(Runs into room) Omg! I'm so sorry for not updating everyone, I got caught up with one of my other stories, but I'm back with chapter 6 of IotF. Hey Voldemort do the disclaimer so we can get started.

Voldemort: Fine, Voldemort's Hikari1 does not own Harry Potter, Buffy, Charmed, or Van Helsing, they belong to their respected owner.

Thanks V, now one small warning with this chapter it discusses Erika's thoughts on killing, so fyi it is her thoughts on it, probably another reason it took me a while to write this chapter, it took a lot of thought to write it. Let's get started though, so roll the clip! (hits start button) I have to go and catch one of the characters that was set free from my other story. (runs off)

---Chapter 6---

--- Speaking with Erika and a Lullaby---

The days of the month were passing along quite slowly for Harry's taste but he was at least glad that he wasn't stuck with traitors like Ron and Hermione or stuck starving at the Dursley's, blood wards, what a bunch of lunacy, if Dumbledore had kept his sisters around Harry they could've gone to live at Hogwarts or with Sirius or Remus and been safe thanks to the blood protection the four siblings provided each other.

It had been an interesting month to say the least though. It seemed that Piper was intent on getting Harry used to making potions as she kept reviewing the potion books they had purchased with him, along with adding her own twist on a few potions that would make them better or taste better. Everyone else was also working on getting Harry up to par with his three sisters, Paige and Phoebe were helping him read over his books, learn about different demons that also included Giles helping him, and creating spells from scratch which was quite interesting to say the least.

Spike, Angel, Dracula, Cole, and Leo were helping him to get his speaking skills, manners, and other wizarding customs correct, ok so it was mostly Leo, Cole, and Dracula with that one, but Spike and Angel helped the others when it came to Harry knowing how to speak with other creatures. The three vampires, demon, and white lighter apparently knew how important it was for Harry to offer the creatures that were looked down upon by wizards an escape or someone to go to that would not only ask for their help in a fight but fight for them and give them rights.

Van Helsing and Buffy seemed to be the ones who were mostly teaching him self defense and how to use various weapons while his sisters along with Willow and Dawn were teaching him wandless magic. It was interesting, to say the least, if the windows and doors weren't bolted down, Harry had been sure that they would've flown off when he had first tried to access his elemental powers. It had definitely earned plenty of laughs when Harry had accidentally levitated both Giles and Angel. He had not been paying attention to what his sisters were saying about meditation for access to his powers when the two had been levitated. After that though Harry was really careful not to let his mind wander during meditation.

One thing Harry did notice though was that Giles, Dracula, and Sirius were helping keep all the bank records from Gringotts in check. Sirius was teaching Harry everything he would need to know when it came to the Wizarding World's rules and regulations and how things were handled especially with the Wizengamot. Harry could just feel his brain getting ready to explode at all the information that was being handed to him, although it did help him not have any nightmares at night, for a little while at least.

It was the last week of the month when Harry awoke from a nightmare of Cedric's death. It had been so long since he had that one that he didn't think about it, especially since his gift of natural occulemency and legimency. Harry wasn't sure what started the nightmare but he knew that he couldn't fall asleep again, not with the thought of seeing Cedric's lifeless body and his soulless eyes staring up at Harry. Harry felt the tears fall down his face when he heard someone singing. He got up from his bed and walked down the hall to where the living room was and saw Erika sitting on a chaise out on the balcony staring up at the night sky. She apparently sensed he was there and turned around slowly to face him.

"Hello Harry, couldn't sleep?" She asked gently. Of his three sisters, Harry seemed to connect the most with Erika, the same could be said for her with him and for Lily and Rose who seemed to connect with each other automatically. Harry nodded and walked over when Erika had shifted on the chaise to allow some room for Harry to sit. Erika definitely looked different without her black make up on; he supposed that she did it for appearance sakes.

"Was it a bad dream?" Erika asked and Harry nodded. Erika smiled gently in response and hugged him sideways.

"What was that you were singing?" Harry asked as he stared up at the moon and stars.

"A lullaby, mom used to sing it along with a few others but that was the one to get us all to calm down."

"How do you remember?"

"I'm not really sure; I guess it's because of my ability to mold music into a special ability like a siren that that is why I remember it."

"Oh…"

Harry was silent for a few moments before looking over at Erika who continued to stare at the sky.

"Is it hard?" Harry asked and Erika looked at him in slight confusion. "Fighting, killing, taking another's life, do you regret it?"

Erika smiled softly at Harry before looking back up at the sky.

"It is something that I am not happy with but it is also something that I must do to protect those who are innocents in this world. Let me ask you something if you were to go into a regular bank and then a robber wielding a machine gun walked in and demanded that everyone get on the floor or he would kill everyone would you do as he said?" Erika asked.

"Yes," Harry answered.

"Why? Yes he can kill you but you're a wizard you have the power to take his life or to bind him with a spell and save all of those in the bank or if you have a cell phone call the police, or even if you were an auror or a member of a police force or army member would you take his life?"

"I don't know if I could, I don't think I could."

"That is what makes you different from me baby brother. I tell you this now, those in law enforcement have to always make the hardest decision when it comes to pulling the trigger or saying the spell that will harm a suspect. Do they regret it? Yes, but they do what they must to save the innocent lives around them. They do not want to take a life and they will do their best to not take a life, but sometimes they are left with no choice and other times the suspect will take their own life to avoid capture. Kill one, save a thousand (1), an assassin I met on a mission told me that once."

"What about you, would you save them at the cost of a life?"

"I was raised to save those around me whenever I am on a mission or not on a mission. We usually do not have to worry about robbers but I am trained to be able to handle a situation like the one I told you and not take the man's life. My dad learned long ago that if you can save people then do it, for those that are too far gone and do not want to be saved then you have no choice. Dad learned this on every mission he ever went on, he told me that once when he met father he had to kill a woman's brother."

"How awful!"

"Yes but something that had to be done, see in the world there are three different werewolves, ones that change with the moon, those that have the ability to change to their wolf forms by choice except on the night of the full moon, and those that change on the full moon and stay that way until they are killed, obeying only the vampires they serve. Everything that they were before is gone until they are killed."

"How could he do it?"

"He didn't have much of a choice he, the woman, Carl, and someone he was trying to save would've been killed had he not; he gave Carl the same choice should an antidote that they found to cure the curse not be administered in time. My dad, my father, Carl, and I are the ones left standing when they change from the monsters they are into the people they once were."

"Did you have a choice?"

"To become what I am today? Yes I did, both my father and my dad gave me the choice of either just training or helping them in their missions. During my decision I prayed for guidance and I was given it."

"How?"

"I was given a letter that told me about you and what you would have to face, I knew that I would have to be strong to help you in whatever way I could so I chose to fight with my fathers."

"How do they know who is different, who is right to kill and who isn't?"

"That is my dad, Van Helsing's, talent, he can sense evil. We use it often on our missions for those that are innocent but affected by evil we take them back to the Knights of the Holy Order and they cure them of their evil. For those that are evil with no innocence it is those lives that we are forced take. We do try to save those lives though, very rarely has anyone from the no innocence ever asked that we save them. Everyone has a choice Harry; it is what makes us who we are."

"What about Voldemort?"

Erika looked at Harry before looking up at the sky once more and answering.

"There is one thing that I have learned Harry and that is that those that cannot or do not want to be cured do not care for the lives of those around them they kill without mercy or without a second thought. But know this Harry there is no such thing as a pure world of good, good cannot exist without evil and evil cannot exist without good. It is how the world is and always will be."

Harry looked up at Erika and knew that like him, she had grown up very quickly in order to face what came with her missions.

"When did you first kill?" Harry asked.

"When I was 6, it was a descendant of Dr. Jekyll he tried to kill both dad and Carl while father was unconscious and I was the only one who could stop him, I did what I had to do to save my family and thousands of other innocent lives. You see, the original Dr. Jekyll was a man who created a potion to bring out one's evil. He also fell in love with the Queen Victoria(2) just before the Jack the Ripper cases. He created a potion to restore her youth but also made her forget that she was in fact an older woman not a young one. He planned to marry her but in order to create his potions he brought out his evil Mr. Hyde who committed a number of murders, including killing young women for their youthful spirits so that he could give them to Victoria."

"He wouldn't stop?"

"No, not even when dad offered to help save him, twice. Hyde and Jekyll would not stop because he had confused love with obsession. I used to ask dad why he did not manage to save Jekyll and his answer is 'he is one that didn't want to be saved, the power that came with turning into Hyde became too strong and he could no longer control Hyde as he once thought.' Dad thinks that even if Jekyll had been given a choice he wouldn't have wanted to stop, his obsession with Victoria and with becoming Hyde was too strong especially after dad fought him both in London and then in Paris. It's funny, when dad fought him the second time, he actually shattered the rose window of Notre Dame Cathedral."

"Really?"

"Yep, the Cardinal got really mad at him or so Carl says, kooky friar that he is."

Harry smiled at Erika and the thought of Van Helsing having been involved in breaking such an old window. He noticed that Erika was messing with a necklace she wore and saw that it was a small round vial with a red liquid in it.

"What's that?" Harry asked and Erika looked down and smiled.

"A gift from my father, he gave it to me after we encountered a group of vampires while hunting for some zombie vampires, they doubted that I was under the protection of my father so he had Carl create this so that it would tell other vampires that I was his adopted daughter and under his protection."

"Erika…"

"Yes?"

"I'm afraid of what is to come. I wish this had never happened to me."

"As do all who have greatness thrust upon them and live to see times of war, but it is not for them to decide, all that we have to do is to decide what to do with the choices given to us. Trust me, you will find your courage."

Harry looked at Erika before lightly smiling.

"I thought you said you never watched movies," Harry said and Erika smirked lightly.

"I didn't say that I said I never had time to watch TV, movies are a different story," Erika said. "And Lord of the Rings (2) had some really good sayings in it, thank you very much."

Harry laughed lightly and nodded before he looked back up at the stars, he knew Erika's words held truth but he was still a little unsure. Erika looked down at Harry and sighed before enveloping him in a tight hug which shocked Harry before he realized she had started humming (3). Harry leaned against Erika as she continued humming and Harry slowly felt himself become calm and begin to drift to sleep. He pulled his legs up onto the chaise so he was sitting with his legs on his side that wasn't against Erika and she comforted, held, and hummed to him like their own mother would've done had she still been alive. A tear leaked out of Harry's eyes as a memory was suddenly triggered and he saw his mother's face smiling down at him and humming the same song that Erika was humming.

"Ssshhh, it's alright Harry, rest now," Erika's soft voice said as one of her hands gently wiped the tear away. Harry unconsciously nodded and began to drift off to sleep with the song in the background and the soft humming of both his mother's and Erika's voices humming the lullaby to him. Erika softly began to lightly stroke Harry's hair as he fell asleep and Harry felt that it was what their mother would've done especially in a time like this. Harry fell asleep against his sister who smiled softly down at her younger brother. Erika knew in her heart that she had made the right choice in coming back to England for her brother, he did need her support and she would be there to give it to him no matter what.

----TBC----

(1) The movie Wanted if anyone didn't guess it, I do not own it nor have I seen it I have only seen the commercials for it.

(2) I do not own Lord of the Rings

(3) The lullaby Erika is humming is the one from Pan's Labyrinth, Mercedes Lullaby, I believe it is called. Once again I do not own Pan's Labyrinth or the lullaby.

(runs back in) Still can't find that pirate. Alright chapter 6 is done, I hope you guys liked it, I will update soon, I am fine tuning chapter 7 as we speak. Please review they always inspire me when I read them and it gets me exited and hyper and makes me want to write and update more quickly. So the more reviews I get the quicker I update.

Hope you all liked the chapter, thanks for reading and reviewing. Now off to find that pirate! (runs off)