Chap. 18: Family Reunion

When Vladimir had said that he wanted to meet the Dursly's, Dumbledore had been surprised, but was all too willing to allow him. But what he didn't know was that Vladimir knew what they were like. Probably more so than the old man.

After all, if Dumbledore knew that the Dursly's had left the toddler Vladimir- Harry Potter at the time- out on the door step with words of hate… Perhaps the old man would be more hesitant to allow Vladimir to go.

However, Integra and Alucard did know and were hesitant. Integra more so really, Alucard only slightly so.

When he'd mailed them that he wished to meet the only biological family he had, he was questioned of course, and he'd merely replied that he only wished to meet them, see what they were like for himself, and that would be all.

Ron was confused as to why Vladimir wanted to meet some muggles that, while he might be related to, didn't really have a true connection to them.

"Because, I want to see what their like for myself. I've only been told what they were like. Even if I go in not liking them, and come out liking them less, I still want to meet them."

Hermione was encouraging. She believed it was very mature of him to want to meet them, supporting his idea of wanting to meet them just to know them himself, and that not many people would be willing to do such a thing.

And so it was planned that that weekend, Vladimir would meet the Dursly's.

Vladimir decided he'd be going alone… well, Crimson would be with him, but that was all. He knew that the Dursly's hated the magic world and wanted to approach them with them thinking he was not of that world. He would tell them that he was Hellsing, of course, but no muggle knew of the Hellsing families real identities aside from the Queen and a few others. A few muggles knew of the Hellsings though, and that was especially in the area he was headed.

He wanted them to think he was a muggle as well to gauge their reaction to him. Would they act nice, or just as rude? Of course, this meant he would reveal to them later on that he was in fact a wizard, a fact that would become obvious once he told them that he was really the son of Lily Potter, the sister of the wife of the Durslys'.

So, in all reality, Vladimir was a cat playing with its food before it went in for the kill.

He stepped out of the fireplace in which he'd just flewed to, stepping out into the hustle and bustle of the Wizengomot building. Many looked at him oddly as they rushed passed, most likely wondering what a child was doing here and not in school.

He paid them no mind and walked on, looking for the exit. Once outside, he looked around and flagged down a cab.

"Where to?" the cabbie said, voice garbled, but forcibly cheery.

"Little Whining." He said.

"That's a bit vague kid. Address might be helpful." This time the cabbie sounded slightly annoyed.

"Just drop me off at the entrance of Little Whining. I'll be fine from there." Vladimir said.

"Alright, suit yourself." The cabbie said, still slightly annoyed sounding, though Vladimir hardly cared.

Vladimir looked down at the letter in his hand, having received it the day before. Walter had taken it upon himself to dig up some information of the Dursly's, such as their names, and what they did for a living.

Vernon Dursly:

Husband and Father. A Very portly man, with a short temper. He works at a drill company called "Grunnings". He prides himself in this, and often invites "top shot" people over for dinner.

Petunia (Evans) Dursly:

Wife and Mother. The very opposite of her portly husband, as she is very thin, and long faced. She is a house wife, and nothing more. She too likes to have top shot people come over. The only thing she likes more than that is doting on her son.

Which brings us to…

Dudley Dursly:

Proportionally, more portly than his father. He goes to Smelting's Academy, an all-boy's school. He likes eating, bullying, eating, watching TV, and did I mention eating. (Really, it's rather vulgar.)

Vladimir smiled. Walter didn't normally show so much humor. But with Vladimir, it was almost impossible not to.

When he felt the cab slowing, he looked up to find that they had arrived. Paying the cabbie, he got out and walked past the large entrance into Little Whining, and found himself in a world of cookie cutter houses.

Looking at a separate piece of paper, where Dumbledore had put the address of the Dursly's house, he looked around. He'd have to walk down a few streets to reach Privet Dr., but then he'd been planning on walking around anyway. He wanted to get a look at the neighborhood that he might have ended up growing up in had the Dursly's actually taken him in.

At the end of the street, there was a small playground. Since it appeared to be the only thing that held any actual interest- cookie cutter homes where called that for a reason after all- he headed to it.

There was a large swing, a merry-go-round, a slide, and some monkey bars. Vladimir found himself comparing this play ground to his. The swings would be the rope that he would have used to get across a pit of some sort. The slide would have been a hill he had to go down or up, or even a slanted air shoot. The monkey bars would have been something else he'd use to get across a pit. The merry-go-round… well, he'd not had something like that, but he was sure it could have been used for something.

His thoughts were interrupted by some goffling boys coming to the playground.

Looking over he found three boys. A tall lanky one, with moppy blond hair; a slightly short and chunky one with chocolate brown hair; and then the last was tallish but much more portly, with short brown, almost black hair.

Instinctively, Vladimir knew this last boy to be Dudley, and this was confirmed a second later.

"Oi, Dud, o's that?" the short one said, nodding toward Vladimir.

"I ain't ever seen him before…" the tall one said.

"Reckon we should… introduce ourselves?" Dudley said, smirking.

Nodding, they walked over. They hadn't known that Vladimir had been watching the entire time, as he had been using his peripheries. When they did get within enough range for Vladimir to have noticed them if he were a normal boy, he turned his head.

"Hello… May I help you?" he asked simply.

"Nah, we don't need no help." Dudley said, taking the lead, as he was obviously the leader of the three. "Just never seen you around here before. We're just makin' sure you ain't lost is all."

"Oh, I'm just looking around." Vladimir said, and looked around at the rather boring scenery.

"Oh yeah…? So who are you?"

Vladimir raised his eyebrow at the rather rude approach in which Dudley was taking. Then again, had he expected more…?

No.

In any case, he humored them. They would take it as him being submissive most likely, but really, it was because he needed to protect his identity as a wizard. If they chose to jump him, he'd have every right to use whatever means he wanted to evade them. Of course, for them, using magic probably wasn't even necessary… Still though, perhaps once they heard his name, if they knew anything, they'd know not to mess with him.

"Vladimir Hellsing." Vladimir replied, standing tall and proud.

The two lackeys didn't seem to realize that he was serious and laughed.

"Seriously?" one snorted.

"Isn't he that crazy dude in the history books that was said to hunt vampires?" the other replied.

Dudley, however, didn't appear as amused. Well, seemed like the boy knew a thing or two after all.

"Hellsing? Isn't that that famous family that works for the Queen?" he replied, and this got the attention of the other two, finding that their leader wasn't sharing in the amusement. They looked at Vladimir in a new light.

"Yes, you could say that. We train solders to take care of certain enemies of the Queen." Vladimir said, and watched in slight joy at the boys that where obviously thinking of the amount of money he must have.

An observer that knew Vladimir might look upon this scene and see a cat, playing with its food.

Vladimir then appeared to become bored, and looked around. "Well, I've seen about everything I think." He looked down at his watched. "Hummm… My ride doesn't get here for another two hours…" he frowned.

"Well… if you want, you can come over to my house. I'm sure my mother would be all too happy to let you stay until you have to go."

"You're sure? It's not too much of a bother?" Vladimir said, resisting the smirk trying to form on his face, which was made difficult- as good of an actor as he was- when Crimson was snickering within a pocket of his coat. This really was too easy.

"It's no problem." Dudley said, smiling broadly. It seemed the boy's parents had trained him well in whom to invite over.

Shrugging, Vladimir said, "I suppose I have nothing else to do."

The two others were shooed off by Dudley, and they reluctantly left, leaving Vladimir to follow Dudley on his own.

"I'm Dudley, by the way. Dudley Dursly."

Vladimir nodded.

It only took around twenty minutes to reach Number 4, Privet Dr. It was rather unimpressive, as expected, but Dudley approached it as if it was the castle he lived in.

Opening the door, he called out, "Mother, I've brought home a new friend!" Vladimir had to resist gagging at the boy calling him his friend.

"Oh? Well then bring him in, I'll get something for you to eat." Came a voice, snifflely and almost croaky, but over all quiet, even though she was yelling.

Vladimir approached the door and found himself pondering about the fact that almost ten years ago, he'd been placed on this very door step, and then left there by this household. A bit of anger passed through him then, but he took sadistic comfort in the fact that they were unknowingly inviting that same boy into their home. Hadn't Alucard recalled how they had said they didn't want "that evil" in their house?

Walking in, he closed the door and took in the house. Admittedly, it was rather nice- nowhere near as nice as his, but still nice. Clean and polished. It was slightly stuffy though, with the warm colors everywhere, and just generally smaller rooms and hallways. Walking down the small hall, past the cupboard that was under the stairs and to the doorway that Dudley was showing him to.

It led into the sitting room.

"Dudley?" came his mother's- Petunia Dursly's- confused voice. "Where are you?"

"In the sitting room, Mother." Called out Dudley. The manner in which he said it gave away that he was hinting that his "friend" was no normal friend, but someone to cater to.

"Oh! Sorry, dear." Petunia said and came into the sitting room. Vladimir almost cringed at the sight of the woman. She was pale, and thin. Most of her thin features came from her face, where it was indeed long, with high cheekbones and hollow cheeks.

But he wasn't the only one that cringed. When she looked at him, her eyes widened a bit and she looked like she almost dropped the tray of crumpets.

"So what's your name, dear?" she said with a sickly sweet voice, trying to cover that reaction.

"Vladimir Hellsing." Vladimir said, again with pride. No matter whom he was saying it to, he would announce his name with pride as only a Hellsing should.

"Hellsing? Now that's I name I've only read about or seen on the news. It's an honor to have someone from such a family at my home. Is there anything I can get you? Tea?"

"Some tea would be nice." Vladimir said, and watched as her bony frame shuffled off to ready some tea. He was once again alone with Dudley, but he heard the front door opening and closing.

"So, where is it you go to school?" Dudley asked, popping a crumpet into his mouth.

In the hall, Vladimir could hear the shuffling of someone taking their coat off, and a slight pause when Dudley had asked this last question, probably alerted to the fact that they had a guest.

"I was homeschooled." Vladimir said, sitting back into the chair.

"Was? So you're not now? But then you must be going to some school, surely?" came a gruff voice from the hallway. A large man that Vladimir could only place as Vernon Dursly, bustled into the sitting room, a curios look in his eyes.

"I was in homeschooling, but now I'm not, because I've finished school. My parents are training me now."

"Training you? Training you for what?" Petunia said coming back with the tea. "Hello dear." She said to Vernon.

"The Hellsing Organization is a… special task force, you could say. We do missions for the Queen if her troops are not able to do them. So, because I am going to be going into the business, I am being trained as a soldier, as well as the one that will take over when I'm old enough."

They all looked rather impressed, especially Vernon, as he only just learned that Vladimir was a Hellsing. "That's a lot for someone so young, don't you think?" Petunia asked.

"No. I've been raised in that environment almost my entire life, and am quite accustomed to it." Vladimir said, taking a sip of the tea- it tasted a bit too bitter.

"But you've not lived in the environment your whole life?" Vernon asked, having picked up on Vladimir's mention that it was "almost" his entire life.

"Yes, unfortunately, I am not of the actual Hellsing bloodline. I was adopted when I was a year old."

It was the second time Petunia had cringed, but she tried to recover anyway. "O-oh… really now?"

Vladimir hid a smile as he looked around, appearing bored with the conversation. "Yes, I only just recently found out about my biological family. See, my biological mother and father had been killed, leaving me parentless. My father had no other family, but I'd heard that my mother did have family. Actually, that's why I'm here in Little Whining, as I'd heard they lived around here."

Petunia had been growing paler and paler with each word, and Vernon had apparently taken notice of his wife's unease, and the gears could be seen turning in his head as realization started to set in. Dudley noticed this too, but he obviously didn't know why, probably having never been told about the baby his parents had left to die on their door step.

"Maybe you might be able to point me to them? I don't remember their names, but maybe you knew the wife's sister? Her name was Lily Potter? Her maiden name was Evans, if that helps…?"

By now, he was simply playing, and not hiding it as he grinned devilishly at the two adults. By now, Petunia was white as a sheet and Vernon was an ugly shade of purple.

"What… how… who…?" the man stuttered out.

"Wondering how I'm alive? Really, didn't you ever wonder what happened to that baby after you just left it at your door step? Or did you think that some dog had snatched it up? Oh, but you wouldn't have cared either way, probably thought it was that much less for you to worry about, as then you didn't have a dead baby at the door, leaving neighbors to wonder."

Vladimir was talking in a light tone, the smile still on his face, but his eyes full of hatred.

"Mummy, what's wrong?" Dudley asked, suddenly alarmed and confused as to what was going on.

"Don't worry, 'Duddy'kins', your mummy and daddy are just guilty of attempted murder by neglect of a baby. But again, don't worry; someone was kind enough to take me that night." Vladimir said, daring the two to deny it.

Dudley was taken aback when Vladimir addressed him in a name only his mother used one that only few people knew about. He still looked confused.

"I'll help clear things up a bit. See, I'm your long lost cousin. When my parents were killed, a good friend of theirs decided that I should be with the only other family I had left and put me at your door step with a note. When they- your parents that is- realized who I was, they didn't take me in, but left me out on that door step, out in the cold. As I recall, my father said that they hadn't wanted the evil that I was in this house."

"AND I DON'T WANT IT NOW! GET OUT!" Vernon finally exploded. "GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT!"

Vladimir stood and walked right up to Vernon. There was a look in his eyes that resembled Integra.

"Listen here, you swine." He said, and looked at Petunia, just as hard, "And you too, you sow. Both of you don't deserve to live for what you did that night. In fact, you deserve nothing more than to be butured like the live stalk you resemble. But because I'm such a nice boy, and because I'd rather not dirty my hands, I will refrain from doing so.

"I came here with the soul purpose of meeting you myself, as I was obviously too young the first time to have remembered you. Now that I have, I can agree with everyone else that you are indeed the very thing that gives a bad name to the muggles."

Vladimir stepped back, and smiled. "Well, I think that'll be it for now. Have a good day…~" he said before disappearing into a portal in the floor- no doubt causing confusion with the three, but he didn't stick around to see what they said.

Reappearing at the front entrance to the neighborhood, Vladimir smiled.

{You would certainly make a fine vampire, Master Vladimir.} Crimson hissed.

{Why do you say that? Not that I'm complaining.} Vladimir replied.

{Because just then, you looked almost like Master Alucard. Actually…}

Vladimir turned when he hear someone clapping and found the crimson clad vampire that was his father standing there.

"I said I'd do this alone!" Vladimir said in exasperation, but despite this, he was smiling and walking over to Alucard.

"Perhaps, but keep in mind, Crimson is a part of me. I wasn't with you, but I was watching through her. And I have to say, that was a spectacular performance." Alucard said, smiling as well.

"Well, I learned from the best. Both you and mother." Vladimir replied.

"Yes, you certainly took after her too. Perfect use of the words swine and sow, I must say."

They both laughed.

When they calmed down, Vladimir said, "So, Dumbledore doesn't expect me back yet. Do you want to do something?"

Alucard held his chin in thought. "Well… there are many things I want to do, but I'm sure your mother would kill me if I took you along for them. How about we just go to Diagonally? I'd like to buy some more of those blood pops. Sears has taken a great liking to them and is more willing to have them than the transfusion blood. I don't see much of a difference really, but whatever works…"

Vladimir nodded in agreement and they headed off.

"Maybe we could also go terrorize the Malfoy's?"

The laughter that followed before the two disappeared would give anyone in earshot nightmares for years to come.