"I'm looking for my son." To say the least, almost everyone in the room was confused, who the hell was this guy? Especially at the flash of lightning, there hadn't been a storm until the man walked in.
Vlad stood up from his seat with a heavy sigh. "Was the lightning really necessary Dad? And why'd you have to bring Ingrid?"
"Believe me, I'd rather be anywhere else." She sneered.
"Mr Dracula is-" Professor Dumbledore was cut off.
"Count. It's Count Dracula."
"Sorry, Count Dracula. Is there a specific reason for your abrupt visit?" Dumbledore spoke calmly.
"Yes, I'm taking my son home." He said turning toward Vlad.
"You can't do that Dad. I need to stay here, I have friends here!" Vlad was trying his best to not shout at his dad, but he was wearing thin at this point. He hadn't expected him to actually come to pull him out.
"Friends?" The Count laughed. "You'd rather stay with the smelly Breathers than your own kind? You're coming home, whether you like it or not. You don't need anymore of this magic training, Vladimir. You need to come home to prepare to be who you're destined to become!"
"Why do you have to take me away from the first place I really feel like I belong? Every time I make friends you move me away from them. For once in your life can you do something for someone other than yourself?"
"I am the Prince of Darkness and your father, you will obey me!" His eyes flash red, lightning cracked, and Vlad could see his fangs peeking out through his vicious sneer. "Our world is in chaos, we need our leader. The Council can only do so much without you. Besides, you don't belong here, you never have! You've learnt what you can, now come home Vladimir." The Count was almost begging, which Vlad knew he would never do unless his life was in danger.
"Dad, is the Council threatening you again?" Vlad asked quietly, even if they were the Count wouldn't react well to it being said out loud.
"How dare you suggest such a thing in my presence! No one dares threaten me!" He bared his fangs now. Causing the staff, and most of the fifth years and up, to raise their wands at him. He swore he heard a small 'yes! I knew it' coming from the Gryffindor table.
"How dare I? How dare I?!" Vlad scoffed. "You barge in here demanding I come home. I refuse, so you flash the fangs and ruin everything! And you say how dare I?"
Vlad walked around the table until he was standing opposite his dad, glaring at him. "Vladimir, don't even think of challenging me. I am your father, you could never win to me!"
More lightning flashed, causing the younger years, that weren't already frozen with fear, to scream.
"Come on, Dad. We both know that I could take you down if I was on my death bed." Vlad's eyes turned black, being sure to keep his fangs hidden, he created a ring of fire around them and he spoke in his deep booming voice. "You may be my father, but I am the Chosen One."
At his declaration many face turned from worry or fear to confusion. The Chosen One? Isn't Harry Potter the Chosen One?
"For the love of Blood and Garlic! You two better stop this stupid pissing contest right now, or I'lll stake you both myself." Ingrid sneered from her place near the door, but neither were listening.
"You are my son and Heir, Vladimir! Until you turn 18 I'm your regent, which means you have to do. As. I. Say!" The Count was really starting to get angry.
Vlad was getting frustrated, he was just repeating himself now. "This is my home now, Dad. It's not like I ever fit in with you and Ingrid. You're both evil and good at it, and I couldn't be evil if I tried, I can be mean on occasion but not evil."
"Vladimir! You are the Chosen One, the most evil of us there is!" The Count was really gripping at straws, even he knew that.
"Oh yeah, because I'm the son of the mighty 'Prince of Darkness', I couldn't possibly be anything less than evil. How many time have I heard that before?"
"Vladimir, you will come home now! This conversation is over!" The Count still had his fangs out and he was clearly ready to use them, on anyone. Vlad knew if he couldn't make his Dad leave now there would be blood spilt, and he couldn't let that happen.
"No, Dad! I won't, because now matter how hard I try I will never, ever, belong with you!" Vlad knew he was crossing the line, but he had gone too far now. He had become too overwhelmed and his fangs slipped out without him noticing.
"Leave, both of you." When they didn't Vlad used the most commanding voice he had, as Vampires they had to obey what he said. "NOW!"
With his family gone, Vlad turned to sit back at his table. He noticed all the strange looks he was getting. "What?" Vlad asked, but as he said the words, he felt them. His fangs, the whole of Hogwarts knew his secret now.
ooo
Panicking, Vlad used his super-speed to get as far away from the Great Hall as he could. The Astronomy Tower, his happy place.
"Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit." He chanted as he paced along the railing of the tower. "They're going to kick me out for sure!"
Taking a moment to calm himself down, Vlad sat with his legs dangling over the other side of the railing. They can't kick me out if they can't find me, Vlad thought resolutely, at least for now anyway. With a long, deep sigh, he looked out over the school and the the land beyond. Spotting the full moon shining down on him, Vlad though of the only person he could talk to about this. He was definitely still upset with him, even after over a year had passed, but he was the only one who would understand…
So with a weight in his heart, he summoned his stationary and wrote to Remus Lupin.
ooo
After the letter was sent, Vlad made his way down to the dungeons as slowly as possible. He refused to meet anyone's eye as he walked through the Common Room, but kept his head high. There was no way Vlad would let them think he was out of place here. No. He belonged here just as much as any of them! And with that thought he ignored the whispers and climbed the stairs to his dormitory.
Upon entering, Vlad was met with a slap of deja vu to his brain. All his dorm-mates were sitting on their beds, and had turned to look at him. It was exactly like that time when he'd been sneaking out after curfew.
"Looks like we've got ourselves a real dungeon bat." Malfoy sniggered at him. Angry, that after all he'd been through tonight, the git still had the audacity to insult him, Vlad sped up to Malfoy. Grabbed him by his shirtfront, and slammed him into the wall next to his bed.
Without noticing, Vlad's eyes had turned red and his fangs and dropped down. "Wanna say that again Malfoy?" Without waiting for a reply, Vlad let go of him and turned toward his bed.
"Wait!" Zabini called out when Vlad was about to open the hangings around his bed to go to sleep. "Can we ask you some questions about what happened tonight? If you don't mind, that is."
Vlad groaned internally, "Make it quick."
Everyone gathered around Vlad, making sure they'd be able to hear every piece of information. Not really paying attention who was asking what, Vlad answered their questions.
"So you're a Vampire?"
"As the fangs would suggest, yes."
"So that's how you knew all that stuff back in third year?"
"Obviously."
"What does blood taste like?"
"I don't know, I drink a soy-substitute."
"How fast can you run?"
"I've never tested it, but very fast."
"Is it because you're a Vampire that the Veelas didn't affect you?"
"I assume so."
"How do you get it up? Wait, can you get it up?"
"Yes, and I'm not answering the first question."
"Is Vladimir Dracula your real name?"
"Yes, what kind of question is that?"
"The fuck is the 'Prince of Darkness'?"
"It's my Dad's title. It's been passed down for generations, along with being Count Dracula and the Head of the Dracula clan."
"But surely you're not that dangerous."
"I could be, if I wanted to."
"What did your father mean when he called you the 'Chosen One'?"
Vlad looked up at them at this, should he answer that? Probably not, it's not like it would hold much merit with them anyway. "It's nothing you have to worry about."
ooo
The next day was tough for Vlad, everyone was staring and looking at him like he was about to drain them dry. Not that he hadn't gotten used to the stares after the rumours that had been spread around, although being a Vampire didn't really help anyone think he wasn't evil. Throughout the day Vlad had been consciously trying to avoid Hermione. He knew pretty much exactly what she was going to say to him, and he really didn't want to hear it right now. However, she managed to catch him with his guard down when he was studying in the Library. At first she just sat next to him quietly, she seemed to want him to talk first. He'd humour her.
"If you want to say something to me Hermione, you'd better just say it." He hadn't intended to sound so grumpy with her.
"No need to be titchy Vlad." Hermione huffed. "I just wanted to know why you lied to me when I confronted you in third year."
Vlad had tor try his hardest not to yell at her. "You have no idea what it's like Hermione! All my life the only thing I've ever wanted is to fit in. When I was younger I was always the weird Vampire child who liked the Breathers, I was too nice to be to fit in, let alone be a good heir for the Dracula clan! When we moved to Wales and I attended muggle school I was the freak who lived in the castle and my only friends were an outcast named Robin who dressed like a Vampire all year round, and his little sister Chloe. Then when I came to Hogwarts I tried so hard to fit in, but clearly that didn't work out either. Everyone's terrified of me and I just want to be normal for once in my life…" Through his speech his head ended up in hands to hide the tears in his eyes.
Hermione let out an audible sigh, "Actually Vlad, I do know what it's like."
Vlad looked up at her from his hands. "What?"
"It probably hasn't come up before because everyone at school already knows. I'm a Muggleborn." Lifting her chin, she continued. "When I was a kid I was also an outcast. I overachieved, I still do, but it didn't go down very well with my peers. When I got my Hogwarts letter I thought I'd finally found why I didn't belong with the kids I'd grown up with. Lets just say it was like a punch in the face when I got here and found out I was a second class citizen. Which only made me more determined to do the best I could, but as you can see, there are some students, and even some of the Professors, who really don't appreciate it. Not that I've ever been ashamed of who I am, and you shouldn't be either."
Vlad smiled weakly at her, "Thanks, that makes me feel a little less alone in this whole situation."
She smiled back, "You're very welcome, Vlad."
ooo
As expected, the stares and the whispers didn't stop, if anything they got worse as more rumours started popping up. Everything from, "I saw him staring at so and so's neck" to "He's going to kill us all". But as time progressed Vlad became less and less concerned with what people thought of him, and more and more concerned about their new Defence Professor. The woman was incompetent! Luckily for Vlad his tutoring had been thorough enough that he knew he'd still do well in the OWLs at the end of the year, it was the other students he was worried about.
So when Hermione invited Vlad to come along to a meeting she, Harry and Ron were holding at the Hogshead that weekend to address the issue, he decided to come along and see if he could help out. It wasn't until he got there that he realised he was the only Slytherin in attendance.
Honestly, he should've seen it coming. It's not like the three hosting the meeting got along with any other Slytherins, even if they did those Slytherins wouldn't have been stupid enough to A) go without back up and B) be seen publicly with a group of non-Slytherins. And yeah, Vlad didn't really care about following the unspoken rules of Slytherin, but he would have if he'd stopped for even a second to think about how awkward the situation would be.
Upon arriving, Vlad noticed he was late. A glance at his watch told him 10 minutes late, in fact. Hermione had probably just assumed he said he'd go to be polite and started without him. The meeting was clearly already tense before he opened the door, but he can't imagine having the resident Vampire walk in was really helping.
"—You might as well clear out now."
Everyone's eyes turned to him. "What the hell is a Slytherin doing here?" Someone called out.
"Yeah! Come to rat us out to Umbridge?" Called another.
Vlad frowned at them and their presumptuous comments. "No, actually I'm here for the meeting. I was invited."
Whispers of confused "who invited him"'s filled the room, until Hermione spoke up.
"I invited him. He's my friend." Sufficiently shutting up their jabbering. For now anyway.
And with that, the meeting continued. People recounted times of Harry's heroics, and Harry was modest about all of it. Putting it down to luck. Vlad reckoned with luck like that he could walk into a room full of Vampires and none of them would even flash their fangs at him. Harry went on to explain to the group that what happened to him wasn't this amazing adventure like they'd made it out to be, it was terrifying. That if he had made a mistake out there, he wouldn't be able to go back tomorrow and try again. It wasn't like school.
"When you're a second away from being murdered, or watching a friend die right before your very eyes… You don't know what that's like." He said solemnly, looking down at his feet.
"You're right Harry we don't, that's why we need your help. If we're going to have any chance of beating… Voldemort." Hermione stated firmly, addressing both the true motive behind the meeting and her support for him.
"He's really back?" A small boy Vlad recognised as a Gryffindor asked. Harry only nodded.
For some reason, something in Vlad stirred during the speech. Harry wasn't the only person to go through traumatic shit.
"I do." He commented without context. Everyone looked at him again. "I know what it's like… To be seconds from death, watching people die."
Ever the curious Ravenclaw, Michael Corner asked, "What happened?"
Hermione quickly intervened, "You don't have to answer that if you don't want to Vlad. It's ok."
"No it's fine, I don't mind people knowing. It's not really much after what happened at the Welcome Feast, after all." With a sigh, Vlad delved into his story. Although it was very brief.
"In the Summer after my first year at Hogwarts, my sister tried to kill me." There were gasps of horror. "It's more complicated than that though. There was a lot going on at the time, her boyfriend had just died among other things. But nevertheless, she left my Dad locked in a UV cage to watch the sunrise, and me passed out at his feet."
Seeing as most of everyone had been either had learned at least the basics about Vampires, they all understood what Vlad was saying. "Is he ok?" One of the younger students asked with a whimper.
"Physically, yeah, he's fine. But I mean, you all saw him during the feast… He's livid." There was a long pause. Yes, everyone remembered that argument clearly.
"Anyway, this meeting isn't about me. I just wanted to let you know, Harry, that there are others in the same boat."
He heard Harry mutter something along the lines of, "At least you don't have a whole population relying on you to fix their problems…"
Vlad could only smirk at that and mumble, "You have no idea."