Harry Potter
&
The Children of the Night
-by Lady Nichola Valerius

Previously, on Harry Potter and the Children of the Night:

"I guess that I want Voldemort gone. I- I want to have a happily ever after, with my princess and my friends and family. I- I want to have my own family someday. But for now, I just want to be safe," he answered in a drowsy voice. Emera could tell that he was fighting off sleep, but was failing miserably as his eyelids fluttered shut. His answer came from the subconscious; he wasn't even aware that he was speaking. Emera smiled, finding him adorable.

"Sleep now," she said, sensing his want to sleep.

"M'kay," Harry conceded. Emera lay there until morning, just watching her soul-brother and marveling at how innocent he was when he slept. When he smiled slightly and buried his face into her stomach, Emera felt something in her rattle. She was going to teach him everything she knew and more, so that he could have his happily ever after.

Chapter 6
Hermione's Loyalty

KNOCK, KNOCK.

"Chelsea, could you get that?"

"Yes, Aunt Jane!" 23-year-old Chelsea McGrath answered her mother's youngest sister as she pulled out of her twin brother Chester's grasp. Chester pouted.

"I was winning," he said immaturely.

"You wish you were," Chelsea replied, walking out of the living room. She jogged to the foyer and pulled the door open. "Yes?"

A woman with jet-black hair stood there, her eyes hidden by dark glasses and a suede brown jacket that complimented her knee-length leather skirt covered her white blouse. Brown ankle-boots finished her eye-catching look. "Good afternoon, is Ms. Granger there?" the stranger asked. Chelsea gave a polite smile.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Helena's out with her friends," Chelsea said, "Maybe tomorrow you could come back?"

The woman gave a polite laugh. "Oh, no, I'm looking for Hermione." Chelsea's eyes widened.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. Hermione isn't a social person so I assumed- well, come in, I'll go get her," Chelsea stepped aside and directed the woman to the living room. Chester turned around as soon as he heard his sister approach and sprayed his tube of water, realizing too late that it wasn't Chelsea behind him.

"Oh, bollocks! I'm so sorry!" he antagonized as the woman checked the damage. She waved it off.

"It's alright, I'm used to it," she replied. Chelsea paused glaring at her twin brother and chuckled.

"You have a brother too?" she asked knowingly.

"Well, sort of," she answered, "He's actually Hermione's friend from school. I wanted to ask her if she would want to spend the summer with him until school starts."

"You're a witch?" Chester asked, eyes wide.

The woman gave an amused laugh. "Just half," she answered. Then she turned back to Chelsea. "About Hermione…"

"Oh, right! Sorry!" She ran out of the room and thundered up the stairs. Chester cleared his throat.

"Erm- can you really do magic?" he asked her uncomfortably. She smiled, then waved her hand at the fireplace, where a lively cackling fire roared to life. Chester jumped, then looked at her in awe. "Wow! And you didn't even need a wand to do that! Hermione needs a wand to perform those kinds of magic," he said. The woman's eyebrow rose.

"Really?" she asked, but before she could continue, she heard footsteps coming into the vicinity of the living room. She snapped her fingers and the fire disappeared, just as Chelsea returned, followed by yet another brunette. "Hello, Ms. Granger. My name is Emera, I'm a friend of Harry's." To which Hermione responded with a quick draw of her wand. Emera took the time to study Hermione's wand, Vine wood with a dragon heartstring core. Powerful. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Chelsea pulling on Chester and they left the room hurriedly.

"Truly?" Hermione asked dryly. "I don't believe you."

"I expected that. Fine then, ask me whatever you want, if only to prove that I am Harry's confidante," Emera said calmly. I can play your game, mortal, she thought as a shroud of coldness emitted from her.

Hermione's eyes narrowed. "Alright, what form does my Patronus' imitate whenever I call upon it?" she asked in a challenging tone. Emera gave her a wry grin.

"Oh, please. Many have seen your Patronus, particularly that Defense Association club you formed last year. An otter. Now another question. A harder one, please," came the insulting reply.

"What spell did Antonin Dolohov use on me and where?" Hermione asked, her spirit seeming to tremble as she remembered the incident. Emera's cold aura seemed to seep back into her as she, too, recalled Harry's pained expression when he told her about Hermione's injury.

"It happened when you went to rescue Sirius, in the Department of Mysteries. Antonin used a curse on you, the variant of a Slashing Hex, but much more harmless. Harry assumed that since you look weak, Antonin used a weak curse to save his magic." Emera frowned at her wand suddenly. "You can't do magic outside of school."

Hermione focused on her words, pushing away the dark memory. "That's what you think," she smirked smugly, flipping her wand. Emera grinned as she saw the wand twist into a golden stud.

"I'm starting to like you," she said, as Hermione placed it on the top portion of her ear. She gave Emera a tentative smile.

"So? Why are you here? And where's Harry? He can't possibly be at the Dursleys if he's making new friends," Hermione thought aloud as she motioned for Emera to sit.

"I see why you are said to be the cleverest student at Hogwarts since Lily Evans," Emera murmured, causing Hermione to blush slightly. "You are right to assume that Harry isn't at the Dursleys, because I took him away from them. He is at my home. I come here now to offer you the chance to see him. He shan't be at Hogwarts for a while, because of details that I cannot tell you here."

"You, my good lady, are a vampire," Hermione said after a moment of silence. "No one else is so secretive about their home, or their acquaintances." Emera grinned at her, confirming her assumption as she saw the fangs. "Now, what really bothers me is why you've taken Harry in." Hermione smiled at Emera. "Would you like to stay for dinner?"

"Depends on what you're serving," Emera countered. Hermione laughed.

"I'm starting to like you too," she said, standing. "I shall ask my family permission to go with you, but I'm sure they'll agree. They're used to me going away now."

At dinner…

"Most definitely not!" Charlene Merricks-McGrath proclaimed when Hermione told them she was leaving. George, her husband, placed his head in his hands as she continued. "Hermione, we are here for a family vacation-!"

"It's not exactly a family vacation if I stay at my home, now is it?" Hermione rebutted. Charlene was flabbergasted at her niece's gall to answer her back.

"Char, it's alright with us, and we're her parents. She needs to understand the world she joined. Its bad enough that we held her back a year. She could be graduating now," Jane Merricks-Granger told her oldest sister. Emera rolled her eyes discreetly. If only she had known that the family would have the longest discussion about Hermione leaving, then she would have sent someone else.

"But we've planned this for so long now, Jane! We haven't seen each other for so long-" Charlene argued.

"Oh, shush, Charlene!" Hermia Merricks-Adamson reprimanded her sisters. Emera had to have pity for her. How she had lived with these two women all her life, Emera would never know. The Merricks Sisters were now in a heated argument on whether Hermione stays or not. Emera grimaced as the front door banged loudly.

"I'm here!" a voice rang out. Chester muttered something crude under his breath. Another brunette appeared, looking about 21, and was clad in almost the same clothes as Emera.

"Oh," she said as she took in the scene. "This is about Hermione again isn't it?" Chester and Chelsea gave her a sour look, to which Helena reciprocated the act. She then spotted their guest, but was interrupted before she could greet her.

"Oh, yes," Hermione said sarcastically. "Welcome back, too, Helena." Helena gave her a look before stalking out of the room, forgetting about Emera.

"Are all of you brunettes?" Emera asked in reflection.

"Yes," the three cousins chorused.

"But your mothers are all blondes!" Emera exclaimed.

"And our fathers are too," Hermione added.

"But how did you get to be brunettes?" Emera asked. She had never been more confused in her life.

"Our great-grandmother," they chorused once again.

"Oh, genetics." Emera found herself being stared at by three sets of eyes. "What?"

"How'd you know about genetics?" Chelsea asked.

"I'm half," Emera repeated.

"Half what?" Chester pressed.

"Half-witch," Emera replied. 'Oh's were heard as the twins accepted her answer.

"She's going and that's final!" Jane said, loudly, earning a 'Yes!' from her daughter. Hermione ran around the table to hug her.

"Thank you, Mum! You're the best!" she said, running to her room to pack. Jane turned to Emera.

"When do you leave?" she asked.

"Now. We need to go to the airport to catch our flight," Emera answered.

"I thought that you could just pop anywhere you want to go, using those er- port keys?" Jane asked.

"Oh, we can't use portkeys without Ministry approval, and Apparating to other countries are tiring. Besides, no one knows that Harry Potter is missing just yet. The news will be out in September."

"Oh," they all chorused. "But why can't the Wizarding World know about Harry's disappearance? Is he that popular?" Charlene asked.

"Yes. Plus the fact that Voldemort is back, Harry needs all the training he can get. Since Hermione is staying with us for a few weeks, she can get the same treatment too. That way, she'll be more versatile and will be able to react faster during an attack."

"Hey," Hermione panted, running back in. "I'm ready." Emera smiled.

"Good. Come on then, we need to Apparate to the airport. That's how we get to Harry."

Casa di Valerii…

"Faster, Harry, time's almost up." Harry, tired as he was, used every ounce of his energy to move faster to get his goal. CRACK! "Yes! That was great, Harry!" Vidar cheered as Harry fell tiredly onto the grassy lawn. Vidar laughed as he skipped over to his friend. "Come on, I'll help you get to bed."

"Thanks, Vidar," Harry said as Vidar changed his clothes magically, before falling asleep.