This is a short bit. Sort of like a transition chapter I guess. I plan for the next chapter to be long so there may be a bit of a wait.

Double Enjoy

Fancy

Two weeks passed by quickly since the American vampires came to Hellsing. Cat felt as though it would not be bad if Adrien did come back and make an attack. Things were down right boring now that it was getting cold outside. Even evil did not like to show its self in the frigid air. Cat had asked Alucard why there were fewer vampires in winter. Why did it matter if it was cold out when they were dead?

"There are fewer people, I suppose. I don't know, go bother Walter," he had shrugged and walked off towards his room, though it had been four in the afternoon.

Today Cat was curled up underneath the thick covers with a book. Integra still had not started running the heat and Cat had taken to walking around the house fully dressed in winter clothes. She made a trip to the mall to buy a pair of heavy winter boots for the snow and a pair of more stylish ones for the house. She had also gone back to Oxford St. by herself and bought a winter wardrobe. It went much faster than the summer one had gone. You did not have to think about clothing that was covering your whole body as much as you had to think about shorts and tank tops.

She had nearly drifted completely to sleep when there was a knock on the door. She jumped at the noise and looked at the clock. It was only two in the afternoon and Alucard never knocked anyway.

"Come in Walter," she kicked the covers off and stretched before she hopped onto the floor.

Integra slowly pushed the door opened and peeked in, "Did I wake you?"

"Oh hi! Not at all I was just reading," she noticed that Integra looked nervous and she was clutching a letter in her hand, "come on in."

Integra slid through the door without opening it further. She looked at it for a moment trying to decide whether to close it or leave it opened. She finally decided on the former and held the handle until it was shut so it would not make a click. She walked slowly over to the trunk in front of the bed and sat down.

"Is there something wrong?" Cat eyed her warily. She had seen people look like this before with letters in their hands. Her most vivid memory was that of her Aunt and a police officer coming to the house when she was little and excusing the baby sitter. Her Aunt had looked scared and the police officer held a letter in his hand that was wrinkled from him clutching it.

"Not exactly wrong. Do you remember the letter I got a couple months ago? About a party?" she opened up the letter and stared at it.

"Yes, I remember. You looked worry then, too. What's the big deal about a party?" Cat dropped down to the floor and stretched her legs out.

"It isn't just a regular fall season party. I mean, it is a fall party and the Queen has it every year," Cat interrupted her.

"The Queen?! The Queen invites you to her parties! Well what in the world are you nervous about! That is just about the coolest thing I have ever heard! Do you know how many girls would kill to get an invitation to the royal parties?!" she jumped up onto her knees and was shaking her fists with excitement.

Integra held up her hand patiently and waited for her to calm down then continued, "This years party is in my honor," she saw Cat about to burst out again and quickly continued, "I'm being forced to get married," she dropped her eyes to the letter and waited.

"Ew," Cat sat back down on the floor and looked at her.

"Ew? Is that all?" normally people ranted about how they either agreed or disagreed. Such a short response caused her to lose track of her normally prepared speech.

"Well yes, there isn't much else to say about being forced to marry. Except of course, why you are being forced to marry," Integra realized that she should have known Cat would not react like everyone else. Had the girl reacted to anything that had happened to her in the past four months like any normal person would? The fact was, she barley ever reacted at all, she always waited for an explanation before she made any judgments.

"Do you understand the terms of which Alucard is bound to Hellsing?" she flipped the letter over and over in her hands.

"I suppose I don't," Cat tilted her head to the side and waited.

Integra looked up slightly shocked. For being so inquisitive it was strange she had never asked Alucard about it, "Well he is bound to my family line by blood. In laments terms, if there is no family line, then he can not be bound. As I'm sure you realize, he can never be allowed free reign, so if he is not bound to Hellsing he must be destroyed and Hellsing would ultimately cease to exist. It is my duty to produce an heir and to do so I must be married. I do not go out gallivanting around so the Queen saw it fit to play match maker and has chosen a husband for me. She did pick more than one should I not like her first choice, but I suppose it does not really matter."

"Well of course it matters. You should try to like them. If you try hard enough you'll find something you like and then it won't be so awful when you sleep with them," she waved her hand at the surprised expression on Integra's face, "oh come now, you know all the kids my age are doing that. Even some of the younger ones do and they all gloat about it like it's such an accomplishment."

"Do you…?" Integra trailed off.

"Do I?! Of course not! I barely leave this house, who could I possibly be doing that with. It's silly to think about," she gave Integra a scolding look.

"Well I do not know anything about children or teenagers. Lucian seems to like you and there was that other boy, Colin I think? I found it barbaric how they fought with each other," she crossed her legs and leaned her elbows on her knees.

"Yes, it was rather sad. I never did anything with either of them. I still fancy Lucian, but I don't really know in what way. I suppose I fancy him the same as I fancy Pip," she looked up at the ceiling and tried to decipher how exactly she felt.

"You fancy Pip?" Integra leaned forward like it was an important secret.

"You don't? He's very handsome and charming when he wants to be," Integra looked at her like she was weird, "Oh don't look at me like that! You must fancy someone. Come on and tell me! If you don't I will have to assume it is someone you shouldn't fancy."

"What is that supposed to mean? I don't have to fancy anyone," she sat up straight again and looked prim.

"You do have to fancy someone. Everyone always fancies someone. But it's ok you don't need to tell me. I know who you fancy," Cat sprawled out on her back on the floor.

"Who is it then? If I did fancy someone I would fancy someone that no one would ever think of," she looked at Cat, curious to know who she was thinking of.

"You fancy Wa…," someone knocked at the door and Cat sat up quickly.

Integra's eyes widened to the size of baseballs and she covered her mouth.

"Come in!" Cat spun around and sat against the bed post trying to look casual.

"Miss Cat, I've brought you your laundry basket. It seems one of the maids became ill and she left it down stairs on her way out the door," Walter pushed the door opened with his foot and set the basket down.

Cat barley managed to stifle her laughter, "Oh thank you Walter you didn't have to." She looked up at Integra who was turning red. Her eyes were squinted into crescents and were beginning to water.

"What ever is going on in here?" Walter eyed Integra then looked at Cat.

"Nothing Walter," Cat could not contain her laughter any more. She fell over sideways onto the floor and laughed until her stomach was sore.

"I do say, women are so very odd. I will be downstairs if anyone needs me," he walked out and closed the door behind him.

"Oh how could you!" Integra stood up and threw her now crumpled letter onto Cat's head.

Cat struggled to sit up between gasps for air, "I…didn't…say…anything!" She fell back down on the floor to laugh some more.

"It isn't even true so stop your giggling!" Integra sat back down on the trunk and tried to hide her smile.

Cat finally managed to sit up and looked at her, "I know it isn't Walter, but I have an idea who it might really be."

"Let's have no more of this game. I fear it could go too far in a matter of seconds. Let me tell you what I really came to say," she stood up and walked across the room to the armoire. She pulled the tall doors opened and sighed, "I would like you to go to the fall ball with me. It will be nice to have someone there that I am not forced to be friends with."

Cat walked over to the armoire and looked in. It was full of beautiful dresses of various colors and sizes. She was speechless and could only reach out and touch the gowns on their sleeves.

"There should be about five or six in here that will fit you. I was very close to your size when I was sixteen, though maybe a little bit taller. That should not matter much though if we put you in heels," Integra began to pull out dresses and look at them.

"This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me," she looked at Integra and considered hugging her, but thought better of it. "Thank you, Integra. You're a good friend."

"Oh don't get soft on me now. You're going to be shocked at how brutal these balls really are. You're going to be thankful to have a vampire for a date," she laughed and pulled out a black and red dress with a large diamond pendant in the front.

"Alucard is going?" Cat smoothed out the dress she was holding and pushed it back into the armoire.

"Of course, he goes every year. He comes in handy at private events. No one dares crash a party when he is one of the guests," she walked to the bed and laid the black and red dress down. "This was one of my favorites."

"I suppose he would come in handy. I hope he can dance, I'm not going to stand against the wall the whole time at my first royal party."

And with all said and decided about the fall ball, Cat and Integra spent the rest of the afternoon looking through the dresses and trying to pick one that would fit well and look nice. Integra went to her room to get the dress she was planning to wear and she put in on for Cat and paraded around the room. Cat finally decided that the red and black dress would look best on her and that it was fate that it fit so well. At around five o'clock they heard the bedroom door opened and rushed from the bathroom mirror thinking to show Walter what clothes they had decided on. To their surprise it was not Walter, but Alucard who stood at the entrance to the room. They both turned a bright red and quickly rushed back into the bathroom. Alucard began to chuckle and it quickly turned into his maniacal laugh that they knew all too well.

For the rest of the night he could be heard throughout the house erupting into bouts of laughter that would fade into snickers and then chuckles and finally icy silences that never lasted long.

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