Lovers In a Dangerous Time

Chapter One

Kick at the Darkness

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The pain was more than Harry could stand. Not from the broken ribs but from the searing heat that seemed to be storming his body and mind. There he lay, on his parents grave withering in pain, a pain unlike anything he had ever felt in his life. His back arched violently as more stabbing pain trailed his spine and shot into his head. His heart was beating so fast he thought it would jump from his body at any moment. He felt his skin ripping and tearing as blood seemed to spill from every location imaginable. His eyes were suddenly so painful that he saw everything in a blur.

His glasses broke and shattered as he rolled onto his front and became violently ill. His body shaking with convulsions. The pain was so intense he pulled at his hair and clawed at the earth to find relief but none came. He reached for his wand in his pocket to send for help but he couldn't control his arms as they began to spasm and shake along with his legs. Then as if nothing was ever wrong all the pain ceased leaving only the feeling of slight discomfort over his two cracked ribs. Relief seeped through him as he thought that whatever was wrong with him was over, but he thought two soon. With one shooting pain that rivaled all the ones before his whole body shook then the world went black as his heart stopped. Harry saw one fleeting glimpse of the stars that shown through the trees above before his body went limp, and he died.

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"Where is he, surely he didn't have that much to say to his parents." Ginny said nervously as she paced around the living room of the Burrow. "I'm going to go looking for him."

Fred who was sitting on the couch with his feet propped up on the coffee table looked at his sister with amusement. "He didn't say he was coming straight here, he just saved the world, don't you think he has a bit on his mind right now. Besides, he could be at the hospital with Hermione."

Ginny shook her head violently, "No, I know Harry to well. If mum told him to come here tonight then he would have came here, no where else. If he was going to the hospital he would have said so back in the forest. Please help me look for him, I mean come on, it's been three hours!"

"Has it really?" Fred asked as he looked down at his watch, clear worry spreading over his face. "Well, alright it is almost two o'clock in the morning. But let's stop by Lupin's first, Harry could have went there."

Ginny looked affectionately at at her brother as she nodded her head in agreement. "That's a good idea Fred, let's go. I'll grab my coat."

Fred and Ginny arrived outside of a small house on the outskirts of Hogsmead where Lupin and Tonks lived. They choose to live close to the woods to avoid any potential harm to the villagers in case Lupin missed his monthly dose of potion. Ginny pounded frantically on the front door and was startled at how quickly it opened. Tonk's appeared at the door still dressed in her jeans and t-shirt from the day.

"Hey Ginny, Fred. Come on in." Tonks said as she opened the door for them to enter. "Why were you trying to knock down our door?"

It was a small home but cozy and every inch of it had been clearly decorated by Tonks. The living room was full of bright colors and fuzzy rugs. A small fire was crackling in a solid black stone fireplace, just above it hung a photo of Lupin and Tonks, holding hands and smiling at the late night visitors. Had Ginny not been in such a hurry at the moment she would have loved to of seen the rest of their home.

Ginny looked across the room to see Lupin also still fully dressed, reading a newspaper on a large overstuffed green couch. "I'm glad we didn't wake you guys but with everyone else in the hospital over Hermione we didn't know where else to go."

"What's wrong." Lupin asked as he lowered his paper and looked at Fred and Ginny curiously.

Fred put a hand on Ginny's shoulder to calm her down. "Well, it's been almost three hours and Harry never came to the Burrow. We were wondering if he stopped by here tonight?"

Lupin shot a nervous look over to Tonks, "No, we haven't seen him since we left Godric's Hollow."

"That's it, I'm going back there." Ginny said as she crossed towards the front door.

"You don't think he's at the hospital?" Tonks asked, clear worry in her eyes.

"No, something tells me he's in trouble." said Ginny. "I can feel it."

Lupin shot up and grabbed his wand off the table, "I'm going with you. Tonks you stay here and send a signal if you hear from him. I'll take Ginny and Fred and go back to Godric's Hollow." Tonks gave Lupin a quick peck on the cheek then opened the door for the three of them to exit.

Ginny couldn't help but feel greatfull towards Lupin for helping her without question. She had never felt so nervous in her entire life. Every ounce of her being was telling her something wasn't right. She could almost hear Harry's distressed voice coursing through her. She always felt that they shared a tight bond and now that the war was over she was desperately hoping to explore their relationship. She felt a pang of guilt over just leaving him alone after the events that unfolded this evening, how could she of been so stupid to of left him.

Almost as if Lupin was reading her mind he said, "This isn't your fault Ginny. Harry's a grown man, he can protect himself."

Without second thought the three of them apparated back to the battlefield from a few hours ago. The faint smell of burning wood still lingered in the air as they hit the ground and started to comb the area looking for Harry. While Fred and Lupin walked among the trees, Ginny headed straight for the small graveyard that rested near the edge of the forest. She wasn't within one hundred feet when she saw him, Harry, curled up on the ground, motionless. She screamed for Fred and Lupin then put every ounce of energy in her to run to Harry.

Ginny covered the distance surprisingly fast only to come to a sliding halt when she neared the headstones. The image before her was life altering. Harry was covered in his own blood, forming a small pool around his body. His glasses were busted and leaning to one side of his overly pale looking face. His body was contorted in odd angles giving him the look of a rag doll that had been tossed to the ground carelessly. But more noticeable than any mark on his body was the fact that he wasn't moving an inch. Ginny pressed a hand to his chest and almost screamed when she realized he wasn't breathing.

Fred and Lupin arrived beside her, clutching for air as they surveyed Harry for themselves. Fred turned green from the site of so much blood, he had to turn away to avoid being ill. Lupin however seemed to be more concerned with a visible mark on Harry's neck. He leaned over Harry's still body and pressed his fingers to two small, round marks that were bleeding slightly. Lupin pulled back, stood up and scanned the trees around him.

"Both of you, pull your wands out." Lupin demanded.

Ginny who was in tears at this points sobbed as she pulled out her wand, "Lupin, what's going on? He's not...he's not...d-dead is he?"

"In a manner of speaking he is." Lupin replied coldly as he continued to scan the forest. "He has been attacked."

Fred who had stood up to help scan the area to avoid looking at Harry said, "Well that's obvious but by who?"

"The question isn't who, but what?" Lupin replied as he took a few steps away from Harry's body.

Just as Ginny was about to question him further a gushing wind came sweeping over them, moving the heavy tree branches above them. As if revived by the wind, Harry's body twitched violently as he sat up quickly and took a great heaving breath almost as if he had been under water for a long period of time. Ginny nearly fainted as she watched Harry's chest expand and contract deeply, sucking in as much air as he possibly could. Ginny leaned forward to hug him tightly but was pulled back by Lupin who had fear seeping over his face.

"Don't do that Ginny, stand back from him and keep your wand drawn." Lupin ordered as he continued his tight grip on Ginny's arm.

Harry looked up into Ginny's eyes but something wasn't quite right about him. His skin was so pale he almost looked transparent. His eyes seemed to have doubled in size as a twisted grin spread across his blood stained face. He looked at Ginny with a hunger and passion that could of stopped anyone in their tracks. Slowly he stood, swaying slightly as he reached his full height. Harry took several steps forwards, still eying Ginny intently. Suddenly he jumped at her with a cat like grace and before he could reach her, his body went still and he fell to the floor with a dull thud.

Ginny broke free of Lupin's grasp and ran to Harry. His eyes seemed to be screaming in horror as he looked up at her, completely unable to move his body, but still clearly awake and alert. She pressed a hand to his face and wiped a line of blood off his cheek. She continued to gaze down at Harry as she spoke with clenched teeth.

"Somebody better tell me what's going on right now or so help me I'll..."

Lupin put a hand on her shoulder in a gesture of relief. "I'm not sure exactly how to say this but you see those two marks on his neck." he pointed to the two now healed bite marks. "He has been bitten by a vampire."

Ginny almost laughed at the absurdity of his statement, "If he was bitten by a vampire then he would be dead, why is he still alive?"

"That's not true, just cause you get bit by a vampire doesn't' mean you die, only if they take enough blood will that happen." Lupin corrected.

Fred who had finally figured out what was going on leaned down on the other side of Harry and looked at his sister with pity. "He did die Ginny. But he has...he has..."

"He was turned. A vampire bit him then fed him his own blood, so that makes Harry a..." Lupin was cut off.

"NO! This is mad, Harry's not a vampire. He just saved the entire world from Voldemort and your sitting here telling me some insane story about something from children's nightmares. Please explain to me what really happened." Ginny said with fury as she pulled Harry's head into her lap and began to stoke his hair, his eyes looking up at her with sadness.

"From what I understand, when a person is attacked by a vampire they can die if enough blood is taken. But in order for a new vampire to be created the one who fed on him has to feed him in return. Then his body shuts down, and he dies. After awhile he is reborn a vampire and can..." Lupin rattled on as if reciting a book.

"STOP IT!" Ginny shouted. "It can't be true, it just can't be."

"Ginny, he's still Harry, just different now." Lupin said sadly as the realization of what has happened swept over him. "You don't think any less of me because I'm a werewolf right?"

"Fine, then why did you immobilize him?" Ginny asked.

"So he wouldn't attack you. He just awoke, he's going to have this natural instinct to take blood. He will have to learn how to not hurt people and control his hunger otherwise he will go around attacking people." Fred said as he tried to aid Lupin in his efforts to make Ginny understand.

"I think he's calmed down, can we unbind him now?" Ginny asked, almost pleaded with Lupin.

Lupin looked at Harry nervously, almost afraid of his presence. He wasn't sure if he wanted to risk releasing him in this very open location with so many muggles living only miles from here. "Let's bring him back to the Burrow and put him in a locked room so we can think about this some more."

"Damn it! He's not some prisoner, he can control himself." Ginny hissed.

"He may not be able to Ginny, you have no idea what it's like not having control of your body and mind. I do, it's a hard thing to fight. The best thing for him right now is protection and we can give that to him. Let me take him back to your house and talk to him, I want to be sure he has his urges in check." Lupin said as he leaned over Harry and looked into his eyes.

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Harry rested on the ground, unable to move, listening to the conversation that was taking place around him. Pure terror seemed to be pushing through his nerves. Was it true? Have I become a vampire? He was ashamed of himself for trying to attack Ginny. When he awoke his heart was beating so fast and his head was spinning. He had never been so hungry in his entire life, and not for food or drink but for blood. The thought sickened him, had his muscles not been set still he felt as if could have been violently ill.

The very thing he vowed to never do, hurt the ones he loved, he tried to do and with vengeance. He wasn't sure what he wanted to do to Ginny exactly but he was grateful that Lupin had stopped him. He was sure had he not that Ginny would be dead at this very moment. Fear unlike anything he had ever felt was overwhelming him. Not fear of becoming a vampire, not fear for being magically bound, but fear of himself. He felt as if he had no control over who he was and how he acted. He wanted to remain bound for all eternity for ever even thinking of harming another person let alone Ginny.

Harry continued to gaze into Ginny's eyes as Lupin levitated him off the ground and stood him upright. Harry could feel his blood boil as Ginny wrapped her hand through his arm to hold him still in the air. He felt unclean and tainted, he wanted her to let go of him and move far away. He feared for her safety and the best way to protect her was to be as far away from her as possible. As Ginny disapparated, taking him with her, he couldn't help but think that the moment they unbound him he was running as far away from Ginny as he could and nobody was going stop him.