I don't own Hellsing or Harry Potter, and I'm not making any money from this.

The next month and a half went by like a blur. It seemed that time drifted by as if it were made up of nothing more than fleeting moments. Quiddich season started up, and Constance got her first view of how the sport played out in a real life setting. The rules were complicated to listen to, but seeing them acted out on the pitch was actually exciting. Of course, the first game of the season saw Harry nearly get thrown off his broom. No one could explain why it had suddenly gone haywire and began acting like a wild bull. The boys claimed that Snape had been putting a spell on it for some reason. They ignored the fact that the Potions Master took up referee duty after that and while he was in the air with them, there were no more incidents of it happening. Off the Quiddich field, classes began going through the motions of preparing for exams and such. The few weeks before Christmas break were filled to the brim with the stress of studying. The boys study plans were simple. They just sat in and listened while Constance and Hermione quizzed each other on various subjects. They thought they could just absorb their knowledge by being in the same room with them. Why they believed they would have a severe allergic reaction to opening a book was beyond the girls. But then all the tests, exams, and quizzes were over, and it was time to get ready to go back home for a while.

Outside, the air had grown frigid, and the ground was blanketed with snow. Hogwarts was decked out in full holiday regalia, right down to a massive Christmas tree in the Great Hall. It was so huge, Professor Flitwick had to use charms to float up the topmost ornaments. Students were allowed to stay at the castle for the holidays if they wished, but Connie was ready to go back home to see everyone. This was the longest she'd ever been away from her family, and she missed them terribly.

"Does your family have anything special planned?" Hermione asked as they were packing their things.

Constance thought about the New Years ball Her Majesty hosted every year. Hellsing would be expected to attend.

"I imagine there will be a party or two." she settled on saying. "How about you?"

"My parents and I are going on a skiing trip." the girl replied. "It'll be my first time doing it. I hope I don't wind up making a fool of myself."

That actually sounded like fun. Connie had never been skiing before. They placed the last of the things they would need into their trunks and locked them up so they could be put on trollies to go downstairs. Most of the students who were leaving for the holidays had already gone, but Harry and Ron were sitting at one of the tables in the Great Hall playing wizard's chess. It looked like neither of them planned on going anywhere.

"You're staying?" Hermione questioned when they got up to them.

The boys looked up from their game. Harry just nodded, while Ron huffed.

"Mom and dad are going to visit my brother Charley in Romania." he said.

She'd heard him talk about that before. Something about his brother working with dragons up there. Constance found herself wondering how many siblings the boy could possibly have. It sounded like the Weasley clan had a house full. The girls wished them a good holiday and bid them farewell.

The schedule for the Hogwarts Express was beyond any sort of logical understanding. Since many of the students left at different times, the train made several trips to London and back. Connie couldn't figure out why no one thought of rounding everyone up so they could all leave at once. But then, there were a lot of things about the magical world that didn't make much sense. The trip itself was long and quiet. She was finally allowed to sit in one of the Gryffindor cars toward the front, but Mihnea still had to stay with the Slytherins. When they finally arrived at the platform at King's Cross, neither of their rides had gotten there yet. They decided to wait together to pass the time. It was then that Connie noticed that her cousin was acting weird.

Mihnea always helped her carry her things. She never asked him to do it. It was just one of the things he did on his own out of habit. To be fair, he did assist her in pulling her trunk out of the baggage car, but when Hermione stepped up to get her things, his nostrils flared and he went very still. Then he just... quickly walked away. He didn't even say why. Just up and left without saying a word. It was the damnedest thing she'd ever seen. Hermione's parents showed up first, and Constance wished her a good holiday before watching them drive off. As they were waiting for Jackson, their butler, to arrive, she hounded Mihnea about his behavior.

"What on earth is going on with you?" she asked him. "You're acting strange."

"No I'm not." he replied. But his odd expression told her he knew exactly what she was talking about.

"Honestly," she said with a sniff. "You don't think running off like that was weir..."

"Drop it, Connie." he snapped. "I don't want to talk about it."

She immediately closed her mouth and studied him. Mihnea kept his eyes trained forward and his jaw clenched tightly. Something was bothering him. Maybe something happened at school before they left? She couldn't be sure, but it had to be important. Her cousin rarely got upset. Irritated or annoyed, yes, but getting truly upset was very uncommon for him. When he got that way, it was best to just leave him alone for a while. Jackson finally got to the station to pick them up, and it was a quiet ride to the manor.

When they got home, Constance was immediately met by her mother.

"A mountain troll, Constance? How the bloody hell did a mountain troll get into the school?"

So she was still upset about the incident that happened over Halloween. As she tried to explain that it was a fluke and everyone was fine, Mihnea sought out his mother.

"Dear God, boy!" the redhead exclaimed when she saw him. "Every time you come home, it looks like you've grown a foot! I'm going to have to put a brick on your head."

Mihnea was thirteen and already pushing 5'10. He would have several more growth spurts before he was through growing. The boy was going to be tall. He made a face at the comment, then brushed it off.

"Is dad downstairs?" he asked.

Syn paused and looked him over. She could tell that something was bothering him too.

"Yes, he's down there..." she told him, then gave him a concerned look. "Is something wrong?"

He shook his head. "Nothing's wrong. I just... need to talk to him."

"Ah." she said, understanding. "I'll ask Jackson to save you something from supper then. You can get it when you're through."

If he was going to have a talk with Alucard, it was probably about a vampire thing. Constance watched from the side as her cousin nodded, then turned to head down to the sub-levels.

Any time Mihnea had a serious conversation with his father, it was over a game of chess. It was a game of strategy and skill, the vampire told him. Something he needed to master to become a better fighter and leader later on. The boy was getting better, but he hadn't managed to beat Alucard yet.

"Something troubles you." his dad commented as he moved one of his pawns.

Mihnea kept his eyes fixed on the board. He had come down here for a reason. It just... wasn't the easiest thing in the world to talk about. He made a move, then drew in a breath.

"I've been... having problems."

The vampire showed no outward reaction. "Problems with school?"

"Not exactly." he said, then scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably. "It's the girls. They're driving me crazy."

His father glanced up and smirked. "Women tend to do that." he said, looking amused. "It's a distinctly feminine quality."

Well, yeah, girls could sometimes be annoying and bothersome, but that wasn't what this was about.

"I can... smell them." he said, embarrassed. God, this was mortifying. "I can smell the blood on them."

Alucard's fingers paused in moving his knight, and his eyes lit up in understanding. "Ah. So you're beginning to catch the scent of young girls blossoming into womanhood." he resumed his move and set the knight down on one of the squares. "It tempts you, does it?"

Mihnea's entire face went pink, and his father chuckled.

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about." he chided, still looking like he thought it was funny. "You're becoming a young man, so it's perfectly natural for you to start taking notice of young women. Especially young women who are actively bleeding." he leaned back in his chair. "You should think of menstruation as one of mother nature's little gifts. When you take a young woman for yourself, it will be the one time you can drink from her without having to bite."

"DAD!"

Geez, this was hard enough to do without him putting that image into his head. That was just gross.

Alucard gave him a wide, mischievous grin that showed a hint of fang. "There are many things you find disgusting now that you'll change your mind about when you're older." he said, making the boy's face grow even redder. "Now then, do certain girls 'drive you crazy' more than others?"

Mihnea overcame his bout of mortification and thought about it. Not all the girls gave him that weird feeling of wanting to pounce on them like prey – even when they smelled different.

"It's the younger ones." he said finally. "Most of the older girls don't bother me."

The elder vampire inclined his head. "The younger girls are more likely to be virgins. The blood of an innocent is especially enticing to our kind."

That actually made sense, but it didn't really help him with his problem.

"But what do I do about it?" he asked. "Will it go away?"

"You will develop a tolerance to it in time." he replied. "It's called 'puberty', my son. No one ever said it was pleasant."

Was that his way of telling Mihnea to just deal with it? His brows furrowed as he moved his rook to check Alucard's king.

"What happens if I snap and hurt someone?"

One of his father's brows rose slightly. "Have you done that yet?"

"No..." but that didn't mean the desire wasn't there.

Alucard moved his king out of harm's way. "You are not a slave to your urges, Mihnea. You are the master of them. The more you struggle against your desires, the less control you have. You must learn to accept them as a part of yourself and trust your instincts. The rest will come."

That seemed to be his parents' response to everything. Don't struggle, just accept. Maybe they had a point. But putting such a thing into practice was a lot more difficult than just saying the words. Mihnea studied the chessboard intently. He was dangerously close to being checkmated, and he was trying to find a way out of it. Alucard's voice distracted him.

"Perhaps it's time for you to begin drinking blood every day." the vampire commented. "The scent will be less overwhelming when your thirst is satiated."

The boy paused thoughtfully. He'd heard that he had needed blood a lot when he was an infant. By the time he was a toddler, he only required it once a week or so. But as he got older, he needed it more and more often. When he started going to school and was constantly surrounded by large masses of people, he'd taken to drinking blood every other day. He could survive without blood, of course, but without it, he became more irritable and displayed more of his vampiric traits. His canines lengthened and his eyes glowed red when he was hungry. He couldn't afford to let that happen while he was at school. Mihnea gave a small nod of understanding and moved his bishop to guard his king.

"Since we're on the subject, is there any particular girl who's caught your fancy?"

The boy looked up and blinked. Where had that question come from?

"No..." he admitted. "I'm not really interested in any of the girls at school. Most of them are stupid, and the rest are scared of everything."

The vampire laughed and smirked again. "A wise choice. It is much better to wait for someone worthy of your time than to dally with lesser women."

Mihnea became thoughtful. "How do you know when one is worthy of your time?"

"Oh, you'll know." Alucard replied. "There are two types of women in this world. Some are flowers, and others are swords. The flowers are pleasing to the eye and provide a few delights, but lack any real substance. A sword is a far rarer creature. They thrive in adversity and prove their usefulness and strength in battle while all the flowers crumble to dust. Being what you are, you would crush a flower. You require a sword, my son. Once you find one, you'll never have to worry about losing your self-control. They will be able to withstand you at your worst and still remain."

Huh. Mihnea thought. With 'swords' being as rare as he made them out to be, their house sure seemed to be full of them.

Swords and flowers? Syn thought to master vampire downstairs. Where the bloody hell did you come up with that nonsense?

I'm simply giving our son a lesson in what type of woman to look out for, little goddess.

What type of wo... He's fourteen, Alucard! Let him live a little before you start picking out marriage partners.

Edmund glanced over when he saw her odd expression. Their conversation in the sub-levels had been going on for a long time now, and Constance had already been sent to bed for the night.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

The redhead made a face. "Alucard is giving Mihnea dating advice."

Integra's good eye blinked, then she began rubbing her temples. "For the love of... Thank God the boy has your genes, Syn, or there's no telling what sort of bloody messes the vampire would have him bringing home."

Syn started to agree, then realized what she said. "Hey! Alucard brought me home, so his taste can't be that bad!"

"Why are you worried about him giving dating advice then?"

"I'm concerned about him telling our son it's okay for him to drag someone off by the hair like he did with me." she replied.

"I don't recall him dragging you here by the hair." The knight commented. "If I remember correctly, you were unconscious when you first arrived here."

"That's exactly my point." Syn said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Alucard is going to wind up teaching my son that it's okay to knock someone over the head and take them against their will, and that is not okay with me."

"Has Alucard ever knocked you unconscious, Syn?"

The redhead paused. "No... but... damn it, Integra! You know what I mean! Who's side are you on, anyway?"

Edmund just found the whole thing incredibly funny and started laughing.

A.N. : I'm pretty sure Integra is being completely literal with her statement. Syn was, after all, a 'bloody mess' when Alucard first brought her to the manor, so she's probably concerned about Mihnea bringing home a girl who'll drip blood on her Persian rugs or something.