"She looks like rubbish," Barty thought to himself, looking through the bars to where Samara was curled in a ball. Her normally slightly coloured skin was pale and drawn, and her bright eyes had strangly lost their glow. Barty shook his head and returned to reading the book stretched on the table in front of him, finger following the lines as he read them. His mind began to wander, until he found himself back talking to Ebony.

"What do you want?" she asked gruffly.

"Wow, what's wrong with you?" he asked in reply.

"That would be the fact that I'm looking after a Potions class and trying to make it obvious that I'm talking to someone in my head."

"Oh; sorry," Barty said sheepishly, returning to his book.

"Ginny, please stop copying," Ebony called to the young red-head who turned her head instantly from the boy she was copying off of and began staring intently at her own work. Ebony couldn't believe that Tonks hadn't appeared to teach today; she'd apparently caught the Flu. Ebony had chortled into her morning pumpkin juice at that. Still, it gave the vampire a clear hour to think away to herself while the sixth years struggled through a question paper Tonks had created. She sighed and leant back in her chair, thinking about Samara. So enveloped in her thoughts was she that when the bell rang, she had to catch herself on the edge of the desk to save falling over.

"Erm, you may all leave, have a good day," she told the class, picking her cloak up and throwing it around her shoulder before striding out of the room. Remus had called Harry, Ron and Hermione into a meeting with Ebony, Lenera and himself, and Ebony decided it would be bad practice to appear late. So, as she fought her way through the crowd rushing to their lessons, she inscessantly checked her watch.

"So nice of you to join us," was the greeting she got from Lenera when she finally fell through the door of Lupin's office.

"Shut up you," she snapped back, panting slightly as she slumped into a chair. "Sorry I'm late, damn traffic jam in the Entrance Hall."

"No worries," Remus replied. "Now then, Harry, we believe that Lord Voldemort is seeking to make himself immortal by drinking a pureblood vampire's blood. Now, this-"

"He is already immortal, Professor," Harry said in a quiet voice.

"What do you mean, Harry?" Lenera asked, leaning forward in her chair to look at the young wizard more closely. Ebony saw a fresh cut down the side of Lenera's face, and felt her stomach perform a sickening lurch.

Harry looked between Ron and Hermione before answering. "Well... Last year, Professor Dumbledore was teaching me about Voldemort and..." Harry looked down at his feet, trying to find the words to say. "Professor Slughorn had a memory about the young Tom Riddle... That's Voldemort... He made Horcruxes."

There was a silence so load it seemed to deafen the people sitting in it. Lenera was the first to move, and she slammed her ciar to the floor and looked out the window, muttering profanity. Ebony and Remus exchanged uncomfortable looks before Ebony threw her head into her palms and shook it slowly, while the young wizards and witch just looked into space, hoping one of the adults would speak first. "How many did Professor Dumbledore manage to destroy before... Well, before the end of last year?" Lupin asked.

"I think three out of six... Maybe more, I don't know," Harry answered, not looking up to meet his worried Professor's gaze.

"Then we have little to worry about where the Vampire's are concerned," Ebony said, looking around the room. "It now makes little or no difference if he drinks Samara's baby's blood or not; if we don't find those Horcruxes, Harry, you wont be able to kill Voldemort."

"What if it's not my job to do it?" Harry asked, a tone of panic in his voice. "Just because Voldemort made that prophecy important doesn't mean it is!"

"That's Dumbledore talking, Harry," Ebony argued back, trying to neutralise the boy's anger.

"Professors!" Ebony was on her feet as the young boy crashed in through the door.

"You should have knocked, Kevin," Remus said, not unkindly.

"I'm sorry, Sir, but... Professor McGonagall asked me to fetch Professor Maltaffi immediately!" Ebony glanced at Lenera before grabbing the werewolf's sleeve and tearing out of the door. She lead the way to the Headmistresses office, spoke the password and covered the stairs in a few leaps.

The doors had been repaired since Dracula's appearance, but Ebony blasted them apart and stepped into the office beyond in full fury. "I am not your pet corpse to be summoned whenever you see fit, Minerva!" she shouted, her eyes glowing a deep red.

"And I would not have called for you if this was not of the utmost importance," Professoer McGonagall replied calmly, which only served to infuriate the vampire further.

"So? Deal with something yourself for once! I can't catch every Death Eater, or kill everyone or anything else!"

"I know that. What I was going to ask you to do was to take a trip down to Hogsmeade. I believe, from what I have heard, that a certain Werewolf has decided to pay us a visit. In fact, there has been suggestion of several wandering around near to the school."

"Fenrir," Lenera said quietly as she stalked into the room. "It's him, isn't it?"

Professor McGonagall glanced at Ebony who was still fuming, before answering, "yes, it would appear so."

"I have no immunity to werewolves; I'll be weaker than a human against him," Ebony put in agitatedly.

"Does he know you, Miss Malfatti? Or your sister, Nymphadora Tonks?"

"No, I suppose not."

"Then I need you two to go and find out as much as you can about what he is doing here. I have spoken to Nymphadora, and she seems more than happy to attempt this for the Order's sake."

"Don't blackmail me with the bloody Order, please spare me," Ebony mocked, standing up. "Where is Tonks really?"

"Doing a small amount of investigative work into Fenrir and his habits," Professor McGonagall replied. Ebony didn't look at her directly, just turned and walked out of the office. "Lenera, can I accept Ebony's behaviour as a yes?"

"I'd go with that, yeah," Lenera replied before darting into the corridor to follow Ebony.

"I'm not certain this is a good idea," Tonks confessed to Ebony as they wandered their way down the winding path from the castle and into Hogsmeade.

"Me either, but we have to give it a go," Ebony responded, moving her rucksack around a little to settle it better on her back. "If we can figure out why they're here, maybe we can do a touch of pre-empting any strikes they have planned. Though it wouldn't suprise me at all if they were just using Hogsmeade as a go-between stop over type location."

"I hope you're right. I managed to get us two rooms at the Hogs Head, even if that mad old bat Sybil Trelawny thinks the beds have bed bugs," Tonks informed her sister, stepping cautiously around a puddle. "Apparently we ought to keep an eye on books in the bookcase as well."

"I always told you she was off her flaming rocker," Ebony laughed, smiling up at the stars.

"When she told me that she had 'forseen' Sirius' untimely demise, I asked her how he died. Apparently is was in a rather nasty chariot accident in Rome." This story brought a laugh from both the girls as they continued their walk.

"Funny to think, last time You-Know-Who was doing his thing, you were still at Hogwarts," Ebony thought outloud.

"And you were still human and working as an Auror, going out with the rather dishy Remus Lupin," Tonks said with a gentle scold in her voice.

"Yes, everyone's favourite werewolf, hmm?" Ebony replied, not dwelling on the past.

"Not like Lenera. Never went for bad boys, did she?" Tonks wondered.

"Look who she married! Prefect, Headboy, Quidditch Captain? Tom had it all when we were at school, but boy didn't he know it."

"Stuck up?"

"Just a little." The Hogs Head was right ahead of them and, when Ebony opened the door, Tonks' reply was lost in the crowd noise.

A/N

Starting to get closer to the interesting bits, hope you're enjoying! Thanks for reading, CS xxx