CHAPTER 4:

SERIOUS TALKS

Shortly after arriving back at Hogwarts, they headed back to the castle itself. Morrigan removed away her batwings, and exchanged her clothes for a simple white shirt and dark trousers, though the latter seemed to be painted-on, and the former was straining from her bust. She wore a cloak over the whole ensemble, if only to go with the whole being incognito amongst wizards and witches thing…theoretically, anyway. She kept the green hair, but cited 'Metamorphmagi' as a justification.

It was not long after they got inside that they encountered a problem. Namely Dumbledore, who was striding up to meet them, only to freeze upon seeing Morrigan, whose facial features hadn't actually changed. "Well, well, well, long time, no see, Albus," Morrigan purred.

"Morrigan," Dumbledore said quietly. "So you are the one the wards sensed."

"Yes. I suppose an explanation is in order…"

Harry was led back to the hospital wing, along with Lilith, for a check-up, while Dumbledore went to speak with Morrigan. The old wizard was fretting slightly at the thought of one of the most powerful Darkstalkers, not to mention the heiress to Belial Aensland himself, being present here. But he also knew that, while Morrigan was a creature of whims and hedonism, she was also intelligent, and didn't generally attack humans out of malice.

"May I ask what you are doing here?" Dumbledore asked, keeping the Elder Wand at the ready, even if concealed. He hoped he didn't have to use it.

"You may. And I may actually answer, Albus. Oh, and try not to point that little toy gifted to Antioch Peverell at me. I'm not here to harm you or Potter. Quite the opposite. Father has tasked me with Harry's protection, and that of my cute little sister."

Dumbledore frowned. "Lilith is your sister? Could you please explain that?"

After the check-up, Hermione had come to visit Harry and Lilith. With Pomfrey out of earshot for now, Lilith decided to take the risk. And Hermione, upon learning this, was staring at them both. "You have a Succubus as a familiar," Hermione said flatly, looking at Harry. "One who has been part of your soul since before you were born."

"Yes," Harry said. "You're taking this better than I thought."

"I think it's because I'm in shock. I mean, you've never done things normally, Harry. I'm just…" She closed her eyes, and took some calming breaths, before looking over at Lilith. "And you won't harm him, or anyone who isn't a threat to him?"

Lilith nodded. "I'm feeding off his magic. It's a symbiotic relationship."

Again, Hermione took time to absorb this, before saying, "I can't say I'm happy about it. I mean, being bonded to a Darkstalker is going to paint a bigger target on Harry's back than before if it gets out. But if that's really what your relationship is like, I'm happy for you. But we can't tell Ron. Not that you're a Darkstalker, Lilith. He can't keep a secret that well."

"There's more," Harry said. "The Succubus Lilith's power originally came from, Morrigan Aensland, is here. She's been tasked by her father to act as my bodyguard. Oh, and he's the ruler of Makai."

Hermione just simply gaped. After a moment, Lilith remarked, "You break it, you buy it, Harry. And I don't think there's any warranty left for her."

Eventually, Hermione got her brain back into working order. "Definitely not telling Ron about that. He'd go spare…"

"…So that is why you are now in our realm," Dumbledore mused. "Your father has deemed Lilith, and thus Harry, worthy of protection."

"Yes. I'll admit, I was a little annoyed to learn that he divided my power like that, but even the power I have now is enough to put me amongst the higher ranks of Darkstalkers, and that I have gained through training with what my father left me. Of course, wizarding spells can still affect a Darkstalker. To one as powerful as I, the Killing Curse won't kill me with one hit, but it would still leave something of a mark. Our concern is if Voldemort decides to hire the services of a Night Warrior to attack Harry and Lilith. Some wouldn't care that killing one would kill the other."

Dumbledore nodded. "It was something I considered myself when Lilith revealed her true nature. If Lilith revealed that she was his familiar in the graveyard, then Voldemort, through his supporters in the Wizengamot, could have persuaded Fudge to fund it, or even send one of their hatchetmen used normally to control Dark Creatures. However, I think it more likely that they will secretly fund a Night Warrior."

"Probably BB Hood. She's notoriously mercenary," Morrigan said. "She's about as old as Harry, but while she's all-human in body, she's also has the heart and soul of a demon, and a cruel one at that."

Dumbledore nodded sagely. He knew a little about the various Night Warriors, and in the short time since she became active, BB Hood had become notorious. And Night Warriors had to be good enough to fight on a par with Darkstalkers. He hoped Remus would be fine with the mission he had just sent him on.

Out loud, he said, "Lady Morrigan…while I am grateful that you and your father have made this offer, the truth is that Harry's relatives, with whom he will be living with during the summer until we are ready to take him to other lodgings, are not the most open-minded of people. I fear I may have done Harry a grave disservice in leaving him there."

"Then why do you?" Morrigan asked.

"Blood Wards, keyed to Voldemort and, thanks to the Dark Mark, his followers. With Dark Creatures, they are tricky, but will discern based on intent, I believe. That house keeps Harry safe from Voldemort. If you must stay with him, please ensure that his relatives do not bother him…and without harming them. I should really tell them about those. Harry and Lilith, I mean. If only to prevent your sister from killing them."

"I have my ways of dealing with problem people, many of them non-lethal," Morrigan said with a smile. "Why, I'm the very picture of tact and diplomacy!"

Dumbledore seriously doubted that. After all, her innocent expression fooled nobody, especially not him…

There was a pub known to a number of types, an isolated bar avoided by most people. Like the legendary Yellow Flag bar of Roanapur in Thailand, it was filled with undesirables. Unlike the Yellow Flag, many of the clientele, strictly speaking, weren't human.

This place, known as The Cloven Hoof(1), was in Whitby, Yorkshire, a place made famous as the setting for much of Bram Stoker's novel, Dracula. This was actually something of a bit of dark humour on the part of the proprietors. It was a place where the creatures of the night could gather, something of neutral ground.

Which was why Remus Lupin was here.

After being ushered into a private room by the proprietor, Remus sat down and waited. He was here to speak with an old acquaintance of his. Not a friend by any means, but not an enemy either. Rather, a fellow werewolf called Jon Talbain. He was on a mission from Dumbledore, one that he knew was going to have mixed success. And he already knew what Talbain was likely to say to that proposal. It was the more personal one Remus wanted to know about.

The door opened, and a tall, handsome-looking man with a shock of silver hair standing on end walked in. He looked muscular and somewhat sardonic, and deceptively young, despite him being one of the oldest living werewolves. However, to Remus' annoyance, and perhaps fear, at least initially, he hadn't come alone. Though his fear abated when he saw who it was.

The other person looked like a woman, virtually naked, save for patches of what looked like white fluffy cloth on her breasts and groin. In fact, this was fur. Her legs and hands were white-furred oversized paws, and a white tail twitched excitedly from where it protruded from her rear. Her beautiful features were framed by thick tresses of sky blue hair, and she seemed to possess a pair of white cat ears.

"Good afternoon, Jon," Remus said. "But I thought I'd asked for you to come alone."

"Yes, and I ignored you. I don't take orders from you, Lupin," Jon Talbain said. "Any more than I'd take orders from Greyback or that snake he follows."

"Don't be like that, Jon," complained the young woman, speaking with an American accent. "Sheesh, I thought I'd managed to get you to lighten up a little."

"You thought wrong. Anyway, Lupin, this is…"

"Felicia, yes, I know. Something of a famous singer in the US," Remus said. "MACUSA has one hell of a time trying to cover up the fact that you're not in costume. It's a pleasure to meet you, though. I enjoy your work."

Felicia smiled. "Why, thank you! You're a more pleasant guy than this grump!"

Jon indicated the catwoman. "I picked up this stray while on the run from Night Warriors in Boston. We've been travelling together for a while. Just friends, though."

Remus nodded. His nose could tell that Jon thought of Felicia as such…and that Felicia, while she didn't mind if they were something more, accepted this. "Can you trust her?"

"In important things, yes," Jon said. "Anyway, let's hear what you have to say. Or rather, what Dumbledore has to say through you."

Remus sighed quietly. "Well, Dumbledore asked me to go around to some of the packs, and ask them to ally with us. Or, at the very least, not ally with Voldemort, who has regained a body. I told him this was a fool's errand, given how badly our kind have been treated by the Ministry, and other such organisations across the world, but…"

"He still views the world with rose-tinted glasses," Jon sneered. "Stupid old bastard. Felicia may be an optimist, but she at least understands more than Dumbledore did. You can tell him, from me, that he won't expect me or anyone else I know to be his cannon fodder." His expression softened. "That being said, I won't say no to sabotaging packs submitting to Voldemort. Greyback still flees with his tail literally between his legs at the sight of me. Can't say I'm surprised at Voldemort being back. I've seen Darkstalkers as tenacious as he probably is."

"That's probably the best I could ask for," Remus said, disappointed, but understanding. "However, I had another request, Jon."

"Hmm?"

"It's more of a personal request. I tried to get a hold of you sooner, but you were in the US at the time. Over a year ago, I forgot my Wolfsbane potion due to various issues, and lost control of Moony. I very nearly attacked and killed my honorary nephew and his friends. And you put yourself through training to control your wolf. I ask that you consider teaching me."

Jon frowned, leaning back in his chair, and thinking about it. "I made the offer to you just before you started teaching in Dumbledore's little fiefdom, and you refused," he said, the rebuke clear even in his gruff tone.

"Jon…he's asking for your help now," Felicia said.

"Maybe…but I have too much on my plate for now to train you personally," Jon said. "But I will give you pointers. A lot of what you can do, you can do with mundane martial arts, particularly those revolving around meditation and mental discipline. The rest, what my own sensei taught me, I will give you my notes on before long."

Remus sighed quietly. "That's better than I could have hoped for, given my earlier rejection. Also, Dumbledore is now looking for a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. I know it's a pretty big ask, but do you know of anyone able and willing to fill the role for next year?"

"Nobody that the Ministry wouldn't object to," Jon scoffed. "There's a couple of Night Warriors I know who'd be great, but they wouldn't take it for one reason or another. There's a Night Warrior called Donovan, but I doubt he'd want to take it up, and if the Ministry finds out he's a Dhampir, they'd come after him. And you don't want BB Hood for obvious reasons."

Remus shuddered at the thought. "What about Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling, Jon?" Felicia asked.

"Three good reasons, Felicia. Firstly, they're Chinese, and the Ministry here doesn't take kindly to foreign nationals meddling in their business. Secondly, they're young enough to still be going to Hogwarts. And thirdly, Hsien-Ko is a Jiang Shi."

Remus winced. All three points, especially the last one, would cause the Ministry to obstruct her, if not outright attack her. Jiang Shi were a form of Chinese vampire that drained lifeforce rather than blood, and not many of them were benign. "What are their skills, anyway?"

"Technically, Hsien-Ko is the Jiang Shi, and her sister, Mei-Ling, acts as a living seal to prevent her from losing her humanity. They're both expert exorcists, with Hsien-Ko acting as the physical fighter, and Mei-Ling works more on the mystical side of things. Why do you ask?"

"I was wondering whether they'd be amenable to a commission. With Voldemort's return, we might need novel means of stopping him, and a Chinese exorcist might be what we need."

Jon looked uncertain at that, before he reluctantly nodded. "I'll get in touch with them. We've met a couple of times before. But keep in mind, Lupin, they're not pawns for Dumbledore to shuffle about on a board. And neither are we. I'll send you a copy of your little regimen you will need to train to channel your wolf. And I'll have Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling get in touch with Dumbledore later. Incidentally, I have contacts within the Ministry. You'd better tell Dumbledore and the Boy Wonder to watch their backs. Fudge has Malfoy whispering in his ear about how Potter is delusional, and Dumbledore seeks to overthrow him. Which is bullshit, of course, but given how much Malfoy has funded Fudge's lifestyle, and how unwilling Fudge would be to face the fact that Voldemort would be back…well, you guys have your work cut out for you when your own government's against you…"

CHAPTER 4 ANNOTATIONS:

So, Hermione knows the truth, Morrigan and Dumbledore have had a wee chat, and Lupin has met with Jon Talbain and Felicia. But what next?

Review-answering time! I responded to Yorae Rasante's review in correspondence, but I should reiterate what I told them here. To avoid unfortunate implications for the pairing, Lilith does not look as young as she does in the games and comics. She looks a little older. Because I shifted Harry's age up a year, as has been my wont to do of late, he's nearly sixteen, and she looks about the same. Lilith will age in appearance alongside Harry until she reaches her twenties. And because they are effectively the same being, Harry gets the same benefits, so they're immortal…but far from invincible.

NecrorexSparda Juubi-no-Kishin: Damn, your name is complicated. Anyway, I sometimes do mass updates to try and act as a gift for my readers. Unfortunately, it's also hell on my creativity, so I can't do them that often. Really, I should stop. And Darkstalkers is, as mentioned above, a Capcom fighting game series like Street Fighter. But for some reason, probably due to the OVA from the 90s, there are two categories for Darkstalkers, one in the games section, and one in the anime section. As the anime section is the one to have character tags, I chose to post it there.

Detinc: I have considered doing an Okami fic before (I still have the original PS2 game, and I'm considering buying the remastered update when it comes out on Steam), but never found the right one. The closest I came was to adopting the concept of one of sakurademonalchemist's Naruto crossovers, Celestial Fuin, and I didn't get very far with that. I'm not saying I won't ever do one, but that's firmly on the backburner.

Lexarius: I hadn't thought of that (a missed opportunity, that), but Lilith toned down her aura.

Battlesny: I'd imagine it's certainly a form of narcissism if you had the same personality. God, I remember that joke in the Red Dwarf episode Camille where the titular Camille was a pleasure GELF (genetically-engineered life-form) who would appear differently to different people as their ideal mate. Kryten, Lister and Rimmer all encounter women who looked like their ideal women…and the Cat, when he tries, ends up facing an exact copy of himself.

Blade of Iron: I don't think anyone is mentally equipped to answer that kind of philosophical question.

KongKing94: Morrigan won't be part of the pairing, yet, anyway. Look, she's over 300, and Harry and Lilith are coming up to their 16th. She'd probably wait a few years before she decided to join in, though she would maybe flirt a little to tease them.

Kaiser Dragon: Normally, I wouldn't take such a suggestion, but that actually has merit, the Deathly Hallows being created by the Lords of Makai. I know Belial and Jedah were part of that group.

Jimbo Jones: Be patient. There'll still be a clusterfuck of epic proportions when the Death Eaters' plans (namely, hiring BB Hood) collide with Umbridge's.

1. This is a reference to the pub in the village of Devil's End in the Doctor Who story, The Daemons. That being said the village is presumably set in Wiltshire, like the location used for filming, Aldbourne. Whitby is in Yorkshire.