CHAPTER 1- THE CHANGE

Pain.

That's the last memory Harry Potter had before the world had gone black.

In the darkness of his mind, he recounted the events of the last day… possibly his last day ever.

The last Horcruxes… the diadem… the snake…and himself. All destroyed.

The battle… won.

He and Tom had ended up on the shore of the black lake during their final fight. There was no one else around save for a few bodies, none of which could bear witness to the end of the Dark Lord.

He was bleeding… he was tired… and as he watched the last of his nemesis's body disintegrate, he fell to his knees and then slowly laid down on cold sand, with the water gently lapping around his feet as he pressed his check against several smooth river stones that were embedded into the shore beneath him.

He knew it wouldn't last. Someone would come looking soon, and the chaos of him being the savior would begin. He knew it was only a matter of time.

So, when he heard rushed footsteps, and the sound of someone whispering, he didn't even move. He was tired, and he was comfortable, and if they wanted him so bloody badly, they could come to him and pick him up.

But that's when he felt it. The presence of a body quickly on top of him, and then searing pain as what felt like… teeth, dug into his shoulder. And then there was nothing.

What seemed like only a few seconds later, his eyes slowly fluttered open, and he found he was being carried, over someone's shoulder, and they were moving very, very fast. He was weak, and still so tired, and before he could open his mouth to make a protest or inquire as to whom it was who had him, and where they were, he passed out again.

The next time he woke, he was lying in a bed… and he was sweating like his body was on fire, but he felt like someone had stuck him in a block of ice. He couldn't open his eyes, as when he tried his head began throbbing. But someone's hands gently tilted his head up and tried to get him to drink some water… most of it spilled down his chin.

"The change is coming…"

"Don't do something soon…"

"Die…"

"…Killed Harry Potter?"

"No one…"

He tried to distinguish exactly what they were saying, but they were whispering so low, he could barely make out anything except when the whisper got louder as if they were whisper-shouting.

Whoever had given him the water placed their hand on his forehead before removing it and placing a wet cloth onto it instead. He liked the feel of the hand more, it was cool like they had been out in the snow, and had just started to warm up, and it was soft.

But as soon as the awareness and wakeful moments came, they were gone again, and he was lost in deep sleep.

The visitors in the room quickly and quietly moved at the wave of the would-be healer's hand as she stood up from the bed holding the slightly shivering boy. She quickly placed another blanket on top of him, and then she exited as well.

Large blue eyes looked to the three persons standing in front of her, and then back to the young man before she gently shut the door.

"We need to speak to my brother; he cannot hang on like this much longer. If a decision isn't made soon, one will be made for us." She spoke calmly, but her soft voice held an edge of steel.

Two of the persons nodded gravely, while the other one shook his head, and a harsh scoff came from his throat. "And just what do you think the wizards will do to us when they discover it was our Prince's fault that he came to be in this predicament in the first place?"

The same calm blue eyes flashed in annoyance at the tall man in front of her. "You forget yourself Kraven, am I not the Princess? Do you think I do not know what my brother has done? And do you also forget that if it wasn't for the actions of a wizard, he would not have been in the situation where his need to feed overcame his good sense to begin with?!"

The man, who, at just over six foot, burly, and with a thick head of auburn hair and like colored beard, had been a fearsome Scottish Highland warrior, bowed his head at the petite woman in front of him. "Apologies Princess, I cannot begin to imagine the pain this is causing to your family."

The woman's gaze softened, and she raised her hand to gently cup his cheek. "No… It's alright Kraven. We're all just a bit wound up." She then turned to her other companions, one man, named Zephyr, shorter and slim with lightly tanned skin and blonde hair tied in a leather thong at his nape, who wore robes that denoted someone of a religious sect, but to which one, no one knew. The other, named Hector, was taller, darker skinned, and with thick black hair cut shorter in a casual military fashion, and who, like the burly Scottish man, wore a sort of security uniform of all black, and who acted as a bodyguard for the Princess.

"If they attempt to retaliate for Mr. Potter being in the situation in the first place, we shall remind them that it was their madman who caused my brother to feed as he did, by locking him in a cage in an attempt to turn him into a feral weapon." The Princess stated simply, before pushing a lock of her long raven hair behind her ear with a brush of her pale skinned hand.

"A Savior who is Vampire, is better than no Savior at all." Zephyr stated calmly. He was not a man of many words, being two-thousand years old. In fact, he had once commented that he chose his words carefully because he had said enough for ten lifetimes.

Zephyr was an advisor to her father the King, and maker to Hector. He was born in Greece, and had blood-born six children, Hector being the youngest. He was from Spain, and just as Kraven had, when the Princess had been birth-born, he laid his sword at her feet and vowed to be her protector until true death take him.

Princess Tisiphone turned and started down the hallway, she was a petite woman, no taller than five feet six, but she had a confidence and ferocity in her stance and demeanor that could bring men a foot taller than her to their knees. It was only those who spent time with her in the privacy of the royal home who got to see her true self in her natural element, hair untucked, wearing jeans and peasant tops from the 70's or day dresses from her earlier years in the mid-1800s for when she felt nostalgic. Today she had chosen a more modern look of a dark blue pantsuit with a black camisole underneath due to a meeting she had been in with leaders of Portugal when she had gotten the news her brother had returned. Her black high heels thudded along the carpeted hallways of the royal palace as they made their way to the throne room.

The Princess had been birth-born and had reached maturity at the human age of twenty, and thus marked her official "birthday" as 130 years ago, the day she became full Vampire, as every Vampire did. It was considered that any day spent as a human, while sacred for a birth-born, was irrelevant in the counting of age once the change was complete.

She was the oldest of the Kings children, and the first female birth-born in nearly ten thousand years. It would only be another 200 years and she would take the throne from her father, as such, when she had reached maturity, she had been given responsibilities of the crown in order to prepare her and dealing with the current crisis was one of those responsibilities.

As the small group entered the throne room, they found her father, King Marius, in deep discussions with several of his other advisors at the long conference table to one side, as well as her mother, Queen Juliet, her middle brother Vincenzo, and her youngest brother Gideon, who was sitting with his mother standing behind him, rubbing his shoulders as he slowly drank a mug of warmed blood. She was happy to see him cleaned up, and already earning some color back into his cheeks.

Tis put her hand out to signal that her three companions could leave her direct side, and while they did retreat, with Zephyr heading towards the head of the table to speak with her father, you could see the other two men staying within a quick distance and their eyes would occasionally flit back to her even as they pretended to simply be conversing with one another in a corner.

She reached her family, and after a brief hello and kiss on the cheek to her father, she went over and knelt in front of her youngest brother. She brushed his golden blonde hair from his face, and he looked down at her, the blue of his eyes matching hers perfectly. He was a male version of their mother, while she, other than her eyes and height, was like their father. Her brother Vincenzo was the only blood-born of the Kings children, a tall, tan, long dark haired and dark eyed Italian man who looked like he could and would kill you with his bare hands. She could see the deep creases of worry that had plagued his face since the day they learned Gideon had gone missing were still there and she made a mental note to discuss his state of mind with him later.

"Gideon?" She gently stroked his hair some more. "I've just come from the boy. Something must be done soon. His magic is strong, and it is fighting the change every step of the way. I think he may succumb to death far sooner than most would, unless we end the torment soon."

He closed his eyes, and a sigh of resignation came from between his lips. "Gods I wish I could still suck the venom out… why him? There were so many bodies on the beach, but his was the only one whose heart was still beating… I couldn't control it…" He looked at her, his face begging her to understand. Gideon was Vampire but he had never harmed another person in his life. "I didn't mean to Tris."

"I know. This wasn't your fault. But we are down to two choices, we can go in there, and end his suffering, and take him back to the Wizards and explain what happened and hope they understand, or we can finish the change, and once he is on his feet again, we can give him the choice of what he wants to do."

Gideon set his mug down and stood up, grasping her hand as she stood with him. Their father and everyone in the room fell silent as they watched him head towards the door.

"Harry Potter, even unknowingly, saved my life. I will not repay him by taking his away… I will change him, and if after, he should still decide to meet the True Death, then my conscience will be clear."

As the royal family, the three advisors, and a small section of bodyguards all moved towards the palaces rarely used infirmary and came to the door outside of Harry Potter's room. The youngest Prince turned to his sister. "Come with me? I know what to do, but…" He gave her a look of nervousness.

"Of course." Tis and Gideon had always been close, and she would stand by him through hellfire if he asked her to.

"We shall wait outside for you son." King Marius said gently, as he patted his youngest child on the back before stepping back to sit on a bench outside the door with his wife and other son. He had never wanted his children to be forced to become Makers. It was usually a very personal, sacred choice. He silently cursed the wizard who had brought this upon them and was sorely disappointed that the madman was already dead, and therefore he could not rip his throat out.

Inside the room, Hector was the only guard, as the space was not overly large, and with the furnishings, Gideon, Tis and himself, there wasn't a lot of extra room to move around. But he had insisted on someone being in there with the Prince and Princess.

Gideon knelt next to the young wizard, who was shivering. Tis could hear his heartbeat, and it was strained. His time in this world was short lived, and she could tell Gideon heard it to. Which only made it worse, as they hoped the bloodletting took hold before his heart gave out. If his heart was already stopped when the blood hit it, the letting wouldn't work, and he would be truly dead.

Gideon pushed open the boy's mouth gently, and using a knife from Hector he sliced an artery on his wrist, and held the wound open as the blood flowed into the young man's mouth. He made sure a good amount went in before removing his fingers and letting the wound heal.

The effect of the blood was near instant, and both royals breathed a sigh of relief when the reflex of swallowing forced the blood down the boy's throat and they watched as slowly his color began to return, and they could hear his heartbeat speeding up.

But now was the hard part. The blood mixed with the venom in his veins would cause the reaction which would make his heartbeat so fast it would essentially kill him, but then the magic within the blood would revive him, and he would awake Vampire.

Gideon, like most makers, chose to stay close to his child as the change was fulfilled. He held his hand and began humming a song from his human youth which a travelling musician had once taught them. As if hearing the melody in his unconscious state, they saw the boys pale body relax.

Tis sat in the one other chair, which had her facing the foot of the bed. She found herself examining the features of this would be newborn. She had to admit, regardless of looking young for his age, he was a handsome youth. She knew he was seventeen, and she wagered that once the physical aspect of the change took hold, much of that boyishness would be gone.

The change took a person, and erased all scars, all tattoos, all physical imperfections, and made a person into the best physical form of themselves. She had in fact been a rather pudgy child in her human years, but now, was as slim as if she had never had a single ounce of fat on her. Her acne had also cleared up, and her hair, which once had been a tangled unruly horror to deal with, was now so smooth, one could run their fingers through it as if it were water. The same sort of improvements had happened to everyone who became Vampire, no matter how old they were when turned. A fat, pock faced man in his 40's at the time of the change would simply become a very good looking, physically fit man in his 40's, like Zephyr. The older you are however, the more likely that the venoms initial race through your bloodstream would kill you before the blood could take hold, so you didn't see many Vampires who were changed beyond the ages of around 50 years old.

And at once, her musings were interrupted and her head snapped up to look the young man in the face, as did Hector and Gideon, who had ended his humming.

The boy's heart had stopped.