Hooray,finally a new chapter(although it was written about...2years ago)
Chapter8:Mirrors and Stakes
"I think we should go to our room,Gabriel!"said Harry,while he was looking around at the scared faces.
"Mate,I think that is a good idea!"Ron said,who had just came to them.
Behind him Harry could see Hermione who was looking around until her eyes fell on Gabriel,who was sitting on the chair opposite to Harry.As soon as she had caught sight of him she ran towards him and threw her arms around him.Harry and Ron had to stiffle a laugh when they saw this.
"We were so worried about you!"Hermione exclaimed.
"I'm fine,don't worry about me.Takes more than this to bring me down!"He told her,unbeknownst copying Tonks words from earlier.
"Like what,Gabriel?"a cold voice coming from the window hissed at him.
Everyone in the room turned around to see who had spoken these words.There,half standing half crouching on the windowstill,was a woman.She was wearing only loose clothing and her eyes looked sort of Orange or Yellow.To Harry she seemed like some sort of a Veela,seeing as she looked so beautiful.But the most eye catching thing about her,was her devilish grin,revealing her pearly white corner teeth,which were a little longer than the rest.Everyone knew that this actually had to be a Vampire.
"Shina,long time no see!"Gabriel spoke to her and stood up from his chair,leaving Hermione stand behind him.
"Yesssss...quite long indeed it has been!"she hissed.
"Everyone behind me!"Gabriel whispered to the students,and then said louder:" How comes you are visiting me again?"
"My dear master has send me here to bring you and all of Hogwarts a message!"she replied.
"Which one of your master's?Was it Calysto,or Voldemort?"Gabriel said calmly,and Harry realized that he had used Voldemorts name making almost everyone in the common room flinch.
"This one is from Calysto: Join us my dear Gabriel,and reach unimaginable power,or we will perish you from the surface of this earth!While the other one is from my other master,and it is to be directed at Harry Potter!Join us my dear Harry,and reach unimaginable power,or we will perish you from the surface of this earth!"The Vampire told them.
"Well,seems like one of your masters is quite good at stealing lines!"Harry responded dryly.
"They don't expect an answer,but when I come again,they want your answers!"Shina said.
"You won't be coming again!"Gabriel shouted as he leapt forward,pulling a stake out of his trenchcoat.But it was too late,for the Vampire had already gone away in the blink of an eye.
Gabriel cursed frustrated that she had gotten away.
"Old friend of yours?"Ron asked.
"You could say so."Gabriel replied,sighing.
Harry,Hermione,Ron and Gabriel were waiting until everybody was gone from the common room,and then sat in front of the fire on the couches standing there.Tonks too had now joined them,after being told about the incident from earlier.
"So how comes you knew that girl?"Harry asked Gabriel.
"I know her through the job I am doing for the order,and from my home!"
"Why from your home?"
"She is one of the Dynastea circle.A group of Vampires who I lost my Family to!"Gabriel told them,evading the question.
"So,they've been killed then?"Ron asked.
"No,I lost them in a Poker-game,you know!"Gabriel replied sarcastically:"Of course they were killed by them!"
"I feel sorry for you."Hermione said to him.
"Thanks."
"So this is the work you're doing for the Order!You are a Vampire hunter!"Harry said.
"Yes,I am.I'm working actively for the Order since Dumbledore caught wind of Voldemort hireing Vampires for his work."
"So what was that message about,that is written on the wall,near the great hall?"Ron asked.
"I think it means that the leader of the Dynastea circle,Calysto has awaken from his slumber!And as I know Dynastea Vampires,they will stop at nothing to get fresh blood!The younger,the better!This is probably why they have chosen to attack this school,which fits perfectly into Voldemorts plans to get rid of Dumbledore,and also you Harry!I think it is time you told your friends your little secret."Gabriel said to Harry.
And so Harry told Ron,Hermione and Tonks finally about the prophecy.At first they were quite shocked,but then they calmed down,reassuring him about their support for him.
"We should get to sleep now!As I know Calysto,he will send back Elvira here soon,to get our answers!"Gabriel said.
"One last question please!"Ron shouted after Gabriel who had already stood up."Why did Snape call you "Angel" at the great feast?"
Gabriel's expression changed from tired and happy,suddenly to sad and a look of deep sorrow appeared on his face.
"Goodnight."he said,and walked off.
"You had to do that,didn't you!"Hermione fumed at Ron,as she too got up and walked to her room.
"I didn't know it would have that effect!"Ron exclaimed irritated.
"YOu should have,considering how everybody saw the look he gave Snape at the welcome feast."Tonks interjected.
Ron was about to reply,but no words came out of his opened mouth,and he simply got up and too walked to his room,leaving Harry and Tonks alone.
"Do you know the reasons why noone will tell us Gabriels last name?"Harry sighed.
"To a certain extent,yes.I've known Gabriel for some time now,both through the order and my job as an Auror,and trust me when I say that he is...complicated."the young Auror in disguise answered.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"In due time you might find out."
"Is he a criminal,since you know him from work?"
"No.But also yes.As I said,it's quite complicated."
"So how comes you've known him for some time?How old is he?"Harry inquired,hoping to finally get more answers,from the a person he respected,and secretly even had strong romantical feelings about.
"Sorry,the answer to your first question is a secret,not to be told by me,sicne I can't tell it.Secrecy charm.To the second,approximately 20,though he doesn't look like it.He can change his form,so that's why he looks like a regular teen right now,but he can't change himself like a metamorphmagus like myself can."
Harry listened attentively,but Tonks' answers raised more questions than they answered.He sat thinking quietly,while the fire threw flickering forms and shadows in the common room.He then looked up at Tonks,loosing himself in her sparkling Purple eyes.
"What do you really look like?"he whispered,afraid to ask the question with his full voice.
She looked at him suddenly shy,and cast her eyes downward.
"You really want to see?"
Harry only nodded,as she stood up,and slowly began to change her form.Her size increased only a little,so she was still a bit shorter than Harry,but her chest grew out a little,and her overall appearance became more distinctive feminine.Her hair grew long and slender to her shoulder blades,and was of black colour,while she still retained her heart shaped face.Her eyes too remained a purplish colour.
All Harry could do was to try and keep breathing,stunned by her appearance.Tonks looked at him expectantly,with a simmer of dread on her face.One look into her eyes,was all Harry needed to stand up himself,and take her in his arms,while their faces neared towards eachother,and their eyes slowly closed as their lips met.
----
The next morning the first thing Harry noticed after waking up from pleasant dreams of Tonks,was that Gabriel wasn't laying in his bed.It was quite early,so he decided not to wake anyone up,and made his way to the common room.He was quite surprised to find Gabriel and Dumbledore sitting there,in a deep conversation.
"So it is Calysto again who troubles us?"Dumbledore asked.
"Yes,indeed it's him.So what..."Gabriel broke up in mid sentence as he noticed Harry,standing on the stair leading to the boys dormitories.
Dumbledore who had his back towards Harry,also turned around and smiled at him,his blue eyes sparkling with energy.
"Good morning Harry!Gabriel has just told me about your Vampire encounter yesterday.So have you chosen your answer for them?"Dumbledore asked a bit worried.
"Yes I do have,I,by no means,have the intention of joining them."Harry replied,with as much conviction as he could.
After breakfast,Harry,Hermione,Tonks,Ron and Gabriel made their way to their first class:Transfiguration.Ron and Gabriel still hadn't talked to eachother,and everybody could see that Ron was incredibly unnerved at being ignored from the new student.At the moment they were discussing about how to become Animagi in class,which,Harry found,was quite an interesting thing to talk about.
"Ah,finally,I get to see you paying attention in my class!"As Professor McGonagall put it.
She greeted everybody and as everybody had found a seat,she started.
"Today I want to take you a step further into becoming Animagi.I want you to try and concentrate on the animal which you think suits you most,and then try to turn into it!"she explained to the class.
Hermiones hand shot up,and she said:"But Professor,it's Gabriels first lesson,he wouldn't know where to start to become an Animagi!"
"Mrs. Granger,I daresay,that Gabriel won't have any problems in this class."
Hermione looked at her with a confused look.
"You might want to show Mrs. Granger your Transfiguration skills,Gabriel."McGonagall added with a smirk.
Gabriel nodded,and closed his eyes.And before their very eyes they saw his head becoming longer and longer,more canine,his arms becoming legs with pads,and his whole body sprouting fur,until a perfect large,black shaggy dog took Gabriels place.Eveyone in the class had their jaws hanging to the ground.Then Gabriel turned back again into his human form,and everybody applauded.As soon as Gabriel had sat down again,the class continued with everybody trying to turn into an animal.
"So it was you who rescued us from Lupin that night at headquarters?!"Harry whispered to him.
"Yes,that was me!"Gabriel replied with a smile on his face,for he had earned Gryffindor 50 points with his skills.
Harry had also managed to advance in becoming an Animagi.He almost could do a complete transformation,though he didn't know what his eventual form would be,since he did not feel any pull in any animalistic "direction".The rest of the lessons they had on that Friday flew by rather quickly,and it turned out Gabriel was skilled in all of them.In their DADA lesson,Moody even appointed him to give a speech to the class about Vampires.
After their last lesson(Herbology),Gabriel walked over to Harry,and handed him something.Harry took a look at it,and saw that it was a two-way-mirror.
"I know,that you know how it works,I have one,and Dumbledore also has one."Gabriel told him.
Harry only nodded,for his thoughts had wandered back to Sirius as he had seen the mirror,as Sirius also had given him one,the previous year.
"Oh,and Harry,a Vampire will always lie to you,if it can profit from it!"
Harry looked a bit confused at his words,but then remembered that they were actually expecting a Vampire to turn up.
It was Friday evening,and almost all the Gryffindors were in their common room,amongst them were the trio,and Gabriel and Tonks.They were sitting on their favourite place in front of the fire.Outside was a storm raging.Then they suddenly heard a shrill laughter,coming from the window.It turned out as no surprise to them,that when they looked there,they saw the Vampire lady called Shina.
"Do you have decided your answers?"she hissed at Harry and Gabriel who had stood up from their chairs.
"Yes,we did!"Harry told her.
"So?"
"We both say no!"Gabriel told her."We won't surrender!"
The Vampire looked a bit surprised,but regained herself quickly.
"Potter,we could bring your Godfather back to life!"she said to Harry.
This time it was Harry's turn to be surprised.He thought about Sirius,and them being together again.He wanted to say Yes to Shina so badly now.He stumbled a few steps forward into her direction.He looked into her Yellowish eyes,and completely and utterly believed in her words.He heard voices whisper in his head:"See him again,laugh again,be happy again,join Voldemort,it's not bad,do it,don't listen to the others,...!"
He opened his mouth to tell her he would join,but he was interrupted when he felt a hand on his shoulder.He turned around and saw Gabriel there,who shook his head,and then Harry remembered his words:"A Vampire will always lie to you,if it can profit from it!"
So he looked back at Shina,and firmly said:"No!"
She looked at him with a hint of anger in her eyes,and then spoke:"You both now the consequences of your answers!Death!"she spat.
The next thing Harry knew,that he was lying on the ground.He had been tossed aside when the Vampire lady threw herself at Gabriel.They were both struggling on the floor now,and Shina had lost all her beauty in Harry's eyes,for she looked like some sort of demonic bat now.She had sprouted large leathery wings from her back,and looked like a very pale lizard now,even though he could still make out the shilouette of a woman,and also her face seemed like it was the same.Obviously she was trying to get a grip of Gabriel and bite him in the neck,or somewhere,where he was not protected by his leather clothing.In the common room there was total Chaos.Students ran around screaming,while others tried to hide under the tables.Harry looked around quickly,and made out a spot of red hair.He saw that it was Ginny.He ran over to her,while the battle continued.
"Ginny,run down to Dumbledore's office and tell him what's going on!The password is Coconut's Coconutter!"
And off Ginny went.Harry looked back at the fight,but didn't dare to use his wand,for he was afraid to hit Gabriel instead of the Vampire.But it seemed like Gabriel didn't need any help.He had pulled out a stake,and tried to hit it in the Vampire's heart several times,but never suceeded.Then Gabriel aimed,and thrust the stake with all his might,but the Vampire had dissappeared. Gabriel looked around hectically.It was completely silent,except for the thunder and the rain hitting hard on the windows outside.Then suddenly Harry saw the Vampire appear again behind Gabriel.He wanted to warn him,but it was to late.Shina had caught Gabriel off guard and was throwing him across the room,making him crash on the opposite wall.He stood up,and almost fell down again.There was no one left in the comon room now,only the trio,Tonks,Gabriel,and the Vampire.
"Dammit I hate you guys!"he said angrily and jumped forward,but the stake again only hit air.
Out of thin air Shina appeared again,this time a few feet away from Gabriel.She looked at the candles in the common room,and one by one,they went out,until it was almost completely dark in the room,except for a few lightning bolts from outside,which illuminated the room in a spooky blue light.Shina laughed,and Harry's insides tightened at the sound of this.
"Come on,my dear Gabriel,I know you can do better than that!"the Vampire laughed.
Gabriel just glared at her.Again there was a lightning outside,followed by thunder,and Shina had dissappeared again.
"Harry,use your mirror!"Gabriel shouted at him.
The next moment he was again sent flying through the air.But this time there was no wall behind him,he was heading directly at the window.Gabriel realized this and his expression changed to shock.Then he hit the window.It shattered into thousand pieces,but didn't block his fall.
"Nooooooooooo!!!!"screamed Hermione.
Harry couldn't believe his eyes.The impact on the ground would surely kill Gabriel.But then he heard a spell being incantated from outside.Shina,again in her human form,walked towards the window.Then suddenly,Gabriel jumped at her from outside,apparently,he had been waiting for her,standing on the windowstill,well hidden in the shadow.
Shinas eyes widened in shock as she saw his stake driving to her heart.The room was again illuminated by lightning,and Harry could only make out,that Shina somehow dissappeared,but not the way she did before,she vanished into dust.Now he could also see Gabriel,blood dripping from the corner of his mouth,and also from his clothes,were they had been torn.He was drenched,and Harry could even make out a few glass shards sticking in his coat.
"So long Shina."he said,and fainted,falling to the floor.