Hello to you all! Before we get started, I want to send out a special thank you to Thistle-Wisper for being the 150th reviewer! As such, you shall receive a virtual cupcake and any request you may have. ;) Use it wisely. Heh heh heh….

Um, anywhodywho! So, I am currently writing this at 2:17 AM on a schoolnight, so please forgive any mistakes. Thanks a bunch, and please enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer- Not mine

"Speaking"

"Thinking"

"Sounds"

Darren Shan Point of View

Lupin came to visit me almost every day, bringing me food and a bunch of other things. He would sit outside of my cage and answer my questions about magic and about himself. It was probably because of the whole 'changed against my will' thing, but I felt a kind of…kinship with him. Maybe respect, but I wasn't about to tell him that!

He never stayed long since he had classes he had to teach, but it was long enough. At least I didn't feel like I was going to go completely insane anymore. Not that I was totally alone- there was still Andy, but he didn't come around too much anymore. He mentioned something about "unrest amongst the Centaur Elders" the last time he had come by. That had opened up a whole new list of questions, but I never got any answers. With Andy, I wasn't exactly surprised at the lack of answers. He was even more tight lipped than Crepsley!

"Darren, are you awake?" came a hushed voice, interrupting my thoughts. My head snapped up. I couldn't see the source of the noise, but I could certainly smell them- all three of them.

"I'm awake." I answered back loudly, and was immediately shushed. I grinned and stared at the place their scent was coming from. In a slight shimmer, Harry pulled a long cloak off to reveal them all. "Hello Hermione, Ron, Harry."

"Hello Darren. How have you been doing?" Hermione answered quickly, getting straight to the point. The bushy haired girl looked worried and tired, her eyes anxiously scanning over me. It was a bit creepy.

"I've been better. Still stuck in the cage, but I'll survive." I answered dryly.

"That's not what I meant." She snapped, but the anxiety drained away from her features. She nodded once, satisfied with my appearance. "You seem like you're doing much better." She said after a moment. I nodded once in affirmation and she breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good, I was worried. We heard that Professor Lupin has been coming out here…?"

"Yeah, he has been. And he's been bringing me all sorts of things." I told them, motioning at a drained fox that I had been unable to fit through the bars of the cage yet. How the wizards had managed to get it inside in the first place was a mystery to me. Hermione made a face while Ron turned a little green around the edges. I laughed out loud, thinking momentarily that teasing these guys was almost as amusing as teasing Annie had been…. I suddenly felt sober again. With a sigh, I turned my attention away from the trio and began counting the little scratch marks on the ground. I scowled when I counted them. I had been in this hell hole of a cage for more than a month!

"Where the hell is Crepsley?" I thought angrily, momentarily forgetting my audience. "He should have been here by now…" When I glanced back up, I was surprised to see how worried and tense looking they had become.

"Are…are you alright there, mate?" Ron questioned me. His face was pale, and the freckles on it stood out in surprising contrast.

"Yeah, just great." I muttered.

"What's the matter?" Harry asked, readjusting his glasses. "Who should have been here?"

I eyed him suspiciously; I hadn't realized that I had spoken that out loud. "My mentor." I answered him after a brief contemplation. Lupin had already told the Headmaster or whoever everything anyways, so it was no use hiding.

"Mentor?"

"Yeah, the vampire that blooded me." I muttered, my head dropping as I pinched the bridge of my nose in hopes to ward off whatever headache this discussion might bring on. At the shocked gasp, I glanced up at Hermione. Her attention, however, wasn't focused entirely on me, but instead on the castle. A wry smile twitched at my lips. "If you three want to know more, I'd say go talk to your professor." And with that, I turned my back on them and lay my head down again, intent on taking a nap sometime before midnight. Soon enough, they left and I was alone again.

Harry Potter Point of View

"Hermione, what are you doing?" Ron demanded as she pulled her two best friends through the castle's corridors.

"Our detention! I had completely forgotten about it." she almost yelled back at him, moving a bit quicker as she did so. "By this point we might miss it."

Understanding struck the two boys, and, after sharing a quick, worried glance, they hurried to catch up with the witch. By the time they found the right room, they were out of breath from sprinting through the halls. Harry, who was the first to reach the room, flung the doors open, fearing who might be the professor in charge of their detention. "Not Snape, not Snape, please not Snape." He prayed silently.

"Hello you three. Nice of you to join us." Greeted a quiet voice, and Harry let out a relieved sigh. Remus Lupin was seated behind his desk, a stern look set on his face, but a smile in his eyes. Ginny and Neville were already in the room. Ginny smiled at Harry while Neville gave the group a shy little wave.

"We're sorry professor." Harry apologized quickly. The trio moved quickly to settle down in the three desks that were obviously put out for them. "We were…um…held up."

Professor Lupin raised an eyebrow, but Harry didn't say anything more. There was silence for a good 15 minutes as the professor worked on some paperwork while the five students sat silently, working on their own homework or eyes wandering around the room. Finally, Harry broke the quiet with an abrupt question. "Professor, what do you know about Darren?"

Lupin glanced up from the papers he was reading, eyebrows raising. All five of the students were now looking intently at him, eyes wide and hopeful. The man sighed quietly, shuffling and organizing the papers before he spoke. "Have you been to see Darren?"

Hesitantly, the golden trio nodded. Lupin appraised them as he asked "And what did he say?"

"Well, sir, he mentioned a vampire named Crepsley and said that he was the one that blooded him. Then he said to ask you." Hermione supplied nervously. The professor thought for a moment, fingers tapping lightly at his desk, before saying quietly "Darren's story is very personal, and can also be quite disturbing at some points. Are you certain that you wish to hear it?"

Five heads nodded simultaneously. It might have been funny at any other moment, but in that instant it only showed how intense the subject was. Seeing the determination in the young faces that stared back at him, Lupin slowly began Darren's story.