Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

Warnings: Violence , and Mature Themes.

Chapter 2

Hermione was having a hard time trying to let go of her mother's arm as she saw her father run after Harry's uncle. The pair of women, stood there waiting for Dan to come back. As he came into view, Emma was the first one to notice his tense body. Hermione pried herself free from her mother's grip and began asking rapid questions to her father.

Dan held up his hand to stop the stream of questions being thrown his way. Looking over at his wife, he said in a sombre tone, "I lost him in the rush."

Hermione took a few deep calming breaths, analysing their situation. Sighing after some time, she looked at her parents who were looking at her worriedly.

"I have Harry's telephone number. We should get home and try contacting him; I can't believe I don't know where he lives. Anyway, he probably won't be home for at least a few hours. The best we can do is get home and pray that what we saw was the worst to see." Hermione said, tears in her eyes.

"I'm sure that Harry will be alright honey." Emma said wrapping the weeping girl in her arms.

They made their way to the car, and Dan drove them home. Emma sat in the back seat with her daughter, comforting her throughout her journey. As they arrived home, Emma fixed up her daughter's face as they had relatives over and it would embarrass Hermione to be seen with tear tracks running down her cheeks.

Hermione entered her house and was immediately amidst a cacophony of greetings and well wishes. Hermione had nothing against her relatives, but she couldn't bring herself to care one bit about them right now, her thought occupied only by Harry. As soon as she was able to, she excused herself and practically ran to the telephone, picked it up and dashed to her room. She dialled the number that she had committed to memory as soon as Harry had given it to her last summer.

Hearing the dial tone ringing, her frustration grew with every ring that went unanswered. Just as she thought that there was no one home, someone answered the phone.

"Hello?" a gruff male voice was heard.

"Hello, this is Hermione Granger. Could I talk to Harry please?" She asked politely.

"Hermione! Harry's not home yet, is something the matter?" asked the still unidentified voice.

"I'm sorry, but who is this?" Hermione asked, totally confused.

"Come on! You just saw my handsome face barely a week ago, and you have forgotten me already!" the voice chuckled.

Connecting dots in her mind rapidly, she came to an impossible conclusion.

"Sirius! Is that you?" Hermione asked.

"Hahaha. So is there any reason for your call? It sounded urgent." Sirius said.

So Hermione told him of the happenings of this afternoon at King's Cross.

"I had a feeling that Harry was not exactly living in an ideal living environment. It's lucky that I decided that I needed to talk to them this summer huh? Don't worry Hermione; I'll handle things with the Dursleys. Why don't you call back in a couple of hours? I'm sure Harry will be home by then." Sirius said gently.

"Sure, I'll do that. Thanks Sirius, this takes a huge amount of worry off my mind." Hermione said releasing a breath of air. Relief flooding through her body.

"Talk to you later Hermione." Sirius said and hanged up the phone.

Hermione sat there on her bed, holding the phone in her hand. A few minutes later, Emma came up to see if everything was alright. After what she had seen at the station today, she was worried about Harry too.

As she entered Hermione's room, she noticed that Hermione was sound asleep, a smile on her face, clutching the phone close to her chest. Emma smiled at seeing this, and decided that they would need to have one of their long talks sometime.

After Harry had finished talking with Hermione over the phone, reassuring her multiple times that he was indeed, fine, Harry walked back up to his room and thought about what he wanted to get accomplished this summer. As he had promised himself and Hermione for that matter, that he would try and improve his grades, he decided that a good place to start would be to revise whatever he had learnt up until now. After he had done that, he would do the assignments that had been assigned for the summer vacation. Having the immediate plan, Harry sat down with the first year Defence Against the Dark Arts (DADA) book.

Harry passed the day immersed in his books, coming down to the hall during meals and leaving immediately after. After he was sure that the Dursleys were asleep, he would go down to the hall and took the phone with him, dialling Hermione's number. The both of them talked about their day and other things well into the night, and before retiring for the night Harry replaced the phone in its usual spot.

Things continued in the same manner for a week. He had received an owl from Mrs. Weasley informing him that he and Hermione had been invited to go to the Quidditch World Cup finals, which was taking place in England this year. She had written in the letter that she had asked Ron to invite them to it, but speculated the he must have simply forgotten. Harry doubted that to be true as Ron was simply too fanatical about Quidditch to have forgotten about it. Hermione had asked for his address yesterday, and Harry had told her. He had asked why she wanted to know that, but she had brushed off his questions.

Pushing the thought out of his mind, he pondered on something else that had been bothering him.

He felt as if he was being watched. Call it intuition, or something else, but Harry had always known whenever he was being observed. He was used to the feeling at school and could ignore it, but he had never felt it when he was at the Dursleys. Thinking of getting some fresh air, he closed the Third year Transfiguration text that he was reading, and stretched. Looking out the window, he realized that he had spent at the very least, 5 hours immersed in his book. Calling Hedwig, he made his way out of the house, going towards the only park in Surrey that his cousin and his friends hadn't vandalised.

Pritchard Bartholomew grinned from his position as he watched his target leave his house. He was a relatively, 'young' Vampire, having been turned only 23 years ago. He had struggled with his new life for some time, but eventually accepted it, and now, he could honestly say that he didn't want his life to be any different. Although he admitted that not having found his Blood-Mate was disappointing, but he could deal with it, who wanted a single mate anyway when you could have beautiful girls throwing themselves at you left, right and centre. Some of the older Vampires had shook their heads at his admission, and merely told him that having your mate by your side was the most fulfilling feeling that existed in this world. He had scoffed at the idea, thinking that they were old prudes, and didn't know a thing about having fun.

Recently, he had been getting bored, and decided that he needed a new servant. Pondering long and hard, he had eventually decided on Harry Potter, 'The-Boy-Who-Lived' would make an excellent target, someone about whom he could brag about. Just imagining the precious saviour of the Wizarding World as his servant sent a pleasurable shiver up his spine.

He had been following him from King's Cross station, and had waited patiently for his quarry to leave his house. He could see that he would be unapproachable while he was inside the Blood-Wards surrounding the house. As a Vampire, he knew that any magic, which was related to blood, was not to be trifled with. Vampires used them often enough.

Silently moving through the opposite street, he kept Harry Potter in his sights. He followed him to a park that was surrounded by tall trees around its boundaries.

'Perfect' he grinned, and jumped up to take refuge in one of the trees, waiting for the opportune moment to strike.

After reaching the park Harry held out his hands outwards, prompting Hedwig, and giving her a little push as she took flight. He sat down on the swing and looked at Hedwig flying in the night sky. She truly was a beautiful owl, flying around gracefully, in intricate patterns. Hedwig came down and sat on his shoulders, mindful of her sharp claws, so as to not hurt Harry. She nipped at his ears playfully, and then nudged his head towards some rats that he could see scurrying about.

"Do you want me to see you hunt Hedwig?" Harry asked, curious. Hedwig nodded her head happily. Hedwig would often bring back her hunts to him, seeking approval, before she would enjoy her meal. Harry had never really seen her actively hunting; he decided that it would be a novel experience. He was mesmerized by the efficient way that Hedwig hunted; a sudden snap of her talons, and her targets head was snapped, no blood at all. He realized that she must have always hunted this way as he had never seen her snow white feathers tinted red, she was a proud owl after all.

So riveted was Harry in his observation that he completely missed the figure creeping up to his position behind his back. He nearly jumped up in fright when he felt two hands covering his eyes, and a feminine body press up against his back, whispering an amused, "Guess who?" in his ears.

Harry tried calming down his rapid breathing, getting the blood pounding in his veins under control. He recognized the person immediately; he would recognize her voice anywhere. Deciding that payback was in order, he came up with a plan to tease his best friend.

"Cathy?" Harry asked.

"N . .No" came the reply. Harry smiled inwardly, he could hear the uncertainty in Hermione's voice. Deciding to seal the deal, Harry continued.

"Oh sorry Elliot, the both of you sound so similar, it's hard to differentiate between you two." Harry said, unable to keep a straight face and smiled widely.

Hermione noticed the smile on Harry's face and scowled. Oh, she was so going to get back at him for that.

"Harry you prat!" she screamed directly in his ears. And turned around, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Merlin! Hermione, I think I'm going to be partially deaf for the rest of my life. Did you have to be so loud?" Harry asked, shaking his head, trying to get the constant ringing in his ears under control.

"You deserved it!" Hermione said with a huff.

Harry walked up behind Hermione and hesitated, before tapping her on the shoulders. He continued to do so until Hermione turned around to face him.

"I'm sorry for teasing you Hermione, forgive me?" Harry asked, looking at her in the eyes.

Hermione sighed. She closed the distance between them and wrapped him in a hug.

"Only this time Harry." She said softly.

They walked back to the swings, each swinging on their own pace. Hedwig had finished her meal and was sitting on the rod above the swings.

"Hermione?" Harry ventured.

"Hmmm . . . ?"

"Don't take this the wrong way, but what are you doing here?" Harry asked.

"I was going to surprise you, my relatives left the day before and I asked my parents if you could come over for the rest of the summer. They agreed and I left the house this morning and caught a bus till here. Unfortunately, there was a traffic jam due to an accident and I was a few hours late arriving here. I saw you walking towards the park and followed you here." Hermione said, releasing a huge sigh after her long dialogue.

"So I can come over to your house?" Harry asked excitedly.

"Yeah, we're going to have so much fun Harry." Hermione said with the same excitement as Harry.

"So what are we waiting for? Let's go! We'll pack up my things and go to your house on the Knight Bus. Come on!" saying that, Harry leapt off the swing.

Harry looked at Hermione, only to see her eyes widened in horror. Spinning around on his heels, Harry barely had time to duck the fist aimed at his chest. His breath left him, leaving him gasping on the ground.

Hermione fumbled in getting out her wand from her jeans pocket, and their attacker backhanded her across the face, throwing her to the ground, clutching her rapidly bruising cheek. Pritchard saw her reaching for her wand and stepped on her arm, applying pressure on it till she stopped her attempts. He bent down and punched her in the back of her head, hard, making her slip into unconsciousness.

He smiled and turned towards his main target. Harry was clutching his hand to his chest and slightly bent over from the pain in his chest. He was glaring at him in absolute fury, amusing Pritchard. He did like his prey feisty, after all.

"Who the hell are you?" Harry yelled at him.

"Ah. . . where are my manners. My name is Pritchard Bartholomew. I know all about you of course, Harry Potter, 'The-Boy-Who-Lived'. Saviour of the Wizarding world. Vanquisher of the Dark Lord Voldemort. And most recently . . ." Pritchard dashed forward at Harry, and punched him again. Getting behind him, he caught his arms in a death grip, and whispered in his ear, ". . . my newest servant."

Harry shivered in revulsion and fear; he tried looking back at him and caught sight of the two fangs protruding down from his upper jaws. His fear increased, he was sure that this was a Vampire that was attacking him. It would explain his inhuman strength and speed. He increased his efforts to get loose.

"Stop struggling, you'll hurt yourself. I don't like damaged servants after all." Pritchard said. Just then, Hedwig swooped down at him, screeching, her talons extended. Pritchard didn't notice her approach, and was cut deep on his hands, leaving several red marks, dripping blood. He glared at the offending creature that dared attack him, and on her second dive brought out his hands and smacked her on the ground near Hermione.

"No! Hedwig. Let me go you sick bastard." Harry yelled, hoping to attract attention towards his position. He looked around and spotted Hermione passed out. He struggled. He needed to at least save Hermione, his worry over Hedwig compounding his own.

Pritchard noticed his gaze and smirked.

"Don't worry my servant. I'm sure you will be seeing her often, she is a delectable bird after all, I might even give her to you after I get bored of her. Now, I grow impatient young Harry, let's begin shall we?" Pritchard lowered his head and bit into the side of Harry's neck.

Harry was beyond angry at hearing the Vampire utter such words. He felt a surge of magic building up in his body. But, at that very instant, his world was filled with unimaginable pain. His surge of power died down as he slipped to the ground bonelessly.

Pritchard smiled at a job well done. Looking at the unconscious girl, he walked slowly towards her, licking his lips in anticipation. He walked slowly, savouring the moment. He gently turned her over, brushing her hair out of her face.

He glanced back at the downed form of Harry, absently noticing that the grass around him seemed to be swaying in an unnatural wind. Thinking nothing about it, he gazed back at the beautiful human specimen, fantasizing about the endless hours of pleasure that he would be enjoying shortly. It would be that last coherent thought his mind would be capable of.

Pritchard felt an overwhelming amount of magical force pressing down on his being. His eyes darted back to Harry, who was still lying on the ground, his body twitching slightly. A brilliant aura of green mixed with silver and gold was glowing around Harry's body, growing stronger by the second. Harry stood up slowly, his movements sluggish, his eyes glowing emerald eerily. His scar was bleeding profusely, his blood almost blackish in appearance. A blood curling scream of pain tore itself through the clearing, yet oddly, Harry's mouth remained closed. A red aura soon joined the green one exploding out of his body. The two seemed to battle for some time, before the red aura began dimming, seemingly being absorbed into the green one. A spectral entity was dislodged, emerging from Harry's scar, and Pritchard saw that it was this being that was screaming in agony. After a while there was a brilliant flash of light and the spectre disintegrated into tiny particles of light.

Pritchard was rooted to the spot, staring at the spectacle unfolding in front of his eyes in horrified fascination. Then abruptly, the overwhelming force vanished, and along with it the green aura. Pritchard breathed in huge gulps of air, trying to recover. And then, the force slammed against him again, significantly powerful than before.

Harry's eyes still glowing green, stared directly into Pritchard's terrified eyes. The aura again started forming around his body, its colour pitch black, darker even than a moonless night, and a glowing silver specked in places. It was stronger than before, but more controlled. More menacing, deadly in its very appearance. Pritchard was trying frantically to tear his gaze away Harry's, to get away from this place as fast as possible, but his efforts were in vain. He watched as Harry made his way to him, taking long, strong strides.

Harry suddenly caught hold of his clothes and brought him face to face with him. It was then that Pritchard noticed that his eyes were glazed over. The boy was acting on pure instinct. Harry brought his hand up and punched him in the chest with all the force of a sledgehammer. Wheezing, Pritchard tried standing, but his body simply refused to obey his commands. Pain the likes of which he had never experienced before tore through his body as Harry sunk his fangs into his neck, sucking out his lifeblood. Pritchard could feel his Vampiric powers being drained away, before his mind went blank.

To an outside observer, Pritchard's body, as soon as Harry dropped him to the ground, was blown away by the wind. Harry had literally drained him dry. Looking at the unconscious figure of Hermione, his instincts still guiding him, he made his way over to her.

Harry gently and effortlessly picked up her body, and Hedwig's and carried them over to a tree, sitting down leaning against the tree, he placed her body against his chest, gently placed her hair on one side of her neck, and bit her briefly. Hermione's body gave an involuntary start, and her lips parted slightly. Harry then bit his hand, making a rather deep cut and placed his bleeding hand over her mouth. Hermione unconsciously began swallowing whatever was being offered, and soon identifying the source of nourishment, latched her mouth onto Harry's bleeding hand. After apparently Hermione had had her fill, she unlatched and rested her head on Harry's shoulder, seemingly asleep. Harry turned his attention towards Hedwig and dropped several drops of his blood into Hedwig's beak as well.

Satisfied, Harry too slumped against the tree, looking for the entire world as cuddling lovers.

Hidden deep within the mountains of Scotland was the world's finest school for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Albus Dumbledore sat in the Headmaster's office of Hogwarts thinking about the past year. The Dementors placed as a guard to protect the school against Sirius Black were recalled by the Ministry, stationed at their normal posts as the wardens of Azkaban, the Wizarding prison. Albus had just finished his daily paperwork, and was lost in his thoughts. As was often the case, his mind wandered to one of the students at his school, a certain Third Year Gryffindor.

He still remembered the Patronus that Harry had cast in order to save his Godfather. Even staying inside the castle, he was able to see the brilliant white light associated with a Patronus. He was again amazed by Harry's sheer tenacity and his power. With the events of the past 2 weeks, he was sure that he would need to hasten his plans for Harry. He was maturing much faster than he had anticipated, and that gave him more time to inform Harry about his destiny, and to properly prepare him for it. He was happy that Harry would be able to begin training earlier, as it would give him more of a fighting chance.

Hearing a distressed trill coming from his familiar Fawkes, he made his way over to him. Before he could ask what was wrong, his various instruments began spinning and emitted high pitched noises. Startled, he looked at one particular instrument, the one that informed him of the Blood-Wards that he had weaved around the Dursley household. He stared aghast, as the device turned an angry red colour before it exploded. Acting fast, he grabbed a hold of Fawkes's tail feathers and the duo disappeared in a flash of fire.

He arrived in Harry's bedroom, and noticed that Harry was missing. He closed his eyes, and extended his senses, trying to locate Harry's magical signature. His eyes snapped open as he felt a large concentration of Harry's power emanating from somewhere a few blocks away. Relaying his destination to Fawkes, they flashed to the park that Harry and Hermione were in.

The area was saturated with Harry's magic, and he could also sense a faint hint of Voldemort's own power. Growing concerned he began searching for Harry, and eventually found him slumped against one of the trees, holding Miss. Granger in his arms, both seemingly asleep. Hedwig resting in Hermione's lap.

Crouching over their forms, he waved his wand over them once, sighing in relief when he found that they were alive and seemed relatively unhurt. Deciding that leaving them here, was not in their best interests, he was about to levitate them when he caught sight of something that scared him to the bone. On both their necks, were two bite marks, a telltale sign of a Vampire attack. Deciding to deal with the new development later, he was just about to create a portkey to the Hogwarts Infirmary, when he was interrupted by a voice that he hadn't heard in a long time.

"Fancy meeting you here boy . . ."

A/N: - The plot thickens. . . .Sorry for the cliffy, but tell me how you liked this chapter. And as always, Please Review.