Here is the next chapter! Hope you all enjoy it. Tell me what you think, or if you have any suggestions or criticism, put it in a comment or a PM, and I will take it into consideration. You never know; maybe you will be the one to make the Plot Bunnies chase after a different idea. (Who came up with the notion of Plot Bunnies anyways?) Remember…comments are really appreciated and help keep me inspired and happy! Remember to leave one….or more! Thanks a ton. ^.^

Disclaimer- I don't own any of these characters, except for Andy.

"Speech"

"Thoughts"

"Sounds"

"Text Book Reading"

Harry Potter Point of View

"Harry, you're sure you're alright?" Hermione asked her friend for the umpteenth time as they headed to the Gryffindor Tower. Harry told her, again, that he was sure.

"To be honest, I don't think he actually ever intended to hurt me." Harry told his two best friends, lowering his voice slightly so that the passing students couldn't hear him.

"Are you mad?" Ron yelped, his eyes huge. "That was a vampire, mate. They never do any good for anyone."

"You mean you know of them, Ron?" Hermione asked, looking surprised. "The book said that they were only recently discovered." She pointed out.

"Well, yeah. A little bit about them. My great-uncle Louie was killed by one a few years back…at least…that's what Fred and George told me. Along with some other stuff, you know?" he said, suddenly looking a bit unsure of himself.

Harry looked at his friend a bit skeptically, knowing that Ron's twin brothers liked to play pranks and weren't always entirely reliable. Hermione, however, looked curious.

"What exactly did they tell you?" she questioned him. Seemingly without thinking about it, she changed her course, bringing her two best friends with her.

"'Mione? What're you…?" began Ron, but Hermione silenced him with a look. Harry was a bit surprised; he never imagined his friend could look quite like that. "Erm…right. They told me that this weird looking guy attacked him, and that there was a muggle witness who gave the Ministry the details. The one who attacked him was purple…or maybe blue…red? Um, I don't really remember. They told me a few years back, and I haven't really thought much on it 'til now. All I know for sure is that he didn't have any blood left in his body when his body was recovered by the Ministry."

Hermione looked contemplative. "Hermione…just where are we going?" Harry asked uncertainly as he looked around him.

"The library." She answered promptly, never turning to face the two males following after her, who stopped walking for a second when they heard of their destination.

"But we're on a free period! Why are we headed there?" protested Ron, hurrying to catch up with his friend. Harry came after him, wondering the same thing.

"We're going to do some research." She murmured eyes steely.

"Research?" asked Ron and Harry simultaneously, both becoming confused. Sure, they had been assigned homework, but Hermione never got this worked up over it. They were beginning to worry.

"What this about?" Harry asked her as they reached the library. She pulled the doors opened and they entered, immediately lowering their voices under the glare or Madam Pince, the vulture-like librarian.

"That boy-"

"You mean the vampire?" Ron interrupted, paling a little.

"Yeah, him. I'm curious now, and we need to find out more about him. Something is going on here, and I think that Harry was right; he didn't really want to hurt anyone."

"But he is a VAMPIRE 'Mione. It's just what they do." Ron protested moodily. "That thing had Harry by the neck and it was threatening him! Did you forget?"

Harry made a slight face at the thought, but said "I think that she is right, Ron. And there is something else, too. When our eyes met, something happened to him. I could see it. It almost looked as if he recognized me or something. He also said something, but I couldn't hear what it was. I dunno…but Hermione is right; there's definitely something weird."

Ron shook his head slowly. "You're absolute nutters, both of you." Then a grin grew across his freckled face. "But if 'Mione says something is up, then I guess it's just so." He laughed at Harry's somewhat dumbstruck expression. "She is the brightest witch we know." Ron pointed out. Harry had to agree with that.

Darren Shan Point of View

I was pacing my cage when I heard Andy. I turned to find him lingering at the edge of the trees, a serious look upon his face. To be honest, I was surprised that he had managed to sneak up on me.

"Hey, Andy. What's going on?" I greeted him as I stopped my pacing.

"I have come to warn you." He told me, his tone grave. I felt my blood run a little colder, but refused to acknowledge it.

"Warn me? About what, exactly?" I asked easily, smiling at the horse boy.

"I spoke with some of the elders, and I learned of some things concerning the humans' Ministry of Magic and how they handle new species. Some of them are…rather disturbing." His voice went low and harsh near the end.

"Really? Is your species considered a new one as well?" I asked jokingly.

"We Centaurs live far longer than most humans. The Elders were around when the humans considered us 'discovered'." He sneered the last word, lips turning up slightly.

"So…what exactly did they do to them?" I said in a low voice, and hated that my voice betrayed my uncertainty and fear.

"They perform experiments on the beings that they consider below human intelligence, or dissect them to learn of their anatomy. That is what the elders said."

Suddenly thoughts of what I had heard earlier ran through my head. About how there had been blood in the stomachs. How would they know that unless they had dissected them? I felt the blood drain from my face. They had also mentioned something about a killing curse and how painful it was for vampires. Did that mean they had killed them before? Tortured other vampires?

"What kind of people are these?" I muttered, my head drooping and feeling a bit sick at the images my mind supplied of screams and death.

"The ones that consider themselves the rulers of this world." Andy answered in a quiet voice. I looked up at him. His eyes were slightly glazed as he visited some memory I probably would never learn about. Suddenly, he seemed to draw back to the present and his eyes cleared. "I tell you again; be very cautious, my friend."

I nodded. Then I felt a grin tugging at the corners of my mouth. "So we're friends now, are we?"

Andy blinked at me, and I noticed for the first time that his eyes were a bright, almost unnatural seeming blue. It seemed like he hadn't even realized what he'd said. He looked as if he were thinking about it, then said "Yes. I suppose that, in a way, we are."

I smiled, and after a second began to laugh at the thought that ran suddenly through my head.

"What do you find so amusing?" demanded Andy, looking somewhat abashed.

Through my laughter, I managed to gasp out "It's just that all the friends I've managed to make lately…seem to be half of something. First a snake and now a horse! The only normal one was…." I trailed off, suddenly somber. Andy didn't question me about it.

Silently, I thanked him for that.