Chapter 18 - Bring It
Darren set off towards the nearest city. Once they got there they could take a train to a city near the mountain then go by foot. But how to get them there? All the dangers that faced full vampires on the trip would spell certain death for the humans. Darren frowned.
The five of them followed behind him, unsure.
"Where are we going?" Ron asked.
"My home." Darren mentally winced. He couldn't count that place as a home, there was no attachment to him there. The whole place could come crumbling down and all Darren would feel was a loss of his hammock that had been left there.
"Alright." Ron said uncomfortably. They had been avoiding Darren, his strange habits and dangerous mood swings had made them weary. Now they were relying on him to keep them safe. Wasn't he vengeful? Hurt at what they had done?
"We'll take some sort of transportation to the nearest city then walk from there." Darren explained, keeping them at a steady pace.
"Walk?" Harry questioned. "How far is it?"
Darren paused. How far was it? It had taken him and L-... a month to get there on foot. At about ten miles a day that's- "300 miles." Darren stopped. These humans couldn't walk that far.
Hermione sputtered "You mean from here right?"
Darren shook his head and then started walking again. "No."
"Couldn't we take a taxi or something?"
"Its tradition for my-" Darren cut himself off. They didn't know he was a vampire. How was he going to explain that? "-family to walk there. It's a great dishonour to go by any other means."
"Then... then you go by foot! We'll take a taxi." Ron said, red-faced and tact-less as ever.
Darren shot him a cold look over his shoulder and Harry and Hermione looked shocked.
"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed, smacking Ron in the shoulder.
"There's no way of getting there by any other means than foot." Darren stated.
"What about brooms?" Harry asked.
Darren nodded. "That could work. Usually it's nearly impossible for someone to get there if they haven't been before. But if you went on brooms..." He was relieved that there was one of his problems solved.
"But we don't have any brooms with us. They're back in the castle." Ginny pointed out.
"We could go to Hogsmeade." Harry said. "There's a Quidditch store there."
"But how do we know that it's not overrun with those... things? What where they anyways?" Hermione asked. "I've never seen anything like them in my books."
"We could-"
Darren tuned them out. How had the vampaneze gotten there? Had Steve found out he was there? Or was it something else?
"You guys will need food and heavy clothing." Darren said, looking at their skirts and thin trousers. "As well as those brooms. We are headed north, is there any place we can stop by to get them?"
"The only other place I know of is Diagon Alley. And its south of here." Harry said regrettably.
Darren cursed. "We can't get there without them."
"We could go to my house." said a quiet voice in the back. Everyone turned to see a pale and shaken Draco in the back of the group. Having been silent the whole time, he had been forgotten. "We have a shed full of Firebolts." He turned his eyes down.
Hermione frowned. "Why are you escaping with us, Malfoy?"
Draco cleared his throat. "I... ummm... My father is... angered with me right now. I knew of the attack but by the time I was able to tell the Dumbledore, the switch had already been made."
"Why is your father angry with you?" Hermione asked softly.
Draco said something so quietly that Darren had a hard time making it out.
"What was that?" Darren asked.
"I refused the Dark Mark." Draco confessed. "I joined the Order awhile back as a spy. But when it came to bearing that... monsters mark, I refused. I managed to escape, my father claiming that I was sick. But when we got home he got really angry. Then I came to school. I knew that, if I stayed, I would be killed." He seemed surprised that he had said all of this and his lips visibly sealed shut.
There was a moment of silence than Ron burst out laughing. "The slimy git refusing the mark? That's not possible! He's probably leading us right to them!"
Draco gave him a cold glare and sneered in typical Malfoy fashion. "You probably wouldn't know how to ride a Firebolt anyways, you peasant! Its takes someone with discipline to disobey their parents, something you obviously lack, Mugglelover!"
Ron turned red and snarled at him. They were reaching for their wands when Harry stopped them.
"Stop fighting! We need to work together!" He turned to Draco, "How long will it take to get there?"
Draco pulled out a pendant of a snake wrapped around a gleaming silver sword. "Seconds. Father will be at Hogwarts with the rest of them so we'll have time. And now that we're past the wards we can use it."
'Wards.' Darren thought suddenly. 'The wards should have stopped me from leaving the grounds like at Christmas.'
"Something has happened to Dumbledore. His magic isn't working anymore." Darren informed them.
They all turned to him. "How do you know?"
Wanting desperately to avoid the subject he just shrugged. "I felt no wards as we left the grounds." Not a complete lie.
Harry frowned worriedly, "That's not good."
"Come on, we can't stand around all day." Draco insisted, gaining back some of his pompousness.
'He'll really fit in at the mountain.' Darren thought as the portkey whipped them away.
They landed on a soft lawn, a large manor with a winding pathway up on a hill. Harry shook his head and looked beside him to see a large white peacock strutting by. 'Even I would grow up to be a snob in this place!'
Draco had landed on his feet and started walking towards a pitch the same size as Hogwarts'. He led them to a shed beside it and retrieved the brooms while Ron and Harry drooled.
"Where to now?" Ginny asked a quiet and distant Darren, standing some ways away with his arms crossed.
"We go north. Best hide those, though. We might get questions." He said, pointing at the brooms in their hands.
They shrunk the brooms and put them in their pockets. They made their way into town and caught the Knight Bus. Darren sat in a bench and tried not to nod off, having used too much energy without human blood. Behind him were Harry and Ron with Ginny and Hermione behind them. Draco sat a ways away but was too afraid to be too far from them. Everyone was too nervous to do anything but wait for the end of the trip.
An hour later they pulled into a small town. The same one that Darren had started out for Vampire Mountain in. Though it held ill memories for Darren, he figured that the path most travelled was the easiest. And since this was only his second time going he would need all the help he could get.
Darren flinched when the Knight Bus roared loudly away, having gotten a headache from the lack of human blood in his system and making him grouchy. The daylight was beginning to shine over the mountain tops, perfect time for the humans to start out. If he were alone time wouldn't matter but they needed the light.
"Which way are we going?" Hermione asked.
Darren pointed into the range of mountains looming in front of them. The humans' eyes bludged and Draco exclaimed "We can't go in there! Its suicide! There could be... wolves or something!"
Darren gave a small smile at the mountain. "I sure hope so."
Draco started to protest again but Darren cut him off "We need to head out as soon as possible. Come with me and we'll get some provisions."
They headed into town and Darren looked into the window of a closed clothing shop. He motioned for the others to hide in the side alley while he silently slinked up to the back door.
'Now, how did he do this again? Something about static electricity...' He looked at his fingers and swiftly rubbed his pointer and thumb together, making them blur. He pointed his charged fingers at the doorknob and it popped open. Darren felt a surge of pride and stepped inside. He grabbed five backpacks and stuffed some sweaters, pants and jackets into them, swiping some hiking boots with the sizes they had recommended before he broke in. He handed the loot off to the humans and went off to another store to take some human food.
The humans went into the forest behind them to change.
"How are we possibly going to get to Darren's place on foot? Did you see those mountains?" Ron complained as he stripped. Harry just nodded, slipping on a sweater, "I'm wondering why it would be a tradition to only walk to someone's house. And where were Darren's winter clothes?" He shook his head. "I think we were on the right track saying he wasn't normal."
"Definitely, mate." Ro agreed and they laced up their boots before going to join the girls. They all looked like stuffed animals, but it was needed if the mountains looming above them were any incentive. They sat on the ground, excluding Draco who found it beneath him and took up complaining about his outfit instead, and discussed things.
"Have you had any visions about this Harry?" Hermione asked, looking lost in her purple snow jacket.
Harry shook his head. "Only one time awhile ago, and that time Voldemort knew I was there. I'm actually sure he was the reason I had it at all. It's been strangely quiet." Harry said worriedly.
"So we had no way of knowing this was coming besides Dumbledore's spies who are unreliable at best." Hermione said dejectedly.
"What about Malfoy?" Ron asked, pointing at the sulking blonde. "His darling Daddy must have told him everything." He accused, and then winced as Hermione punched his in the arm for his audacity.
"If you had been listening, Weasel, your miniscule nmind would have remembered that I didn't know until it was too late." Draco sneered back.
There was a tense silence when Ginny broke it. "What about Darren?"
Harry looked at her. "What about him?"
She shrugged. "Well... we still haven't been exactly nice to him for awhile now. And he's taken it all in stride, plus he's been very tense since the attack. Could he be leading us to Voldemort?"
"But Dumbledore told you to get him out as well." Hermione pointed out. "He can't be all bad if Dumbledore trusts him."
"But Dumbledore isn't all knowing." Harry added.
Draco rolled his eyes and muttered "Finally... with old man has fallen from Gryffindor grace."
Four glared where levelled his way and he snorted. "What? He's lead you lot around by the nose for all six years. And now, he brings in a shady character who sits around all day, eventually leading invincible killers into the school. That's what it takes for it to get through your thick skulls?" He shook his head. "Ridiculous."
"Then what does the all mighty ferret recommend we think of Darren?" Ron shot at him.
Draco stuck up his nose. "I refuse to reply to such a tone."
"He doesn't know." Ron stage whispered to Harry which earned him a glare.
"I do so!" Draco snapped. "Before my... fallout, I was told of monsters. Ones that where to help the Dark Lord in exchange for his help exterminating their own enemies. One of who happens to go to our school." He added with a significant look to his speechless audience. "I suggest treating Darren for what he is: A monster like the rest of them."
They were about to protest when Darren walked into the clearing behind Draco, holding many bags of food. His face was clear of emotion as he passed the blonde and dropped the food in front of the rest of the humans.
"That should take you most of the way. We'll have to go hunting near the end if we make good time. If not... be expected to eat what you've got in front of you." Darren concluded. "Are you all ready to go?"
They nodded and Harry gulped as he stared up at the looming mountains.
As they loaded up their food, Darren walked over to the far edge of the clearing. He had come back to hear them talking about him. When Draco had come out and said 'monster'...
He couldn't have agreed more.
Darren had gone over it in his head, and nothing they did was as a species 'humane'. No matter what way he looked at it. He wouldn't be sharing that food, he'd be killing things. And though that may be healthier than processed garbage, it was still wrong. He defied nature. And he was going to have to tell them the truth before they got to the mountain and are confronted with the real dangers of Vampires. But when?
They joined him and they set out into the forest.
I could write TONS more right now (which I am going to) but I figured you guys wanted an update. So here it is. Enjoy!