.
Pulling his head away suddenly, Harry looked up to meet Dumbledore's eyes. The man sighed, his eyes mirroring Harry's own emotions as he rubbed a weary hand over his face. Harry opened his mouth to say something when Ron beat him to it.
"We're going." Ron said fiercely, brown eyes bright with unshed tears.
"What?" Mrs. Weasley shrieked, pulling away from her husband to glare at her youngest son, "You are not going anywhere! I just lost one son-I will not lose all of you too!"
"Molly, they might not be dead," Dumbledore said softly.
"Right, they could be being used as blood slaves- or worse! They could be being tortured or- or turned into vampires!" Molly wailed.
"We can get them out, Mrs. Weasley," Rose interrupted softly, "I've been-we've all been trained how to respond in this kind of situation. We can do it."
"No! No, no, no!" Molly shrieked hysterically, "You can't go! No!"
"Calm down, Mrs. Molly," Luna said, standing and placing a gentle hand on the plump woman's shoulder, "It's alright."
Slowly, a whitish0blue light enveloped Luna's hand, seeping into Mrs. Weasley and enveloping her body. As Luna's magic flowed over her, Mrs. Weasley sank back into her chair, much calmer and more relaxed.
"We're going, Mum," Ron said softly, his face apologetic but determined, "And we're going to bring them back."
XoXoXoXo
The Pack left at night. The traveled by Floo to a spot more than 300 miles from the Coven before shifting to wolf-form and running the next 250 miles. Switching back to human form, they then took a specially made horse-drawn carriage- made for the use of humans-or other species- wishing to visit the Coven.
Once they arrived, they were ushered immediately to the throne room, where the King and the Elders awaited. The King was tall, with pale skin and dark hair, as were the Elders, and each was wearing a silky black cloak clasped at the throat with a silver dagger.
Harry let Rose take the lead, knowing she was the best suited among them to deal with this type of situation. Rose acknowledged this with a slight nod, before turning her full attention upon the vampires before her.
"Good fortune to you, kind sire," Rose said in the vampire's own tongue, sweeping a mow bow, "It is an honor to be allowed in your Court and we thank you greatly for this opportunity."
The King regarded Rose with an upraised eyebrow, asking, "Who are you, young one?"
"My name is Rosemary, sire," Rose answered, adopting the correct, vamprish Royalty term.
"And the others? What are your names?" the King asked, regarding the other members of the Pack who'd all bowed as they entered, but had remained silent, letting Rose do all the talking.
"These are members of my family, we're called the Pack," Rose said, "This is Harry-he is much like our King- and his mate, Ginevra, her brother, Ronald and his mate Hermione, Neville and his mate Luna and my mate, Draconius."
The Pack bowed again to the King and Elders but remained silent. The King eyed them all for a long moment, before his lips curled into an amused and appreciative smile.
"I am King Leopold," he said, adding, "I'm guessing you've come for the one whose hair matches that of young Ginevra and young Ronald's?"
"As well as the young woman who came with him," Rose nodded, "And we'd also like to offer you an allegiance to the Pack and the Order of the Phoenix."
"And why should I give them back? Or join you?" Leopold asked, his face blank.
"Because they do not belong among you. They are our family and they belong with us," Rose answered, "And you should join us because, when we win, you can either die alongside Voldemort and the Death Eaters or you can live freely with little to no restrictions."
"You seem very confident that you will win, young Rosemary," Leopold said thoughtfully.
Rose's chin tilted slightly in defiance as she answered confidently, "Because we will."
Leopold silently eyed the Pack, all of whom had adopted Rose's defiant stance, and he asked suddenly, "Why is it they send ones so young for such an important job?"
"We may be young in body, Sire," Harry said softly, "But our spirit's are much older than most's."
"Not many have heard of that vamprish saying, young one," Leopold said, eyeing Harry with newfound respect, "Let alone a human."
"My Pack and I spent much time in the Elven Court," Harry answered, "We learned a lot there."
"You spent time in the Elven Court?" Leopold demanded suddenly.
"Yes," Harry answered simply, "We're friends of the young Prince."
The room fell silent as Leopold again eyed the group. Each Pack member met the King's gaze with defiant ones of their own-not willing to back down from their cause.
"The Elders and I shall discuss your proposition," Leopold said suddenly, "You may stay here for the days until we come to a decision."
"And our people?" Rose asked, her soft voice not a demand, but more than a request.
Leopold waved a hand at a pair of guards, demanding, "Bring me the humans from the cells. They are no longer our prisoners."
No more then 10 minutes later, the guards returned with Charlie and Tonks. The pair weren't in horrible condition-no bruises, scrapes or blood was visible. They did, however, look slightly malnourished and quite dirty.
"Charlie!" Ron and Ginny breathed in unison in English, racing forwards to their elder brother.
"Hey Squirts," Charlie grinned weakly, hugging his siblings and allowing them to support his weight.
While the trio of Weasleys was reunited, Harry moved to Tonks, slipping an arm around her waist to support her and kissing her cheek gently as he said softly, "Hello Tonks."
"Wotcher Harry, " she grinned, leaning gratefully against Harry's side, "It's about time you guys showed up!"
"Sorry, Tonks," Harry grinned gently.
"Sire, could you allow us a room to help heal our people?" Rose asked, again in the vamprish tongue.
Leopold nodded, snapping his fingers towards the guards as he said, "Bring our guests to the East Wing. Give them any rooms that they need."
"Thank you, Sire," Harry said, nodding in favour of bowing, as he was still supporting Tonks, "Your cooperation shall be well remembered, even if you don't choose our side."
Leopold nodded, "I will have something sent up to your rooms. I am sure you are tired from your long day of travelling. You may explore anywhere in the castle during the day, but you must be accompanied by a guard, Elder or myself during the night, for your own protection."
"Thank you, Sire," Harry nodded and the group made their way from the room.
"May you live long and fight well," Rose murmured the Vamprish goodbye, bowing before slipping her hand into Draco's and following the group out.
Softly, almost thoughtfully, Leopold murmured, "May you also live long and fight well, young ones."
XoXoXoXo
"How did you guys get us out?" Tonks asked, once she and Charlie were situated in separate beds in the same room.
The room was large, originally with only on, King-sized bed. Neville and Draco had magically separated the King-sized bed into two smaller, twin-sized beds. The injured pair had been gently placed into the beds while the Pack had been led to the four adjoining rooms, to drop off their bags before returning to Charlie and Tonks' room.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Draco gently teased his cousin with a grin.
Tonks stuck her tongue out childishly at the teen, saying, "Yes, I would, little cousin."
"Hey!" Draco cried out indignantly, "I'm bigger than you are!"
"But she's older," Neville pointed out with a rakish grin earning a thrown pillow in the face from Draco.
"Uh-Ow!" Neville yelled in mock-indignation, before throwing the pillow back at his pack-brother, "Ass."
"Okay, children " Tonks interrupted with a laughing smile, "continue your petty squabble later please. Tell me how you got us out!"
Harry laughed, rolling his eyes at their antics before summarizing their training in the Realm for the pair. Charlie and Tonks listened silently, but the Pack inserted comments and jokes at random places just to lighten the mood while Luna let her magic flow over the pair to help their malnutrition.
"So," Harry asked, once their tale was done, "What happened to you guys?"
"We didn't know how to speak Vampire," Tonks grimaced, "We just walked in and asked them if they wanted to ally themselves with us."
"We asked it better than that," Charlie protested with a roll of his eyes at the woman, "But we still didn't ask it right, so we were thrown into the prison cells."
"They're not bad cells," Tonks said with a slight shrug, "And they didn't treat us that badly-we didn't get a lot of food and the citizens liked to come around to taunt us, but the King and the guards kept us from any bodily harm."
The room fell into contemplative silence for a few moments before Ginny asked softly, "Do you think if they don't want to ally with us they'll still let us go?"
"Of course they will," Harry said with a gentle smile, his eyes alight with mischief as he added, "The King likes his 'Rosemary'."
The group burst into laughter, but Harry's laugh was cut short by a loud thump as he was hit full in the face by a pillow from Rose.
XoXoXoXo
"The King has requested your presence at dinner," a vampire had told each of them simply before disappearing without another word, but, obediently, 2 hours later, dressed formally, the group made their way to the court, escorted by two guards.
Ginny was dressed in a white, knee-length spaghetti-strap dress with slits up wither side to mid-thigh and a pair of white, strappy sandals with her hair up in a messy bun. Hermione wore a white halter top, form fitting dress that reached mid-thigh, with white, knee-high boots and her hair loose but held back by a whitish silver clip. Rose's white dress was sleeveless with a deep V-neckline and that was formfitting to the waist where it then loosened and fell in plaits to her ankles with her hair pulled back with a thick white hair band and a pair of flat, white sandals. Luna's dress was tube-topped and also formfitting, falling to her knees, while she wore strappy white sandals with her hair up in a classy twist. Tonks wore a simple, one shouldered white dress that fell to the floor with slits to her mid-thigh up either side, a pair of classy white heels and her hair, turned a silvery white, pulled back in a cute French braid. All five men were in white tuxes with a black shirt underneath and ties in the same white with the wolf insignia for the Pack and a phoenix for Charlie. The white was a symbol of their choice for the white side.
The King and the 5 Elders were all dressed in silky black cloaks that covered them from the neck down. The blank looks on their faces and dark clothes gave nothing away, but it didn't seem to bode well for the Pack and the Light.
"Sire," the group murmured appropriately, bending into bows for the King and Elders.
The King stepped forward, stepping away from the Elders and making himself stand out as he gazed upon them. He remained silent for a few moments, his eyes sweeping over them, taking in the hope, determination and spirit in all their eyes.
"This was a hard decision to make," the King said, speaking in English for Charlie and Tonks' benefits, "The side of the Light has never done our kind any favours in the past. But then, neither have they ever sent us anyone capable of speaking Vamprish nor who know our customs. So, we have decided upon a compromise.
He paused, eyeing them again before speaking formally, "On behalf of the Vampires of the Coven, I, King Leopold, do pledge my allegiance to the Pack."
Shock flitted across the humans' faces, but Harry recovered quickly, stating, "On behalf of the Pack, I, Harry Potter, alpha, do pledge my allegiance to the Vampires of the Coven."
Leopold reached up, undoing the clasp at his throat, revealing a white, tunic-like shirt and white breeches. Behind him, the Elders repeated the process, revealing the exact same outfit as their King.
Leopold pulled a short knife from the scabbard hanging at his belt and walked forward. Harry, too, walked forward, knowing how the ceremony worked, and they met in the middle.
Raising the knife, Leopold slashed it diagonally across his left palm before handing it to Harry. Harry accepted the knife and made the same slash mark on his own left palm before handing it to a vampire servant who was waiting for it.
Leopold held up his hand, Harry doing the same only inches away, as he said, "I pledge my allegiance and the allegiance of my Coven to the members of the Pack. Should I break this pact, let me burn to nothing. Should I betray this allegiance, let me die painfully."
"I pledge my allegiance and the allegiance of my Pack to the Vampires of the Coven," Harry intoned, "Should I break this pact, let me burn to nothing. Should I betray this allegiance, let me die painfully."
"So let it be," they intoned together, pushing their hands together so their cuts were aligned.
White light enveloped their palms, flashing brightly. A few moments later it faded and both their cuts were fully healed and all blood was gone, leaving a long white scar in its wake.
"We are brothers now, young Harry," Leopold grinned, "And to celebrate this, let us feast!"
XoXoXoXo
The Pack, Charlie and Tonks arrived home to Hogwarts the next day with their good news. The celebration the Order had even beat the Vampire's feast.
XoXoXoXo
A/N Hey! Wow, you guys are so nice! Thanks for all the really nice reviews! You guys are the GREATEST!
The Insane Immortal Dragon: lol, cute!
Twin Tails Speed
Xurtan: That seems to be a commonly held opinion!
Comet Moon: I thought so too!
Daft Rith the Awakener: Well, that's for me to know and you to keep reading to find out, isn't it my dearie:D
Lily 101: What's wrong with them being gay? They love each other and that's the end of it, hunny.
Demon's Moon
Samantha: OMG, thank you SO much for that! I was having the WORST day and I read your review and I haven't been able to stop smiling since! You're right, you are insane, but whoever said that being 'sane' is fun? Haha, thanks again sweetie!
Also, there's only 2 chapters left of this story and I'm a bit stuck on whether to do an epilogue or a sequel. Problem is, I don't have any ideas for either. If you could, why don't you let me know which one you want, and any ideas are welcome!
I'll update as soon as I can, kay?
'My Luv,
Red