I stalked into the dining hall, a smirk on my face and a plan in my mind. Most of my Elect were sprawled on the floor where they had collapsed last night in various states of undress, covered in the now deceased blood of the muggle. Strong wine and other spirits filled their cups and I knew that many of my people would be incapable of accomplishing anything today. They would be too busy nursing their heads and wishing that they had not become intoxicated.

At one point I had eagerly joined them in their games, foolishly believing that drowning myself with alcohol and blood would dull the pain in my heart and give me a few hours of respite from her memory. I would only wake up in the morning with a headache and an upset stomach in addition to the usual depression from my lost love.

Even though the rest of my people still played this sport, I could not fault them for trying to fill the empty spot in their soul that she had left. It might not have worked for my soul, but for those who were not as emotionally involved with her as I was, every little thing helped.

I poured myself a glass of red wine and settled into a seat to wait for my court to wake. Once they were ready to listen, I would give them tasks that would fill up all of their hours until they did not have any time left to mourn. I may not be able to move away from my pain but I could ensure that my Elect grew beyond her death.

The sun was beginning to sink below the tree line before the first stirred. I was watching the sun set in brilliant shades of blood red and fire orange and wishing that it was my blood dripping into the fiery sky.

My second in power, Blaise Zabini was the first to wake. He untangled himself from his love, my fourth in power, Pansy Parkinson, and walked over to stand behind my chair. If he was in any pain, Zabini was intelligent enough not to show it. Pain was weakness and I deplored weakness.

When the sun had settled behind the trees of the forest I turned to look at him. Zabini bowed down to me in a low bend that showed me his vulnerable neck. He had hair that was such a dark black that it seemed to draw the color out of the air around him and his eyes were the midnight sky. As the next in line he was second in power and second in beauty only to me.

"What does my king wish of me?" He asked in a musical timbre that resonated at things deep in the body.

"Wait until the rest are aware." I answered in an abrasive voice that was the last thing you heard before death called you home. "I wish to only explain myself once." Zabini nodded and returned to his silent vigil at my side.

His mate, Pansy, joined him minutes later. Her hair was as black as a moonless night and her eyes were the full moon that the wolf howled to on lonely winter nights. Their child joined us next. The sleepy seven-year-old boy walked downstairs and took his place with his parents. He looked remarkably like Blaise, with the same dark hair and facial features. His mothers' moonlit eyes shone out from his face. The boy was childlike in his beauty and when he grew into his powers he would rival his father in dominance. My third Elect, Jason Moon was the next to wake. His hair was the color of lightning and his eyes were black with streaks of lightning running through them. Our power had touched our bodies in strange ways. Moon had the most unique eyes.

Together we waited for the rest of the Elect to wake.

It was fully dark by the time everyone was coherent enough to understand what my orders were. The court formed ranks and turned to look at me expectantly.

I stood up and addressed them formally. "I have recently spoken with the Order of the Phoenix and they have begged me for our assistance. It seems that there is a rogue Vampire killing humans and they are unable to stop the destruction this vampire has been creating."

"My lord, what does this have to do with our power?" Once of the newer Elect, Daniel Stan asked cautiously. It was never a bright idea to appear too forward in my court. If you annoyed me, I might decide to eliminate you.

I smirked evilly and answered. "The Order will owe us a boon for our assistance and we now have the satisfaction of knowing that the great Order of the Phoenix believes that we are more powerful than they." There were smirks gracing all of the faces in the room as the advantages of what I had explained became apparent. We had the Order under the crushing weight of our feet.

"Form groups. I want the entire island searched for any sign of this Vampire. Zabini, you will take the groups and assign them an area to thoroughly search. I want this vampire found by the end of the week." I sat down again and let my underlings begin to plan.

I I I

Satisfaction, I could feel some ones smug satisfaction. It emanated down the link that connected us; a link that I could not find and could not trace. This emotion even overpowered the constant feelings of loss and sadness that this person was always drowning in. It was painful to feel the bereavement from the muted link. I did not even want to imagine what it felt like in person. It must be torture.

For some reason this person was familiar. I think I should easily be able to recognize this person. Yet, strangely enough when I tried to contact him, all I could find was a sensation of love and happiness. The sorrow was foreign.

I could not remember his name!

I remember who I am and I remember my family, Mum, Dad, Ron and the rest of my brothers. I remember Hogwarts; I remember Voldemort and how he killed me. I remember fighting as a First Elect. I don't remember who the other First Elect was. I can't even come up with a face. All I know is that he is very important to me. He is the person on the end of this link.

I still could not remember his name. Even though he is the most significant person in my life, I cannot remember who he is. It tore at my soul and ripped at my heart to know that he is in pain and I cannot go to him because I do not remember.

I sighed and sat down on a rock in the woods I was currently staying in. I was in a clearing that was very similar to the one I first woke up in. The sun was shining on my head, warming the air around me, and yet, I still felt cold and alone. Who ever is on the other side of the link feels the same way. He can be out among the happy and the painless but he will never escape his loss.

Now I could feel his disappointment in his people, our people. I think he wants to find whoever has been attacking people. I smiled. Maybe I would let him find me. I will let him get information about me.

I propped my body on an elbow and started thinking. If I played my cards correctly, my mate would find me and would answer some pressing questions about himself, whether he wanted to or not. I was going to make sure that we were reunited. It was the least I could do, since I had left him alone for seven years too long.

III

The entire island had been combed for clues and my Elect had found nothing. There was not even a trace of blood, a footprint, or a person who had seen the Vampire. It was frustrating.

I snarled at the assembled Elect and stood up from my throne. They cowered at my feet, scared that my rage was going to be directed at them.

"You are telling me that this Vampire does not exist!" I hissed, my voice a deadly whisper in the silent hall. "You are the strongest creatures in existence, and you are unable to find a single clue!" I walked down to the door of the room, swirling my cloak ominously around me. "You have another week. I expect more positive results next time, or else!" I walked out of the room and slammed the door behind me. Those incompetents could not find a single Vampire! I will have to find the vampire myself. With an angry snarl I stalked up to my room to get changed. I needed to put on some traveling leathers for my search.

A loud hoot sounded from somewhere above me as I pulled my dragon hide armor over my head and carefully slipped it into place. Pig was back with a short letter in his beak. I snarled at the miniscule owl and went over to the mirror to put my hair up. The idiotic bird started flying in low circles around my head, making it impossible to braid the sides out of my face. With a snarl that showed the owl my very sharp teeth, I grabbed the bird out of the air and ripped the letter out of his mouth. The owl went winging out the window as fast as his tiny wings could carry him, hooting pitifully as it flew.

I opened it and read it quickly. It was one sentence long.

Come to the Hog's head for some very important information pertaining to the Vampress.

At the bottom of the letter was the old fool's phoenix seal. So Dumbledore had some important information for me. That is very nice. I sniffed. It was really too bad that I was going traveling to look for this Vampire now; therefore, I would not need any outside help. After all, I am the First Elect and no one stays hidden from me for very long.

I looked at the letter in my hand with a sneer. Dumbledore could wait until after I killed this Vampire to tell me what he knows. I lifted my hand to chuck the letter into the fireplace when one word caught my eye.

Vampress

We were not searching for a Vampire; we were looking for a Vampress. This murderer was female! With a sigh of annoyance I pocketed the letter and went to get a more formal dress. I needed to look important for my meeting with Dumbledore.

I had been waiting for an hour! The old fool had kept me waiting in this grungy, dirty old bar for an hour while these common folk stared at me behind my back and whispered about me as soon as they thought they were out of earshot. Then, when the disgusting barkeep had come up to me to ask what I wanted to drink, he nearly fainted when I asked for fresh blood.

Five minutes later, Dumbledore came strolling into the bar with a smile on his old face and a twinkle in his eyes. I almost jumped up to kill him. Instead I chose stoic silence as my greeting.

"Ah, Mr. Malfoy, have you been waiting long?" He asked with a small knowing smile.

I carefully restrained my temper and shrugged. "What information do you have?" I asked with barely controlled anger.

Dumbledore's smile grew as he pulled a rather tattered piece of parchment from his pocket. "This was sent to me early this morning." He held out the letter and I gingerly took it. It would not do any good for my image to hold a dirty scrap of paper, but it would be worse if I refused to touch it.

Dear Whoever,

I have heard from a reliable source that you are looking for me because of my recent attacks on an innocent village. Good luck trying to find me. I was taught how to cover my tracks by the best. Unfortunately, I want to be found. So, I decided that if I didn't help you fools you would still be looking for me in ten years. After all, it has taken you seven years to decide to start looking for me; I shudder to think how long it would take you to put out a sufficient search party now that you finally have the right people looking.

Therefore, I think I have the right to make some demands. I want to talk to the leader of the Elect. He has the answer to some pressing questions of mine. If anyone else decides to show up, I will run.

I am in The Royal Forest of Dean so have the leader of the Elect come and talk to me.

Sincerely,

Your Rogue Vampress

"So it is a girl," I sighed as I handed the letter back to Dumbledore. "I will go and talk to her." I said as I stood up.

"Wait a minute," Dumbledore held up a hand. "I have more to tell you."

I looked down my nose at Dumbledore for a few seconds then sat down with a sniff. "Very well," I snarled coldly. "Talk."

"Lucius Malfoy has escaped from Azkaban and has decided to call all of the former Death Eaters and their supporters back together. Lucius has emptied Azkaban of all of the Death Eaters and they have all disappeared somewhere in the countryside. Our Aurors have been unable to locate this threat. The only information our spies can tell us is that Lucius is planning to destroy the Elect first. Then he will finish the work that Voldemort started by killing muggles and muggleborns." After waiting a moment for me to collect myself and respond to his shocking news, Dumbledore stood up and quietly walked out of the bar without a backwards glance.

My father, the bastard who worked for Voldemort, was on the loose! I snarled to myself. Why was Lucius still alive?

I had decided. As soon as I finished with the Vampress, the Elect were going to capture Lucius and bring him to the castle for some fun with knives and chains.

I dropped a galleon on the table, snarled at the hooded couple sitting at the table next to mine, and stalked out of the bar. It was time to have a little talk with a Vampress.

III

I could feel him coming closer. My love was finally journeying to find me. I have to set the trap perfectly. He needs to understand who I am and that I have no memories of him. He needs to know that even though I do not remember him, I still love him with all of my broken heart.

He needed to learn everything that had happened to me in the last seven years before he tried to kill me.

III

It was dark by the time I finally arrived at the forest.

I carefully searched the ground for something that would lead me to the Vampress. I could not find anything and I was quickly becoming extremely frustrated. This Rogue did not leave any trails of footprints or broken branches for me to follow. I hadn't even been able to find a scuffmark on a rock and I had the best eyes in the entire Elect. Instead of following a set path I was forced to shuffle my way through the woods blindly.

I was not lost, an Elect could not get lost. I merely did not know which direction I was traveling in and which direction was the way out. I continued walking straight ahead, hoping for some form of a clue that would either show me how to get out of this damned forest or lead me to the Vampress. I stopped walking a few minutes later and leaned casually against a tree. I was in the forest where the girl had told me to meet her, I would just wait for the Vampress to show her ugly face.

I waited for an hour before I became inpatient. I stalked off into the wood again, not caring which direction I was going in. After walking aimlessly for a few minutes I closed my eyes and used my powers to see the trees around me as I moved forward. Suddenly there was a blinding flash of light to my left that seared along my inner senses, leaving me blind with my eyes closed. With a snarl I opened my eyes and turned to my left. I almost groaned aloud before catching myself. There was light flickering through the trees. It was the wavering, unpredictable light of a fire.

I slowly made my way over to the fire while being careful not to make any noise by stepping on a stick or rustling leaves. I peeked through the foliage to see a small girl sitting in front of the fire with her back turned toward me. I could make out dark red hair and a small, trim, clearly female body through the unpredictable light.

I carefully sharpened my eyesight and took another look at the girl. I soon wished that I had never been sent on this mission.

Ginevra, my First Elect Ginevra, was sitting in front of me.

III

He was close, very close. He was actually right behind me. I smiled slightly in anticipation. Soon, very soon, I would know the answers to my questions.

The smile fell from my face a moment later when I felt disbelief and debilitating heartbreak radiate along our link. He was most definitely not happy to see me.

Introductions were going to be much harder than I originally thought.