Children of the Night Part 1: The Book of Death
Chapter 3: Of Death and Life
by Polydicta
Summary:
Harry seeks revenge after Hermione is killed, but finds that they have both undergone a life-changing event. Violence, blood, character death, normal marital relations, necromantic themes. ON HIATUS.
This story is on PERMANENT HIATUS - that is, until I feel inspired to add anything more to it. I know where I want it to go but lack the inspiration or the drive to get there. I'm hoping that the guilt of leaving everyone hanging will motivate me … or something.
Disclaimer:
All fiction is derivative and fan fiction doubly so. I make no claim to own any part of any of the following, all I have done is an attempt to put together the elements in a novel fashion, using words and ideas like Lego ™ bricks.
There is no money involved – all I do is to share what I do for my own amusement.
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Children of the Night Part 1: The Book Of Death
Chapter 3: Of Death and Life
.
That day, Harry slept fitfully, laying on a sofa brought down from one of the rooms above. Hermione, on the other hand had blinked into, well, unconsciousness was too mild a word.
Harry gave up. He sat and thought. Regarding his wife, currently lying inert in a coffin. Yes, he thought, she was a true vampire. During daylight hours she lay dead, at night she would wake and return to life. There was something odd, though, since she had a heartbeat, she breathed, she ate and she was warm. it was only when she rested that she became once more a corpse.
Harry recalled the three vampires he'd slain – poor, cold, pale, mockeries of life. Hermione, on the other hand, seemed to be a truly living woman last night.
He shook his head, wondering what was truly happening.
There were footfalls on the stair down from the cellars.
"Remus? Is that you?"
"Harry? I thought …? What's going on?"
"I have no idea. Hermione's resting. No, she's inert, dead again. I'm just sat here fretting."
Remus emerged, carrying a safety lantern.
"I just wondered what the situation was down here. I could hear movement is all."
"Your werewolf senses? "
He nodded. "I have to say, it doesn't smell of vampire down here."
"Really?"
Remus nodded. "Vampires have a distinctive smell. Ammonia from the blood and, I don't know, a slight smell of sweet decay."
He sniffed. "You smell faintly of blood, but mainly of the same Harry I've known for years."
He walked over to Hermione's coffin, and sniffed.
"Strange, she also smells faintly of blood, but still of her living smell. For the past two days, I'm sorry, she smelled like a corpse."
"It's alright, Remus, I understand. Do you feel your instinctive reaction to vampires down here?"
He shook his head. "No, there's none of the fear and loathing, More than anything, there's a feel of melancholia and loss. Is there anything I can do?"
Harry smiled weakly. "Actually, there is. I'm going to need a supply of blood replenishing potion and, I have an idea from a film. We watched it an age past, I'm going to need fresh pig's blood from the slaughterhouse, and plenty of it, preserved warm with a stasis charm. Oh, and the number of an all-night pizza delivery service."
Remus' head jerked up. "Pardon?"
"I'm starving. I haven't eaten in three days, and I've lost a pint or so of blood. I want to make sure that Hermione has something on hand that she can quell her … hunger. Last night I gave her my blood, but I only have so much to spare."
"I heard. A mug full."
Harry nodded. "Yes, but I'd already lost quite a bit the previous night, all over the inside of a mine."
Remus shuddered, imagining the carnage inside the mine from a fight with three vampires.
"Okay, so a fourteen inch pizza with everything for you, what about Hermione?"
"Remus, forget the pizza … actually contemplating it is making me … Merlin! I forgot. It's the garlic!"
"So, no Italian for you any more. That's a shame. What do you fancy?"
Harry smiled. "A nice, rare steak with chips and, hmm, a side salad, no dressing. That restaurant round the corner does take away, I think."
Remus grinned. "Well, not much wrong with you then. Anything else?"
"Thanks, Remus. I'll move our stuff down here once the sun's down. And I'll also bring down some reading matter. I think I need to do some research, but could you deal with the potions and the blood?"
Remus nodded. "Ath you with, marthter," he lisped theatrically.
"Thank you Eyegore. Werewolf?"
Pointing at himself he replied, "there wolf!"
They laughed together, a relief for both of them.
After Remus left, Harry concentrated.
"Dobby?"
"Yes Harry? What… Oh."
"What do you sense, Dobby?"
"You and Hermione. You are … changed."
"Okay, Dobby, I need some help here. What do you sense about the changes in us."
"Well, it's difficult. You have something … different. You are …"
The elf scratched his head.
"More real, I suppose, as though there is more of you than there was. I can feel you, like the world bends around you."
Harry blinked. "That sounds deep."
Dobby nodded.
"What about Hermione?"
"That's confusing. She's, well, she feels a long way away right now, but last night, she … it was almost as though there were two like you."
"Does she feel like a vampire to you, Dobby?"
The elf looked worried.
"It's alright, my friend, I'm trying to understand what's happened."
The elf was a bit perplexed.
"Kind of. It's almost as if she's a vampire and yet not. last night she was very much Hermione, but there was the hunger."
Harry nodded. "Tonight, I think we'll be busy around the house. Could you pop out tonight and see if you can find the vampire Sanguini, please? I would like to speak with him about this."
Dobby grinned. "Of course I will. Just after Hermione wakes."
"Oh, and Dobby, could you bring down anything from the library that covers vampires, please?"
A few minutes later, Harry was trawling through a stack of books. He never noticed when the candle burned down and went out, he just carried on reading in the dark. Remus came down with the take-away lunch. They exchanged a few words. Harry ate in silence after Remus went back upstairs.
Somehow, Harry had read and digested the facts from about thirty books in the space of a few hours. He let his head loll back as he sat and thought. There was nothing of any real help in any of the books.
Harry felt a change in the air. There was a sigh.
"Hermione?"
"Harry."
He went over and kissed his wife.
"Hermione, whilst I would love to dally, we have things to do. I've asked Dobby to try to get Sanguini to come over, and I'd like to do a bit of decorating down here before he arrives."
He could see his wife's perfect smile.
"Hungry?"
She giggled. "I daren't take any more of yours."
Harry smiled. "You can have all of mine if you want, but I've asked Remus to get some in."
She looked horrified.
"Don't worry. I'll explain when you've breakfasted."
They went upstairs. Remus handed Hermione a pint mug filled with red fluid. She sniffed it appreciatively and drank.
"That's nothing like yours, Harry. What you gave me last night was … I don't know, more potent. That was more like pumpkin juice to your firewhisky."
"That was pig blood. Yuck, I know, but I wanted to know if it would suffice."
She nodded. "I'll still need the odd sip from you, I think, Harry. Or something. How come you were already awake tonight?"
"I never slept. I'm not the same as you, Love. I was trying to figure out what. But there again, you're not the usual vampire either."
"Harry?"
"Sirius?"
"Just smile again, will you?"
Harry did.
"I thought so. Drink these."
Harry downed the potion, and then washed the dreadful taste away with the contents of the mug he was handed.
"Hmm, that was good. What was it?"
"Pig. Same as Hermione had."
"Ah."
.
Most of the evening was spent ferrying their furniture into the crypt, which turned out to be more spacious than Harry had thought. Besides the ancient mausoleum that he and his wife had spent the day in, there were the old dungeons. Harry did some drastic modifications, turning the whole of the lower level into a pleasant apartment below ground. Provided that you ignored the fourteenth-century stonework look, it was quite modern. He even added a magical fireplace to the common room. Idly, he wondered what a town house in London was doing with dungeons.
Harry went foraging in the attics and found most of the wooden furniture he needed, all ancient and built when quality was more important than fashion. There were ancient, enchanted iron torches that would provide them with light. He also found an old door, complete with massive, iron knocker and barred spy-hatch.
Because of the heavy door and the situation of the crypt, they decided to retain that as their bedroom, with their four-poster from upstairs and the two coffins on ledges in the wall. Armoires and wardrobes held their clothes, and other furniture completed the ensemble. There was also a magical shower and bathroom that Harry cleverly moved from upstairs.
The cells became a kitchen, a small library and a small dining room, the old guardroom became a spacious common room, complete with wizarding wireless.
A side chamber was converted to become a guest bedroom, complete with two coffins on wall ledges and some basic furniture.
"Harry, why is there a ruddy great, iron-bound door at the foot of the stairs?"
"That's our new front door, Sirius. I want a bit of warning when van Helsing turns up."
All of a sudden there was a strange, hunched figure clumping down the stairs.
"Who in Merlin's name are you?"
"Igor, Marthter. Thome houth elf arthked around for an Igor for a family of vampireth new to the thity."
"Thank you, Tonks, we'll let you know."
As she morphed back into her own shape, she asked. "how did you know?"
"It was the pink tips to the hair. You've been reading Hermione's disk-world books, haven't you?"
"Poo! You guessed."
There was a knock at the front door and Dobby answered.
A large figure came down the stairs.
"Sanguini, welcome!"
The tall, rogue vampire looked at Harry and Hermione and blanched.
"I apologise, Lord …"
"WHAT?"
Sanguini blinked. "I Apologise, Lord …"
"Whatever for. Look, enter and be welcome. Hermione and I have need of your … advice."
The vampire blinked. "But …"
"Have you eaten tonight?"
"No, Lord, I came straight here without feeding. Your servant seemed … urgent."
Harry laughed. "Dobby is no servant, he's family, and to him, I suppose, everything is urgent. We only have rare steak and pig I'm afraid."
Sanguini blinked again, starting to suffer from culture shock. He seemed to be in a pleasantly appointed dungeon apartment with … well, two vampires, a werewolf, a witch and a wizard. None, he added mentally, seemed quite normal. The alpha in front of him was quite terrifying, actually, and so was his …
Harry handed the vampire a mug with daisies on. He sniffed the contents and smiled. He drank the, well, it was certainly mild, but it refreshed his thoughts. But daisies?
"Thank you, Lord."
"Now, please sit. First, less of this Lord stuff. As far as I'm concerned, we're friends. We met a few years back at one of Slughorn's parties."
Sanguini nodded. "Of course, Lord Potter." He smiled.
"That's just Harry, thanks."
.
Sanguini swallowed hard.
"Look, I'll explain. Hermione and I encountered a little trouble …"
An hour later, the tale was told.
"You killed Savarin in a fight? Without using magic? Without backup or traps?"
Harry nodded.
"And you killed his two latest brides likewise?"
Harry nodded. "Who was Savarin?"
Sanguini shook his head. "Chastelvan Savarin was ancient. I recall telling you that I was turned in fourteen ninety two. Savarin was old even then. He was seen as a renegade, his sire turned him when the Romans were still expanding into central Europe. His sire was my grandsire.
"You may know Savarin better as Vlad Tepes, the Impaler. He rebelled against his sire, killing him, and then began his reign of terror. The locals still call him Vlad Drakul, Vlad the Devil."
"So he was ancient. Surely that means he was getting slow."
"No, My Lord, he was truly powerful, in his full maturity and continuing to grow. He was well known for siring wives and then destroying them when he became … weary of them. He killed any vampire who entered his territory and he always killed when he fed. He was truly formidable, able to change at will with barely a thought."
Harry nodded. "Yes, he got me with his talons and split my lip with his teeth."
Sanguini shuddered. This one was truly formidable if Savarin had died at his hand, to a knife-blow, at that.
"Did you taste his blood? His venom?"
Harry nodded. "Both, I guess. I was also pretty sliced up, so I'd imagine both got into the cuts, too."
Sanguini nodded in understanding. "Then it is likely that you are what is known as Upir, a living vampire, one who has the powers of the vampire and the strengths of the quick. Did you sleep at sunrise?"
Harry shook his head. "No, in fact I haven't slept since Hermione first woke."
"And that, Lord, is another thing. Upir have the power of the breath of life. They can return one who is dead but unchanged to a semblance of life. I see that your Lady breathes and lives, and yet is vampire. She is one of the rarest and most precious things in our society. Immortal, like her Upir sire, and yet as faithful as the night. Both you and she are powerful, both of you will retain the magic of your living days, and both, well, let me say that you will command respect from all the vampire clans.
"It may be that you will only sleep when you wish to, and that may remain the sleep of the quick. Upir, like Dhampir, may remain abroad in daylight, but I would caution you, Lord, to avoid direct sunlight. The burns from overexposure are painful and take a long time to heal."
"So sunlight isn't necessarily fatal? I could expose you, for example, briefly, and you'd only suffer a sunburn?"
Sanguini nodded. "Essentially so, My Lord. Oh, and I would venture one piece of advice. Never drink your tea or coffee too hot, the burns are excruciating and potentially fatal. Most injuries, however, heal rapidly.
Harry saw Sanguini from the premises with the exhortation to look in if he felt like it.
Sanguini felt that he could obtain infinite mileage from being able to boast the new Lord's friendship, but he considered that politically too dangerous.
He shuddered at the very thought of an alpha male with an alpha mate. This Potter was one to watch. He felt, preferably from another continent. Even that, he suspected, may be too close.
.
Before going down to Hermione, Harry wrote a letter to Croaker explaining that Hermione and he were unwell and would probably not be returning to work in the near future.
He petted his familiar, speaking gentle words to the faithful snowy owl and sent her off with his letter. He had expected Hedwig to avoid him, but somehow, the owl still recognised him as her human. If human he still was.
.
Returning to their apartment, he found that Remus, Sirius and Tonks had gone to bed, leaving Hermione sitting reading.
"They're not night birds like us, Love."
"I'm no bird, Harry, I'm a bat, remember?"
"You're no bat. You're too beautiful."
"Harry, what's going to happen to us?"
"Well, first, I think we have some unfinished business from the night you were attacked …"
He enfolded her in his arms and captured her lips with his own before lifting her gently and taking her to their bedroom.
He felt the dawn break, and she was still sleeping, a living woman, in his arms. He kissed her tenderly and she stirred.
"Hmmm, Harry … I'm still sleepy."
He chuckled quietly. "Yes, and its daylight outside."
She never heard, she was already asleep again, breathing evenly. Harry settled down, pulling the duvet over them both and went to sleep.