AN: 10 chapters already. I wish I was this inspired in all aspects of my life. A user pointed out that I doubled up on the Valentines attack, so I resolved that. Thanks for the input there! Also a bit of a content warning on this chapter, there will be brief, non-detailed descriptions of various forms of child abuse including rape.
Chapter 10
Seras arose from her coffin with a smile, quickly showering and changing in hopes of catching Harry at breakfast. Thanks to the amulet Harry gifted her with, the sunlight barely bothered her so she'd returned to a diurnal sleep schedule. This came in very handy because it meant she could easily assist with training and was also available for daytime operations. She downed a flask Harry had prepared for her the night before
She found herself drinking exclusively from him. She had become accustomed to the narcotic effects of wizard blood by now, and while any human blood was appetizing to her, Harry's blood gave her a warm feeling that nobody else's did. Even Sirius, another wizard, didn't have the same effect. Alucard was no help in explaining it as well, he would simple grin and fade out of existence when she asked.
When she arrived in the cafeteria, she spotted Harry immediately, but frowned when she noticed the state he was in. His uniform was perfectly in order, as it always was but he was pale and had dark circles under his eyes. Hermione and Sirius had told her before that when he was a child he used to have nightmares, but most of those were due to the connection to Voldemort on his head which no longer existed. She sat down next to him and wrapped an arm around him.
"Hi!" She said
"Hey, Seras. Good morning." Harry said.
"You look tired." Seras said. He nodded.
"Didn't sleep last night. Kept having nightmares." Harry said.
"I'm sorry. Did you want to talk about them?" She asked. She was disappointed when he shook his head.
"No, definitely not here. Later maybe?" He said and she accepted that. They went about their daily routine until an hour before lunch when an alert went out, and they were summoned outside to the motor pool.
"Vampire attack, zis time in Surrey. Neighborhood called Little Whinging." Pip announced. Harry paled but nodded resolutely. Seras picked up on it though.
"Something wrong Harry?" Seras asked.
"I grew up in Little Whinging." He said, elaborating no further. Seras made a note to add that to the list of things to ask him in private. Before long they were equipped and moving out, the whole time Harry dreaded seeing the familiar neighborhood again. He had checked, Vernon And Petunia still lived there, though Dudley had moved out the year before, having found a girlfriend and a job in France. Harry wasn't sure why he bothered keeping tabs, but he did. They arrived, at the intersection of Privet Drive and Hedge lane. Harry was filled with anxiety as he approached the one house that seemed affected, the house he grew up in.
"Guys, that's my aunt and uncle's house. I don't think this was a random vampire attack. " Harry stated.
"Keep on your toes. Seras, go around and enter through ze back. Harry you stick with me, got it?" Pip said. Harry and Seras nodded, falling in line and executing their orders. With a nod from Pip, Harry walked up the stairs and opened the front door, and was immediately overwhelmed by a swarm of the undead.
Harry's instincts were still sharp from the war and his time with Hellsing, so he leapt back before any of them could grab ahold of him, and has he retreated he cast a blasting curse automatically at the door, throwing the undead back.
"Those are not vamprie ghouls." Pip obseved. Harry nodded.
"They're inferi. Zombies created by dark wizards." Harry explained.
"Merde." Pip said, lining up a shot but harry stopped him with a hand on his arm.
"Bullets won't do anything. We need fire, Seras, Alucard, stay behind me." Harry said. Seras nodded, leaping behind the young wizard while Alucard casually wandered out of the way. Harry braced himself, holding The Elder wand pointed outwards with his left hand open, covering his wand hand as though he was trying to push the wand forward. He glared towards the encroaching zombies with hatred in his now glowing eyes.
"FIENDFYRE!" he bellowed, causing a gout of flame to erupt from the tip of the death stick and coalesce into the shape of an enormous serpent. Seras stared in horror, instinctively terrified at the spectacle and clutched onto Harry for dear life as he poured his magic into it. The serpent crashed into the crowd of inferi, circling around it and corralling it in before collapsing in on itself and enveloping the magically animated corpses.
With a monumental force of will, Harry dispelled the demon flames and collapsed to the ground gasping for breath. Fiendfyre is a tricky spell in the best situations. When one does not need to concern oneself with collateral damage it was a simple matter to conjure the flames and unleash them upon your foes. However to maintain such tight control to avoid damaging property or injuring ones allies requires unyielding will and colossal amounts of magical power, attempting the feat had killed wizards far more experienced than Harry in the past, and this effort left him utterly exhausted.
"Harry, are you ok?" Seras asked. Harry barely had the strength to reach into his jacket and withdraw a a pepper up potion. He fumbled fruitlessly to remove the cork, then looked up at Seras, pleading with his eyes. She uncorked the vial and brought it to his lips, tipping it into his mouth. He shuddered and slowly made to stand.
"Harry what was that?" She asked, grasping his shaking arm and helping him to his feet.
"Fiendfyre, it's cursed fire that cannot be extinguished through normal means. It consumes whatever it burns along with the magic of the caster and devours everything it can until it is canceled through sheer willpower, or the wizard drops dead." Alucard explained, glaring at Harry.
"It is also one of only a few feats of magic that can kill you. It might even be capable of killing me. Harry, what the fuck?" Alucard said.
"It's unlikely but there's a possibility that the Dursleys are in there still alive. Incendio, flame whips, your incendiary rounds would burn the whole house down including anyone left alive inside." Harry explained. Alucard stared at him confused, but didn't comment further.
"Will you be ok?" Seras asked. Harry nodded.
"I'm too tired, I cast it inefficiently, and it pretty much drained my core. If you hadn't helped me with that potion I'd be in a magical coma right now." Harry said.
"You and I are going to have a long conversation later, little wizard." Alucard growled, before evaporating into a mist and vanishing.
"Huh, wonder what that's about." Harry said.
"Pip take your men and go scour the house, look for survivors. IF there are any inferi lead them out here but do not engage." Harry ordered. Pip nodded and gestured for his men to follow. Harry slowly made his way back to the APC he'd arrived in, and Seras basically lifted him up and into the back.
"House is secure, Harry. We have some... bad news." Pip reported a few minutes later.
"Ok, what is it?" Harry asked.
"We discovered two bodies in ze master bedroom. A man and a woman, both middle aged." Pip said.
"Damn." Harry said, closing his eyes.
"I'm so sorry, Harry." Seras said.
"Let's get moving. I'm not feeling any wards, this wasn't a trap I'm pretty sure it was a message. Either Millennium has wizards now, or some new faction is gunning for me." Harry said.
The ride back to the mansion was a somber affair, Seras held Harry's hand as he slept for the whole ride back to the mansion. She was loathe to wake him when they arrived, however sleeping sitting up in an APC leaning against her would not be very good for him, and she feared he might not be pleased finding out she carried him in. She nudged him awake, and he woke, giving her a tired smile, before standing and making his way out of the APC.
Integra stood at the entrance with an impassive expression, however when she saw Harry struggling and leaning on Seras, she rushed over.
"What happened?" Integra asked.
"Harry's old home was swarming with these wizarding ghouls. The weren't vampires, Harry incinerated them with what he called fiendfyre, but it took way too much out of him." Seras explained.
"Get him to the infirmary. Where's Alucard?" Integra asked.
"I have no idea." Seras said. Integra frowned, but held the door open to help Seras walk Harry in. Harry barely made it to the infirmary before he slipped into unconsciousness.
The next day he awoke feeling like hippogryff shit. A water bottle had been left on the bedside table, so he carefully sat up and sipped it as he regained his bearings.
"We need to talk." Alucard said, causing Harry to jump and choke on his water. He coughed several times, before glaring at Alucard who grinned at him.
"What do you want?" Harry asked.
"Why did you work so hard to try to save them?" Alucard asked.
"What?" Harry asked. Alucard looked at him impatiently, refusing to repeat himself.
"They were human beings." Harry said.
"Not from what I saw." Alucard commented. Harry paled. Alucard sighed and continued.
"When you smuggled me into the Ministry building, I did everything I could to avoid seeing anything, but as you said there was always the risk I'd see something you didn't want me to." Alucard said. Harry's shoulders slumped.
"Damn." Harry said.
"Yeah. Damn. So answer the question. Why did you risk yourself to save those fucking pigs?" Alucard asked. Harry shrugged.
"Petunia was my mother's sister. I felt like I had to try." Harry admitted.
"She stood by and watched that walrus rape you over and over again." Alucard said, Harry flinched at hearing it out loud.
"I am well aware of that Alucard. I was there, remember?" Harry snapped back.
"Then why? She deserved far worse than she got." Alucard said. Harry looked off to the side.
"When I was a kid, the only thing that stayed my hand was fear of incarceration. Now? The burden of their deaths is not one I wish to carry." Harry said. This threw Alucard, prompting him to utter a phrase he hadn't said in hundreds of years.
"I don't understand. You've killed hundreds." Alucard said. Harry nodded.
"Probably thousands by now. The difference is motivation. The death eaters, vampires, ghouls, I killed them because they are my enemy. Because they threaten the lives, safety and freedom of the innocent. For all intents and purposes, because it's my job. Murdering the Dursleys would have been for no reason other than revenge." Harry said.
"Killing them wouldn't have undone 16 years of abuse. It wouldn't have stopped the nightmares, it would have done absolutely nothing for me. If I were so determined to end their lives, I would just be giving them more power over me. " Harry continued.
"Huh..." Alucard said, before abruptly disappearing. Harry sighed, laying back and closing his eyes, hoping to get a little more sleep, however it was not meant to be.
"Harry?" Seras said, poking her head through the door.
"Hey Seras, come on in." Harry said. Seras hesitated.
"Um, I've got someone here who wanted to see you." Seras said.
"Oh?" Harry asked, and then paled. Following Seras was something Harry was certainly not prepared to face. Hermione Granger, flooded with pregnancy hormones, with a furious expression on her face.
"Fuuuuuuuuuck." Harry said.
"LANGUAGE!" Hermione shrieked.