Lookie, back again! Lost and gained back to fifty followers again, am I doing something wrong to deter you guys?
-YDHP-
"What are you going to tell him? I would not recommend telling him you were alone in the forest looking for giant spiders." Vlad puzzled over that for a moment, then came up with a possible answer. "We saw Malfoy senior and split up to protect Draco. Weasley caught me and I saw his hand, we fought and then came back here?" Bertrand nodded in agreement. "You may want to clean the cobwebs from your clothes." Vlad looked down, realising he was indeed still covered in sticky webbing. Waving a hand over himself, the mess faded away leaving his clothes clean. "Wandless and wordless?" Oh bats. "Yes, Vlad has unique skills. Don't talk about them, Professor McGonogall would have my head if she knew how many people know. My job, aside from training and educating him, is to keep his powers under wraps." Vlad smiled apologetically at his tutor, then indicated the door. "Shall we?"
"I'll go to the hospital wing, someone should be between you and Mr Weasley when the headmaster decides to question him." Given that he still wanted to tear the boys throat out, Vlad thought that a wise choice. "Very well. I shall escort the young lions to the headmasters office." Bertrand flitted off quickly, and the three boys headed up to Dumbledores office with Snape. Mr Malfoy was still unconscious, but Draco was immediately on edge at the sight of him and shuffled away. "Ah, thank you for bringing the boys Severus. Does one of you have a reasonable explanation for the events of this evening, including the injuries sustained by Mr Weasley?"
Forcing back his anger at the mention of Ron, Vlad stepped forward. "I spotted Mr Malfoy from the window, I went to slow him down while Harry tried to get Draco away in time - we know what he did. I was slowed down by Ron trying to get me in trouble for being out of bed after hours. The green again on his hand is from a protective spell I put on Ingrid, he admitted to touching her and my magic lashed out in anger. Its been a little uncontrollable without my sessions with Bertrand, and with Ingrid being... you know." Harry took up the other side of their story flawlessly. "I sent Draco on ahead while I told Fred and George to be on the lookout for the younger students. Mr Malfoy found me in the hallways, asking where Draco was and I wouldn't tell him." Draco finally found his voice then. "My father was about to use the killing curse on Harry when I stunned him. Harry took his wand and we ran for Professor Snape. Bertrand went to get Vlad and Weasley, Madam Pomfrey has him now and apparently the Weasley twins did a good job of holding up my father until he was found."
The headmaster took all of the information at face value, or so it seemed at least. "The wand?" Harry pulled it out of his pocket and handed it over to Dumbledore. "I'll hand over the memory of him trying to kill Harry if I have to." That sounded slightly painful, but Professor Snape pressed his wand to his godsons temple, pulling out a silvery thread and placing it into a potions vial. "What was that?" "A memory. A rather delicate spell, but I am an expert in magics of the mind." Dumbledore took the vial, looking closely at it as though he could see the memory it held. Though for all Vlad knew, he could. "Very well. I believe the Hospital Wing is our next stop. Malfoy the senior won't be going anywhere for a few hours, and Fawkes can fetch me if he wakes." The phoenix trilled in agreement, fluttering a crimson wing at them and turning his feathered head to glare at the unconscious Malfoy.
The curtains guarded by Bertrand were not Vlad's priority, at least not until he had checked on Ingrid first. She looked virtually no different, though Vlad wasn't sure he was thinking straight through the rush of adrenaline. "I didn't do anything! That psycho broke my wrist! Professor Snape, why aren't you defending me?" Growling in frustration, Vlad turned back to Weasley. "You were saying something else when I was breaking your wrist. If you don't want me to break the other one I would love to hear the explanation for that green mark on your hand." Vlad didn't care that teachers could hear him threatening the other boy - though it was more a promise than a threat. "You forget Mr Weasley, Miss Dracula is also one of my house. And Slytherin will not abide such behaviour. We can always offer you a truth potion if you're struggling to find the right words." Ron looked around all of them, his face twisted in anger that he had been caught out, and that nobody was on his side.
"Fine! I copped a feel, so what? She won't know I did it, and she shouldn't be going around looking so hot and never letting anyone near her." Bertrand identified Vlad close to breaking, placing a restraining hand on his shoulder. "My sister has the right to walk around looking however she pleases, and you do not have the right to touch her! Can I hit him now?" Bertrand looked at him as if to say "really? In front of the headmaster?", and Dumbledore finally spoke. "As his head of house, it is to Professor Snape to determine the appropriate action." "He is no student of mine. Unless you have an issue headmaster, I would have him expelled." "What!? You can't do that!" "I think you'll find I can Mr Weasley. Slytherin house will not shelter degenerates and perverts, you disgrace the noble heritage of the snakes and you will not find them forgiving."
A house elf was called and sent to pack up Ron's things, and Vlad couldn't believe his eyes when the boys wand was snapped in front of them. "Your parents will be called to collect you in a few hours, and they will be informed what you've done." Ron was beyond words, angry sounds and gestures all he could make until Vlad stunned him out of frustration. "He was giving me a headache. What about Malfoy?" "I will contact the aurors immediately." "Would you like me to contact your mother Draco?" The blond looked nervous, as though he was unsure what to say to his godfathers offer. "We'll stay with you. Promise." Harry nodded from their friends other side, so Draco nodded. "Yeah. I mean yes. Please." Nobody seemed to be feeling the long night, so Bertrand took the three of them to the tower to get dressed, and the look on Draco's face when the vampire flitted them back down to Snape's quarters was hilarious.
"Much faster, no?" "Worse than side along apparition." "Really? I prefer the speed to the being shoved through a straw." Draco looked at Vlad like he was mad, gratefully drinking down the water Snape offered before they all sat down with cups of tea. "I don't think that's the last we will hear from him. Something about him doesn't sit right with me." "Yes, well he's out of Hogwarts now Vladimir. Kindly explain to us what you were doing looking for enormous spiders that want to ingest you?" Vlad tried to look innocent as he sipped his tea, wondering where to begin - nobody knew everything, and that made it hard to think what to say. "Whatever did these attacks before scares spiders, and according to Aragog - yes, Hagrid named a twenty foot beast with eight legs giant spider - even the Acromantula were scared of it. They've taken Hagrid away, someone will need to feed Fang while hes... Azkaban right?"
"What is the thing they are scared of?" "No clue. It didn't help much, just another adventure." Draining his still too-hot tea, Vlad was full of anxious energy by now and hoped someone else would talk. "What's going to happen to Mr Malfoy?" "Using an unforgivable on another human being is a one way ticket to Azkaban. Against Harry Potter... The mind boggles." Snape said it almost distastefully, but Vlad knew that was because the potions master had little time for reputation, he preferred to know the person not the public image, and Harry was a big public image. A loud 'ding' had everyone jumping in surprise except Snape, and Bertrand cringed at the sound on his oversensitive hearing. "Apologies. That is my floo alarm, which was designed to warn me Draco was coming through to escape his father. As you and he are in the building, I presume it is your mother." Draco froze between Vlad and Harry, statue-like as the professor headed through to where his 'floo fire' was.
"You're alright, we are right here mate." Vlad had to fight an instinctive desire to stop Harry calling Draco that, but that may have been painfully obvious and a poor move as a friend to tell Harry not to comfort the scared boy. "Dray?" Vlad recognised the voice vaguely from the beginning of first year, Mrs Malfoy following Professor Snape into the room. "I was very worried, I am relieved to see youre alright." The woman was clearly anxious about her son, and Vlad was left thinking on how much of her behaviour was down to her husband. "I'm fine. Father is less so. He tried to kill Harry Potter, he's not getting away with that one." "You're certain?" "I was there. Its my memory that will be used to prove it." Narcissa Malfoy looked either side of her son, Vlad and Harry clearly sat protectively flanking their friend. "That is... A relief." Everyone looked up in surprise then, confused by her words.
"Excuse me?" "My husband is many things, and innocent is not one of them. I hoped he would be caught and imprisoned for the crimes back when his master was alive, but it was not to be. However, I could not abandon my son and so I stayed." "You stayed... For me?" "Of course. I apologise that I could never totally shield you from him, but I tried my son." Vlad shifted out of his spot so Draco's mother could sit next to her son, and they all pointedly looked away while Draco teared up and clung to his mother. "You believe her?" Bertrand whispered almost silently to Vlad under the cover of the Malfoys talking. Trusting Snape and Harry to keep an eye, Vlad stepped into the next room for a moment. "I want to. But she was married to him for fifteen years, I won't be letting her be alone with Draco yet. Unless she's willing to be truth tested that is." "Let's wait until Malfoy senior is safely locked away, if she's telling the truth she needs to feel safe too." Vlad nodded in agreement, that was fair.
Including jumping down the trap door to face Volde-Quirrel, finding the petrified victims and the other exhausting adventures at Hogwarts, Harry had never had such a long night. And there was only one day before the students came back from Christmas. He would bet anything Vlad and Bertrand were discussing whether or not to trust Mrs Malfoy, though Draco looked more than inclined to believe his mother at least. A strange silvery shape wisped into the quarters, and Snape seemed to understand it. "Dracula!" Vlad's head peeked around the door. "Yes professor?" "The Weasleys are here to collect their son, the headmaster thought you would like to see him leave." Bertrand followed, probably to make sure Vlad didn't kill Ron as they dashed out of the quarters.
"He's asleep, has it been a long night?" "Kind of." Snape stood, levitating Draco carefully - he knew Draco had a room down here in case he ever needed to hide. "Until the headmaster says so, I'm afraid I cannot leave you alone with him given the state he turned up at Hogwarts in recently." Narcissa Malfoy did not look happy, but she didn't argue as she followed Snape to and from Draco's room. "How is he doing in school? He was never allowed to talk about it much, his father was very unhappy with his placement." "He's brilliant. Smart, funny and a good friend to everyone, even those who also didn't take his place well to begin with." Remembering early on, when Seamus had been very against the placement of Draco Malfoy in his dorm, Harry was glad they had moved on from there.
"His surname preceded him?" "In a sense. That was early days though, he's every bit a Gryffindor lion pride member now." The woman's face was impassive, unreadable but he had seen that in Draco sometimes, Malfoys didn't show emotion if they could help it. Draco was improving though, and Harry hoped that hadn't made his home situation worse. With some Gryffindor luck though, that may be a thing of the past. Harry poured himself a fresh cup of tea, chewing on biscuits and feeling somewhat awkward with the two adults alone. Thankfully, Vlad and Bertrand returned quickly, and Vlad looked much less angry. "Mr and Mrs Weasley are lovely people. Asked if we liked our jumpers and everything, can't believe what their son did. Mrs Weasley told me I look like I need feeding up too, apparently I'm a bit peaky?" His friend looked a little overwhelmed, but then Harry knew Vlad almost never mentioned his own mother. Not that he spoke of his father much either.
"You are pretty pale and skinny. Have a biscuit. Go out in the sun." Vlad smiled as he took the biscuit from Harry - they could hardly talk openly about Vlad being undead in front of Mrs Malfoy. "Any news on the other matter?" Vlad held up a hand while he finished chewing, swallowing the mouthful of biscuit first. "Aurors are waiting on Mr Potter and the young Mr Malfoy to corroborate the statement, or else the memory is without context. Apparently. I told the grumpy looking one I would see if they were available. Then we got out of there." Vlad crammed the rest of his biscuit in his mouth, looking amused with himself for some reason.
Returning the 'posh and proper' speech, Harry grinned at his friend. "The young Mr Malfoy is asleep, and is therefore unavailable, unless you wish to wake him?" "Normally I wouldn't, but I want him out of the school before he can do anything else." Draco was unimpressed by being woken up, but when he heard it was to get his father locked up he was suddenly more alert. "Let's go. I want to see him taken away." Like Vlad, Harry made sure never to leave their friends side as they were escorted back up by Bertrand, Snape and Mrs Malfoy close behind a moment later. The aurors were indeed a grumpy looking bunch, scowling around the place as the three second years walked in. "We need to speak to each of you individually." "No chance, we don't know you." Harry didn't trust them, and he wasn't stupid.
"We aren't lying, he tried to kill Harry Potter. You know, the one who beat You-know-who?" Harry hated being the center of attention, but the auror looked instantly uncomfortable. "So you both swear he attempted this, and was overpowered by two twelve year olds?" "A stunner is a stunner. Harry took his wand. You have my memory, though you should know I put it into more than one vial. Just in case that one you have goes mysteriously vanishing." Draco's silver eyes were shards of steel as he glared at the auror, and Harry suspected the young Malfoy knew more than most about the inner workings of the Ministry. "I don't know what you're insinuating Mr Malfoy..." "Nothing. Just saying. Anything else before you actually do your job and arrest him?"
"No, that's fine. Smith, Tyler, take him away." Malfoy senior was revived and restrained, obviously displeased by this fact and seemed to be trying to kill the three boys with death glares. "What is this? Release me!" "Lucius Abraxas Malfoy, you are being arrested and detained for the charge of attempted use of an unforgivable curse, and attempted murder of a minor. Take him. An official will be in touch to discuss legalities, regarding financial and property matters Mrs Malfoy. Good day headmaster Dumbledore." The grumpy auror followed the restrained Malfoy out, and there was a collective sigh of relief as they were free of the officials. "What were you grinning about earlier?" "Oh, the grumpy one... Matthews, he may have mistakenly thought Bertrand had fangs. And might have squealed like a baby. I was, of course, too busy being upset he accused me of lying to get attention to notice anything." Vlad was grinning cheekily now, in spite of the disapproving look from the headmaster. Though that too, was belied by a twinkle in his eyes.
"Yes, well. Imaginary canine teeth aside, is there anything else I can do for you trouble makers?" Harry was confused by the denial, then remembered Narcissa Malfoy was not in on the tutor being a vampire. "No offence Mrs Malfoy, but we are somewhat wary of leaving her alone with Draco?" Harry gamely admitted, and Vlad nodded in agreement. "And you, Draco?" "Uh. I don't know. Sorry mother, you understand why I'm wary?" "Of course Dray, I have not been the best role model for a mother. What do you suggest I do to prove your safety?" Harry had no idea what a mother role model looked like, so he didn't offer a suggestion. Vlad looked to be about to say something, but he caught Bertrand shaking his head just a little. "I'm just going to point out - breakfast? With so few in the school until tomorrow, our absence is going to be noticable?"
"Yes. Mrs Malfoy, I wonder if you would return home for today, and we shall attempt to find a solution that will appease these spirited young men? They only have your sons best interests at heart." "Very well. It was good to see you Dray." "You too mother. I expect I'll see you soon." The two Malfoys hugged, and Vlad looked on in mild confusion as Narcissa Malfoy left through the fire place. "Never gone by floo?" "No, portkey and side along apparition. Never through a blazing flame." Harry's stomach growled loudly, reminding them they needed to get to breakfast. "You boys go ahead, it will be rather obvious something happened if you're accompanied by three teachers." The three took the dismissal, heading down to the Great Hall and eating a surprising amount, considering the amount of tea and biscuits they had eaten by dawn.
"This way." Draco and Harry followed Vlad outside, and Harry understood a moment later when they crossed the slushy ice to Hagrids hut. "Hey Fang, sorry we didn't get here until now. Hungry?" Vlad went to fill Fangs food bowl, and yelped in surprise when Phantom leapt out, Lily coiled around her. "Master wizard!" Lily hissed, though both familiars kept a keen distance from the large hound. Harry took his snake while Vlad took the cat shaped nightmare fluff, though they both took themselves to Vlad's ever-present backpack before long. They made tea, and after a good scratch behind the ears and a full bowl of food and water, Fang lay down and left them to talk. "Why did Bertrand signal no? I would have thought a dose of Veritaserum - truth potion Harry - would suffice." Vlad stared into his mug for a moment, clearly not wanting to answer. "He only had a second to tell me, but he said her blood smelled wrong and he was worried it meant she had some kind of antidote in her system. Until we can be sure, it's pointless and puts you at risk. We didn't almost get arrested or killed to risk you again."
Draco didn't look happy, he had clearly hoped his mother was being truthful. "We will figure it out, Gryffindors stick together. And your godfather isn't going to let you go anywhere until he knows you're safe." "Wait, arrested?" "I could have seriously injured the minister for magic slowing them down so Harry could get to you. Next question, what do we do about Hagrid?" Harry slumped into the enormous, cushy armchair and sighed. "Nothing. Until we can prove Aragog isn't what did it, now or fifty years ago, they are not going to let him out on the gut feeling of children. Not even me." "You could put that thing you did for Ingrid on his chicken coop? Hagrid said someone keeps killing his chickens, and wasn't it chicken blood used to paint the messages on the walls?" Vlad's eyes lit up then, and Harry was glad to give his friend some motivation. "Brilliant. Come on Fang, walkies!" The hound ambled after Vlad as he left the hut, and Phantom and Lily finally poked their heads out.
"The furball brought me here this morning, apparently she knew you would come here. What have we missed?" Holding his hand out for Lily to slither around his arm, Harry chuckled as Phantom immediately clambered all over Draco. "It's a rather long story." "Well you had better start then." His familiar was as cheeky as ever then. Hissing out a rough over view of the night they had had, Harry promised a full account that night and Lily hissed in acceptance before taking herself back to the pocket of Vlad's backpack to nap.
"I went with red, figured it wouldn't be immediately obvious if they got covered in chicken blood until they couldn't wash it off?" "Good plan. After the students come back tomorrow, everyone is going to know about the petrifying. And you" Harry almost said we, but wasn't about to bring up that he was having private lessons, or why in front of Draco "need to go back to your private lessons. I know it's rough while you're worrying over Ingrid, but you could have killed Ron when you lost control. He wouldn't have been a great loss, but you need to keep that strength under wraps." Vlad looked at him sadly for a moment, but then his face tightened in determination and he nodded. "You're right, I'll talk to Bertrand later. And one of us should always make sure someone comes to feed Fang, and make sure he gets to go outside and stuff. Agreed?" Draco looked hesitantly at the drooling dog, but nodded all the same. "Back to normality tomorrow boys, I wonder how long until all hell breaks loose... Again."
-YDHP-
Whatever could your mysterious author be planning? Because I am. I have many plans! Muahahaha