A/N: Okay, so I went nuts and quickly worked in another chapter. I do hope to finish this fic soon enough.

Song: Friends – Chihiro Yonekura

Ch. 26: Dreadful Feelings

Theseus had stopped running and panted. He looked back and relief washed over his face as he saw the others were right behind him. He smiled in a way a toddler would to his mother and his eyes encountered Ginny's. He made signals with his hands that Ginny somehow understood and she nodded. Theseus' silver eyes had a glow in them and his normally glittery white hair looked disarrayed and even dirty with twigs and traces of sand on it.

"I think we should put your hair in a tail or something…" She then turned to Miosotis after putting Theseus' long hair in a low ponytail with one of her own hair bands. "And I'm so glad they're not following us, but I wonder why they stopped."

"I was wondering that too, actually. I cannot perceive anything in the distance."

"Your sight is sharp enough?"

"Yeah, sharp enough," Miosotis said as she kept staring into the horizon. "They're not coming after us. Not a single one of them."

"That is certainly odd," Cassius stated while looking into the woods. "Maybe we weren't their main interest."

"Oh no!" Ginny found herself wrapping her hands around her arms. "Could they have found Yapheth's house then? They're after Harry!"

"Unlikely," Miosotis affirmed. "But they probably suspect Harry Potter is in Ireland and are checking all forests as part of their search. Problem is that after seeing us around, now they might be thoroughly checking these woods."

"We should find Yapheth's house then, and fast!" Ginny exclaimed nervously. "But where are we?"

"We are far from the house. The house was actually the opposite way, the way from which those Death Eaters were coming from." Cassius gazed sympathetically at Ginny as he spoke. He was good with forestall surroundings and he was already familiarizing himself with those woods. He knew he was right and that their run had sent them the wrong way. "No matter, we'll have to walk back, being careful. We need to get to that vampire's house before nightfall. No woods are safe at night."

Ginny nodded and the small group started their walk, being alert at all times and hoping they wouldn't just walk to the Death Eaters that had been following them.

XxXxX

Harry would probably never know how he did it in his sticky situation, but as soon as he felt the curse fade away from his body he extended his right arm and thought with all his might: 'Stupefy!' The spell didn't hit Bellatrix as he would have wanted, but one of the other Death Eaters fell to the ground unconscious.

The tremors kept going still through Harry's body, an after effect of the curse he had been submitted to, even if it had only lasted seconds. Those same tremors had caused his hand to aim wrongly by mistake, but he was suddenly able to grab his wand with the distraction caused by the fainted Death Eater and rapidly thought: 'Incarcerous!'

He cursed when he saw Bellatrix had somehow expected the spell and had shielded herself. She laughed at him, but he had already attacked non-verbally again with 'Incendio', the spell causing one of the other Death Eater's robes to catch fire, but another Death Eater terminated the fiery spell. Now Harry was already on his feet and started to duel Bellatrix. He tried a Jelly-Fingers curse while she tried a Sponge-Knees curse on him, but none of the spells even reached as they were both shielding themselves hastily. There was anger in Harry as he kept attacking over and over, but Bella stopped all his attacks almost effortlessly, laughing the whole time. It made Harry realise she was playing with him.

Bellatrix started to get bored and tried to bind Harry, but couldn't do it as he had shielded himself. As her own attacks were being repelled she made signals for the other Death Eaters to help her and in less than a minute Harry was chained. His eyes were full of hate when he muttered, "You should be ashamed you needed their help to chain me. It means you wouldn't have been able to take me by yourself."

The provocation had effect as Bellatrix immediately reacted. "You truly believe you could have seriously dueled against me?"

"I don't believe so. I know so."

Bellatrix got so angry she attacked with the Cruciatus curse yet again, although this time Harry was in chains. Even the other Death Eaters tried to stop her from torturing the boy when he was already bound, but she wouldn't let them interfere. She laughed maniacally as she remembered how she had enjoyed torturing the Longbottoms. She almost felt like doing the same to Harry Potter. She wanted to see his mind break.

Harry felt the curse fade and heard sudden gasps of surprise. He tried to stand and managed a sitting position that helped him see Yapheth dueling against the Death Eaters. He saw Yapheth had a deep gash on his left arm and Harry wondered how the vampire had gotten himself injured so fast. Harry tried to help Yapheth, but the chains around his body wouldn't allow him. He willed the chains to fall and opened his eyes widely when they did fall, but there was no time to be surprised. He tried the disarming spell, but Bellatrix sent a spell that made a cut on his right arm, making him drop his wand. He cursed under his breath and wandlessly thought strongly 'Locomotor Mortis', but she was ready and the curse didn't hit her. She had already noticed he could do wandless magic before and she wouldn't let him catch her, but Harry managed to send a cutting spell that slashed at her left cheek, making her bleed.

Yapheth was having a hard time dueling in the form of a man, but he had assured Hermione he would try not to use his most powerful form. He would only use it if he didn't have a choice and that time came sooner that expected when he heard Bellatrix trying to chant the killing curse. In her rage against Harry scarring her face she wanted to kill him and she didn't care about her orders anymore.

Everything happened so fast Harry wasn't sure what was going on. Shocked, he had waited for the green light to hit him, but it never left Bella's wand. Instead, he heard an awful scream of horror coming from the woman. The giant demon had almost grabbed her and with a smirk she got a polished stake from her robes and threw it at the beast, missing the heart by a few inches, but still piercing the demon's chest. In a flash, Harry saw the room turn dark red as he heard screams of pain that weren't coming just from Bellatrix, but from the other Death Eaters too. He wanted to cover his eyes, but couldn't. He just saw what the vicious beast could do to humans, making a meal out of them even when it was injured. It made Harry's body tremble all over. He could almost feel himself convulsing from revulsion and fear. Everything was the colour of blood and then Harry got dizzy with the awful scent caused by the fluid of life that was being drained from the Death Eaters. He kept watching in horror as the monster devoured what remained of those that had been part of Voldemort's followers. He started to scream: "STOP IT! PLEASE STOP! STOP IT!" But it was too late and the monster didn't stop until no life was left in the room other than Harry's.

Harry kept convulsing before vomiting on the floor to the side of the bed. He vomited until bile was what was left coming from inside him. He was panting and gasping when a soft hand was placed on his shoulder, but he didn't want that touch. In fact, he despised it. "Don't touch me, you devil! Don't you ever touch me!"

The words coming from the teen's mouth had been nothing but a whisper, but Yapheth stepped back and lowered his gaze. He stared at Harry for a while, waiting for Harry to recover and saw Harry bury his face in his hands, still not bothering to remove the stake he had through him nor dealing with his own bleeding left arm. "I'm sorry…"

"Don't talk." Harry was firm when he said it, not bothering to lift his face from his hands. "Just… Just give me some time."

Yapheth kept looking at Harry, his crimson gaze almost curious as he saw Harry's own bleeding cut, but the silence stopped when the door to the room opened. Snape was there, his black coat and black hair full of snow. Hermione, Ron, and the small Reginald were with him. "We heard screams, but you never gave us a signal." Severus was looking at Yapheth. "And you're injured. You're both injured." Severus was expressionless as he said it, but mild anger seemed to be slanting his dark eyes.

The vampire shook his head as he removed the stake from his chest and dropped it to the floor, woodened weapon bouncing once or twice before coming to a stop. "You weren't needed," he said almost in a whisper.

"You're hurt!" Hermione quickly approached Yapheth and was about to touch his chest when the wound started to close in front of her eyes.

"It won't close completely now, but I can assure you is minor." Yapheth didn't look at her as he said it. He kept glancing at Harry instead.

Ron approached his best friend and placed a hand on Harry's shoulder. "What's wrong with you, mate?" That was when Ron actually noticed the room and the mess in it. "By Merlin… What happened here? And the smell!" He covered his mouth and tried to hold his breath.

Harry surprised them with the sudden question, even when it was addressed at the adult vampire. "Why did you take so long? I thought you were behind me." Harry's eyes did not move towards the vampire. He was staring at the soiled floor now.

"I was hunting other Death Eaters around the hotel. There were many more than you think."

"So that's why you had that wound in your arm?"

"I was careless."

"Still, I know you saw me being tortured. I could feel it, but you didn't interfere."

"You have to learn to cope on your own. I had to wait and see how you dealt with the situation—"

"That's psychotic, you know that?" Harry's interruption made all eyes fall on him and now his eyes were upon the vampire's.

"We felt the torture…" Ron muttered as quickly as he could. "Snape wanted to run here then, but waited as the torture would stop quickly. He knew the Death Eaters wouldn't attempt killing you."

"They did," snapped Harry. "That's how that monster made this mess."

"I didn't have a choice, young Potter." Yapheth looked calm, but still mildly annoyed.

"You didn't have to make a meal out of them in front of me! I can still hear their screams of pain in my head!" Harry swung his hands wildly, pointing at his head. "Do you enjoy that? And her… It should have been my kill, only mine."

"It's in my nature to not feel what you feel and I apologise, but it seemed to me you were going to be her kill rather than the opposite."

"Just shut up! Just…" He still felt very sick and was sure he would have nightmares that night as he placed his hands over his hair, but he tried his best not to project his feelings of dread. Silently, he regained his posture and looked at Severus. "We should leave, I think."

They all left at a quick pace, not talking again about the matter. Harry knew he should have known better than to invite Yapheth to be with them. He grabbed his bleeding arm and checked it, but the cut was not too deep. He would deal with it later.

Quickly, they were outside, but they had to wait as for some strange reason Yapheth went back into the hotel. They had to wait ten long minutes for the vampire and when they asked him what took him so long he didn't answer.

XxXxX

They had already Apparated in the woods when Yapheth spoke warmly: "Remember I would never hurt you, child. That woman deserved that. I saw her heart."

"The others?" Anger still etched in Harry's voice as he bandaged his arm with a cloth and noticed Yapheth's own gash from the left arm closing on its own while still dripping.

"They were all the same."

"You're inhuman!" Harry's anger subsided all of a sudden when he saw the hurt in those crimson eyes. It almost made him feel guilty, even if what he had just said was the truth.

"I know I'll never be human." The words pierced Harry and he saw the vampire take the lead in their way to the house, stepping farther and farther from them.

"You shouldn't have said that," Hermione stated manner of factly.

"You defend him? You didn't see what I had to see!" Harry snapped.

"He did what he had to do, Harry!"

"Skin them alive and eat them in front of me?" The sarcasm was evident in his voice.

Ron winced at Harry's sarcastic question, but didn't say anything. Instead, he looked at Hermione, who shook her head looking downwards.

"I'm hungry! And thirsty!" Reginald looked perfectly fine as he started to stroll, trying to catch up with the older vampire.

Severus wasn't saying anything. The only thing he blurted was that he would do the groceries and he left them as soon as they were inside Yapheth's house.

XxXxX

Snape felt tired and wondered if he was feeling old. He was returning with the groceries after having Apparated with wards into the woods when he noticed people in the distance, a group of four. He clenched his teeth, wondering how Death Eaters had found the house, but realised the group did not look like Death Eaters. Still, he quickly made his way into the house and warned Yapheth. In seconds, the vampire had vanished from inside the house.

While they waited, Severus spoke soflty. "You all remember Occlumency?" They all nodded and he looked at them and then at Reginald, but back at the three he was really addressing. "I think we might be able to block part of the bond through it. It will require strong practice, but we need it. Today, even if it only lasted seconds, we could all feel Potter being tortured and even a scratch when his arm got hurt. We don't feel things as strongly as the true receiver, but it has to stop."

Harry lowered his eyes and with a small nod acknowledged what Severus was saying. "It would be a disadvantage in battle if we could all feel our wounds and the attacks that hit us. Even if the hits are mild, we could all lose concentration or worry and then lose a duel."

"Exactly," Snape concurred. "We start now."

"Now?" Ron asked bewildered.

"Now," Snape repeated and they started a strange Occlumency lesson while they waited for Yapheth. They concentrated with all their might for a while and they could feel the bond diminishing, at least in appearance.

Reginald stared at them and listened to their uncontrolled breathing after the effort, but after some minutes he could observe that the feeling of bond between them had seemingly been completely wiped out. Reginald could even feel it, just like he could listen to their heartbeats and the flow of their blood pumping through their veins. He came to a conclusion as his eyes kept looking transfixed at the bonded; never in his right mind, would he make a bond with anyone in his life. Still, even without having a bond like the one they had, the boy was feeling nervous about his father. With every day that passed, he could feel that his father was soon to be in Voldemort's hands and he didn't want to lose his father. He had already lost his mother and recently enough, his mother's sister. He wouldn't say a thing though. He was a strong boy and he could take anything like a man, or at least that's what he thought.

Yapheth arrived with a foursome behind him. He didn't look very happy as Ginny, Miosotis, Cassius, and Theseus strolled behind him. He turned to look at them. It seemed they had been quarreling. "Then you should have waited as I had told you too!"

Harry stood up as he saw Ginny and could notice she was angry. "Prat!" she said, making the others open their eyes in surprise. She almost wanted to give a good kick to the vampire between his legs. If he didn't want her to leave then he should have arrived sooner to his house, right? All of a sudden Ginny noticed Harry standing. It made her heart leap and her anger diminish. "Harry… You're… You're all right… Your arm!" She noticed the bandage with blood that was surrounding Harry's right arm, just below the elbow.

"It's just a scratch," Harry stated softly as he fed his bright green pupils with the sight of the real Ginny, standing right in front of him. She didn't look clean and was probably not wearing any perfume. In fact, her face had dirt and her hair, held in a ponytail, was full of the remains of leaves. Her jeans were tattered and so were her dark blue bubble jacket and her clothes below it. Still, to him she looked beautiful and he couldn't help approaching her and pulling her towards him, trapping her in a tight embrace, not wanting to let her go. He could feel an earthy and grassy scent coming from her, the smell of the woods combined with her own natural scent. He slid his fingers through her ponytail with his right hand and gently brushed his lips against her right cheek before burying his face on her right shoulder. "I thought the Death Eaters had caught you," he whispered.

Ginny seemed shocked. Her eyes had gone wide with the embrace, but now she was relishing in being in her loved one's arms, in his scent, his warmth. She wanted to stay like that forever and never let him step away from her again so when it ended and he freed her, disappointment washed over her senses and showed in her eyes. "I won't go away," she stated firmly. "Don't ask me to leave because I won't."

Harry smiled weakly at her. "I wasn't planning on asking you to leave. For now, I think you'll be safer here." Harry noticed embarrassment in the others' faces. They almost seemed like they all wanted to give them privacy, but he wouldn't let them. "It's all right." He was looking at an uncomfortable Severus when he said it. "There is so much to say, but at the same time so much not to say."

"What happened to you guys?" Ginny asked as she looked now at Hermione and Ron, but especially at Harry and Yapheth, whose clothes were all stained with dry blood as they hadn't washed themselves yet. At the same time they all stared at Miosotis and Ginny realised they didn't know her. "Oh! And this is Miosotis Crooke."

Next day would be Christmas and none had presents to give to each other, but they would spend the night together and share their experiences.

XxXxX

That night, after everyone was sleeping, Severus spoke with Yapheth. "I don't think I've ever seen the violence you exposed Potter to today in all my life. I wanted to say it. I needed to say it."

"Do you think I was too crude?" Yapheth asked emotionless as he entangled his fingers in a red cloth he used as band around his head and sometimes as a turban.

"Perhaps you were, but you didn't have a choice. Still, it might have been too much for a boy."

"Maybe… But it'll make him stronger, Severus. He has to be strong. The whole Wizarding world needs him."

"Yes. I still wonder if he'll be ready. He wasn't able to do much today if you had to intervene like you did."

"True enough, but he'll be ready when the time comes." Yapheth folded the red band and placed it on a small polished brown table, not looking at Severus.

"You're worried," Severus said.

"Those Death Eaters today… They were stronger than the ones I've fought before, and they were many. I didn't expect so many… And they had stakes. It's obvious they've been killing vampires. They were also ready with many spells of fire and sunlight. I was lucky they didn't try sunlight spells when I was in my stronger form. They were too afraid to perform magic then."

"I thought you said sunlight didn't do much—"

"I grow weaker in it and in my stronger form I'm pretty much vulnerable to die under it. I'm not as strong as I appear."

Severus remembered Renard mentioning it in his tale about the Horcrux. Renard had gotten hurt by sunlight and had to change to human form when exposed to it after abandoning the cave where he had been. Severus had almost seen Yapheth as invincible, but it was far from the truth. Yapheth was strong and had survived for long and could be one of the strongest of his species, but he still had weaknesses. He cursed under his breath and stared at the vampire. "You think you might not survive."

Yapheth smiled at Severus, almost looking like a child that is about to receive a treat as he ran his fingers through his silky black hair. "I'll actually be lucky if I don't."

"Don't say stupid things," Severus said with a frown and then waved a small farewell at Yapheth as he walked towards the bedroom.

Harry had nighmares about demons devouring humans as he feared he would. He kept moving wildly in his bed, but other than the tossing and turning he didn't utter a sound and thus, didn't wake anyone.

Christmas day arrived. When Harry awoke the first face he saw was Severus' and he clung to the man as if something was coming to get him. He started to pant and Severus tried his best to comfort the boy, but there was no way he could make Harry forget what was obviously tormenting him. Obliviating Harry from the events of the day before was almost tempting, but not appropriate. Harry had to live through it.

After a few minutes of feeling breathless, Harry felt foolish for clinging to Severus Snape as if the man were a father figure to him, but at the same time was relieved Snape hadn't pushed him back. "She killed Sirius. Perhaps she deserved that fate, but it was so horrid and violent."

"Black was not the only person she killed during her dark life. Maybe she even killed people the way she died yesterday."

Harry almost muffled a bitter laugh. "I don't think she was a cannibal, sir."

"No, but I didn't mean it in that way. I meant that there's magic dark enough to have a similar effect. You can skin an animal with dark strong magic."

Disbelief showed on Harry's face as he stared at Severus. "You've seen someone get killed like that before?"

"No, thank Merlin, no. It's too messy."

Harry smiled at the comment, even if it wasn't really meant as a joke. "I feel better now."

"I'm glad," Snape muttered, but felt uncomfortable. He wondered if he would have felt in such a way if Harry had been his son, but nothing could erase Harry was the son of a man he had despised, even if that man was long dead. "Happy Christmas."

Harry was shocked from hearing the words from Snape, but spoke back the same words. "Happy Christmas, sir."

In less than half an hour everyone had greeted each other on Christmas day and they were having breakfast. Ginny kept sending glances in Harry's direction. Even if he was there with her, something that made her feel more at ease, she still feared for him. She couldn't help asking even if everyone was present. "Harry, do you feel anything when you destroy the Horcruxes?"

Harry looked disturbed with the question. "How do you know about the Horcruxes?"

Everyone looked at Ginny and she blushed before blurting a name. "Renard."

Yapheth laughed, surprising everyone. "He can't keep his mouth shut, can he?"

"Don't make fun of my father!" Reginald said with a snare and Yapheth sent an interested glance in the small boy's direction.

"Have you felt your father? You look pale."

"Vampires always look pale!" The little boy retorted with a hint of sarcasm that almost angered Yapheth.

"Don't get smart with me, little one. Do you think he's been captured? Killed?"

"Not yet, but he is… afraid. Something is not right. I think most of his circle have been already killed."

Yapheth understood what Reginald meant. It was possible that while tracking Renard, most of Renard's acquaintances were getting wiped out. That would indeed worry Renard. "He's a survivor. He'll probably make it out alive in the end."

Ginny had kept looking from the little boy to the older vampire just like Cassius and Miosotis had been doing the same. "You're Renard's son?"

Reginald looked at Ginny. The night before, they had been introduced, but only by names. Relationships had been omitted although Ginny had been wondering why the little vampire was with them. That at least had been mentioned. She knew Reginald was a vampire.

"Yes, Renard is my father, but what do you care?" The boy showed his fangs in an insulting way and Yapheth sent an angry look his way that made the boy stop. "I want to be with my father, not with these humans," he snapped at Yapheth.

"You're a spoiled brat!" Miosotis exclaimed with mild anger. She hadn't spoken much the night before, but she was starting to feel better around so much people although she had been growing weaker as the full moon approached.

"And you're an ugly werewolf!" Reginald talked back, but yelped when a face approached his. It was Theseus' face. Theseus was smiling and caressed Reginald's hair as an older sibling would, making everyone laugh. "This one should be returned to where he came from," Reginald expressed in a serious tone.

Cassius rolled his eyes and went to Ginny wearing a grim expression. Ginny returned the centaur to his natural form and in less than a minute the centaur had left them to roam free through the woods for a while.

Ginny was staring at Theseus now, wondering if he wanted to go outside too. He smiled at her and she got up, opened the door and also turned him into what he was so that he could play outside too.

Reginald looked at Ginny. "They seem like your pets."

She looked at the boy, keeping her cool. "But they're not. They're my friends and I wouldn't be here if they hadn't been with me."

The vampiric little boy didn't make a remark. He simply stood up and went to his room to play with the few woodened toys Yapheth had given him as presents. Yapheth was the one that sighed and spoke. "He's stressed, just like everyone else. Leave him be."

XxXxX

Hours later, Harry found himself outside of the house. He didn't want to do it, but he was purposely avoiding Ginny. He didn't want any attachments and he wasn't sure he would make it out alive in the end. Being with her would only bring false hope to the both of them, but avoiding her was a difficult task when she was in the same place as him. He didn't react when he saw Yapheth come outside and glance quickly at the unicorn that was playfully racing around the trees with the centaur. He glanced too at the scene he had himself been watching a while before, then he turned to Yapheth. The vampire was wearing a mint green jumper and jeans under his black leather coat. Harry thought it was almost funny how the mint green and jeans looked so mismatched with the black leather coat in a vampire like Yapheth. Harry was rather used to Yapheth's combinations of dark red and black when it came to clothing. It was the first time Harry had seen him in jeans and pale green, even if the coat was still black. "You look rather odd."

"Really? And why's that, may I ask?" Yapheth sounded amused when he asked.

"Because you look almost normal." Harry stifled laughter and went quiet. He thought that perhaps Yapheth was indeed trying to look somewhat human, but even though there was no black cape causing an air of mystery, the very long black silky hair that adorned the man beside him seemed to scream 'vampire' all over. The crimson eyes had to be the worst as that was definitely not human. It was incredible that such handsome features could hide a gruesome and vicious monster inside, but Harry was sure of one thing. Not even Voldemort was going to die in the same way Bellatrix and the other minions had if he could stop it.

Yapheth smiled, making Harry flinch. "I will not kill Voldemort. That is your task, Chosen One. I would probably end up as dust if I ever tried fighting that dark wizard as he must be quite experienced in the knowledge of many creatures and how to eradicate them. I am sorry about yesterday. I will do my best so that it won't happen again. I will not let you see."

"You mean you'll keep killing in that horrible way?" Harry asked revolted.

"I will try to avoid it."

Harry sighed. There was no way to just change that vampire. Yapheth was probably used to killing in that particular way already, which was scary enough. "Did you… Did you drink their blood?"

Yapheth sighed. He sounded uncomfortable when he sighed and simply nodded before stating, "That was unavoidable."

"Vicious," Harry thought aloud as he placed his cold hands in his jeans' front pockets.

"Vicious," Yapheth agreed. The vampire then smiled wistfully as he looked into the horizon. "Want a hug?"

Harry snorted. "No way."

Both laughed for a few minutes and then Yapheth said: "Tomorrow we'll continue with that wandless magic of yours, although you did quite a lot yesterday... Happy Christmas, Harry." He entered the house, leaving Harry by himself.

From inside of the house, Ginny looked outside, but didn't dare go out. She knew Harry was avoiding her and as much as it hurt her, she understood the reasons. She would not yield into going outside and beg for their relationship, but she would watch for him, protect him with her life.