You - thanks for clarifying, that made a fair bit of sense!
-YDHP-
"I'm sorry. Please clarify this for me - did you just ask me to kill you?"
Vlad was sure he was supposed to say no to such requests. He did his best not to dwell on that.
"Yes. Not immediately, of course. There is much to be done this year."
"Why me?"
Dumbledore took off his glasses, wiping them on his robes before replacing them on his nose.
"Because I am, as you have surmised, already dying. I won't be around to continue taking down Voldemort, and you are the best hope Harry has. I also suspect you above all others would be willing to protect Harry's soul if possible."
Vlad felt like he was being slighted somehow, even if it was true enough he would do anything for his mate.
"If I can shield Harry from that, I will. But I also consider it naive to expect we can get through the war without Harry ever taking a life."
Harry had already been a part of Karkaroff's death. His soul might be whole, but it was no longer the first instance of Dorian Gray's portrait, unsullied.
"Perhaps, but if my last act can be to protect Harry's soul from my mark upon it..."
"At the expense of mine?"
Suddenly, the Headmaster looked very uncomfortable.
"Well..."
"I'm a vampire, what does it matter right? If that's all... I'll do what I can to shield Harry. Good day professor."
Vlad turned and left, hearing Fawkes trill sadly in his wake and felt bad for upsetting his kin. The door was locked, but he opened it with little difficulty after a silent unlocking charm. He hoped Dumbledore doubted himself.
By the time he was leaving the office, it was near time for class to end. He had to go to the Great Hall for dinner, then go see Bertrand. Vlad also needed to tell Ingrid that he was leaving - roles reversed, he believed Ingrid would do the same for him. Nobody else could understand that depth of need and connection to another person or vampire, whether they wanted it or not.
Vlad managed to get Ingrid and a couple of other Slytherins to come sit at the Gryffindor table that evening, some of the new comfort around each other thanks to their Defense group evident as the conversation between Theo and Neville flowed. Blaise and Ginny naturally sat together, and Vlad managed to tell Ingrid she had better come with him after they were done eating. She stabbed her rare steak with a knife, slicing a chunk off and rolling her eyes when Fred Weasley offered to chew her food for her.
"Must you be so annoying when I'm eating? Or ever?"
"Oh Ingrid, you wound me."
"Keep it up and I will."
Harry could tell something was off, but he obviously knew better than to ask Vlad at the table and he was self-assured that Vlad didnt hide things from him. Vlad did his best not to look suspiciously amused as Umbridge struggled to sit comfortably at the teachers table, focusing as intently as possible on his garlic and mushroom baked... thing. The elves had apparently began trying new recipes.
"We better go then, try not to irritate everyone with your cake habits Theodore."
Theo feigned distress and offence but smiled up at Ingrid as she stood, Vlad bidding his friends goodbye as he and Ingrid left for a 'meeting with their tutor'. He and Ingrid made it a couple of hallways away from the nearest Auror before he explained.
"Bertrand needs to leave Hogwarts, with Umbridge and the Aurors it isn't safe for him. It's barely safe for us. Anyway... I thought you would want to know he was leaving the building."
"Hm."
Ingrid didn't really acknowledge what Vlad was doing or offering her information on, but Vlad knew his sister; if she really didn't care, he would definitely known about it. Ingrid delighted in not only letting someone know she didn't care what they were saying, but that she didn't really care for their actual presence or existence either.
"I'm not going to see him. But... thanks for telling me."
"You're welcome. I better go. Be wary, the Aurors are trained against dark creatures."
Ingrid nodded, then zipped off. Vlad continued on to Bertrand's quarters, knocking the door and finding Bertrand staring out of his charmed windows waiting for nightfall.
"I apologise for leaving you so close to your final exams."
The burn on his face was still shiny, but would be invisible by the next day thanks to a mix of phoenix tears and vampiric healing.
"I'm not going to ask you to die for my education. Go raise your daughter, bore your boyfriend, don't eat the house elves. And putting together a reading list I can start at Christmas to start learning about my future job would be a big help."
Bertrand nodded, his rooms looking oddly sterile and empty.
"I've requested from the headmaster that these rooms be left for you to study in, and since you're largely responsible for the security charms I expect you'll not have too much trouble keeping anyone out."
"Thanks. Oh, give me your portkey?"
Bertrand looked confused, but handed over his charmed pocketwatch. Vlad closed his hand around it, focusing on altering the charms.
"Here" Vlad waited for it to not be in his hand, back in Bertrand's pocket "I've added the Chamber to your portkey, so hold it and say 'Chamber' and it'll bring you here. I'll set an alarm charm down there, but in an emergency you can get to us without having to wait for dark or dodge Aurors."
Bertrand nodded.
"Thank you."
"It's non-specific, because you might need to bring Raven or Severus with you and only one of them has your blood. So make sure nobody bad is touching you."
"Unconfident in your own security around Malfoy Manor?"
"No. But I would rather be overprotective than have Raven at risk when Harry is so attached to his baby sister."
It was very odd to ascribe such a term about his mate being connected to his vampire tutor.
"Very well. I must confess I'm eager to spend more time with Raven and Severus."
"Hardly surprising. Did you need anything in particular?"
"Oh. No. Except to ask how you really came by those tears earlier. They were too fresh to come from when you were held prisoner."
Vlad span on the spot for dramatics rather than verbalize an answer, the transformation easier and smoother every time. Bertrand's eyes widened as a phoenix sat on his floor, spreading his wings and springing up to land on the back of the sofa - some of the only furniture left in the room now.
"Lucifer be damned, that's certainly a surprise. May I?"
Bertrand held out a hand, not touching his feathers yet. Vlad nodded his plumed head, holding himself so Bertrand could observe and memorize the intricacies of his phoenix form. He could tell immediately from the feel that the one touching him was not human, the same way he would forever biologically respond to Harry's touch with an innate knowledge it was his mate.
"Is this a dark patch where your Dark Mark resides?"
Vlad nodded as best he could with a birds head, waiting until Bertrand was done circling him to hop down and change back.
"The Phoenix and the Basilisk."
He nodded, stretching his shoulders to relieve the strange ache of going from wings to none.
"Hey, Life and Death is a love story."
"Very true. And you yourself are evidence that the two can intertwine."
"Now so are you. Raven's the same as me."
Bertrand nodded.
"I often forget that. She's simply the most incredible occurrence in my unlife."
Vlad smiled.
"Then you'll be glad to spend more time with her. I had Hermione make you one of these" Vlad held out one of the charmed galleons "that's connected to mine. If you need us at Malfoy Manor, then hold it and imagine what you want it to say. Mine will get hot and the coins outside rim will reflect what you want it to say."
"Ingenious. Thank you."
"I better go. Got a distraction to arrange so you're less likely to run into Aurors when you leave."
Bertrand raised an eyebrow.
"I'm capable of getting out of here quite efficiently."
"Yeah, but now you're not my teacher you can't tell me off."
Rolling his eyes, Bertrand chuckled to himself.
"Very well. I will know nothing of it. I will see you at Christmas if nothing pressing occurs beforehand."
"Yeah. Hey, do me a favour? Get a camera and take some photos of Raven for me? I want them for Harry's Christmas gift."
"I'll see what I can do."
"Thanks. I better go, the twins are waiting."
As he left, Vlad checked nobody was around and cast an Invisibility spell on himself, silenced his shoes and ran toward where the Weasley twins were waiting. He slipped behind the tapestry they had agreed on - yesterday, having already been plotting the prank but now it was serving a dual purpose - and dropped the charm.
"Vladdo!"
"You ready?"
"Yeah. Needs to be timed for nightfall" Vlad checked his watch "so five more minutes."
"That's cool. Perfection can wait."
They waited four minutes, then each left in a different direction of the hallways, triggering a mix of decoy detonators, fireworks and the twins latest invention - portable swamps.
The noise was ear-splitting, colours and smells and explosions turning three whole corridors into absolute chaos that began to attract students. Vlad and the twins hid away under Vlad's invisibility spells, peering from behind a suit of armours alcove to see the damage. The portable swamp literally turned the whole corridor cross-space into a boggy marshland, sloppy muck and damp plants and the smell was so potent Vlad felt mildly sick.
The decoy detonators started off quietly enough as they pottered along, then began making all sorts of shattering, shrieking sounds to fill any spaces not filled by some Filibusters fireworks. Aurors and teachers flocked the area as students charged toward it, several slipping in the swamp goo as they ducked to avoid the fireworks charging through the halls like raging bulls.
Vlad could hear the twins trying to stifle hysterical laughter and silenced their alcove, snickering himself as Umbridge went down flawlessly into the swamp material. She was helped up by a couple of Aurors, only for them to slip too and everyone went down together splattering more muck around.
Eventually staggering to her feet, hair and pink clothes dripping with foul green slop, Umbridge turned a fearsome shade of red with anger.
"I want whoever is responsible found!"
Students began to scatter as she seethed, but Vlad felt his coin burn in his pocket and checked it surreptitiously.
"I'm out."
Bertrand had gotten out unharmed, and there was such chaos in the halls that Umbridge seemed to be completely melting down before their eyes.
Eventually, they had to leave before Aurors started scanning for hidden presences, ducking under flying sparks and their ears were ringing with all the noise, but all three were grinning as the spells hiding them were dropped.
"That, gentlemen"
"Was an excellent job."
"I concur. Now lets get out of here before they find us."
"Ok, everyone line up and take turns firing at the target. This is about accuracy, not power. Vlad will demonstrate."
Vlad stepped up, took aim at the target and shot a simple stupefy at the target. Above the circular board, a number formed itself out of thin red smoke.
"95 percent."
"Don't think you have to live up to it, but ideally your aim should surpass seventy five."
Ingrid rolled her eyes, wand half-aimed toward her brother.
"Swot. Why weren't you in Ravenclaw?"
Vlad shrugged and Harry grinned at the two.
"I have too much disregard for rules I think."
"Keep telling yourself that."
"Ok, everyone go. If your accuracy is under seventy percent, come to the left and we'll work on improving it. If it's over seventy, go to the right."
Ingrid got ninety three, scowled at her brother and took her place over to the right. Vlad kept an eye on the results of the targets to make sure nobody lied about their results, while Harry watched the students taking turns. People they knew were relatively powerful - like Ginny, Theo and Fred Weasley scored below seventy percent, which easily demonstrated that power and accuracy were not one and the same. Neville got sixty-nine, but it seemed to be such a blow he may as well have only gotten six.
"Ok. From what I saw, some of you were flourishing your wands too much. Make a tighter circle, then try again."
Within two more turns, everyone had hit at least seventy five. Harry felt inordinately proud, congratulating them as a whole as they moved on.
"Hey, Harry?"
Blaise raised his hand, clearly wanting to ask something.
"Yeah?"
"Is it true you can produce a Patronus?"
Ginny had a "wasn't me" look on her face, but everyone was suddenly fascinated.
"Uh, yes?"
"Wow."
"I couldn't."
"Teach us!"
"Show us!"
Harry held up his hands, trying to regain order.
"I will show you, but teaching you... it's not easy magic. It'll be something we cover in the future, if at all."
Knowing his Patronus took the form of Vlad actually made it much easier; Harry could easily call up happy memories and Vlad's protective nature.
"Expecto Patronum!"
The phoenix burst from his wand, wings spread as the ghostly projection soared over their heads before coming to float in front of Harry. Vlad was visibly beaming to himself, obviously thrilled he was what Harry's soul deemed safety, protection. The glow of it was, if Harry said so himself, brighter than it had been before.
"Wow. That's so cool!"
"It's useful, but it's a very tricky charm and it's not easy to use. Dementors make us relive our worst memories, and you need a really happy memory to even try and produce a Patronus. Let's get back to shield charms, we'll revisit maybe learning that one in the future."
Harry cancelled the charm, then directed everyone back to working on shields again. They ended on a high note, pretty much everyone leaving excited for the upcoming Halloween Hogsmeade visit. George Giles lingered under the guise of talking to Ginny, waiting until they were left with only people who knew their relationship before hugging Vlad tightly.
"Can you teach me that Patronus charm?"
She looked up at Harry pleadingly, and there was something eerily Vlad-like in her face that Harry was not good at saying no to.
"I'll try. But the one who taught it to me said it was a tricky charm that fully qualified wizards can't always master."
Vlad squeezed his little sisters shoulder, then looked up at Harry.
"Well, she's the same age you were when he taught you."
Harry didn't stand much chance saying no to one of them, now both siblings were trying to convince him.
"Alright, but you need to eat something first after having spent all evening doing magic."
Vlad had Honeydukes in his pocket, meaning Harry had no excuses left after George ate some chocolate and brandished her wand.
"Ok. Lower your wand a second" George frowned, but complied "now close your eyes, and think of your happiest memory. The happiest you have ever been in your life. Let it fill you up, like you are thinking about nothing else."
George cracked open one eye, glaring at Harry with it.
"I have an attention deficit disorder, that's a tough ask."
That explained so much.
"It's how I was taught, it's all I can offer you."
The Weasley twins, Ingrid and Ginny were all watching the exchange, Vlad focusing more on checking the Map to ensure everyone was back in their dormitories. George closed her eye again, face crinkling tightly in focus the same way Vlad's did when he was trying to meditate.
"Ok."
"Alright. Now say the charm, but keep thinking of that memory. Don't think of anything else, you need to hold on to it."
George raised her wand, and Harry got out of the way just in case. He knew George was powerful, but he didn't expect much to happen. Especially her first time.
"Expecto Patronum!"
Much to Harry's surprise, a massive shape flew from George's wand. Something with wings, moving too fast for him to see at first until it came to rest in front of George's shaking hand. It's wings beat steadily before stopping to hang upside down.
"A bat!"
Her distraction cost her dearly, and the bat faded from existence.
"That was one big bat."
"And utterly remarkable. Remus said he would have been astounded if I did it first time."
George beamed, then stumbled. Vlad caught her, handing her more Honeydukes ans grinning up at Harry.
"Magical exhaustion. George, promise me you won't practice this alone? You could burn yourself out if you push too hard."
"I promise big brother. Still, it's pretty cool that it turned into you."
Harry and Vlad shared a look - his own Patronus was an echo of Vlad also.
"Best not mention that to anyone. We should get back, it's past curfew for you two."
Ginny and George both agreed, and after watching Ingrid zip back to Slytherin on the Map before they walked back to Gryffindor. They saw no teachers, only Hermione on a late prefect patrol but she would hardly report them. As many of the students still up had not long left themselves, they weren't too surprised by their return.
Vlad was quiet as they relaxed before bed that night, but Harry wasn't surprised - he was worried about his final Blood Test. It was a very clear step toward his future vampirehood, which Vlad had very mixed feelings on.
It brought up the impending transformation aspect too, and Harry was sure if Samael hadn't said Vlad could even feed on Harry and leave him unharmed, that Vlad would have tried to enforce some distance as that event came closer.
With concerns of his transformation came concerns about Riddle. It was increasingly evident that unless they came up with another idea, Harry was going to have to feign conversation at Vlad's behest in order to continue infiltration of Riddles ranks. All in the name of bringing the madman down.
Their current bone of contention was Dumbledore - the man was dying, and Vlad had apparently agreed to shorten the process in Harry's stead if there was a way to mask that fact with Riddle. Harry wasn't sure his soul - the main reason for the decision being protecting Harry's immortal soul - would stay unharmed if Vlad did that for him. Which defeated the purpose, even if Harry wasn't certain he could commit that murder himself.
"You thinking about Dumbledore again?"
Vlad's voice cut into his reverie, Harry looking up to his boyfriends face.
"How can you tell?"
"You're practically radiating guilt. I know that's your biggest trigger at the minute."
"Yeah. It's a ridiculous, impossible situation."
"Not really. I'll do anything to protect you, up to and including murder. I'm a vampire, and the future Grand High Vampire. I'm never going to go through eternity with no deaths on my soul."
Harry's face creased into a severe frown - he didn't exactly love when Vlad talked so negatively of his apparently unavoidable future. It was something he had to accept though, unless he intended to spend all eternity away from the vampire apparently perfectly made to suit Harry.
-YDHP-
up next - Halloween!
Which is cool because Halloween decorations have just started appearing in shops here.