Apologies if this chapter feels rushed, though I shall try to mitigate it.
-YDHP-
He wasn't sure if getting away from Harry was good or bad - the wizard boy had been blowing hot and cold with everyone the last couple of days, but Vlad missed him so much it ached already. Ingrid didn't seem to be any less affected, and the two spent most of their time working or reading quietly. Bertrand portkeyed in every two days to make sure they were on track with studying for their blood tests, and always indulged Vlad's frantic questions about how Harry was doing. "Fine, he's finished his summer work and is now reading up on his chosen subjects" was the general gist of the answers, but it was something and Vlad clung to every word about him. He was pathetic, really.
"Vladimir, if I have to ask you one more time to focus on your Transylvanian lineage, I will let Ingrid hex you." Glaring at his tutor, Vlad dragged his eyes back to the page. Mostly because Ingrid was evil with her hexes - the boys in his dorm stuck with jelly legs and disarming, Ingrid had hexed his skin to break out in boils, made him only speak backwards and then made his books attack him. And that was just because she felt like it. He dreaded to think with added motivation. And if she ever learnt less friendly hexes, since she was about to be a fifth year taking Defense against the Dark Arts. And she would transform before the next school year was out.
Bertrand's head turned almost absently towards the bat-hole in the top of the wall. As it was daylight, Vlad wasn't expecting any bats. A Hogwarts owl hooted, flew as hesitantly as he had ever seen one go, two envelopes landing on the floor and the owl disappeared back through the hole. Vlad was the first to hold out his hand, summoning the envelopes and handing Ingrid the one with her name on.
"The Monster Book of Monsters. Why did I let Harry talk me into that class?" There were also 'Beginners Guides' for Arithmancy and Ancient Runes, plus his new third year books for his other subjects. Bertrand and Ingrid both gave Vlad looks that clearly said exactly why Harry had convinced him into Care of Magical Creatures. He had to hope the teacher knew he was a biter, and wouldn't have any lessons where Vlad would be savaged by some of the many magical creatures that would love to tear him limb from limb.
Bertrand agreed to portkey back to Malfoy Manor with them the following day, then on to Diagon Alley for school shopping, and the thought of seeing Harry again had Vlad's heart skipping a little. Bertrand noticed, but didn't comment. Unlike his father, who leant obtrusively over Vlad's shoulder to read the letter, scoffing at the book list then demanding to know what had his pulse rising. "Just... thinking how much bigger my course load will be over all this year. Still, it's only going to get tougher." Hoping his father believed him, Vlad tried to master his racing heart.
"You're a Dracula. You shall triumph! Even if it is only Arith... necromancy for Ariths. Is that correct?" Their father had stopped complaining about Vlad's frequent absence as they had been back for the majority of August, but he expected it to pick up again when he realised back to school was imminent. "Close enough dad." Sighing to himself, Vlad focused back on his book to try and calm his instincts toward his mate. Itching to get to Malfoy Manor, he almost used a sleeping charm on himself just to drop off faster, but he hadn't practiced it enough to be confident and settled for remembering falling asleep with Harry, falling asleep full of that contentment.
He practically jumped out of bed, backpack and clothes already laid out ready. Once he had showered, he attempted in vain to convince his hair to behave and was down in the main room waiting for Ingrid and Bertrand a full half an hour early. He had the distinct feeling Phantom was amused as he tucked her in the front pocket of his bag - she could spend the day at Malfoy Manor so Lily wasn't alone. Or perhaps she was mocking him with her eyes - she could clearly tell he was excited, jumping around his legs when he was getting ready earlier.
In spite of the fact she could magically enlarge her own things, Ingrid still used his backpack to carry all her things. Still, he could probably fit Bertrand in there comfortably, with books to entertain him. "Just waiting on the night owl." He caught Ingrid's look, almost... longing. Oh. Oh. Oh no. That would be bad. "It's not... It's him. Isn't it?" Ingrid scowled and shot a stinging jinx at him, which was all the confirmation he needed. His mate was a straight boy, hers a gay vampire. They should find a way to trade. Though that didn't account for Professor Snape.
There was no way she had told Bertrand yet, and it made him wonder at the exact dynamics of vampire mates - did Bertrand feel any pull to her? Especially when she was only just fifteen, he was four centuries her senior. Once Ingrid was sixteen, the vampire world wouldn't care. Hell, they could get bloodbound now and nobody would flap a wing at the age difference once the binding of marriage applied. "I'm sorry. I won't ask anymore." She hexed him again, leaving him rubbing at a painful ache in his leg.
"Did your letter have a note saying to wait in the Great Hall after the feast for McGonogall?" Vlad pulled out his Hogwarts letter, scanning for the 'note' - he had only skimmed the letter before, expecting a replica of the previous two years. "Yeah. Wonder what that's about? Maybe our blood tests?" Ingrid shrugged, and he guessed they would find out in time. Bertrand rose a few minutes later, and Vlad covered for Ingrid turning away by waving the sun protection charm over their tutor. They portkeyed to Malfoy Manor, and Phantom barely waited for them to land on their feet before she leapt out of his bag. Bertrand smoked and smouldered under the sun light, but the charm kept him alive at least.
"Excuse me." He flitted indoors, likely to apply his protective potion before they left for Diagon Alley. Harry and Draco greeted them, dressed and ready to go. Harry's green t-shirt really did suit him, bringing out his emerald eyes perfectly. Vlad had to make himself look away before Harry thought him odd, turning to Draco instead. "Did you hear back from Mr Weasley?" "Yeah, he's meeting us to portkey back and pick up the stuff. Means we can go supply shopping with Ginny and the twins. Hopefully not Percy, he's been made head boy and is apparently insufferable."
Harry chuckled, but Vlad could see his mate looked a little flushed and held up his hand when the other two were talking. Harry nodded, so he cast the cooling charm and Harry noticeably relaxed. He mouthed "thanks" at Vlad, but he just shrugged with a half smile in response - he would always try to take care of Harry. "Any time you grown ups are ready!" Draco crowed towards one of the doors, and Snape and Bertrand soon appeared. "This is a legal portkey. Possibly an alien concept to you, as Mr Potter's relocation has been discovered. I was told in no uncertain terms to not put him at any risk, with this escaped serial killer loose he is not to be alone at any point when we are outside these walls or Hogwarts."
The teens nodded to show their understanding, and Harry looked mildly annoyed but didn't argue. "Guess I can't complain, at least Dumbledore hasn't turned up to drag me back to the Dursleys." Draco grinned. "He's not added to the wards, and since the vault trips were done with neither is my legal team. Unless one of us gives him a portkey to get in, he could only land outside and even then couldn't get through the gates without permission. The one Severus has will bring us back to the outside too. One of the safest places around, Malfoy Manor is now. Shall we go?" They all reached out for the length of rope, which jerked them all to the portkey point of Diagon Alley.
Vlad seemed to take Harry's safety as a personal mission, even when they met up with the Weasleys, who were conversing with Hermiones parents. The twins greeted them all brightly, even adding deep bows to Severus and Bertrand, who both just glared a little and shook their heads. "Harry, you're pretty cold. You ok?" "Yeah, cooling charms. It's been pretty hot this summer." He wasn't lying, and the twins just bounced along to greet Vlad, then make absolute fools of themselves in front of Ingrid. "The Slytherin Queen! We have missed you dearly."
Ingrid rolled her eyes, but he caught the shadow of a smirk as they pretended to faint dramatically before her. "Honestly. If Ingrid had gotten sorted into Gryffindor" she raised an incredulous eyebrow at Vlad "these two would have been kicked out first year because they wouldn't get anything done." Fred and George didn't contest Vlad's statement, and Mr and Mrs Weasley just looked on in bemusement. "Right! Monster Book of Monsters. Have you seen them? They are hilarious!" Harry had to wonder about the twins humour when they reached Flourish and Blotts, and saw the cage of rabid books literally attacking each other. "Please tell me you don't all need one of these."
Out of all of them, only Ginny and Ingrid didn't need one. "Have you tried immobilising charms?" Harry watched as the shopkeeper pulled on thick gloves and headed over to the cage brandishing a knobbly stick. He looked a little dumbfounded at Harry's suggestion, and as Vlad and Ingrid couldn't publicize their odd powers, it was Severus who huffed and pulled out his wand, a simple freezing charm rendering the books inert. "I'll have to remember that, honestly it's easy to forget such things. Most books don't attack. These have been worse than 'The Invisible Book Of Invisibility', we ordered two hundred copies. Cost a fortune, never found them."
Harry couldn't help snorting, looking at the upset shopkeeper. "Sounds more like someone tricked you. No invisibility charm is permanent." The now very harried looking shop worker was eager to get them done, pointing them over to the various areas to pick out all their books. The six Monster books were larger stacked up than any other book pile, even including Hermione's teetering pile of study material. "I bet that guy has never been so happy to see a group leave. Where to next?" Having already done their apothecary shopping, the grown ups agreed to let the students go finish their shopping themselves. "Nobody is to be alone. Be back here in an hour and a half. Do try not to cause trouble."
They all pasted on innocent smiles, which only made Severus glare harder as he and Bertrand headed back to the apothecary - probably his idea of exciting. "Yes, well, we shall go pick up your robes. And see where Percy and Ronald have gotten too." Nobody could have missed Ingrid freezing up then. "I do apologize sweetheart" only Mrs Weasley was brave enough to call Ingrid Dracula that "but with our trip to Egypt there was no other time to get his school shopping done. Percy is under strict orders to keep him away from anyone, and he's the one who likes to follow the rules." George supplemented his mother with "He's also old enough to use magic outside of Hogwarts, so he can always stun the little rat. We'll protect you Ingrid."
"Oh joy. Red headed guard dogs." She appreciated it to an extent, he was sure but Ron being there wasn't good news to anyone. "Well we've done our robes earlier, and apothecary. Let's go get ice cream, then figure out what else we need to get?" This was agreeable, and there was no sign of Ronald Weasley in the ice cream parlour. Harry decided the wonderful cold dessert was his new favourite food, the sticky strawberry and chocolate sauce on his cone delicious. He joined Vlad in amused laughter when Ingrid licking mint chocolate off her thumb had half the parlours patrons staring blankly, and even Ginny and Hermione were stifling chuckles in their hands between mouthfuls of brownies topped with toffee ice cream.
He noticed Vlad staring at him strangely, lifting a hand to check for remnants on his face. Finding a piece of chocolate flake on his cheek, Vlad stopped looking at him so intently and he wondered why Vlad hadn't just said something. Shrugging to himself, they checked their lists. "We need to stop off at the joke shop, pick up some supplies. Then the apothecary without adult supervision. You won't tell on us, right Ingrid?" The less questions they asked, the better Harry thought. Though he supposed Gambol and Japes would be safe from Percy Weasley, and therefore Ron. "Did you guys get your Hogsmeade forms signed? Hogsmeade is awesome!"
Harry froze. Who was he supposed to get to sign that? He hadn't even thought. Vlad nodded next to him. "Well, its signed. The less said about it the better." Ingrid was smirking, and Harry had the sneaking suspicion neither Dracula had had their father sign the form. From what Vlad had said about him, particularly his attitude towards Ingrid, he doubted they would have gotten it signed if they had asked.
"We should hit the sweet shop, I'm out of sugar quills and I can't seem to stop chewing on the regular ones. Don't eat owl feathers kids." Ginny and Hermione giggled at Vlad's mock serious face, and they all got a cold drink to sip at before they seperated. Harry expected Florean Fortescue might have complained more about their group size, but the amount (Draco paid before they could blink) they spent in one swoop was probably compensation enough, and Ingrid had attracted multiple new customers (he guessed, based on the odd orders by multiple men who were staring in their direction. For once, Harry wasn't the center of attention. It was glorious).
The group moved outside, and spotted the Weasley parents. "Got our robes mum?" The adults nodded, casting... suspicious? looks at Draco. "Apparently, there were instructions that they were already paid for. You didn't have to do that young master Malfoy." Draco flushed but shrugged. "You're doing me a favour, and it really doesn't even touch my inheritance. That's not including all the vaults I can't even touch until I'm seventeen. That's uncle Severus being cautious, as though I'm going to spend all my gold on chocolate frogs and gobstones if I have unlimited access. I know my father was vile to you at the Ministry, consider this me making reparations. Vlad and Harry beat me to rescuing your daughter so I couldn't do it that way."
Gred and Forge managed to slip away, claiming they were escorting Ingrid to the apothecary for her protection. Hermione wanted to go to the pet store, but they couldn't all go - Harry knew the store needed advance notice of vampires because certain animals would freak. "Draco, you go with her. Want to come sweet shopping Ginny? You guys can go relax at the Leaky Cauldron, we'll be along once we are done. Did you find Percy and the... other one?" Draco was luckily still blushing lightly from the Weasleys, so nobody noticed his cheeks heat up when Vlad encouraged him to go be alone with Hermione, and Vlad grinding out something non-expletive to describe Ron was enough distraction.
"Yes. They were done, and against his protests Ron is back on his way to Bulgaria with Percy. So Ingrid is safe, but the twins think we don't know they are joke shopping." There were knowing smiles on their faces as they checked Ginny's list was done, then left for the pub while the youngest Weasley walked with them to the sweet store. "So, you excited for your second year Ginny?" "Yeah. Well. I think so, I don't really... remember much from last year." Sharing a look with Vlad, they stopped in a side alley for a second. "Ginny, what happened last year was not your fault. It was Voldemort" she flinched "and people older and far more magically trained have been taken over by him. You fought him every step, and nobody blames you for what he did. Now come on, lets indulge Vlad's deepest desire to get diabetes."
"Hey! You're always stealing my sweets." Ginny seemed to perk up a little, and they both bought her a few things, against her protests. "To cheer you up. You're like an honourary little sister to us both." "Exactly. So stop complaining and eat your jellied eel. Its not a real eel." Ginny eventually smiled properly, sucking the sugar off the jelly eel as they headed back to the Leaky Cauldron. They just beat Severus and Bertrand, who had a laden bag from the apothecary. Ginny watched in amazement as it went into Vlad's backpack - the shopping bag magically sealed but no other magic on the ingredients! - followed by their piles of books. "Undetectable extension charm. Comes in useful."
They sat while the Weasleys ate, and Draco and Hermione reappeared with what Harry would guess was Hermiones new pet owl. Which had clearly noticed the vampires about, hooting unhappily and ruffling it's feathers. "We should get going. Mr Weasley?" "Yes, yes. I should be home for dinner, I will see you soon my dear." He kissed his wife goodbye, and Harry looked away but also envied it slightly - they had a real, proper family and their marriage was clearly a joyful one. Harry didn't really have a proper family, and it could be years before he found anyone who saw past "Harry Potter the boy who lived" to just see "Harry.". Oh well, he was only young. There were years to find the right girl for him.
They portkeyed back to the entrance of Malfoy Manor grounds, watching as Draco pressed a hand to the gates, which opened for him. Mr Weasley looked around the library in awe, seeing the pile marked "for Ministry" stacked across a table. "We have a spare trunk for you to take them away in there, that's just so you could see them. Thank you for getting them away from me." Mr Weasley smiled at Draco. "Thank you for being honest enough to hand them over. Some people would pay huge sums for these bits of dark knowledge."
The Weasley male waved his wand, the piles of books levitating and stacking themselves neatly in the open, empty trunk. "I shall take these to the Ministry. Is there a Floo fire?" Draco nodded, he had an outgoing-only Floo that was password protected, so he had to let the Weasley man out. Harry called after the man. "Thanks Mr Weasley, for trusting us and not just arresting him or something."
"That wouldn't be very open minded of me. This young man is clearly not his father." Draco glowed with the praise, smiling wider even than he had after coming back with Hermione before. Vlad went to unload their books so Harry could pack his own, and Severus' apothecary bag. More tricky was finding Phantom, who was apparently playing hide and seek with a decidedly uninterested Lily. "She's behind the undeadly nightshade over there." The snake flicked her tail in the general direction of a few plant pots filled with black and green flowers, the ever changing colour scheme cycling through the various plants grown in the extensive grounds.
Vlad retrieved his disgruntled familiar, tucking her back in his backpack pocket. "I guess we'll see you on the Hogwarts Express. You can let me know in the journal what your plans are, we still have to get there early because technically we aren't supposed to portkey there. Can't have anyone seeing us." Vlad hugged him, feeling less ridiculously warm against his skin than most people did nowadays. There was something to be said for an undead best friend. When they seperated, Vlad was looking at him oddly again. "What is it?" Vlad shook his head, squinting and then smiling. "Trick of the light. Don't worry about it. We better get going before Phantom breaks out."
Vlad and Ingrid portkeyed away, leaving Harry and Draco to go put their school books in their rooms. "Did you have fun with Hermione? Dracooooo has a crush!" The usually pale, marble like complexion had never lit red so many times in one day, and Harry was glad it wasn't Vlad he was antagonizing, as Draco couldn't hex him until they were back at Hogwarts. "Oh do be quiet. Go make sure your trunk is packed, back to school soon!" Harry was undeniably excited to be getting back to Hogwarts, even with so much already whirling in his mind about horcruxes and souls and snakes. Taking off his glasses to splash cold water on his face, he looked up at the mirror and jumped. "What the..."
-YDHP-
Back to Hogwarts next chapter!