Chapter 8.
Sirius' expression went from confused to frantic as he leapt out of Alucard's grasp and dove into Harry tackling him to the ground. Integra withdrew her gun and went to point it at the elder wizard before being gently restrained by Alucard.
"That's his godfather, Sirius Black. I had a hunch when he mentioned what happened here and it turned out to be right. Just let him figure it out.
"Harry get out of here I'll hold them off!" Sirius yelled, Harry's heart ached hearing the familiar phrase
"Padfoot it's ok. We're safe." Harry said. Sirius looked around in shock at the mostly empty room.
"Harry?" Sirius asked. This time it was his turn to be tackled by his sobbing godson.
"Oh god Sirius I'm so sorry! I got you killed!" Harry said.
"I disagree with that assessment." Alucard said, smiling at the two wizards.
"Who are you?" Sirius asked. Harry took a second to compose himself and introduce the two.
"Sirius, this is Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing, head of the Hellsing organization, this is her... bodyguard, Alucard." Harry said. Alucard bowed dramatically.
"Does anyone want to tell me what the fuck just happened here?" Sirius demanded.
Hours later, back at the Hellsing compound, Sirius was nursing a glass of whiskey while Harry explained the events of the past five years. Sirius was saddened when he heard of the deaths of Dumbledore, Moody, Hedwig and the other fallen order members, but was overjoyed when Harry showed him the fading scar, and the explanation of Voldemort's demise. Throughout the discussion, Alucard and Integra were sitting across the table listening while Seras slid up beside Harry who put his arm around here unconsciously, letting her lean her head on his shoulder.
"So I was a hit wizard for a while, but Shack kept telling recalling me before I could get anything done, so I quit and ran into the Wild Geese." Harry said.
"Wild geese? Isn't that a type of booze?" Sirius asked.
"You're thinking of Wild Turkey." Alucard offered.
"That's the one. So, you're a mercenary now?" Sirius asked, grinning.
"Not at all. Hellsing is a fully funded and endorsed extension of the British government, falling under the purview of the Queen herself. I guess you could call me a soldier." Harry explained.
"For the purposes of paperwork you hold the rank of Lieutenant." Integra offered.
"Seriously? When were you gonna tell me? Wait are you paying me?" Harry asked. Integra looked at him incredulously.
"We've been paying you a salary of a thousand pounds a week this whole time. Don't you check your mail?" Integra asked. Harry scratched his neck, his expression sheepish
"No, I guess not. I suppose I should head over to Gringotts at some point." Harry said.
"How have you been paying for your supplies?" Integra asked. Harry grinned.
"Uh, I'm kind of independently wealthy. The potters are multimillionaires, but I haven't had to touch that since so many people have been gifting me money for killing Voldemort. Plus until this jackass got himself pulled out of the veil, I had access to the Black vaults, and his family are billionaires." Harry said. Integra and Seras' jaws dropped.
"You still have unfettered access to it. Even once the paperwork clears and I'm declared alive and innocent, you're my declared heir." Sirius explained.
"Yeah but what if you shack up with some bird and get her pregnant?" Harry asked. Sirius grinned.
"Muggle vasectomy when I was 18. Made sure it was irreversable. The black genes die with me. My family were such abhorrent, inbred monsters I felt the name and the wealth should go to someone more deserving." Sirius said.
"Yeah bullshit. You got the vasectomy so you could continue being a man whore without worrying about any pug ugly sprogs running around asking for child support." Harry said laughing.
"No comment." Sirius said, chuckling.
"So what are your plans now that you're back amongst the living, Mr. Black?" Integra asked.
"Please call me Sirius. Well, I'm going to spend a few weeks getting my affairs back in order. There are a few legitimate businesses I had invested in that I'd like to check on, Plus I want to reconnect with Moony and Tonks and meet Teddy. I'm also going to see how much Minerva will need to finish rebuilding Hogwarts. After that I don't know. Hell are you guys hiring?" Sirius said.
"We've been discussing bringing more wizards and witches on, especially given the scale of our foe." Integra said.
"You're going to need a few more people In HR if you hire the mutt. He's a good man, but he can get a bit... gropey." Harry said
"Oi!" Sirius objected. Seras, Harry and Alucard laughed, but Integra looked concerned. They chatted for an hour or so before Integra excused herself to go to bed.
"Police girl, I'd like you to come and help me train some of the soldiers. They need more experience against vampires." Alucard said, giving a meaningful glance to Harry. Seras caught on and agreed, hugging Harry before following her master.
"I'll show you where you'll be staying for now." He said to Sirius, as they stood and made their way to the staff quarters.
"So. You and the police girl?" Sirius asked.
"Seras, Sirius. I can't stand that Alucard still calls her that, I won't tolerate you saying it." Harry said. Sirius held up his hands in a surrender gesture.
"Seras, I'm sorry." Sirius said
"Things with Ginny didn't really work out. With her quidditch career picking up she had to travel all over Europe, and at the time I was just getting started with the Aurors. We tried the long distance thing but found ourselves growing apart. It ended amicably, and we still write." Harry explained.
"Ah. It's a shame, you two seemed great together. Seras seems nice though." Sirius said.
"It's a pretty new thing. We met when my penpal tried to murder us." Harry said casually.
"Your what tried to what you?" Sirius asked, flabbergasted. Harry Laughed.
"Father Alexander Anderson. He's basically the enforcer for an unofficial Vatican mercenary group that tries to do what Hellsing does, except Catholic instead of Protestant. Good man, shame he wants to kill me." Harry said, ushering Sirius into his room.
"Walter will be by to see to any needs you may have. I'm going to turn in after I talk to Pip. He's the leader of the Wild Geese we talked about before. He's great you'll love him. You good to go for now?" Harry asked.
"No, pup. I'm all set. I'm so proud of you. " Sirius said, hugging him.
"I'm glad you're back." Harry said. They broke apart and Harry made his way towards the armory where Pip was waiting for him, cleaning his rifle.
"Harry, zere is something I must discuss wis you." He said, guiding Harry towards the firing range.
"During ze attack, as soon as we entered ze armory, ze door closed behind us. Zen it was locked, from ze outside." Pip explained.
"That doesn't make any sense." Harry said.
"Indeed. We reviewed ze security footage, and ze feed from outside ze Armory was missing. It is obvious someone on the inside trapped us." Pip explained. Harry's eyes shot open wide at that.
"That's definitely not good." Harry said.
"Indeed. Will you tell Sir Integra ze next time you meet wis her? I am 'oping it does not mean what I think it means." Pip asked.
"Of course. Let me know if you learn anything else." Harry said. Pip nodded and shook his hand.
Harry made his way back to his quarters and was wholly unsurprised to see Seras waiting at his door.
"Hey you." Harry said, leaning in for a peck on the cheek. She smiled as he opened the door and followed him in.
"So vampire training, eh?" Harry asked.
"Alucard and I thought you could use a little time alone with your godfather." Seras explained. Harry chuckled, having figured that out earlier.
"I'm glad you're here." Harry said and walked to his sink.
"Hungry?" Harry asked. Seras nodded. So he washed his neck and gathered his potions.
"Do you mind if we talk first?" Seras asked.
"Of course." Harry said, downing the first potion.
"I wanted to talk about... well us." Seras said.
"Oh. Ok. What's on your mind?" Harry asked.
"I really really like you, but I'm worried." Seras said.
"Why are you worried?" Harry asked.
"Well you're a human, and I'm... not." Seras said. Harry shrugged.
"That doesn't bother me in the slightest, Seras. I hoped you'd know that by now." Harry said, taking her hand.
"I know, I just... I'm a monster, Harry." Seras said.
"Seras, what makes you a monster?" Harry asked. She looked down at the ground.
"I'm a vampire. I need to drink human blood to live." She said, quietly.
"And how many people have you killed to feed on?" Harry asked. Seras thought for a minute.
"None." She admitted.
"I have killed hundreds of people, not including ghouls and those fake vampires. Most in self-defense, but I did fight in a war, and I did participate in offensive operations. Those were human beings and I stood there and made the active decision to end their life. Do you think I'm a monster?" He asked. She looked up at him in surprise.
"No, but." she went to say but he interrupted her before she could continue.
"No buts. To me a monster is a sentient being who makes the choice of murdering or torturing other sentient beings for nothing more than personal gain. Your master is a monster, but he admits it and does not hide the fact. You are a victim of an attack by a monster, the priest in Cheddar. You're an amazing young woman, you're my friend, and I really hope you want to be more than that." Harry said. Seras gave him a watery smile for leaning in for another kiss.
"Thank you, Harry." She said.
"You're welcome." he said before guiding her to his neck.
The next morning, they woke up and Harry laughed as Seras realized she'd fallen asleep with her leg draped over Harry. She kissed him again and left to get her day started, and once he was showered and dressed, he made his way up to Integra's office, and knocked on her door.
"Who is it?" She asked.
"It's Harry. Do you have a minute?" He asked. She opened the door and let him in. Harry was shocked at first to see her in a bath robe and barefoot, her hair damp from the shower.
"If now's not a good time I can wait." Harry said.
"No, don't be silly. What do you need?" She asked.
"I talked to Pip last night. I wanted to wait until this morning to avoid suspicion, we think there might be someone on the inside that is working for Millennium." Harry said. Integra's eyes shot open at this.
"Are you serious?" She asked.
"During the attack on the compound, the Geese ran into the armory to load up and the door was locked from the outside once they were in there. The security footage from that part of the compound during that time as missing." Harry explained. Integra looked surprised, and sat down.
"That's definitely alarming. Do you have any leads?" She asked.
"None that I can provide any evidence against." Harry said.
"Tell me what you're thinking." Integra said. Harry hesitated, averting his gaze.
"I have been actively ignoring my intuiton on this because it seems completely absurd and unfounded. I have been given absolutely no concrete evidence that it could be him, but since I met him I've had this strange feeling about Walter." Harry eventually said.
"Preposterous, I've know Walter my whole life." Integra said. Harry held up his hands in surrender.
"I know, which is why I'm not making an accusation. Like I said he has done nothing whatsoever to draw suspicion, and the only thing I'm going on is gut feeling. Aside from that nobody else has done or said anything that would suggest treachery. I asked Pip to keep an eye out for anything suspicious and I'll be doing the same." Harry said. Integra looked dismayed.
"I can't believe Walter would ever do anything to harm the organization or me specifically." Integra said, seemingly for her own benefit.
"I can't see it either, just be careful ok? Make sure Alucard stays close. Whomever it is, is in a position to make things extremely dangerous for us all." Harry said. Integra nodded.
"I will be overjoyed the day you confirm that my intuition is stupid and that I'm an idiot for not ignoring it completely. I really like Walter, also I was kind of hoping he'd teach me how to use those awesome wire glove thingies." Harry mentioned. Integra pondered for a moment.
"That actually might be a good idea. I'll ask him to train you, that will give you plenty of time to observe him." Integra said.
"Integra, I really have no evidence. I'm sorry I brought it up." harry said.
"No I get it, and truthfully I am convinced your intuition is dead wrong, but I trusted Uncle Richard with my life too, and I got a bullet wound in the shoulder for my troubles." Integra said. Harry nodded.
"Speaking of uncle figures, is Sirius settling in ok?" Integra asked.
"Well I haven't heard anyone complain that he's humping their leg, so I'll consider that a victory." Harry said grinning.
"Humping people's leg? I thought you were joking about that HR thing." Integra said, disgusted.
"No no, it was a joke. Sirius was a man whore in his youth, and he's a shameless flirt but he's also a complete gentleman and would never cross any lines. I said that because he's an animagus. A wizard that can turn into an animal, a dog in his case." Harry said.
"Oh thank God. We have enough sexual harassment complaints thanks to Alucard." Integra said. Harry's eyes shot open and he jumped to his feet and turned his back to Integra.
"Uh, Sir Integra? Your robe..." Harry said. She looked down and cursed, having not noticed that her robe had opened, exposing one of her breasts.
"Oh lord. I'm sorry Harry. Thank you for being a gentleman." She said, fixing the robe.
"Not a problem. If you'll excuse me I'm going to go wake up my lazy layabout godfather and see what kind of trouble he has planned for today." Harry said.
"Of course, I'll see you later." She said.
"Oh, Integra? Nice tattoo." He said cheekily. For a moment Integra was tempted to squawk indignantly, however instead she decided to tease him back.
"You should see my other ones." she said, laughing as she saw him blush.
"Alright you win this round." Harry said, walking out through the door.