Lily's body slipped from his grasp as three Aurors launched Stunning spells into his face. Nerveless fingers released their hold on his last friend as she tumbled down into the splinter-strewn floor. Tears flowed unchecked from his bloodshot eyes, the small drops sizzling in the heat of the recent fire. His mouth opened slightly. Incoherent words flowed out unheeded as the wizards carried his dead comrade outside.

Then an unquenchable fury descended on him. Who are they, arriving too late and driving me from mourning? What authority do they have over me? His vision flashed red, as red as the burning flames that had burned his arms as he had dug out her body. Claws three inches long grew from his fingers in seconds. Fur replaced hair on his body as his ghastly transformation occurred. An unearthly growl escaped his throat and he pounced.

Harry trudged up the steps, closely followed by a grumbling Ron and stormy Hermione. They were still arguing about Vandermine. At this point Ron seemed to be winning because Hermione was silent. Every so often he glanced back at them. On the outside they looked plain mad at each other, but inside Harry saw that they were starting to forgive each other. Fewer insults were being thrown back and forth and their voices had lost the competitive edge that had been ever present in the coach.

Oblivious to his surroundings, Harry hurried down the hallways and towards the stairwell. He absentmindedly listened to Ron's ongoing commentary on Vandermine's life. He was detailing a 'heroic rescue mission' from Vandermine's early days as an Auror. It was amusing listening to his enthusiastic dialogue. Hermione picked up her pace imperceptibly and joined Harry. Out of the corner of her mouth she muttered "Do you think he'll ever stop? My ears are aching from his chatter."

A grin spread across Harry's face. It was good to have Hermione back on speaking terms. "Your ears aching? Oh, I don't know. He might have to breathe eventually. Other than that, who knows?"

Hermione tried to smile at the joke, but it quickly disappeared as a crowd rounded the corner in front of them. Hermione stifled a frown and pointed at the tallest in the crowd, Kathryn Stringer. "Look at Miss Veela over there. She is certainly enjoying herself."

The irony of her statement did not miss Harry. A horde of Hufflepuff boys lead her down the hall to the dorms, each struggling to outdo the others and catch her eye. She bore through the 'help' patiently, although her face was strained as she hid a smile. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the trio and nodded. The movement drew immediate attention away from her as jealous Hufflepuff boys turned to see where her acknowledgement was going. When they had all turned she darted past them and disappeared into the library. By the time the Hufflepuffs had turned back, she was nowhere in sight. Groans of dismay came from the Hufflepuff crowd and they dispersed in dejected clumps.

With a grunt of indignation Hermione rolled her eyes and scoffed at the boys. "You would think that she was the last girl alive, the way those kids are acting. She's way too old for them anyway." Harry bit his lip to hold in his merriment. Only Hermione would bring up the age difference. Other girls would have been complaining about her looks.

Soon they were too busy discussing the new arrangements to notice anything else. Hermione grudgingly admitted that additional security could be useful after a long, persuasive argument by Harry and Ron. She still did not agree with Dumbledore's choice for the job, though. Finally they Harry and Hermione decided to discuss the situation away from Ron's endless praise of Vandermine. Leaving Ron sputtering resentfully at the Gryffindor door, they continued on, unconcerned as to where they went.

Normally nothing would have happened. In any other time they would have a nice, long walk, discuss the situation, and then return to the room. Not today. By the time they reached the Sixth floor Peeves had noticed them. He had been cooped up in Hogwarts for the whole summer without a young soul to spook. He was itching to do something devious and, seeing Harry and Hermione, he seized his chance. Zeroing in on their location, he dove under a moving staircase and waited.

Harry and Hermione stopped at the edge of the steps as the staircase shifted over to a new door. Turning to Harry, Hermione glanced around anxiously. They had forgotten how long these talks could last. "How long do we have until curfew? We'd better head back."

Harry checked hi swatch and groaned. "You're right. We've only got a couple minutes."

Before they could turn back down the stairwell, Peeves struck. Phasing out from under their feet, Peeves jumped straight through Hermione, cackling like a Banshee. Harry took an involuntary step to the side and lashed out with his wand. Hermione shrieked and lunged backwards... right off of the edge of the shifting stairwell.

Harry froze for an instant as she stumbled on the thin air. Then his reactions kicked in and he moved. Diving for her hand, he managed to grab it as she dropped down. A spasm of pain shook his arm as his arm was stretched to the limit. There was a hard yank on his arm and her descent jerked to a halt. He held her momentarily, eyes locked as they struggled against gravity. Then their hands slid apart as sweat loosened their grips. Hermione screamed in terror and dropped like a rock.

Everyone in the stairwell watched in horror as she plummeted towards the stone floor six stories down. In the back of her mind Hermione realized the danger she was in, but she started to feel numb as the ground closed in on her. Her vision became speckled with black dots as her lungs struggled to replace the air that she had lost in her scream. She closed her eyes hopelessly and prepared for the impact.

Two stories off of ground level a dark shape detached from the wall. It homed in on her in seconds. Latching onto her with its claws, the shape caught her and dragged her upward with amazing strength and speed. As it cleared the nearest floor, the bat let go, dropping her lightly to the ground. Then it landed and transformed.

Harry leapt down the steps four at a time as he rushed to his friend's side. By the time he arrived, so had most of the others. Hermione rested on the ground, too terrified to move. Vandermine crouched by her side, proffering a canteen of what looked like water and holding her head up. His eyes followed Harry's approach and he caught Harry's eye. She would be fine. Harry swallowed hard and nodded.

Gently, so as not to disturb her, he scooped her up in his arms and turned towards the door to the Gryffindor dorm. Her sobs and tears were muffled as she buried her head in his cloak. The students parted and allowed him to walk through. He motioned for Harry to follow as they approached the Gryffindor common room.

The Pink Lady woke with a start when Vandermine rapped the painting with his foot.

"What's the password?" She mumbled drowsily.

"Motter-melon." The door swung open to reveal a packed commons. Ignoring the bewildered crowd of Gryffindors, Vandermine placed Hermione on a vacated sofa. She blinked back tears as he handed her a clean handkerchief. Quietly she blew her nose and wiped her lingering tears away.

"Thank you," she said.

Vandermine gave her a lopsided grimace and turned away. "Anytime." He called over his shoulder as he left the room. At the doorway he halted and twisted his head around. At the sight of Hermione curled up in the warm chair his hard expression seemed to melt like snow before the fire. He solemnly knelt before the bad and took her hand in his. Looking into her small, frightened face, he patted the hand soothingly. His other hand slid out of his cloak, revealing her book that she had dropped outside. "Sleep." He said in a soft voice. "Forget what happened. You need not fear anything while we are here to protect you."

Hermione's face relaxed and she slumped in her chair. Within seconds she was fast asleep. Vandermine lingered for a moment, then, rising to his feet, he left the room as silently as he had entered, mumbling something about Peeves. Harry noticed his grey eyes were misty.

Hermione jerked awake at the sound of the door closing. "Oh, hello." She said as she looked around. Confusion spread over her face as she rubbed her head. "I must have been dreaming." Owlishly she blinked in the light of the fire. "I dreamt I had fallen off of the stairs." Harry and the others crowded around her excitedly. They all wanted to know the details of the incident.

Before Harry could stop them Ron's voice piped out, "How did you fall off of the stairs?"

Hermione's confused face change into a look of disgust as she realized that her dream had been reality. Hurriedly she rose and started for the girl's dorm, cutting off everyone's questions with a shaking hand. Harry cut her off at the steps, hands out pleadingly. He pulled her aside and warned the rest off with a glare.

He ignored Hermione's outraged expression. "Are you alright?" His voice quavered slightly as he spoke. "Are you injured?"

Angrily, Hermione pushed him away. It was obvious that she was anything but fine. "Am I alright?" Incredulity filled her voice. "I just fell off of the stairs and touched a flesh-eating murderer! How could I be fine after that?" She shuddered and rubbed her arms as if she could wipe his touch away. "Harry, did you see what he did?"

"Save you."

"Yes, but how? He turned into a bat." Harry stared at her blankly, not understanding. "There are only two ways to change into a bat. No one could have cast a spell that quickly."

"So?" Harry still didn't see where she was going. Something was bouncing around in his head, but he couldn't tell what it was.

"Harry, he's a vampire."

Harry's mouth opened in immediate protest, but he shut it as quickly. She was right, there was no way he could have cast a spell that quickly. "Don't tell anyone, will you."

Hermione frowned, but nodded her head. "I won't for you. But don't be surprised if the others notice." Harry smiled in gratitude and patted her on the arm. She smiled back, although weakly.

Ron finally detached himself from the crowd and approached them. Noting Harry's warning look, he halted at a respectable distance. "Hermione..." He stuttered slightly as he thought of what to say. "I'm sorry." She lifted her eyes from the floor to him. Surprise mingled with resentment crept through her features. "I've been acting like a jerk. Will you forgive me?"

Hermione interrupted him by closing the distance between them and giving him a swift hug. Ron blushed scarlet as she laughed over his shoulder. "You're forgiven. I didn't exactly behave civilly either." She drew away from him and grinned. Her voice regained its usual seriousness. "Just don't start bragging about Vandermine again. I can't stand it." Before the boys could respond she had disappeared up the stairs into her dorm room.

Harry and Ron exchanged baffled looks. "Well, at least she is back to normal." Ron laughed weakly and pulled a slip of paper out of his back pocket. "I guess this has to go." He carried the piece over to the fire. With a regretful sigh he dropped the paper into the consuming flames. On the word was written four words.

Tell Hermione I'm sorry.

Harry grabbed Ron's arm and drew him away from the others. Sitting himself down, Harry indicated a seat by his. "What do you know about Vandermine?" he asked.

Ron cheered up immensely at the thought of expounding on his knowledge. "I can tell you everything. His medals, his methods of work, his family..." Ron bit his lip. Apparently that knowledge was painful even to others outside Vandermine's family. "or, what was his family."

Harry tilted his head forward. "Go on. Tell me. I want to know more about him."

Ron shrugged and began.

"Where to start? Well, not much is known about his early years. According to the official report, he just kind of 'appeared' at the Ministry's doorstep one day, at the age of fourteen. He claimed to be from America, and said he wanted to work for the Ministry. They checked his background and found nothing wrong, so they gave him a small job, running errands and such. He was too old to start at Hogwarts but he showed so much potential that he was soon given to an old Auror for mentoring."

"Who?"

"The report didn't say. I think that they wanted to keep his identity secret, for his safety."

"His safety? Why?"

"Once Vandermine started hunting down Death Eaters and all, You-Know-Who threatened to hunt down and kill the one who trained him so well."

"Oh."

"Yeah. So, anyway, he and the Auror disappeared for three years, no one, not even the Ministry knew where they went. Then one day they showed up again, chasing down vampires in Romania. The Ministry brought them back and instated Vandermine as a full-fledged Auror. His first assignment was to protect a shipment of wand supplies from Norway. The weather was so bad that they had to take boats. Their boat got attacked in the middle of the ocean by a sea monster, and Vandermine fought it off. Killed it, in fact. Got in a load of trouble for that. It was a rare beast, so he got a hard rap for acting 'outside of his authority.'

"Since then he was put on more and more dangerous missions. He fought criminals, hunted wild creatures, protected artifacts of power, you name it. He was one of the best of his time. He even taught at the Ministry's Auror Academy. His students became some of the best around. And he did all of this before he turned twenty.

"Then You-Know-Who rose to power. Vandermine was one of the first people he chased down. Knowing his background, he tried desperately to recruit him-"

"His background? Tried to recruit him?" Harry raised an eyebrow in disbelief. Ron gave him an exasperated look.

"Yeah him. You know about his- oh wait, that's right, you don't." Ron sighed and fell back deeper into his chair.

"Does the name Jacob Vlanders sound familiar?"

Harry's eyes opened wider as he thought about it. "Yes, he's the one from the medieval times, who started the Black Death…"

"And killed several hundred million people. Vandermine is his descendent. Nearly his entire family tree is full of bad eggs."

"His ancestor is a genocider?"

"Yes. That's why You-Know-Who wanted him so bad. He though that with Vandermine's help, he could restart the plague. The Wizarding community is immune to the plague, so it would have only helped His plan for domination."

"And Vandermine said no."

"Not exactly," Ron frowned. "He and an army of Aurors ambushed them. It was a massive fight, like nothing this world has ever seen. Vandermine and all of his students fought against You-Know-Who and the Death Eaters for three days! By the time it was all over, only a handful were left on each side. Vandermine was captured and his students were scattered.

"You-Know-Who had him for four years before he broke free. He fought his way out with a group of other prisoners and returned to the Ministry, exhausted, tortured and nearly dead. The Ministry quickly ousted him, trying to keep itself out of You-Know-Who's ire. He was left on the streets with the few survivors of his prison. They went into hiding and he ended up marrying a Muggle. Even though it was a secret, there was a massive scandal about it. He came from one of the purest wizarding families ever, and he married a plain, completely magicless Muggle. Some thought he did it out of spite for Him, others said he had turned his back on the wizarding community.

"Whatever it was, You-Know-Who devoted a lot of resources to hunting him down. He found him, and murdered his family, just a couple weeks before he attacked your family, actually." Ron saw his face blanch and he apologized. "I'm sorry, I'll stop if you want."

Harry lowered his head unconsciously and grimaced. The thought of his dead parents still hurt a little. "No, keep going. What happened after that?"

"Hermione already told you. He hunted down those involved in the murder of his family and killed them all. All but Him, I mean, he was already gone."

Harry rubbed the scar on his forehead. "Yeah."

"Anyhow, not much is known after that. A few scattered reports said he showed up at your house…"

"I know about that." Vandermine's words floated in Harry's head as he remembered their conversation at his house. I was the first one to find your house after Voldemort came.

"…and killed the three Aurors sent to clear the area."

"He what?" Harry did a double take at that.

"At least, they think he killed them. Officially, a werewolf killed them, but tests on the wands showed that they had all shot a stunning spell at him. Or, two did."

"What about the third one?"

"It was snapped clean in half."

"Wow. Does that mean he's a werewolf?"

"Your guess is as good as mine. But the Ministry put a bounty on his head, and Aurors from all over came to hunt him down. None of them were ever seen again. I heard that he got into a lot of fights then, mainly with suspected ex-Death Eaters. Killed all of them, those that he found.

"About seven years ago though, he reemerged to world, a 'new man.' He had gathered three powerful wizards to his side and called it his Shrike Squad. They were not welcomed at first, but, after seeing them take down five criminal organizations, the Ministry endorsed them and offered them a permanent job. They refused and stayed loner, but they did take jobs on occasion."

Ron stopped suddenly and looked at the clock. Most of the others had disappeared into their rooms. "Time to go to bed, Harry. I'll tell you more later."