A Word of Caution (seriously): I do not recommend eating while reading this chapter because of a particular scene.

Song: 'Grip!' by Every Little Thing (from Inu Yasha)

Ch. 19: The Ruins

It was 2:00 AM and there was still no trace of the vampire. Theseus had fallen asleep on the living room's carpet while Cassius paced from side to side. Miosotis was sleeping too, but on a couch while Ginny, on another couch, patiently waited. They hadn't had the nerve of looking for beds. The only place they had actually looked for was the bathroom for obvious reasons, but other than that they had remained in the living room. Ginny was startled when the vampire silently Apparated in the middle of the spacious room. He stared at her and at Cassius, and raised an eyebrow. "Why are you still there? Didn't I say you could use the rooms? They have extra beds!" There was mild anger in Yapheth's soft voice and Ginny opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. "Go to sleep," Yapheth commanded.

"Where were you?" Cassius asked bewildered.

"Patrolling. Now go to sleep. It's late."

"Please, sir!" Ginny was suddenly able to respond. "Look! I didn't want to bother you. I was sent here by Sappho, alright? I only need to know if you can tell me what curse will be used on Harry and how to counter it."

"Only your own selfish concerns? Well, I am having problems of my own. Lately there are many invaders in these lands, all human. I have to keep the lands clean."

"Clean of humans?" Ginny asked horrified.

"Clear of dark wizards and dark vampires, foolish child," he admonished. "I don't kill humans for sport."

Ginny noticed that there was uneasiness in Yapheth and she considered that Sappho had sent her at a very bad time. She saw Yapheth drop himself on a couch and bury his face between his hands, his mane of black hair falling ghastly, cloaking his covered face. "I'll have to bring him here," he whispered.

"Who?" asked Ginny.

"None of your concern, brat," Yapheth answered coldly, abruptly revealing his features and making Ginny tremble, but she was surprised when he suddenly changed his tone. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to speak to you like that. I..." Yapheth's eyes fell on her astonished face. "Look, I'm currently undergoing too many things that you wouldn't understand." He took a deep breath and spoke again. "What is it that you wanted?"

"You read my mind before," Ginny replied annoyed.

"I really don't like doing so, but sometimes it just happens."

"You have my permission to look into my fears."

Yapheth stared at her for a few minutes before standing and slowly walking towards her. He grabbed her face and looked into her eyes, his gaze hardening. "Yes. He will shatter it."

"What?" Ginny asked confused. "Who? Shatter? Shatter what? I don't know what you mean! You said before that Harry's heart will die! What do you mean with the word 'shatter'?"

"You can't do anything, child. Harry Potter's heart will be destroyed the moment he vanquishes the dark lord. That is his fate. His heart must be weakening already."

Yapheth was simply confirming what Ginny was afraid of over and over and with tears running down her face she yelled: "There must be a way to stop it! There is always hope! There has to be a way to save him!" The vampire gave her a pitying gaze and Ginny snapped. "I don't want your pity. What I want is help, a solution!"

The vampire seemed to ignore Ginny as he suddenly looked for something beneath the black mantles he wore. He removed two transparent bags full of dark red liquid and brusquely threw them on the table as if seeing those bags as filth. He glanced at Ginny before picking one of the bags he had just thrown and entering his fangs into the bag, quickly emptying it of the thick red liquid. Revulsion filled Ginny's expression and she lowered her eyes. "That's disgusting. Why do you do that?"

"I'm only nourishing myself as unfortunately the grace of only surviving on common food has never been bestowed upon the likes of me." He then added: "I thought you had been with vampires before."

"They never drank blood in front of me."

Yapheth stared at her incredulously and then started to laugh and said: "Renard is still the same as always, huh? He would never let anyone see when he drinks blood. He is too... conservative, except when he drinks from someone he has trapped with some strange deal."

Ginny decided to refrain from asking how he knew she had been with Renard. Instead she went back to topic. "Is there a solution?"

"Who knows?" replied Yapheth casually as he emptied the second bag.

"Is that human blood?" asked Cassius.

"Yes, it is," Yapheth answered. "I have my contacts that smuggle donated blood from non magical human blood banks."

Ginny's eyes went wide at the revelation, but decided to ignore it. "So you don't know what I can do to save Harry?"

"I might be able to think of something, but now you two should sleep. In the morning you can have breakfast. I will leave it ready."

"You're leaving again?" she asked baffled.

"Yes. Unlike you youngsters that have so much free time I have to patrol and I also have to move someone here."

There was fury in Ginny's eyes, but at the same time she felt that she was indeed being selfish and only thinking about her own problems when Yapheth obviously had problems of his own.

It was 10:00AM when Ginny awoke on a bed with pearly white covers in a cream coloured room Yapheth had showed her hours before. Miosotis was still sleeping. The werewolf had been moved by Yapheth and placed on a bed in the same room Ginny was while Cassius and Theseus were together in another bedroom. Ginny quickly got up and started to look everywhere for Yapheth, but just like he had forewarned he wasn't there. Infuriated she kicked the nearest white wall and her foot cramped before soaring pain crept through her whole leg. She yelped and tears formed in her eyes before she slumped herself to the floor, not even bothering to check if there was breakfast as Yapheth had assured.

XxXxX

Even though the cuts had been healed and there was no poison in them, Harry was still in pain and Severus considered that Harry needed rest. Severus knew the marks had been done by a vampire that possessed between a small or a medium frame when transformed, but he didn't mention it as he knew the vampire was too small to be the one that the Poltergeist had referred to as 'Master'. That night they spent it in another Inn and although Severus wanted Harry to rest for at least two days, the teen insisted on continuing their quest the next day.

Harry was anxious. He desperately wanted to find the Horcrux, but his friends were worried. They had no idea who was the person that had removed the Horcrux from the cave and didn't want to know either. The person already sounded quite scary for their tastes.

"Are you completely sure that the Poltergeist called the person who wrote the note 'Master'?"

"For the hundredth time, Severus! Yes!" Harry was feeling worn out with the questions. "And she also said that the mountain was part of that bloke's domains and even insinuated that the so called 'Master' was more powerful than Voldemort!"

"I don't like this, Po-Harry. Poltergeists do not bow or bind themselves to anyone. They are loyal to no one. That person must be too powerful, probably a first class vampire elder, which means that if we enter that place where he is we might not even reach the last of our goals. We might not survive. This has gotten to the point where our lives are at risk. Personally I don't want to meet creatures that could be more powerful than the Dark Lord and even though they are not common and I've never met one, first class vampires are indeed too powerful."

"Then leave us if you are afraid! I am going to find that guy and I don't care if he is some sort of divinity or even a god. I will get that Horcrux and I will destroy it! Do I make myself clear, Severus?"

The older wizard almost cowered before Harry's determination and sighed. He remembered his vow to Albus Dumbledore. Even if it meant forfeiting his own life, he couldn't leave Harry Potter by himself. "We will go then, if that is your decision."

Harry nodded while Ron and Hermione gazed at each other looking worried.

XxXxX

On the next day Severus Snape and the trio left the Inn quite early at 6:00 AM. They asked different people if they knew about a place called Old Blackened Raven's Ruins, but no one seemed to have ever heard of it. They kept asking and asking until they encountered a very old man. The old man stared at them when they asked and he told them that the name was part of a very old legend. The elderly villager then pointed towards the mountains stating that the legendary place was supposed to be between two twin mountains that looked like a devil's horns. "But I wouldn't go there if I were you," added the old man. "No one goes there. It's always full of thick fog and the few that have ventured there never returned. As recently as two weeks ago a young man ventured towards those mountains. Said he was an American hiker and he promised to see me when he came back. Every day I look into the horizon, but there's still no sign of him."

Ron gulped and Hermione glared at him. Harry thanked the old man before finally going through the road with the others behind him. The old man said farewell to them, but gave them a pitied look and shook his head before heading towards his house.

Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Severus felt that they had walked forever. Four hours had already passed and there was no sign of the twin mountains. As they proceeded on their way, it got colder and colder. Soon the fog wouldn't let them continue and Ron was getting desperate. "Harry, how about using the Firebolt and checking if you see those mountains?"

Harry complied and soon he was soaring. It didn't take long to see them, even in the middle of the thick fog. As soon as he landed, he gave them the news: "I saw them, but it might take us at least two more hours to get there on foot."

"Why don't we Apparate then? It's just a few kilometers?" suggested Ron, causing Severus to swear.

"We cannot risk it, Weasley! We don't want to wake or alert anything by making them sense magic! There are creatures that can sense the faintest glimpse of magic even if we try to make it untraceable!"

XxXxX

It didn't take them two, but three more hours to get to an eerie place that was as quiet as a graveyard. The ruins were immense and seemed more like the ruins of an old palace. Close to the ruins was a very old signpost with something written on it, but difficult to read. Hermione approached the sign and tried to make out the words. "I think I can read Blackened Raven so this must be the place." Just then, she started to tremble and Ron held her.

"What's wrong, Hermione? What's wrong?"

"Can't you see her? Can't you see her?"

Hermione was staring at an area very far from where they were, but what she was seeing they could see it too. An old hag was staring at them and pointed her finger at Hermione, but then disappeared.

"I... I can't go in there. That was the Banshee! It was her!"

Harry had never seen Hermione so scared and didn't even know how to calm her. "Hermione... It might not be the same woman, you know? It was just a coincidence and you don't believe in divination..."

"This is not Trelawney, Harry! That was a Banshee!" she yelled almost out of her senses.

"And the Banshee did the same thing as Trelawney, predict death. We will protect you," Harry said reassuringly.

Ron was nervous and grabbed Hermione by the shoulders: "No matter what happens you will not try to save me from anything. Is that clear?"

Harry thought that what Ron said made sense as the old woman had predicted that Hermione would die for someone she loved, but Severus was very quiet. Harry wondered if the man had previous Banshee experiences, but he thought that this was Severus' first time too with that kind of creature.

Severus, Ron, and Harry waited until Hermione was calm and after a few minutes, she surprised them: "We are going in there and we are going to get that Horcrux. I will defy the Banshee and prove her wrong. No one will decide my destiny for me."

Harry smiled, but inside he was truly scared. The same happened with Ron, while Snape showed no emotion in the matter.

They entered the ruins and the scent of old and ancient encompassed them. They started to walk when they thought that they didn't know what path to take. The place was too big, but no matter what they would stick together.

They entered through a strange aisle and Severus could immediately feel powerful magic in the place. His eyes went wide as he said: "No matter what try to stay close to each other!"

"Hermione! Where's Hermione?" Ron was trembling with fear as the girl who seconds before had been next to him had vanished.

Severus swore in a whisper. He knew something like that would happen. He could feel the magic in the air that was against them and wanted them separated. Harry could feel it too, but couldn't understand the sensation and why someone would want to separate them. Snape spoke very softly: "He'll make sure that we are separated and finish us one by one."

"Sn... Severus? Harry is gone too."

Severus looked at Ron and frowned: "I'm afraid that soon you will find yourself alone, Ronald."

Ron shook his head in denial, but minutes later he was all alone.

XxXxX

Harry wondered how he had gotten to what seemed like the second floor of the building. He was all alone and although he wasn't scared a sensation of anxiety overwhelmed him. He ran, walked, jogged, but felt that he was getting nowhere. It was like running in circles.

After long agonizing minutes of not reaching some sort of goal Harry was getting desperate. He wondered what that creature or vampire had in store for them and certainly hoped that it wasn't slow torture and death. Thinking about this a Dementor started to approach him all of a sudden. Harry quickly tried to think of something that made him happy as he took out his wand, but without his friends it was harder. Still, he managed and found himself getting the thought he needed and the happiness he felt as aunt Petunia finally started to love him: "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" The Dementor fell on his face as if he had tripped and Harry remembered the maze in his 4th year in Hogwarts. "You're a Boggart!" he laughed before exclaiming: "RIDDIKULUS!" The Dementor then was dressed as a clown and soon vanished.

Harry's heart had been beating fast as he had seen the fake Dementor coming at him, but in seconds was feeling better. A while later he started to wonder how his friends were doing and hoping that they were alright.

XxXxX

Ron had been walking for a while not knowing what to do or where to go. The only thing he wanted was to find his friends. He had no idea what he could do if he found the Horcrux and he certainly didn't want to find the possible vampire that was the 'Master'.

Walking without any direction he noticed something. A small creature was surrounded by dead rats and toads and was seemingly eating or draining a big fat rat hungrily. Ron was horrified as he noticed that the small creature was a child. He thought he would get sick as he confirmed that the child's mouth was connected to the horrendously big fat rat. "Don't eat that! You might get ill!" he exclaimed.

The child jumped into a stance. It was a white blonde little boy and the stance he took somehow reminded Ron of a cat. The little boy had fangs and Ron quickly understood what the boy had been doing and why there were so many dead animals there, but that wasn't all. The boy looked somewhat familiar.

The boy's fangs disappeared and Ron could notice that the little one was wearing ragged and badly mended clothing. He had beautiful eyes that reminded Ron of someone. In fact, the little boy's features definitely reminded the youngest of the Weasley boys of someone.

The little boy studied Ron before asking: "Are you a Death Eater? At least you are not dressed like one... Did they send you to get me? I will not go down without a fight!"

Ron was alarmed, but quickly composed himself: "I can assure you that I am no Death Eater and that no one has sent me to get you. I just found you by coincidence."

"Liar. No one enters this place by coincidence. Who are you? Why are you here?" The boy seemed to realize something. "Wait a minute! I've seen you before! You were that idiot in my dad's house!"

Ron was disturbed, but again took a breath and spoke quickly: "I am not sure what you are talking about, but look, I'm searching for something, an object. That's why I'm here with my friends, but I got lost. My name is Ron Weasley. Who are you?"

The little boy was again studying Ron and seemingly decided that Ron was harmless: "My name is Reginald Von Voltaire."

"Bloody hell! Are you related to Renard?" Ron gasped. "Hey! I've seen you before too!"

"Are you a friend of my father then? Or are you a traitor sent to get me?"

"Whoa, whoa! Wait! I am no Death Eater! Your father protected me and my friends for a while. We lived in his mansion!"

Reginald studied Ron again and started to approach him: "Then you are one of the people that led my father to have serious problems? Then it's your fault my father sent me away with an aunt who hates me? You are the cause why I had to end up here protected by the Master?"

Ron stared perplexed at the little boy before asking: "How old are you?"

"Turned seven two days ago. You?"

"I'm seventeen years old. Look, I won't do anything to you, okay? Your dad protected us, you know? Although I wonder why he lied when I said I had seen a child..." Ron thought aloud, confused.

"Can you take me back to my father? I don't like being here."

"I... I guess so..." Ron honestly didn't know what to do about the boy now what he was agreeing to.

XxXxX

Hermione was in a strange aisle that smelled nice. The smell of carnations surrounded the gloomy place giving it a certain warmth that in reality it lacked. She had been walking for a great while without direction, but suddenly felt something. The sweet scent of carnations became stronger, but Hermione looked back. A giant creature was approaching. The girl had never seen anything like it, but she knew it was the most horrendous thing she had ever seen in all her life. It looked like a cross between a demon, bat, and dragon. The gruesome monster had bat like wings and Hermione concluded that it was a demon and that she had to be in hell. She started to scream in horror as the creature with grotesque and huge bright red eyes approached her, opening its gigantic and diabolic muzzle.