BlueAutumn12 - Ingrid does have bad luck! I agree. As for Vlad saving... I confirm or deny nothing.

YokaiAngel - thanks! I'm glad you still love the story.

You - exactly! And who doesn't love fun Harry?

-YDHP-

Vlad woke with a sudden jerk, rolling over and regretting it instantly as he laid on his sore back. Pushing himself upright on instinct, he realised the thing that woke him with his alarm charms - somebody was trying to get in.

Riddle had set the locking charms, so it probably wasn't him. Oh wait... Vlad remembered, squinting to see his own locking charm overlaying the blackened, twisted magic. He stood up, feeling nauseous with the pain it set off all over his back and still-bruised legs. Apparently Snape hadn't felt the need to heal them if Vlad couldn't feel them.

Wait.

How was he even standing?

Vlad patted down his legs, then cast a mirror charm on the wall and twisted around painfully to see his back. The bruises were dark and fresh still, the lightning bolt starkly glowing a faint-green in the middle. It still hurt, just as much as it did before. He knew from past experience that it was going to be a long time before he was healed. Before he could even sleep on his back again.

So it was exceptionally unlikely that his body had begun to repair itself. Even if he didn't think that were possible, the damage wrought should have been irreparable. Feeling awkward, he took a few steps. He stumbled like an ungainly colt, but his legs worked.

"Ok then. Don't let Riddle know."

Vlad cancelled the mirror charm, swallowed a painkiller and forced himself back on the bed in his painful prone position on the bed. Laying on his belly when Voldemort walked in was not ideal, but important. He waved off the locking charm, rubbing his eyes as the dork-lard wandered in. Although wandered was a light word to describe the anger and irritation pouring off him.

"What? I was sleeping, not about to rely on you for protection from your goons. Or are you mad you couldn't break my spell? I did tell you... magical vampires are mysterious. Our magic is innate, it's different to you. You're just a human."

"I am so much more than a man."

"If you say so" Vlad made himself use his arms, roll on to his back and grit his fangs against the pain "but magic doesn't care."

"You're just a boy. Not even a vampire yet. What would you know about magic?"

"I'm a magical creature. I come from a long line of magical creatures. We understood magic before your kind harnessed it. We had telepathy and blocks before you had Legilimency and Occlumency, and we had telekinesis and transformations and shapeshifting, long before you had animagi and levitation spells."

Speaking of Occlumency... Vlad kept his mind sealed, couldn't risk Riddle seeing how much he was unsettled by not waking up with Harry on his chest, arm slung over his stomach and those little unintelligible hisses he made when waking up. The space between asleep and awake... the time when Harry wasn't fighting to hide his basilisk side at all. And he would so often kiss Vlad before he even said "good morning". Hellfire, he missed his mate so much it was already starting to tear at his chest.

"You sound educated on the subject."

"I told you. I like to study."

Wanting to use his legs but not stupid enough to let on he could walk yet, Vlad dragged himself along the bed to lean up against the pillow, his previous "I took your top curse and survived" scar visible across his chest.

"I can have all manner of reading material brought to you."

"You could let me go."

"Not without what I brought you here for."

Vlad scowled, turning his eyes away from Riddle in a clear show of defiance.

"I'm not giving you Harry Potter."

"Not even to keep he and your family safe?"

"Until you change your mind and decide he's more threat than help. Be fair Tommy boy, you're known for your mood swings and a bad attitude."

Every time he referred to Riddle by his not-Voldemort name, the madman grew more irate.

"I told you not to call me that."

"And I told you I'm not going to call you Voldemort. Do your pureblood idiot followers know you're half Muggle? Kind of dents the whole pureblood image I guess. Maybe I'll tell them."

Never had Vlad seen such anger in someone's eyes - and he had seen Count Dracula hear his 'son and heir' say he wished he were human. He felt something hit his Shield Charm, but not make it through. Rather than waste magic trying again, Riddle changed tack.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Hellooo? Never dare a Dracula."

Riddle scowled some more, bony wand hand twitching.

"Perhaps you are more trouble than you are worth."

"But if you kill me, you'll have the entire vampire world after you. Chosen One, remember? And everyone's probably guessed you had something to do with my disappearance by now."

Vlad felt his back pulse angrily, protesting him laying on it when it was badly injured. He ignored it - he had survived it before, he could do it again.

"You think they'll find you here?"

"I think Count Dracula would tear your throat out personally. After inflicting torture with his six hundred years of knowledge. You just have your curses."

Riddle steamed for a minute, then he turned and swooped out of the room like an overgrown bat. Vlad locked and alarmed the door, silenced his shoes and stood up, gasping in pain as he did so. The 'room' he had was sparse and completely un-functional - it contained the bed, two armchairs and a table. No dresser, wardrobe or bookcase. Thankfully for his bursting bladder, there was a tiny bathroom. Toilet and sink, nothing else.

Once his bladder was mercifully emptied, Vlad conjured a cup and filled it in the sink, soothing his rough, dry throat. He vanished it again when done, not wanting Riddle to have any clues about Vlad's powers again. The armchair had been a stupid mistake, peaked Riddle's interest... even more than he already had. Now he wasn't panicking about his legs, had peed and wasn't awfully thirsty, Vlad sat down to take stock of what he had learnt in his captivity, needing to distract from the gnawing ache in his chest.

There was a potential upside - temporarily at least - to agree to Riddle's desire. He could buy them time to work against him, with less interference. There was also the chance to get information about what Riddle would be up to... and with how badly he wanted Vlad and Harry on his side, he was probably going to be at least sort of open to listening if Vlad had conditions.

The question was... would Harry believe him? Or leave him as he thought Vlad defected? And secondly - would Riddle honour any agreement? He probably never had before, but then he had never made a deal with a Dracula before.

Either way, he needed to make his choice soon before anyone got into mischief or danger trying to rescue him. In the mood Vlad had him in... Riddle was going to kill first and laugh about it later, with no questions asked.

And more importantly, he needed to get back to his mate. This unexpected separation would play havoc with the mate bond, and the last thing he needed was Riddle working that out. That settled it... but first, he needed to get back to see if busting Snape out was possible or pointless.

Riddle came back some four hours later, blood splattered across his robes and Vlad felt nauseous. Not that Death Eaters were top of his save-list, but they should be punished for crimes, not because Vlad had pissed off their boss. With his arms supporting his weight on the bed, Vlad couldn't even cover his mouth and nose to block the heady scent of lifeblood. But he could not let on that he was bothered.

"Feeling better?"

"A good murder spree does wonders for the soul."

Vlad raised an eyebrow, wondering just how unstable his soul must be by now.

"Well if you call instability a wonder, sure. I need to see the medic."

"What for?"

"These painkillers aren't helping. Plus I've got a cut on my leg that he didn't heal."

"It can't hurt, surely?"

Forcing himself not to kick the psychotic wizard, Vlad shrugged.

"No, but it'll get infected if left and I'm not much cop at healing magic. That's a human trick."

"Come along Dracula "

"I warned you Tom."

He growled, obviously hating the reminder of his Muggle half.

"Don't play coy, you just asked to see the medic."

"True. Lead the way Tommy."

"Stop that!"

"Then stop dawdling."

Vlad very nearly gave himself away, but just about remembered to re-use the levitation spell and force his legs down with his hands. It felt even more ridiculous now he could walk again, trying not to think about why he thought that could have happened.

"Severus, the vampire boy has some complaints about your service."

"My Lord?"

"You know the drill Riddle. Leave."

Riddle frowned, but left. Vlad waited, knowing he would loiter outside to listen in and tossing a locking and silencing charm up first. Remembering his thoughts before he woke up with working legs again, Vlad grimaced against the pain of his back and shifted himself upright.

"How likely do you think it is I'll walk again? Honestly?"

"Honestly? I don't. Dark curse trauma is innately unpredictable, but more often than not doesn't he-"

Vlad leapt off his seat, standing up and Snape trailed off. Vlad held a finger to his mouth, waiting to see if Snape sold him out. When no immediate shout to attack came, Vlad relaxed.

"How-" he cleared his throat, composing himself "how else can I assist your treatment?"

"Bruise balm, I'll be able to apply it with my wand in a day or two. And then" Vlad plucked parchment and quill from Snape's desk, scribbling out a note "there's this on my leg."

He wasn't taking a risk, just in case they could still hear their voices. The note simply said "do you want to get out of here?" and Snape looked at it in confusion.

"What did this?"

He took the parchment, jotting back "you have a plan?" but Vlad didn't quite feel safe risking admitting everything.

"Could have been a Blast Ended Skrewt, or an Acromantula, or any number of plants I didn't get a good look at in the dark. That maze was madness."

"Do you want to leave or not?"

"I'll fetch a broad spectrum anti venom ointment, just in case."

"Come with me."

Vlad stepped after him warily, watching as he opened the not-a-storeroom door. He wasn't expecting to see what he saw.

"Well? What is it?"

"You'll find out later. We ought to start working out how we go after Vlad. He's the bloody portkey whiz, not that anybody knows why. It's not a vampire thing."

Harry was desperately curious, but Vlad was the priority. His and Ingrid's at least... maybe not Bertrand's. It was hard to tell with the tutor. Ingrid didn't seem immediately concerned, so he was at least hoping she had seen Severus was alive.

"Well we can get out of Hogwarts from here with this" Harry indicated his necklace "but first... get rid of him."

"Suits me. You want first bite?"

"No no. Ladies first."

Ingrid didn't hesitate, fangs sinking into the man's sinewy neck and Harry watched in morbid fascination. Is this how Vlad would look? He did say he didn't want to bite a human, but Harry didn't know how much 'the change' would actually affect that. She pulled off after a couple of minutes, pushing the half-dead body over to Bertrand and wiping her mouth.

"Make sure he's definitely dead. Durmstrang isn't getting a half fang head."

Bertrand nodded, turning the man around and biting the unmarked side of his neck. Harry wasn't sure if that was an etiquette thing... it seemed it would have made more sense to re-use the site currently bleeding still. When Bertrand was done, he tossed the man to the ground.

"Dry. All yours Harry."

"Bindus. Levicorpus. Throw my cloak over him?"

Ingrid complied, then rapped him on the head with her wand. Harry jumped at the sudden impact, looking down in surprise as his body started to blend like a chameleon.

"Disillusioned. Easier than an invisibility charm."

"Ok then. I need to get him up to the tower."

"I thought your snake lived in Bertrand's house?"

"Uhh... not so much. He's been living in a trunk under my bed since before fourth year started "

"He what? Courtesy of Vlad somehow, am I right?"

"Kind of. Yeah. Anyway... shall we?"

Ingrid rolled her eyes, charming herself invisible and Bertrand followed them to the hidden one-way exit. It felt pretty weird creeping along hidden corridors and secret passages invisible, carrying an invisible corpse to feed to his Basilisk. Luckily the tower was still empty, ensuring Bertrand didn't look weird wandering about the place. They dropped their charms once Harry had gotten his trunk out, watching in amazement as Harry opened it.

"Hang on, I need to get him to close his eyes before you come down."

"We'll close our eyes, we can hardly just hang around here visible."

"Good point. Down he goes."

Harry dumped Karkaroff down into the trunk, a satisfying thud of bone on stone as Ingrid and Bertrand followed him down slowly and carefully. Samael poked his head out from his heat-room, obviously perplexed.

"Wizard? What's going on?"

"A lot. Number one, would you mind eating him? We need him definitively disposed of where nobody will ever find him."

"I confess humans aren't really a part of my diet, but I can make the exception for you... Who is this?"

"Igor Karkaroff. Headmaster of Durmstrang, defected Death Eater. He was the one getting Vlad almost killed repeatedly in the tournament."

"Ah. A personal vendetta."

"Kind of... we took him to the Chamber, and he saw me transform. Too much risk to let him go."

Samael hummed, scooping Karkaroff's body up and swallowing it whole. There was a hint of cringe, but the acid within his stomach wouldn't struggle with digesting anything.

"Uh, any chance we can open our eyes some time?"

"Yeah, hang on. What's that charm again?"

Harry cast the protective enchantment on both of them, then told them they could open their eyes.

"Ingrid, Bertrand, meet Samael. This way, this spots too small."

Harry led them out to the 'outside' section, watching the vampires stare rabidly as Samael slithered along, coiling his body and resting his head where Harry could reach to stroke his scales.

"You smuggled him out, and then back in to Hogwarts inside a magically expanded trunk?"

"Yep. This trunk was my birthday present from Vlad last year. Complete with outdoors, bathroom and heat room. We used Samael's bath to teach Vlad how to swim for the Second Task."

"And you still didn't notice he was hopelessly in love with you?"

Harry shrugged, patting Samael and taking what comfort he could from his familiar.

"I wasn't ready to see it. Unlike Vlad, I don't have some vampiric instinct telling me who to fall for."

Ingrid rolled her eyes, but Harry still thought something was up with her. Samael flicked his tongue out, tasting the tension on the air.

"What's happened wizard?"

"Vlad's been taken. We think by Riddle, because nobody else would have gone to all the trouble. Nobody else could have. We know where to start looking, but the problem is Vlad is the one who does portkeys well. And none of us can apparate."

Samael hisses in thought, bumping his head against Harry's chest and inhaling his scent.

"You've changed. Fully."

"Uh, yeah. Unintentionally, and it felt really weird at first but then it was amazing. But right now I gotta find Vlad."

Ingrid and Bertrand couldn't understand a word either of them were saying, but neither complained.

"I... I have a suggestion you may dislike."

"Tell me."

"Wait. If your mate was gone, you would know. I suspect your vampire has his own escape plan, and you going after him will slow him down and put you at risk."

"I can't die."

"You do not need to end a mans life to kill his spirit."

Growling in frustration, Harry turned to the vampires.

"Samael thinks that if Vlad were dead, I would know. And that Vlad will be figuring out how to escape, and that we would only be putting ourselves in danger. Like you said Ingrid - Vlad's the portkey whiz."

"So your overgrown lizard" Samael grumbled at Ingrid "no offense, Slytherin here, big snake fan and all... but he thinks we should hang around and wait for my idiot brother and your bats in the belfry grandpa to be done fighting and Vlad to somehow escape?"

"Riddle didn't want Vlad dead. He wanted Vlad for... something. The Tournament was meant to be a test."

Harry bit his lip, feeling his 'fangs' had grown a little since he changed. His clothes felt a little snug too, but they weren't his magically tailored ones - those should still fit. With any luck... he was done growing outwards at least now.

"So what do you suggest?"

"I'm going to go wait in the Chamber, because if Vlad pops in anywhere it will be there. Plus... I ought to sleep. That's the only time I get to see what Riddle is doing, and without Vlad here I'm basically guaranteed to have those sort of nightmares. You're welcome to stay with me Ingrid, or go find out what's going on. Bertrand, go keep an eye on Krum."

Bertrand cocked his head slightly, wise eyes burning in his youthful face.

"Excuse me?"

"Nobody knows about me and Vlad. But his ex boyfriend is going to be fair game for leverage."

"Agreed. How do we get out of here?"

"Back the way we came. Hold on, I'll check for visitors." He turned back to his bigger familiar "You stay here Samael, I'll bring the trunk with me and you can stretch in the Chamber."

"Yes wizard."

Harry climbed out of his trunk, seeing the dorm empty but hearing voices in the common room.

"It's empty up here but some of the students are back."

"Way ahead of you snake boy. Get out of my way."

Harry jumped out of the trunk, only able to tell that Ingrid and Bertrand were there because he was so used to Vlad doing something similar.

"Put your cloak on. We have to move, that spell won't hold as long on a non-magic vampire."

Harry yanked his cloak on, locked his trunk and carefully loaded it into Vlad's never-not-useful backpack. They went carefully so as to make sure they didn't walk into anyone, hearing the buzz of gossip down in the common room.

"Dracula's missing!"

"Yeah, and nobody can find Harry either."

"Or the girl Dracula."

"How can anyone miss Ingrid? She's hot... even for a Slytherin."

Harry almost laughed at the third year boy - some things never changed. Luckily, they weren't long in waiting for someone to open the portrait hole so they could get out, and slide into a side passage. Not a moment too soon, as Bertrand's invisibility began to flicker. Ingrid cancelled it and her own, turning to where Harry knew by now a vampire could sense him beneath the cloak.

"How come that spell didn't hold? Glamour charms do."

"Vampires are resistant to concealment magic - other than their own. The more complicated the charm, the more our innate magical-creature core fights it. Ironic when you consider that stealth is a staple of our unlife."

Magic was confusing. Harry dropped his hood, feeling weird being the only hidden one.

"I'll go ensure the Bulgarian is safe. Ingrid?"

It took her a minute to decide - Harry almost thought it strange, Ingrid scarcely dithered.

"I'm staying with Harry - I'd never miss a chance to explore a Slytherin stronghold."

"Very well."

"Wait Bertrand. Take this."

Harry handed Marauders Map, ensuring it was active.

"I'm guessing you know how to be discreet with that, but you'll be able to see if Vlad's back on there."

Bertrand nodded, tucking the Map into his inside pocket and 'flitting' off. Ingrid watched after him, and Harry had a startling moment of realisation. He would know that pained, longing look anywhere.

"Don't even think about saying a word about what you're thinking. Let's get to the Chamber."

Ingrid halted him from asking, vanishing back beneath her spell and Harry threw his hood back up. The Chamber opened for him again, and Samael stretched out along his old haunt with a relieved sigh.

"I enjoy that I can be with you all year round, but it is nice to be out of the trunk for once."

Harry hissed an apology, spelling a patch of ground dry, clean and Ingrid conjured up leather armchairs like she was lighting a candle - effortlessly.

"Hermione, Draco and the Weasleys must be doing their nut. Merlin, tonight has been weird. And just so you know, I won't ask about... the thing. But if you want someone who's even more out of their depth in all this stuff to talk to, I'm here. And I won't even tell Vlad."

"Thank you. Now be quiet."

Harry shut up, knowing he needed to relax to fall asleep, to have any chance of seeing what Riddle was up to. But he had forgotten how to fall asleep without Vlad with him, and Dreamless Sleep would completely defeat the point. Some time into his silent thought process, Ingrid swiped Vlad's backpack and dug through it until she found what she was after - Vlad's Honeydukes bag.

"This doing nothing is frustrating. I see why Vlad has a bad habit of vanishing off when someone needs saving."

"Tell me about it. He's got one day, then I'm breaking out if I have to ride Samael like a battle steed to make people move out of the way. And that's only because I trust his promise."

"Promise?"

Harry nodded, taking the chocolate frog Ingrid handed him.

"He said he would always come back to me."

"For evils sake. Worlds sappiest Dracula."

Ingrid was surprisingly easy company - she was probably as worried about Vlad as he was, but she wasn't the type to go to pieces and that helped Harry keep his head on straight. Even while his chest had a weird sort of ache in it, making him wonder if falling for Vlad had begun to make the bond two sided. He knew a vampire could hurt missing their mate... And Samael had called Vlad his mate.

It was all guess work really - Harry was apparently the first human to ever be the subject of a mate bond. And given that he was already somehow immortal and part basilisk, Harry doubted it was a precursor to future vampirism for him.

Ingrid fell asleep first, casually flicking through one of Vlad's books on magical creatures as though it would disguise the concern he could feel in the air. Samael wasn't asleep yet, but he had ceased conversation a while ago. Harry couldn't sleep, could just feel the ache in his chest continue to grow. For the first time he could remember... Harry wasn't even hungry.

A buzzing noise came from Vlad's bag after some time, and Harry realised it was morning as he tiredly cast a tempus charm, stole a pepper up potion from Vlad's stash and hunted for the source of the sound. He found Vlad's charmed journal, knowing the password-charm to open pretty much everything Vlad owned.

Hermione Granger:

I know you have his backpack. At least let everyone know you didn't get kidnapped too! Had to find out from Bertrand after you pulled a Houdini last night.

Vladimir Dracula:

Sorry! It was hectic. And I didn't pull anything... Ingrid did. Is everyone else ok?

Hermione Granger:

Fleur is still a wreck. Viktor is going out of his mind, and Cedric is still in the Hospital Wing. The Weasleys got to stay last night too, and everyone's just really confused. There are teachers looking for you two you know. Oh, and Karkaroff did a runner, but not really surprised since he was probably behind it all.

Vladimir Dracula:

They won't find me. Ingrid's sleeping, but I'm sure she would have something to say. Don't draw attention... we may decide to go searching for Vlad yet and the less clues people have on us, the better.

Hermione Granger:

So long as I'm the first to hear you have eyes on our idiot best friend again.

Vladimir Dracula:

Deal. Let us know if the Ministry invades Hogwarts or something.

Hermione Granger:

They can't. Vlad's technically the VHC's problem and the Ministry can't out him as a biter. There's a presence for show, but there's not much they can do.

Vladimir Dracula:

Useless beaurocrats. Or as Vlad calls them - beaurobats.

Hermione Granger:

We'll find him Harry. I better go, time to force an unpleasant potion into my boyfriend.

Vladimir Dracula:

Lovely!

Harry closed the book, knowing Draco was always most resistant the first day of the Wolfsbane potion week. Hermione would be busy - at least Ingrid had finished the batch for the month before becoming distracted by her brothers kidnap.

He eventually began to doze off, and as he expected, the dreams took over seemingly the second his eyelids fell closed.

"Leave it! I wear short sleeves, no way that's staying hidden."

"It's not your arm I'm after."

Harry was jerked awake what felt like instantly by Ingrid throwing a book at him, blinking sleep out of his eyes as the Chamber glowed with fire.

"Vlad!"

"Hey. Look who I found!"

By the looks of it, Vlad could barely stand up, stumbling as he indicated Severus Snape next to him. He was holding... something. But that wasn't as distracting as the skull and snake brand emblazoned on Vlad's scarred chest. Harry saw Fawkes swoop off of Vlad's shoulder, the vampire tilting dangerously to one side.

"I have had a very, very long night. I will explain it all... soon."

Vlad dropped like a stone, stopped only by his sisters speedy reaction as he fainted. Samael thankfully knew enough to keep his eyes closed with the newcomers, and thankfully they already knew about the Basilisk. Ingrid's eyes - despite the fact she was holding her brother - were firmly fixed on the thing Severus was holding.

Looking closer, Harry realised what it was. Or rather...

"Uh, who is that?"

"This is Raven. My daughter."

-YDHP-

*drum roll*

If this is late, I'm going to try and be back to Friday's as soon as possible? But bear with me if it's not until whichever day this went up next week.