I am not JK Rowling and do not own Harry Potter

Chapter Two: Awakening

Fangs. Harry has fangs. Okay, focus, Hermione, you can do this.

"Harry, how do you feel?"

"Parched, Hermione, I feel parched. And hungry."

"Okay, Kreacher has something already prepared for you. You've been injured, so just stay in bed until he gets back, alright?"

Kreacher popped away and then back within a minute. In his hands were four phials.

"Kreacher has things for Master to drink. If Master does not like what Kreacher brought, Kreacher will bring something else."

Warily, Harry took the first phial from the elf and raised it to his lips. After the first taste, the rest went quickly, and he reached out his hand for the rest of the phials.

Gods, he doesn't even realize he isn't swallowing, but pulling the contents through the fangs.

After finishing the last phial, Harry looked from Kreacher to Hermione and back again. He again licked his lips, then focused on Hermione.

"How do you feel now, Harry?"

"Better. Was that a new nutrient potion or something? It was a lot better than what Madam Pomfrey used to give me at Hogwarts."

"What do you remember about last night?" Hermione asked carefully.

"Not much, actually. We went to that new restaurant that opened on Diagon Alley, you wanted to check if a book you ordered had come in at Flourish and Blott's, but after that, not much."

"Okay, do you remember anything just after we left the bookshop? It's important, Harry, so please try to remember."

"I remember the Alley was crowded, and we decided to come back here to Grimmauld. I think I remember someone was screaming, but didn't know who it was, just that the voice was a woman's. It reminded me of what the Dementors made me remember third year about Mum and Dad."

"Can you remember anything else? Anything at all?"

"Just pain, and waking up here to you telling me I'd been injured. Hermione, did something happen last night? Have I hurt someone without knowing it?" Harry's voice cracked in fear.

Oh, dear. He doesn't remember the attack. And with Harry's temper, this could be very bad.

"Harry, the screaming was from a young woman who was being attacked. So you ran in the direction the screams were coming from to try to help. And you were able to help her; you stopped the attacker from hurting her. Unfortunately, the attacker turned on you instead," Hermione explained.

"And that's how I was injured? What did the Healers say at St. Mungo's? Despite me hating hospitals, I know you would have insisted on it."

"You weren't seen at St. Mungo's, Harry. Despite me arguing with the woman, the Welcome Witch refused to allow you inside to be treated. According to her, it was policy. So I brought you home and did my best to help you myself with Kreacher's help. We've been watching you all day."

"That makes no sense, Hermione. St. Mungo's can't just refuse to treat someone that needs help, can they?"

"Allegedly they could because of the way you were injured. Harry, the attacker you stopped when helping the young woman, the one that turned on you instead, was a vampire, and more than likely a rogue vampire. Allegedly St. Mungo's doesn't treat vampires, so the Welcome Witch refused to let you be seen."

As though her words had placed a silencing spell, Harry's mouth opened and closed a few times with no sound coming out. Hermione braced herself for the explosion.

"Refused to let me be seen? I get attacked by a bloody VAMPIRE and she refused to let me be seen?"

"That's why I tried to treat you myself. I had to try, Harry. So I healed the wound and gave you a Blood Replenisher. I didn't know how you would be affected by the attack, so Kreacher and I have been watching you."

"So what now? Because I have no bloody clue what the attack did or what it might mean."

"While I was watching you, I made a list of everything I could remember about vampires from Muggle folklore; you know Hogwarts didn't teach much about them when we were in school, and what they did teach was in that folklore. I also made a list of things we need to find out, like if a vampire is allowed a vault at Gringotts, how it might affect a House, that kind of thing. We also need to find out if the Wizengamot can strip you of being Head of House Potter."

"Hermione, I'm the last of my family; they wouldn't do that, would they? We don't even know if I'm a vampire yet; the attack might not have changed me."

"Oh, Harry," Hermione said quietly as tears formed in her eyes, "I think it did. Do you remember swallowing when you drank the phials Kreacher gave you?"

"Hermione, I drank them, so I must have swallowed what was in the phials."

"No, Harry, you didn't. You held them to your lips, but you didn't tilt them back the way someone drinking a potion would. Only your lips and one or two teeth touched them."

"I don't understand, Hermione. What are you trying to say?"

"You have fangs now, Harry. You drank what was in the phials with your fangs. Since I didn't know if you would change, I asked Kreacher about getting some blood. That's what was in the phials, Harry."

Harry was quiet as he thought about what Hermione was saying. The attack, being refused treatment, Kreacher and Hermione watching over him, Hermione saying he had fangs, and now being told that Kreacher had given him phials full of blood. As he kept turning it over in his mind, he couldn't seem to find a way to dispute that the attack had changed him. He was the last of his family, and he was a bloody vampire. He saw his dreams of having a family of his own fade away; he didn't even know if vampires could have children. Panicked, he looked at his best friend.

"Hermione, I don't know what to do now. Will you help me? I don't even know where to start."

"Harry, calm down. We'll get you through this, somehow we will find a way, I promise."

"What about children, the family I wanted? Can vampires even have children?"

"I can add that to the list of things to research Harry. Whether it's in the Muggle world or Wizarding, I'll do my best to find out. We also need to find out if there's a Clan somewhere with someone you can talk to. I don't know how much I would be able to help with questions directly relating to vampires. Research can only do so much."

"That might be the first time I've heard you imply that research might not help with finding an answer."

"Don't get used to it, Harry James," Hermione joked.

"Kreacher, how did you get the blood? It couldn't have been easy," Harry asked the house elf.

"Miss wasn't sure where to find blood for Master should he need it. Kreacher asked Master's friends for help."

"I can't imagine what they're thinking now. Merlin, some of them might even be wondering who would take control of the estates for Potter and Black. Wouldn't being changed now mean I'm classified as undead or something, Hermione?"

"Finding that out is on the list, Harry, trust me. But it does bring up something I wanted to ask you about. Do you have any parchment that would say who would take over looking after those estates if you were injured or incapacitated badly enough you couldn't do it yourself?"

"I do, actually. One copy is at Gringotts, and the other is in my office here. Top left hand drawer of the desk."

"Good, we might need those if the Wizengamot tries to say that vampires can't hold estates as a way to control what you have."

"Let's hope they don't find out. I still remember the hell Remus went through trying to survive with the laws about werewolves. Fuck, Hermione, this could cost me my job as an Auror."

"One step at a time, Harry. Let me do some research first, okay? Stay in bed a little longer and rest; I'll go look for the parchments we talked about. Kreacher can stay with you until I get back, so you won't be alone. We still don't know just how quickly you'll recover from the attack."

"Fine, but you know I hate having to stay in bed."

Seeing Kreacher begin to clean the room around Harry, Hermione went down the stairs to Harry's home office. She shook her head, knowing that in most homes the room would be called a study, but Harry preferred to call it an office. Crossing the room to the desk, she opened the drawer and pulled out the folios inside, checking for the notation which said what was in each folio. Finding what she was looking for, she put the rest of the folios back in the drawer and brought the folio to Harry.

Opening the folio, Harry took out the parchments, then focused on Kreacher.

"Kreacher, this is a direct order. You will not protest what is in this parchment, and will aid in every way the individual named to look after my affairs in the event I am unable to do so, showing said individual every respect. Do you understand this order?"

"Kreacher will obey, and aid the individual you select, Master."

With a nod of satisfaction, Harry handed the parchments to Hermione. She quickly scanned the documents and paled.

"Harry, this will need verified through Gringotts to be accepted as valid, you know this, right?"

"I do know it, which is why there's a copy of the documents at Gringotts."

"And you're sure this is what you want?"

"Absolutely sure. The only person I could think of to take care of the estates if I couldn't do it myself has never let me down, never left my side, and is someone I did and do trust with my life. There was never any doubt that the person I should choose for this was you, Hermione. Will you do it?"