Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JKR. But I wish that she would give him to me for an early birthday gift, never mind that my birthday is in August.

A/N: Sorry about the long wait on this chapter. I had a lot of work to complete in my classes, and well, instead of working on my 25 page paper that is due in a week, I cranked out this chapter. I hope you enjoy!

Harry stared at the portrait in disbelief. "What do you mean an eternity?" Harry looked around the cobweb infested room and felt like crying in desperation. "Besides, can't I just get out of here the way I came?" Harry asked hopefully. Not that Harry wanted to be found, but even though he had managed to get in a place where it would be difficult for anyone to locate him, he didn't foresee this sort of problem. Only he would manage to get himself stuck in a crumbling old…home, if one could call it that, in a room with an insane portrait. He could only hope that he could figure a way out of this mess before the damn thing drove him completely insane.

The portrait laughed at Harry. "Such a refreshing boy… No to answer your question, you cannot. I placed protections on my home many years ago. Those who enter cannot leave until I come to release them."

Harry snorted in frustration. "Great! That's just great! I'm going to starve to death in this bloody house trapped with a portrait that seems to think he has the right to irritate me!"

The portrait glared at Harry with glowing eyes. "You need to learn respect. Do you think that just because I'm in a portrait that I cannot hurt you? I am not just a portrait. I am a piece of my soul, kept until needed. I will never die, even if they find a way to destroy my body without first destroying me."

Harry was really confused now. The portrait seemed to be talking in circles. Okay, he got the part where he couldn't leave, but the rest didn't make any sense at all. It was almost as if the portrait spoke in very confused, madness spawned riddles. "Sir, I'm a bit confused. I still don't understand. What are you talking about?"

The portrait laughed like a maniac. "So, the boy is too ignorant to understand is he? Let me break it down for you. Me- portrait, my body- elsewhere. If my body dies without my portrait being destroyed first, I can bring my body back and live again."

Harry was a bit miffed. He didn't care about the consequences anymore. Just who did this version of Erasmus think he was anyway? "Look, I'm not stupid. I can't help what they teach at school, and maybe if you weren't such a bloody git, then you wouldn't have been left alone all these years. I don't care if you have the ability to kill me or not- never call me stupid again!"

The portrait smirked at Harry. "I lost this part of myself for a reason, boy. I was once a warrior, but my… battlefield demeanor has not been needed for a long while. While I was at war, the part of me that you know was locked away in this house…that reminds me, I suggest that you do not explore. There are things here that may wish to make a meal of you."

Harry sighed. "That still doesn't explain how I'm going to eat."

The portrait shook his head. "So poorly prepared. Tisk, tisk, tisk. No worries, there are plenty of rats."

"Rats?" Harry asked in a trembling voice.

"Didn't they even teach you how to survive at that school of yours?" The portrait demanded. "Yes, rats. They are full of blood, which the last time I checked, was food for a vampire, and you are a vampire are you not?"

Harry looked at his feet sheepishly. "Yes, sir."

"Well then, I suggest that you concentrate on surviving and stop being so finicky."

Harry nodded, a bit embarrassed, and began to comb the room for rats.

Erasmus jerked with a feeling of cold water pulsing through his veins. "Now, how did the boy manage to get there?" Erasmus thought to himself. "Severus, did I ever tell you about the wars?" Erasmus asked, staring at the younger vampire sitting in front of the fireplace.

Severus sighed into his hands. "I fail to see what this has to do with Potter being an immortal."

Erasmus looked at Severus exasperatedly. "In time, Severus, in time. In war, I was not a nice person. In fact, I was nasty, Severus. Do you understand what I am trying to tell you?"

Severus rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, you were evil incarnate. What does that have to do with the boy?"

Erasmus wished that Severus would stop being so sarcastic. "It has much to do with the boy, Severus. When I was done with the wars, I separated the part of myself that reveled in the kill, thrived in the despair, and loved the hunt." Erasmus walked towards Severus. "I imprisoned that part of myself in a portrait, and left it in my ancestral home."

Severus glared at Erasmus. "And your point is?"

Erasmus placed his hands on Severus' shoulders and leaned forward. "My point is that Potter is in my house, in the very room with the part of myself I have tried to forget!"

Understanding crossed Severus' features. Harry was in the room with the foulest part of his master, and nothing good could manage to come from it.

Erasmus grabbed Severus by the hands and shook his body so hard that Severus' teeth clacked together. "If we do not want the boy to become tainted by the evil that dwells in that house, we need to go…now!"

Severus nodded. Potter was going to be the true death of him.