Children of the Night Part 1: The Book of Death
Chapter 5: Of Regent's Park Village
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 5: Of Regent's Park Village
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Harry and Hermione had been home for less than an hour when Croaker arrived, bearing with him a shrunken trunk.
"I trust that I'm not disturbing you, but I thought I'd take the liberty of bringing you everything we currently have on the subject of vampires as well as on the portal. The latter is a pitifully small file, I'm afraid. I also put in the briefing file on your next assignment so that you can read it at your leisure. I assure you that it relates closely to your own … predicament."
"Thanks Crock. Do you want anything? Tea? Coffee? Butterbeer?"
The unspeakable grinned. "Somehow I find the offer rather … unexpected after your rather unconventional breakfast yesterday. A butterbeer would be good though."
.
They sat in the Potters' dining room as they perused the assignment file.
"This is nasty, Crock. Almost as bad as Voldemort."
"No, it's worse. Much worse, They are expanding their ranks by turning the worst dregs of humanity. They are also raising revenants – inferii … and worse."
"Worse than inferii? How?"
"Constructs and zombies … both with intelligence."
"Constructs with intelligence? You mean flesh golems?"
The wizard shuddered. "I hesitate to use the term, but unclean sums them up. The small amount of information that we have suggests that this coven, if that's an appropriate term, are using humans as feed-stock and for sport, killing them for pleasure. Then, they use the resulting dead to re-animate."
Harry smiled thinly. "Well, I can hardly claim the moral high-ground on that, can I?"
"Yes you can – at least the only person re-animated was your wife, and she's pretty alive as far as I can see. We found you silver-webbed hunting knives and swords. I would take it as a personal favour if you would learn to handle them as well as possible. Each set is a sword, long knife and maingauche, that is left-hand knife. There are some other appropriate weapons and armour for you to experiment with.
"Now, the other thing is the portal. I know it's all in the file, but it was discovered on the site of the Thebes Necropolis in the fifteen hundreds and brought to London via Paris and Munich, arriving with us in eighteen fifty two.
"The carvings are in early kingdom hieroglyphs and a pre-Egyptian script that has denied proper analysis. We think it may be a separate language, much like liturgical Latin as opposed to colloquial Latin, but we aren't sure.
"There is a third, cursive script that we have placed as a form of Sunnaic, but since it is a phonetic alphabet and not idiographic we have few clues as to meaning. The aperture is a cube of four low kingdom cubits on an edge, the whole being a single monolith of an unidentified stone four cubits by twelve by twelve. the lower third being below the floor of the room. It bears carvings on all surfaces. The surfaces are, but for the text, perfectly flat and all edges knife-sharp.
"Now, I must head home. I will leave you both in peace, now, until next week."
Harry and Hermione spent the rest of the night reading, they retired and slept soundly until the next evening.
.
"Harry?"
"Hmm, Remus?"
Harry looked up from his reading, his breakfast blood staining his lips.
"Harry, tomorrow night is the full moon. Moonrise is four twenty in the afternoon. I'll be in my cage when you both wake. Look in will you? I think Nym could do with the company."
"Of course we will, Remus, but are you sure that our smell won't aggravate the wolf's senses?"
"We need to see, Harry," was all Remus would say.
.
Harry's mobile 'phone rang.
"That was a Miss Alyssa Weyland, the restaurant owner's daughter. She wants to meet us. Introduce us to the local night people."
"When and where?"
"At the restaurant in an hour. You fancy a meal after?"
Hermione smiled, allowing her fangs to show.
.
"Ah, Mr and Mrs Potter, please follow me, Alyssa is waiting for you in the back room."
They walked into the back room to find about a dozen people sitting around and chatting. About two thirds were vampire, the other third seemingly spouses. Every pair of eyes was on them as they entered, the vampires' eyes all widened.
"Hi everyone." Harry smiled and looked around, outwardly oblivious to the others' reaction to Hermione and himself. Hermione knew otherwise.
"M-Mr and M-Mrs P-Potter? M-my L-lord. M-my L-lady." The girl's resemblance to the restaurant's owner told them that this was Alyssa, though not why she bowed.
Hermione smiled. "That's us. Recently joined the …um, community."
Eight surprised pairs of eyes blinked almost in unison.
"Oh, in case anyone is wondering, we both work for a government department, and that is all we can tell you."
An immaculately dressed man, apparently in his fifties spoke. "Y-your both w-wizards?"
They noticed that all of the vampires present were nervous.
"Yes, if you are aware of the wizarding world, Harry was an auror, but we both work in the Department of Mysteries."
The two of them pulled out chairs and sat.
"Now, without us revealing government secrets, what would you like to know? Other than this is my wife, Hermione and I'm Harry."
They all introduced themselves. The older man, Albert Norman, spoke.
"Well, welcome to the local community. Perhaps you could tell us something about your, umm, arrival in our midst?"
Between them they told their story, about their second honeymoon and the days since.
"So neither of you was actually sired by Savarin? Strange, and you say you destroyed him bare handed? Even stranger. But there again, as a wizard, you had some peculiar … strengths already. You both wear the mantle of power as though through long association."
One of the younger girls, Elizabeth deRoux, actually the oldest there, said, "But Albert, these are the two who defeated the Dark Lord that had the wizards so traumatised. Harry here was probably the most powerful wizard alive when he … joined us."
Hermione murmured, "actually he still is."
"Pardon? He still retains most of his magic?"
"We both do. All of it, and perhaps more."
There was a series of gasps.
"That is strange indeed. Most of us, once turned, lose most of out previous magical abilities, but are compensated by a growth in … other skills."
"You mean speed, vision, sense of smell and keenness of thought?"
She nodded. "That kind of thing, yes."
"What are your plans for the future? You can hardly continue to work where you were, after all."
Hermione smiled, her hunger showing in the shape of her teeth. "well actually, our boss reckons that being upir is a major advantage to our department."
"You are Upir? You haff a heartbeat? No vonder your makeup is so flawless."
The older woman, Doreen Winkins had spoken. Her accent strangely reminiscent of the affected accents used in old gothic horror films, her formal dress more suited to a woman with a sylph-like figure, rather than the hearty woman she was. Her husband, Arthur was, however, a vampire of the old school. He was thin, pallid and had a distinct widow's peak. For some reason he was wearing a dress-suit and an opera cape.
"My wife has become something of an expert in Vampire lore. You must realise that most of us wear makeup to … disguise our status … as undead."
Hermione noticed that Arthur had a distinctly East-End London accent. He carried himself with aplomb, but still showed some of the deference he had presumably learned in the fresh fruit and veg. trade.
.
"Now, there is something that both of us want to know. This happened with Master Sanguini too. Why were all of you nervous about us? And why the Lord and Lady?"
Elizabeth answered.
"You have to understand something of the hierarchy of vampire society. When someone is turned, their sire is like their parent, having a level of control over them. Thus the hierarchy goes back to the oldest-turned vampires.
"Vampires congregate in three social groups. The, um, blood lineage creates the highest level, the Clan. The clan is the most important aspect of our social order. Within these clans are the Families. A family is just like the human counterpart with sires and their mates and the offspring and their mates.
"Finally. there are the Covens. This is a group of vampires, generally unrelated by blood, but who have formed a social alliance for mutual benefit, convenience or simply for company. We, here, are strictly a coven, though we make no demands of fealty, nor indeed any other demands. We are more like a village community. We call ourselves Regent's Park Village."
There was a ripple of quiet laughter around the room, knowing that the park in question was less than five minutes walk from the restaurant.
"Some covens are more … rigid, being formed for some purpose other than community."
"Each vampire, in addition to having a place in the bite-order, will be more or less dominant. The most dominant, the most powerful are the alphas. Usually, the alphas are the most powerful members of our society, commanding great respect. Below the alphas are the betas. Usually an alpha will have a beta as his or her mate. Below this are the … less dominant vampires, often the younger ones.
"Occasionally a vampire will appear, more dominant even than the usual alphas. These are the Vampire Lords, and Ladies, of course. It is clear to any vampire where you stand in the bite order. You Mr and Mrs Potter are very clearly a Lord and Lady.
"You are an exception to the rule, in that you are both at the top of the hierarchy, and yet you have bonded mutually. Most vampires will either dominate or be dominated."
Harry smiled. "Hermione and I were married and soul-bonded long before we … joined the society. We were partners who complemented each other before, and so it is natural that we continue to do so. Our marriage vows stated in this world and the next, in life and death, for all eternity. And a magical oath-taking is enforced absolutely.
"When Hermione lay dead, I was ready to follow her into the next great adventure. Taking on Savarin was calculated to be either revenge or suicide. I assumed suicide."
.
"Lord Potter, how is it that you manage The Hunger?"
Harry grinned. "Fresh pig. Warm and preserved with a stasis charm on it. It is a little … mild, but we share our life force between the two of us."
The girl blinked. "You are able to sustain … but there again, you also eat … food, don't you?"
Hermione nodded. "We are both living beings while also being vampire. Our … needs are not entirely as yours, I gather. Our marriage bond requires us to share our blood with each other, but the pig blood fulfils that particular thirst. We have, of course, already breakfasted tonight.
"Once we have finished here, Harry and I are planning on a nice blue steak. My belief is that we still need … human food to sustain our magical selves."
The girl looked at them.
"And you sleep?"
Harry chuckled. "We sleep the sleep of the living, though more soundly than before. We are aware of the dawn and the falling of night. Hermione only slept the rest of the dead on her first night, presumably because she was still … recovering."
After their meeting and a mutual exchange of telephone numbers, Harry and Hermione enjoyed their candle lit meal and wandered home, this time without incident.
.
"Harry, I don't feel right. I feel like I did that first night. Harry, I'm afraid …"
Harry felt the same, a deep … fear of the next day.
"It's alright, Love. We'll close the doors and seal them, and we'll warn Dobby that we need to … rest. He'll watch over us."
The dawn was approaching by the time they had showered and dressed to sleep. Harry sealed the apartment door using mundane and magical means, and similarly the crypt door.
"Dobby?"
"Yes Harry?"
"Dobby, we're not sure what's happening, but we both feel the need to … rest. We'll be using the coffins today. Could you make sure that Remus knows, and could you keep an eye on us?"
"Of course, Harry. I understand this must be … difficult for you both, especially as there is so little, um, information available."
"Thanks Dobby, you're the best. Good night."
The pair lay in their caskets and closed the lids. They heard a sound like a forest fire and they knew nothing more.