This may be a day or two late, I'm away at the moment so I may not have had time to finish writing in time for the one week mark. If that's the case, apologies!
Krazy Katieness - your review was hilarious, and yes, there will be GAAAAY. I do love the idea of people squealing and rolling on the floor reading this.
In return for you guys being patient with me, have an all Harry chapter!
-YDHP-
"Hold on, have you guys seen Hermione?" Harry looked up at Vlad, realising he hadn't seen her at breakfast or since the previous day at all. "She could just have slept in? It is the last day of Christmas holidays." Draco ventured shakily, but none of them believed it, not even Draco. "It's almost lunch. If she isn't there, check the library on our way up, then we ask one of the girls to check her dorm. Then we panic." The other two nodded at Harry, collecting familiars and wands and rinsing out their teacups before heading back to the castle.
The rationalisation turned out to be for nothing, the Grand finale of their Christmas holidays being McGonogall beckoning them aside after a lunch where none of them ate much. "Hermione?" Their teacher looked a little surprised by Vlad's question, but nodded. Harry felt slightly sick as they followed her to the hospital wing, and there was no denying she was petrified. "She was found with this, just like Miss Dracula. Does it mean anything to any of you?" McGonogall held up a small vanity mirror, and Hermiones hand was frozen up in the position that said she had been holding it. "No. Nothing." Vlad spat the words, then disappeared into Ingrid's side room with a sad expression on his face.
"Let him go, this thing seems to really have it out for people he cares about. Maybe we should wrap you in cotton wool. We all know you're his favourite." Draco nudged Harry, trying to stop him watching after Vlad. Shaking his head to clear it, Harry shrugged. "We need to figure this out. Before he cracks any more." Draco nodded, turning to see Bertrand in the hospital wing. "I heard. He in there?" They nodded, and the vampire headed in to possibly comfort Vlad, or at least stop him tearing holes in something or someone with his shaky control. "I shall assist his tutor with Mr Dracula. You two may visit with Miss Granger, but don't hang around too much alone boys. Be careful.' The words were more aimed at Harry than Draco - one of them was pure blooded, and one wasn't. "We will. Will one of you bring Vlad back to the tower so he's not out alone?" McGonogall nodded in agreement, and after a few minutes staring lost at Hermione, Harry let Draco convince him back to their dorm.
"I doubt Vlad is ever going to really enjoy Christmas again, even when Ingrid and Hermione are cured." "I guess. We'll have to make his next Christmas even better." Harry hummed in agreement, then engaged in a hurried, hissed conversation with Lily about 'the furry ones wizard' - Phantom was worried about Vlad it seemed. "Is it coincidence both of them had mirrors with them?" "Ingrid is always looking in a mirror, but Hermione is not the vain type. So I really couldn't tell you Draco." Flopping down onto his bed, Harry rubbed a hand over his face. "I'm only saying, because the ones who died didn't have anything. Ingrid and Hermione are petrified, they had mirrors." "So start carrying a mirror? Is that what you're saying? Vlad is carrying the mirror Ingrid had, and Aurelius wasn't carrying any mirror."
Draco tapped his quill against his book, contemplating. "Was he found by water like Mrs Norris?" "Yeah, flooded bathroom again. Are you saying reflections stop them dying? What on earth could cause that?" "No clue. Still worth considering." The blond had a point, so when he conjured up small pocket mirrors for them both, Harry took one. "You're fine, you're a pureblood." "Ingrid's a Slytherin, I'm not all that sure this thing is so discerning." Harry was still fairly certain this thing had hurt Ingrid to get to him through Vlad, he wasn't so sure about undiscerning but could hardly say that.
Vlad didn't come back for a couple of hours, but Bertrand explained they had had a 'lesson' - Vlad got the chance to burn off his excess magic and emotion. The vampire boy did look a little better, if exhausted as he dropped Lily into Harry's lap. "The biter is strong." Harry hissed in agreement, Vlad was very powerful. "He will do nicely for you." Raising an eyebrow, Harry wasn't sure what that meant. "We are already friends, so I guess he already does nicely? Whatever that means." Lily huffed as she slithered over to her tank, wrapping her body around a tree limb and closing her eyes. "Why do I get the feeling your familiar is in a mood?" "Because she is. I have no idea why, maybe she will explain when she wakes."
Bertrand bid them good afternoon, reminding them it was dinner in half an hour and to enjoy the last evening before the other students came back. "We've had three attacks in all of a month, I dread to think what's going to happen when they do come back." "The headmaster has security protocols to put in place, so simply behave and maybe follow to the rules for once in your lives?" Vlad and Harry wore twin fake innocence expressions as Bertrand shook his head and left. Draco relayed the curiosity about mirrors to Vlad while Harry went to shower, then the three were joined by the Weasley twins for dinner, and again in their dormitory as they pooled a ridiculous amount of snack food. "Harry said you couldn't get enough, I bet it'll be sold out when you guys can go to Hogsmeade next year." Vlad flushed as they handed him the warming pumpkin juice, making Harry laugh as he hid behind the flask. Popping open a butterbeer, Harry took a shot with the twins.
"You remember Aurelius?" "The Ravenclaw kid who got frozen?" Vlad's eyes were panicked on Harry as he spoke, but Harry wasn't about to talk about Ingrid. "Yeah. Hermione is too." "Merlin's pants! So you think this chamber thing is for real?" Unsure which twin was talking now, Harry nodded and took a long drink from his bottle, enjoying the warming feeling curling through his stomach. "Dumbledore is probably going to talk about it tomorrow when the students come back, new security protocols. We might need some school cheer from you two, but be careful not to mess with keeping people safe?" The twins nodded seriously, taking turns feeding Phantom bits of foam from their butterbeer. "We can do that. There is a big line between actually putting people in danger and playing harmless pranks, and we are masters of dancing all over that line. Count on us Harry."
The students came back the next day, and Vlad was clearly unhappy as Dumbledore started trying to explain the events of the holidays - he didn't mention Ingrid, given what had happened with Ron Weasley Harry wasn't surprised. Vlad might actually do some serious damage if anyone else hurt his sister. "I urge every student to exercise reasonable caution, stick together and watch each others backs. If anyone has any information about these attacks, then please speak to a teacher." Harry caught Vlad eyeing Ginny, but they had no proof. The strangest sight was Lockhart, smiling vacantly as though the headmaster was not talking about students being attacked, killed even. Vlad disappeared off to feed Fang with Bertrand - he was absolutely not allowed to be alone since Ingrid had been attacked, his blood status also putting him on the 'hit list'.
By midway through January, Vlad looked close to losing his head even with his lessons to burn off the extra energy. After a mishap during detention (Seamus wouldn't stop talking to him about the attacks and Snape had given them both detention, then the Irish boy had accidentally knocked over a pile of knives and Harry had been in the way), he was in the hospital wing getting healed up. "You'll have to wait an hour so I can check there were no dangerous reactants on the blades, so get comfy Mr Potter." Madam Pomfrey went to check on the petrified victims, another one already found yesterday. Feeling a little unsettled, Harry stood and paced up and down the wing for a few minutes. Passing Ingrid's back room, he thought he heard something.
Pushing the door open (the only two students who could enter this room freely were he and Vlad, a testament to his friends trust in him), Harry was a little lost at the sight of Vlad crying at his sister's bedside. "Vlad, what's wrong?" The pale boy swiped at his eyes, shaking his head. "I just wish we knew what was doing this, or at least how to cure Ingrid." Having been raised hearing how boys that hugged each other were 'freaks' from the Dursleys, Harry had happily forgotten that when he realised friendly contact was fine. The way Vlad clung to him and kept crying, no amount of outsider opinions would have stopped him giving his friend what comfort he could. "We will work it out, no way is something like being petrified going to slow down your sister for long." That won a watery chuckle from Vlad, who stepped back and cleaned his face up with a tissue. Harry felt an acute wave of guilt as his friend looked back at Ingrid - he was still worried this was done to get at him through his friend. Ingrid being petrified could have been his fault.
The two boys sat in mostly silence until Harry's hour was up, Madam Pomfrey flaring through the doorway for a minute. "I had a feeling you would end up in here. Come along Mr Potter, I need to check you over then the two of you can get back to the tower." Harry went and let her scan him, declaring him healthy enough to leave but warning him to keep an eye on himself and to come back of any side effects showed. "Right-o, I better pry Vlad out of there and get to Gryffindor before curfew." Vlad went surprisingly quietly, and the two walked along the corridors still-silent. Mostly. "Is it me or isn't there supposed to be patrols now?" "Yeah, but there's only so many places they can be at once. I'm sure someone will be along this hallway soon." Vlad was right though - they hadn't seen anyone on their way.
"Something doesn't feel right." "You say that alot in fairness Vlad." Vlad's mouth tightened, then relaxed. "Well in my defence, something isn't right at Hogwarts." That much was true he supposed. "We can't go wandering, so lets get back to the tower." Vlad stopped dead, looking around and checking they were alone. He slid his backpack down his arms, rooting through it and handing Harry... his invisibility cloak. "You carry that?" "Only when you forget to. I don't need it remember?" Vlad drank a small vial, which Harry thought contained Replenisher - Vlad's power was extensive, but he was young and could do some serious damage to his magical core if he wasn't careful or equipped with something to restore his levels. The vampire waved a hand over himself, then disappeared from sight. "Put your cloak on then." Rolling his eyes, Harry wanted to drag Vlad back to the tower but he wouldn't overpower Vlad, and he wasn't about to let him go wondering alone.
Swinging the cloak around his shoulders, Harry pulled the hood up and felt Vlad's hand wrap around his wrist. "Come on, we need to find where all the teachers have got to." The boy vampire dragged him along, and Harry supposed they were heading to the second floor - the general epicentre of everything happening lately. "I knew it." "Not now, be quiet!" Harry hissed at his friend to pipe down, the teachers were crowded around the first message - all of them. Bertrand would know they were here, but Harry didn't think the vampire tutor would actually be all that surprised.
"What do we do now Headmaster?" They couldn't see the attraction through the thicket of bodies, but Harry kept listening anyway. The slow, sad timber of Dumbledores voice made Harry panic - whatever it was, it was very very bad. "I don't know. Obviously we must search for the girl" so someone had gone missing, impressive in a school containing a vampire and a couple of hundred magic humans "but I fear this is the end of Hogwarts. I will contact her parents. The poor family. Return to your patrols, don't let on to the students yet. Minerva, contact the school governors would you?" "Of course Headmaster." The teachers slowly thinned out, Bertrand and Snape standing to stare at the wall some more. Another set of bloodied letters was scrawled on the walls, the message truly chilling as the red shone in the candle light.
"Her skeleton will lie in the chamber forever."
It was a couple of minutes before Bertrand so much as moved, scanning the hallways around them before looking over his shoulder. "Clear, you can come out now boys." Harry dropped the hood of his cloak, and Vlad dropped his invisibility spell to approach the teachers. "Trouble seems to attract you like flies to a corpse. What do you think?" "Chicken blood again? Who's the girl?" Vlad cringed as he touched the still-damp blood, wiping it off on his shirt. "Ginny Weasley." "Suddenly I wish we weren't right about something being wrong with her." Harry agreed with his friend, staring at the shimmering wall. "First Ingrid, then Hermione. On top of Draco, and now the Weasleys have to deal with Ron being scum and Ginny being taken. Suddenly Voldemort seems a less daunting prospect. Wait. I can't believe I didn't think of it! Bertrand, get me to the tower. Quick."
Harry and Snape could only watch in confusion as Bertrand grabbed Vlad's arm and flitted off with him, but they didn't have chance to talk before Snape indicated for Harry to hide. Pulling his hood back up to vanish completely, Harry watched as Lockhart strutted along the hallways. "Where is the vampire one? Oh how I would love to demonstrate the best way to deal with such vermin." Harry almost hexed his teacher then, Bertrand was ten times the man Lockhart was and he wasn't even human. Snape merely growled low in his throat, not looking at the man for a moment. When he did, the smile on his face was a terrifying visage - not happy or fond, but sharp and dangerous. "And how's that then?"
Harry wasn't sure what was happening for a moment, but then he should have known Snape would know how fast Bertrand was. Biting his lip to suppress a chuckle as the 'vermin' landed doubtlessly behind Lockhart, Vlad invisible again but Harry was sure he was there. "Well first you have to incapacitate them, garlic or a religious symbol will do." Bertrand raised an eyebrow - religious symbolism didn't affect them, though Vlad had mentioned in passing that vampires didn't like churches but that could be for many reasons. "And then?" Lockhart was all smarm and slime, puffing himself up like he was making any sense. "Then you need only drive a wooden stake through their unbeating heart and watch the filthy creature turn to ash. Or alternatively, toss them into the bright sunshine and make a display of not tolerating such abominations."
The colour literally vanished from Lockharts face, draining instantly when Bertrand's icy voice sounded behind him. "And yet, we tolerate you. Unless you have something useful to offer, I suggest you get back to your patrols. Professor." Lockhart squeaked, looking between Bertrand and Snape for a minute and making an even more pathetic noise when Bertrand bared his fangs. "Wait a moment. Haven't you been saying you knew all the time where the entrance to the chamber was? Perhaps you should show your heroic side" that was Snape, defending his vampire friend/partner and making the Defence teacher more uncomfortable to boot "and retrieve the Weasley girl?" "O-o-of course! I shall do that now." A couple octaves higher than normal, Lockhart barely finished speaking before running as fast as his tight... ruffled? trousers would let him.
"For the love of garlic, I know I agreed not to hunt humans to stay here but he would be first on the list." "He's a fool. How was your trip to Gryffindor tower?" Harry and Vlad waited for Bertrand's signal they could 'appear', and Vlad was clutching two books. One Harry recognised as the Christmas gift from Bertrand, his book on snakes. The other Vlad flicked through, holding it up to show Hermione had sent them a message through their charmed journals. "If she was carrying a mirror for safety, Hermione must have known or at least had a very good idea what we were up against. Harry took the book, reading the words scrawled across the page. "And that tells us..." Vlad rolled his eyes, kneeling down with the hefty snake book and turning it to show Harry when he joined Vlad at floor level. "Meet the horror within the chamber of secrets." Harry stared, open mouthed at the fact it had been in that book all this time.
"Basilisk."
-YDHP-
Cimon (guest review) - this isn't a Canon Bram Stoker Dracula story at all, true. But that is probably because it's based off the characters on Young Dracula, not the Dracula book/movie? (i think that's what you were getting at?)