Werewolves and Vampires

Nervously, Harry glanced around the room. He sat on his bed in the dorm feeling worried. It would be his first night back here and Dean, Seamus and Neville didn't know that they were going to share a room with a vampire. It wasn't fair not to tell them, was it? Harry wished nothing more than to go back to Professor Snape's quarters and into his own room.

"Hey, what is it?" Ron asked as he came back from his shower.

"It's strange to be back," Harry admitted.

"Well, for me it was strange without you being here," Ron pointed out with a grin.

Harry smiled back, but then his smile vanished again. "Don't you think it is unfair not to tell them with whom they share their room with?"

"Do you plan to attack us while we sleep?" Ron asked joking.

Harry though wasn't in the mood of joking. "What? No!"

"Then where is the problem?"

Sighing heavily, Harry shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I just feel like I wouldn't belong here anymore. I'm different now."

Ron rolled his eyes. "You had always been different. That's no problem to us. Now you are just in a different way different."

Harry frowned thoughtfully. Ron's unconcerned behaviour reassured Harry a bit. "Maybe you are right."

"Do you want to play chess before we head to bed? Maybe it will distract you?" Ron suggested.

Harry agreed but as finally everybody went to bed, he laid there with his eyes wide open. Sleep didn't want to find him. He was back with his friend as he had wished before and now he found himself wishing to hide away. If it would be just Ron, it wouldn't be so hard but he had no idea how the other would react if they knew.

Oxo

Harry had no idea how long it took him to finally fall asleep but it was impossible for him to wake up in the morning. As Ron shook his shoulder he blinked and asked disorientated, "What?"

"Wake up, or you will miss breakfast," Ron said.

"Just go without me. I will follow in a bit," Harry mumbled.

"You are sure?" Ron asked concerned.

"Yes, go. Don't let me keep you from your most important meal of the day."

"Okay, if you say so," hesitantly, Ron left his friend behind.

Harry sighed. Now that he had the dorm to himself he could relax. He was about to fall back asleep when he got shaken by the shoulder again.

"Ron," Harry grumbled, without opening his eyes, "I told you to go to breakfast."

"And why are you not going?" someone asked. It took Harry some time to realised that it wasn't Ron. This voice was much deeper and somehow more grown-up.

In the next instance, Harry's eyes snapped open. "Dad!" the boy yelled, "What are you doing here?"

"I have come to see to it, that you get up out of bed and go to breakfast," Severus explained.

Harry hummed, "I don't want to stand up. I'm too tired."

"I know. You are not the first one who had troubles with sleep the first night back in the dorm. Here, drink that. It will help you." Severus held the vial towards tired boy.

Harry blinked at it without taking it. "What is it?"

"A Pepper-up Potion," Severus explained and at seeing the boy's eyes widening he went on, "A normal one. It's supposed to wake you up and get you through the day."

"Oh. Okay, then," Harry said and took the vial and downed the content with a few big gulps.

"You know, you can come to me whenever you feel the need for more blood but even that will not help you against sleepless nights."

Harry nodded shortly but didn't comment otherwise. With new-found energy, he jumped out of the bed and began to search for his clothes. Severus watched him with a frown. Harry still tried to avoid the subject 'blood' and that although he already drunken from Severus two times, it was obvious Harry still hadn't completely accepted what he was.

"I will see you at breakfast," Severus said and then left Harry to have some privacy while he got dressed.

Oxo

Thanks to the Pepper-up Potion, Harry managed to get through the day without problems. After his last class he went to talk with Professor McGonagall concerning his Divination class.

"I'm sure in your case we could make an exception," was all Professor McGonagall said, but it was hard to miss the approving look she took on at Harry's request. Obviously Professor McGonagall wasn't very fond of Divination, too.

On his way to the Great Hall, Harry crossed ways with Professor Lupin again.

"Hello, Harry. Do you have time for a little chat now?" the professor asked in his always friendly voice.

"Erm... I... well... theoretically. I should... erm... Professor Snape... he wanted to be present when..." Harry stuttered.

Professor Lupin arched a surprised eyebrow, "Harry, I just want to exchange some words with you, nothing more. I don't see why the presence of Professor Snape would be necessary. I was a very good friend of your parents. We could have tea and you can ask me about your parents if you want."

Harry looked torn. Nervously he bit his lip. "I don't know, Sir," he whispered desperately. He took a step back, his face pale and his hands shaking.

Concerned Lupin stepped closer to Harry but as the boy took several steps backwards, Lupin stopped in his tracks again. He looked unhappy.

"I'm sorry, Professor," Harry said with deep regret in his voice. He couldn't ignore the threatened feeling he was having in the professor's presence. His body was reacting to the threat on its own accord.

"Mr. Potter, Professor Lupin," sounded the relieving voice of Harry's reinforcement.

"Professor Snape," Lupin greeted surprised. Frowning, he looked between Harry and Severus to and fro. How had Harry done this? Was he connected to Severus somehow?

'Are you alright?' Severus asked via the bond.

'I'm okay' Harry answered, but his pale face betrayed him.

'I told you to let me know when you are going to speak to Professor Lupin.'

Harry glared angrily at Severus. How was he supposed to know that he would ran into his Professor?

'I cannot see into the future. We just ran into each other. How could I have informed you?'

'The same way we are talking right now. You can call me that way. Then I would have been here earlier and not by mere chance.'

'I forgot,' Harry finally admitted, hanging his head in shame. This mind-talking was something he just need to get used to.

Severus nodded to himself. Maybe he was a bit unfair. Harry didn't plan to run into Lupin and obviously, the incident caused the boy a lot of distress. 'I understand. I'm sorry.' he finally said before he looked his colleague.

"Is there a problem?"

"Not at all. I just met with Harry and invited him to a cup of tea," Lupin explained.

"Mr. Potter has to make up a lot of missed subject material. I strongly advise not to distract him from his studies."

"I didn't get the impression that he is behind," Lupin said while frowning again.

"Well, maybe he is a natural in Defence Against the Dark Arts but this is not his only subject, is it?" Severus asked and crossed his arms.

Lupin sighed, but then he looked at Severus with a determined expression. "Stop playing games, Severus. We both know that Harry doesn't need to catch up with his studies. I know what he is and I know you took him under your wing, but that doesn't mean I cannot become acquainted with him. And I think he should talk for himself."

Severus glared dangerously, "If you know so much, then you should also know what kind of reaction your odour has on the boy."

"Sirius never had a problem with it," Lupin defended himself.

"Black was an exception in many ways," Severus hissed, "Besides, he didn't mind to lose control."

At these words, Lupin growled enraged. Startled, Harry stepped next to Severus and tugged at his sleeve. 'Let's go, please.'

Severus took some calming breaths, "I would advise that you don't harass Mr. Potter any longer. If he really want to hear stories of his heroic father, I'm sure he will come and see you."

With that, Severus put a hand on Harry's shoulder and steered the boy around. Together they left a very angry and confused werewolf behind.

As they nearly reached the Great Hall, Harry asked, "Dad?"

"Hmm...?"

"Professor Lupin mentioned Sirius. Was he talking about Sirius Black, the escaped murderer?"

Severus stopped in his tracks and cast a serious look at Harry. "Yes, why?"

"Erm..." Harry was a bit taken aback, "Is Sirius Black also a va... erm... a Black Moon Hunter?"

"He is not part of the club, but you are right with your assumption about his nature," Severus confirmed.

"Hm..." Harry worried his lip with his teeth, "Is he dangerous for us?"

Severus sighed frustrated. He really didn't want to talk about Black but it was natural that Harry had questions about him. After a short decision, he took Harry by the upper arm and guided him into an empty class room. There he asked the boy, "What do you know about Black?"

"Just what I read in the paper. He murdered some muggles and a wizard. Ron's dad asked me not to go and search for him but I don't understand why I should do that in the first place," then Harry stopped, remembering a talk with Draco and his dad, "You said he is my godfather and Draco said something of him being responsible for the murder of my parents, too"

"Indeed. Sirius Black, Professor Lupin and your dad were very close friends in their school-days and they named Black as your godfather. As the Dark Lord rose and your parents went into hiding, they made Black their secret keeper too, but to reasons unknown to us he betrayed your parents to the Dark Lord."

Harry listened to Severus words, frowning deeply. "What..." Harry started and then cleared his voice, "What is a secret keeper?"

"There is a charm which allowed someone's home to become untraceable. This charm requires a secret keeper, who is the only one who will know about the secret hiding place of the one under the Fidelius charm. With other words; the only reason the Dark Lord found your parents was that he got the information about their hiding place, and the only one with the information was Sirius Black."

"So there is no doubt that it was him?" Harry asked, feeling betrayed.

"No," Severus shook his head.

"At least I understand why Mr. Weasley warned me not to look for him," Harry said and scold darkly.

"And I will warn you, too, Harry. You are not to search for him. On the contrary, there is a possibility that he is looking for you. You must be very careful, okay?"

Harry nodded but then a new thought struck him and he wrapped his arms around his torso, "Is it possible that he had already found me? I mean, could it has been him, who bit me?"

Severus looked at Harry long and hard. He had also wondered about that. "It's possible. After his breakout of Azkaban he must have been mad with hunger. I'm sure they didn't feed him any blood there."

With a shaking breath, Harry asked, "How did he survive, then?"

"I have no idea. As I said before, Black was an exception in many ways. I can just assume that maybe he could transform into something that didn't need blood for it's survival. It's not common for vampires, but not impossible either."

The more Severus thought about it, the more he got worried about Harry's safety. "You must promise me to be careful, Harry! As soon as something strange happens or you feel threatened in any way, call me immediately!"

Harry was taken aback about the seriousness in Severus' words. He could practically feel the worry of his dad. It unnerved him and caused him to step closer to his dad and hug him.

Severus lost no time to wrap his arms around the boy. Feeling his son in his arms calmed his nerves immensely.

"I want to sleep in your quarters," Harry finally said.

"I know but it's not possible," Severus answered, although he felt the same way. He would feel better if Harry would stay in his quarters but how was he to explain a student in his rooms without rising suspicious?

Harry grumbled unhappily. That was so typically: At first he hadn't want to stay with Severus but he had to and now that he want to, he couldn't. "Not fair!"

oxo

In the evening after dinner, Harry sat in his common room staring into the fire. Ron and Hermione watched him a bit worried. Their friend had been so quite all evening but obviously, he didn't want to talk about it, or he couldn't. As it was time to head to bed, Harry was nervous again.

Sighing, Ron sat next to Harry on his bed. "What's the matter. You didn't talk all evening."

Harry shrugged his shoulders, "Nothing. Just many things in my head."

"Care to share?" Ron tried again. "I don't like your worried look."

This caused Harry to smile weakly. "It's just about Black," he finally whispered.

Ron arched an eyebrow in surprise, "What's with him?"

"Did you know that he was a friend of my parents?" Harry asked and at Ron shaking head he continued, "He... he betrayed them. He was the one telling Voldemort where my parents went into hiding. He... he is my godfather and there is a chance he will try to get to me."

Ron's eyes widened at this information. "Oh," was all he managed to say in his shock.

"There is more," Harry started again, but then hung his head.

Ron took Harry's hand and squeezed it softly. "You can tell me," he encouraged his friend.

Harry chewed on his lip while he looked at Ron considering what to tell. Finally, he took a deep breath and went on, "There is also a big chance that he is the one who attacked me. That he is the reason why I'm what I'm now."

"You... mean..." Ron started then gulped, "You mean to tell me that Black is also a... a... you-know-what?" At Harry's nod, Ron groaned, "Merlin's beard."

Silence fell between the two teens but then Ron tried to reassure Harry, "But as long as you stay at Hogwarts he cannot get to you, right? I mean... he would need a password to get into the common room and during the day there are enough students and teachers around and Hermione and I will watch over you, okay?"

"Okay," Harry said and smiled at his friend thankfully. Not because he thought that he or Hermione would stand a chance against a full-grown vampire but because Ron was still ready to defend him although Harry was also a vampire now. And Ron was right, wasn't he? Sirius would need a password to enter the common room.