To celebrate hitting 50 followers (again, I lost a couple but back up!), have another early update!
-YDHP-
If Harry knew where they were going, he didn't say. Creeping through the entrance doors, Vlad held his breath as it creaked but nobody appeared. "Come on, quick!" They dashed across the field outside the school, the entrance to the forest near to Hagrids hut. "Vlad!" Harry hissed to him in the dark, tugging at his arm where he had gripped his wrist so they wouldn't lose each other in the invisibility. "What?" "Is that Dumbledore?" Scanning the grounds, he could indeed see the headmaster. There was also two other men with him, one of whom he was itching to hex to hell and back. "That's Draco's father with him. I don't recognise the other guy." "So lets find out. Quietly."
They were already breaking a dozen rules, he supposed they had nothing to lose going to see what was happening - it was on the way as they headed towards Hagrids hut. "Stay silent, and don't get too close. I don't trust Malfoy senior as far as Neville can throw him." "Ok." Gripping Harry's arm tighter, they carefully stepped through the thankfully melting snow - footprints would be a giveaway. There was a stripe of light across the glittering ground as the hut door opened. "Professor Dumbledore?" Hagrids voice boomed across the empty night, and Vlad could see something was shaking the large man up.
"Good evening Hagrid. You of course know the minister for magic, Cornelius Fudge?" It was the middle of the night, what was the top magic politician doing visiting Hogwarts gatekeeper? "Evenin' minister. Who're you?" "Lucius Malfoy." "Get outta my 'ouse!" Feeling a surge of affection for Hagrid, Vlad crept a little closer as the three adults entered the hut. "I take absolutely no pleasure being in this... you call this a house?" Harry's hand tightening on his wrist was the only thing that stopped Vlad hexing Mr Malfoy here and now for insulting Hagrid - the hut was warm and homely, miles better than any castle he had ever lived in. And Vlad was prepared to bet, far cosier than Malfoy Manor. "What're you doin' 'ere?" "I accompanied the minister. Hoped I would be allowed to visit with my son in the morning while I was here."
"Young master Draco has not yet returned for the school term. I was under the impression he went home for the holidays?" Dumbledore knew perfectly well Draco was back, but he was as interested to hear the excuse. "We shall discuss this later, let us not hold up the minister for trivial matters." Oh, he was definitely hexing that man, his son was not a trivial matter. "Apologies Hagrid, but there has now been three attacks, the ministry has to do something before the students come back." "It wasn' me! Headmaster?" Dumbledores surprisingly calm voice split the frantic Hagrid and flustered Fudge cleanly. "I want it understood that Hagrid has my full confidence in his innocence." "Yes, you've said so Albus. But I have to take him." That didn't sound good. "Take me where? Not Azkaban prison?" "I'm sorry Hagrid, don't make this worse than it already is."
They only had a few seconds as Vlad dragged Harry a little further away to hiss quickly "You have to go back, get Draco somewhere safe. Go, I'll buy you a minute." Even though he couldn't see Harry react to his words, he could picture the look of confusion on his face. "Go!" Feeling Harry let go of his wrist, he caught the faint shimmer at the edge of the cloak and turned back to the adults leaving the hut. Hagrid was tearing up, anger spiking without Harry there to calm him down. Resisting the urge to risk injuring the headmaster and the minister for magic... seriously at least, Vlad was never more thankful for his silent, wandless tricks as he turned the melting snow to solid ice in front of Malfoy senior and Cornelius Fudge, cringing as they both slipped and dropped to the ground. Well, he had flicked through the books he got for Fred and George, at least he didn't go for personalised storm clouds.
Using the momentary distraction, Vlad slipped around the back of the hut and ran for the forest. A couple of trees deep, he dropped the invisibility spell, it was taxing to maintain and he might need his power to get away from garlic knows what in here - he didn't have Phantom with him this time. Drinking one of his vials of Replenisher, he felt his power levels fill back up and kept walking. "Illuma" was a variation of Lumos, producing a ball of light to follow him closely - harder to maintain but did mean he didn't have to hold his wand, and could also be flung as a distraction if needed. Checking the ground, Vlad noticed a steady stream of small spiders scuttling along, so he followed their path carefully, trying to avoid stepping on any of them. "Got you Dracula!" Vlad really hoped he didn't recognise the voice, but turning around he found none other than Ron Weasley, freckled skin looking washed out in the bright light ball.
"For evils sake, what the hell are you doing here?" "Catching you out of bed after curfew again." "Because that worked so well for you last time. By all means, follow me If you have a death wish." Lowering the ball of light, he located the spider trail and Ron yelped. "What? There are far worse things in here than spiders. Especially these little guys." "How are you not bothered?" Shrugging at the apparent arachnophobe, Vlad wanted to get moving. "My dad keeps pet tarantulas, these are dots with legs compared to that. Are you following me or not? I'm not going to leave you alone in here, you'll be eaten or something stupid like that." The redhead kept looking at the spiders, but apparently desire to get Vlad in trouble won out over fear of tiny spiders as he ambled closer.
"Don't wander off, I would like to get out of here before dawn." Rolling his eyes, Vlad kept to the path as much as possible until the spiders started thinning out. Looking around the trees, he could see some clearing out and what looked like exceptionally thick cobwebs. "This way." "How are you doing that light thing without your wand?" Of all the things for him to notice. "Magic." Following the almost fluffy trees, Vlad did have to get his wand out to burn away some of it just go keep going if he didn't want to show off his skills to this Weasley. Turning to check the idiot was still there, Vlad looked down at the ground. As his eyes came back up, he spied a bright green stain on Ron's hand. "Where did you get that?" Grabbing the offending hand, Vlad glared angrily at the Slytherin Weasley. "I don't know. Won't wash off." Twisting his hand, Vlad knew exactly how it got there. "If you ever touch my sister again, I will end you." "How did you..." Clenching his fist, Ron yelped in pain and tried to pull away.
"I put that jinx there to protect her. Rest assured I will be showing this evidence when we get back. Assuming I don't leave you to die here. How did you even know?" Ron didn't seen inclined to answer, but Vlad twisted his wrist a little harder and he spat out "pepper up potion, I saw that bloody tutor of yours come out of the back room and went to investigate. She won't ever know I did anything!" Suddenly the replenisher seemed a bad idea, his power right under his skin and Ron buckled, his wrist breaking as Vlad's magic lashed out angrily. The idiot should be thankful Vlad didn't have his fangs yet, or his throat would be decorating the forest floor right now. "You psycho!" "That is nothing compared to what Ingrid will do when she finds out you touched her. Did you tell anyone else she was there?" "No." Vlad growled angrily, barely holding back from ignoring magic and punching the boy. "I swear!"
"I don't have time for this, shut up and stay close. I will deal with you when we get out of here, or I'll feed you to something in here. Haven't decided yet." Clutching his wrist, Ron whimpered weakly in pain as they continued, the ball of light flaring brighter in Vlad's rage and the webbing on the trees grew thicker, and judging by the amount on his clothes, stickier. Something smelled rancid here too, though Vlad didn't know if that was his anger driving his vampire senses out or not. The pathetic sounds told him Weasley wasn't far behind still as they clambered over a felled tree, spiders the size of his hand scuttling up a tree but thankfully Ron didn't seem to notice - it was amazing he hadn't attracted half the forest in his vocalizations.
Huge, so thick his light ball barely reflected back off them, strings of web were slung around many trees, creating a platform of sorts and as he moved the light towards that, Vlad heard Ron faint out cold. Flicking his fingers to drag the Weasley in front of him, there was a sadistic pleasure of spiders crawling all over his face. The Acromantula however, as that was the only thing it could be, was both magnificent and terrifying. Each individual leg was longer and thicker than Vlad's whole body, leading to the actual body that could have crushed Hagrids hut into kindling and still got back up fine. Two enormous lingers guarded venomous fangs, and there were eight eyes each the size of dinner plates flashed milky white. The Acromantula was blind. "Hagrid? Is that you?" Movement all around Vlad made him suspect there were dozens, perhaps hundreds more Acromantula all around him but he focused on this. "Aragog right? I'm a friend of Hagrids, I came to find you." "Why?" Its voice was rough, the fact it had speech and vocabulary unbelievable to Vlad but then... magic.
"There have been attacks up at the school. Just like fifty years ago when Hagrid was at school. They thought it was you didn't they?" He almost felt like panicking, but if the spiders ate him panic wouldn't stop them. "Yes, Hagrid was suspected of using me to attack students by one boy. Riddle. The girl died in a bathroom, I never saw any part of the castle but the box Hagrid kept me in." Checking Ron hadn't been carried off dispassionately, Vlad tried a different question and noted the mention of Riddle in his mind. "Do you know what did cause the attacks?" "We do not speak it's name! It is a creature we spiders fear above all others. When I was accused and had to escape, Hagrid moved me here and found me a wife. We had many children, and in that respect my children do not harm Hagrid. However, fresh meat wonders willingly into our midst, I cannot deny my children that. Goodbye friend of Hagrid." Ok, maybe he could panic a little now.
Harry knew Vlad was right to send him back to protect their friend, but that didn't mean he wasn't going out of his mind worrying as he shook Draco awake. "What? Its the middle of the night!" "Your father is here, he's looking for you. We only have a couple of minutes, we need to hide you." The blond had probably never jerked awake so fast and inelegantly in his life, scrambling for his wand next to his pillow. "Where?" "Snape. He knows you're a Gryffindor, he will come here first. Get under this." Draco looked confused, the cloak not hugely clear in the limited light as he stood up and stepped into his slippers. Pulling his friend closer, Harry threw the cloak around them both and dragged him along. "Invisibility cloak?" "Yes but not silent, so shush!" Draco shut up, stumbling along next to Harry as they made it down the dormitory stairs.
That out of the way, next was the portrait hole. Which was made more difficult by it opening and the Weasley twins climbing through it. Normally, Harry would probably jump out and ask what they had been up to, but now was not the time. Whispering at Draco to get down to Snape's quarters now, he slipped out from under the cloak. "Oi, Gred and Forge." The twins jumped in surprise, looking around at Harry. "I know we shouldn't be up but what are you doing up?" "Long story. Look, there may or may not be someone bad coming up here. Our dorm is empty, again long story, but you should go wake up the seventh years to protect the younger kids. Or go get help, I need to go now before Vlad gets himself killed." The mood shifted instantly, their jaws tightening identically as they hurried up the stairs while Harry ran off after Draco.
Given that he had left him under the cloak, Harry could have ran past him for all he knew. However, when the cold voice that had preceded the attacks sounded, all he heard was "behind you". Heart hammering in his chest, Harry turned around. Malfoy the senior was there, grey eyes like shards of glass as he looked at Harry. "Where is my son?" "In the words of a good friend. Bite me." Hand clasped around his wand, Harry knew better than to turn his back to run again. "One more time Potter, where is Draco?" "I told you. Bite me." Vlad would probably have just hexed him unconscious, then laughed at Harry's vampire joke. "I have waited so long to do this." Harry held his wand up as the older wizard pulled his, but had barely started to say "Expelliarmus" when two voices shouted over his. "Avada" "STUPEFY!" The stunner hit Lucius Malfoy hard enough to throw him against the wall, dropping down heavily.
"Draco?" The cloak was pulled off to reveal Malfoy the junior, who gave his father a good kick before answering. "Well, he can enjoy the trip to Azkaban." "What is Azkaban?" "Wizard prison. Nasty place." Catching something as he kicked the unconscious wizards wand away, Harry knelt down and pushed the sleeve up. There was what looked like a tattoo, black and brand like on the skin but faded, a skull and a snake if Harry wasn't mistaken. "Nice ink. Bit morbid." Draco tugged Harry upright, indicating they should get moving. "Later. Let's go get someone to find him." Pocketing the wand, Harry bundled the cloak into a ball and they ran off down to the dungeons fast. Falling into Snape's quarters breathless, Harry was not hugely surprised to find Bertrand coming out of what he could only assume was the bedroom.
"What has Vlad done now? And why do you two look like hell hounds are after you?" A short chuckle at Bertrands assumption Vlad was doing something dangerous left him, then he remembered the severity of the situation. "Draco's father is unconscious upstairs near Gryffindor tower. The Weasley twins are on guard in Gryffindor tower, I have his wand. The minister for magic just took Hagrid to Azkaban, and Vlad is off in the forbidden forest looking for Acromantula. I think that's everything." "I was about to say you had better have a good reason for storming into my private rooms in the early hours of the morning, but apparently you have several." Snape appeared next to the vampire tutor, and the two adults shared a look. "Oh, my father tried to use the killing curse on Harry too."
"He did?" "Right. You two stay here. I will go and locate Malfoy senior, Bertrand will go and retrieve Dracula from the forest assuming he hasn't been eaten. Do. Not. Leave. Barring an invasion of murderers, I expect to see you both still here when I return. You may call an elf for food and drink, nothing more." Dropping onto the sofa and still panting, Harry watched as Bertrand and Professor Snape disappeared. Draco dropped down opposite him, looking a little more reserved but still out of breath. "Right. First off, that tattoo and Azkaban. Once we get onto Vlad I'll forget." Draco called an elf, requesting tea and biscuits and even thanking the elf when she was done delivering. Sipping at the warming drink and chewing a sugar cookie, Harry waited.
"Azkaban is guarded by dementors, one of the most vile things ever to disgrace the earth. The tattoo is a dark mark, a brand to show support of Vol... You-know-who." Harry let the non-name slide, gesturing for Draco to continue. "His supporters were rounded up after you beat him, and most of them were locked up in Azkaban. Some, like uncle Severus switched sides but the mark is permanent. Others were under the imperious curse, it's like magical mind control. And then there were some who claimed to be under the curse, and there's no way to know the difference. My father is a wealthy man, he bought his way out. The curse he tried to hit you with earlier was the killing curse, one of the three unforgivables. That against you, should be enough to have him locked up." Harry heard the 'so I don't have to talk about what he did' in his words, but didn't say it. "Killing curse? Its not bright green by any chance is it?" One slim blond eyebrow quirked at Harry. "Why?" "Because its the colour I see in my nightmares when Voldemort kills my parents."
"Oh. Yes it is. Sorry, I didn't realise you actually remembered it." Harry shrugged, swallowing some more tea. "I don't remember much. But enough to haunt me."
The spiders all around him weren't quite as big as Aragog, but much much bigger than Vlad. As much as he wanted to abandon Ron and run, his conscience (and the knowledge Ingrid would hex him for stealing her revenge) wouldn't let him. Trying to work out a plan in the few seconds, Vlad jumped in surprise when a fireball hit the ground before him, scaring the Acromantula back slightly. "Vladimir Dracula, your antics will be the undeath of me." "Lecture later, rescue now. Him too. Unfortunately." Bertrand shook his head, keeping the flames around them as he grabbed Vlad's arm and Ron's wrist. The broken one, he noted with grim satisfaction. The vampire leapt up with them, the shift in gravity a little unsettling but an effective escape route as Bertrand dropped them at the entrance of the forest.
"Not that I wasn't thrilled to see you, but how did you find me?" "Harry brought the young Malfoy to his godfather, in quite a state." "And you just happened to be there. Right." The terror drained away, leaving Vlad shaky on his feet now they were safe. Focusing on something else, he kicked Ron's still unconscious form. "What did he do? Other than almost get himself killed following you into an idiotic adventure." "See the green stain on his hand?" Bertrand squinted against the bright light, so Vlad cancelled his charm and Bertrand looked closer. "Yes?" "I keyed a protective jinx to Ingrid, anyone who I didn't trust around her would get that if they touched her. He's lucky all I did was break his wrist, his excuse was she wouldn't know what he did." Bertrand looked to be contemplating dropping Ron back to the spiders, his eyes flicking between the body and the trees.
"I thought about it too, but Ingrid would be mad she couldn't take her anger out on him if he was eaten." That brought a slight smirk to his tutors face, looking around them. "Can you do your invisibility trick? Then I can speed us to the head of Slytherin house to deal with... That." Vlad fumbled for his wand, letting it support the spell somewhat as it only needed to hold for a moment. Gripping Bertrand's arm, he watched as the vampire grabbed Ron roughly and felt himself sped along.
"Ok. You didn't have him with us before." Harry eyed Ron's prone body, which was dumped unceremoniously on the floor. "He caught up with me in the forest. Fainted when he saw the Acromantula. Did you knows he's an arachnophobe?" Vlad kicked him again, just for good measure. "So, what did I miss?" "Minor altercation, Malfoy senior tried to kill me so Draco stunned him so hard he hit the wall flying." Bertrand was probably the reason Vlad didn't actually commit a murder that night, protective instincts flaring hot but the vampire stood in front of the door, physically pushing Vlad to sit by Harry where he could see his mate was safe. "Uncle Severus went to go find him, Harry made sure the Weasley twins were aware to protect the young students or go get help. Bertrand dragged your idiot ass out before you got eaten by spiders. So now your turn, why are you beating up the slytherin weasel?"
Harry passed Vlad tea, already knowing how he took it and the small gesture made Vlad relax more than any calming potion could. "I'll explain when Snape comes back, if I have to keep repeating it my magic might lash out again and he will have more than a broken wrist." Bertrand looked at the three twelve year olds, then down at Ron. "I'm going to go fetch the nurse, kindly restrain Vladimir from killing the boy for now." Draco looked slightly lost when Bertrand flitted away, and Vlad ran through his mental inventory. "My tutor is a vampire. Who better to teach me about my ancestors?" The blond looked stunned into silence, which provided a break while Vlad drank his tea. By the time Draco had recovered, Snape was back. "I found a most peculiar happening in Gryffindor tower. A Weasley twin with a black eye, the other levitating Malfoy senior over a very small volcano. Any idea where they got that?" Vlad whistled innocently, looking away. "Nope. Where is he?" "With the headmaster, he would like some kind of explanation. Why is there an unconscious Slytherin on my floor?"
Vlad opened his mouth to answer, but then Bertrand was back with Madam Pomfrey. "Mr du Fortunesa, what on earth is going on? Oh, why is always you two?" Vlad and Harry shrugged in sync at the nurse, who spied Ron on the floor. "What happened here?" "Broken wrist. Possible shock, concussion, fractured ribs where I kicked him." Waiting for Madam Pomfrey to inspect him, Vlad saw her look at his green palm in confusion. "And this?" "Protective spell I put on Ingrid, aside from everyone else in this room and about four others, anybody who touched her at all would get that. Ron admitted touching her after he found her in the hospital wing. That's when I broke his wrist. The concussion and shock weren't me." Everyone looked at Weasley in stunned silence, and he probably would have been better staying unconscious as he started to come around. Harry seemed to know to place a restraining hand on Vlad, who was itching to knock Ron back out cold. "You're the nurse, aren't you going to heal what that psycho did to me? I want to make a complaint!"
"Idiot boy. I may have left you with the spiders if Vlad had told me why your hand was green before I dragged you out. I'm surprised he showed so much restraint." Ron stumbled to his feet, cradling his broken wrist. "All I did was touch her hand!" Vlad hissed, certain he was lying. "I can check where the protection was breached, are you certain you want to say that?" Vlad was lying, but he didn't know that. "Uh..." Madam Pomfrey surprised them all by rapping Ron on the head with her wand, then conjuring a stretcher for him. "Ahem. Medically necessary sleep. Before Vladimir loses his temper. I will be sure to improve the security on your sister's room, he should never have gotten in. Does anyone else know?" "I asked while crushing his wrist, he said no. Get him out of here, and cover the bed he's in with curtains please?" He knew he was being demanding, but Vlad wanted to be able to visit Ingrid without having to look at him. "Of course. Come and get yourself checked out when you're done Mr Dracula." Vlad downed the last of his cold tea, then stood up and stretched. "Right. I suppose the headmaster is the next stop?"
-YDHP-
I know a lot of this was in Vlad POV, but what happened affected both boys and didn't massively matter who I wrote it in.
I'm wary that despite me warning in the very first chapter that this fic would likely be Vlad-centric, that people are still going to keep inboxing me complaining about that fact.
I promise, I know where I'm going with this and AGAIN, this is not always going to be a powerful!Vlad and average!Harry fic.