AN: Heads up I am taking a LOT of artistic license with Helena here, her back story, her personality etc. Also making changes/assumptions to/about the Hellsing Organization and its history. If that's an issue for you, I invite you to go fuck yourself.
Chapter 6
Harry walked through the halls of Hellsing Manor looking for something to do. He randomly repaired the random damage he spotted along the way, and poked his head in to talk to anyone he encountered. Phase 4 was on hold while he waited for confirmation from three of his information sources within the ministry. There were no current rogue vampires to hunt, Schrodinger had retreated back to non-existence, but this time left a note saying that he was fine he just needed to think and recharge, and Rip and Zorin were taking advantage of the empty house. Seras was out with Hermione and Integra doing baby shopping, and Harry quite frankly didn't want to know what kind of depraved nosnense Alucard was up to, so he randomly apparated into London and started wandering around.
People watching was always something he enjoyed doing when he wanted to think on something, and today he had one problem that he was looking to figure out. He'd been spending so much time with Schrodinger, and he was determined to give the poor boy the best childhood he could, however the problem lay in what happens after that? Schrodinger was a vampire, locked in the body of an approximately 11 year old boy. Hiding the ears was easy enough, but aging potions don't work on vampires, and he wasn't aware of any magic that could permanently age a regular human let alone a vampire boy.
He had a couple of ideas, none of which he'd be willing to try on anyone he cared about. The first was a decaying curse, basically in a human it would cause the body to shrivel, wrinkle, then slowly be devoured by magic as it would have were it dead and being decomposed, and the victim was alive for the duration. He dug into the deep theory of the spell and how it was designed and discovered it was little more than an extreme aging spell, The problem is that it was impossible to limit it. You cast it and you were committed.
In his eyes the only option was to find some new kind of magic, or perhaps uncover something old and forgotten. He wanted Schrodinger to experience growing into a man if he so desired. His musing was interrupted as he walked past what from a distance appeared to be nondescript old tenement building but as he approached he detected the unmistakable sign of magical wards. Not one to ever ignore curiosity he approached and examined it.
He looked around to make sure nobody was nearby, and withdrew his wand, waving it around and frowned at what he found. The property had been obscured by extremely powerful wards... a very, very long time ago. Had they been brand new or recently recharged, he'd have walked by without a second glance however they were ancient and on the verge of failing. Throwing caution to the wind as he was wont to do, he crossed the threshold into the property and was shocked by what he saw. Before stepping into the wards he saw a three-story building covered in broken windows and completely unoccupied, however across the wards the building was much larger, and immaculate. It could easily be classified as a skyscraper, and the grounds thrummed with ancient magic.
"Uh, Hello?" Harry yelled. He was not expecting a response, given the age of the wards it was likely this building had been unoccupied for centuries, however he was shocked to see a head poking out of one of the windows in the top apartment.
"Hi! My name is Harry and-" Harry yelled, but was interrupted by the person who had been in the apartment appearing before him faster than he could register. Standing in front of him was a little girl with red eyes, wearing extremely outdated clothing, and looking up at him curiously.
"Sorry, I was saying, I'm Harry Potter-Victoria, I'm sorry if I'm tresspassing, I was just curious." Harry said.
"My name is Helena." The girl said, her expression unchanging.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Helena. I was only able to notice this building because it seems like the wards are slowly dying." Harry mentioned. Helena's eyes widened for the briefest moment before returning to normal.
"I see. The last wizard who lived here... well it's been a very long time. What year is this?" The girl asked.
"2003 AD." Harry said. Helena's expression dropped and she looked down.
"Oh.." Helena said.
"I'm sorry to have disturbed you, would you like for me to leave?" Harry asked.
"No!" She said vehemently, reaching out and grabbing his arm. Harry smiled and looked down at his now broken wrist.
"Mind if I heal that?" Harry said with a grin.
"Oh! I'm so sorry!." Helena said, recoiling. Harry fixed his wrist with an episkey, and put his wand back in its holster.
"Don't worry, I know you didn't mean to hurt me. So, what is this place? Are there any other residents?" Harry asked. Helena looked sad, before schooling her expression again.
"Not any more. It's been about two hundred years.." Helena said.
"And you've been here alone this whole time?" Harry asked. Helena nodded sadly.
"I'm sorry. Well I'm here now! Would you like to show me around?" Harry asked. For the first time, Helena smiled and gently took his hand, leading him to the entrance to the building. There were dozens of rooms, but the only occupied one was hers, the top floor roof apartment, where they settled in to sit.
"Are you hungry?" Harry asked. She nodded tentatively. Harry smiled and withdrew his knife and a wine glass, nicking an artery in his arm and filling it. He handed it to her, and she drank it greedily, smiling as the effects washed over her.
"Wizard blood. Give it a minute and it will pass." Harry said with a smile, After a while she returned to her senses.
"I'm afraid I don't have anything to offer you." Helena said quietly. Harry chuckled.
"I'd imagine you wouldn't. It's not a problem though I ate before I found you. I'd love to learn more about you and this place, but I don't want my curiosity to make you uncomfortable. Would you like for me to recharge the wards for you?" Harry asked.
"Yes, but I'm afraid I don't have anything to offer in trade.." Helena said. Harry held up his hand to stop her.
"Not needed. I was dreadfully bored today and you're giving me something to do, I'm happy to help! Can you bring me to the wardstone?" Harry asked. Helena nodded and took his hand. She walked him down to the bottom and into the basement which was full of old furniture, equipment, discarded clothing and innumerable other object. Harry made it to the center of the ward scheme and looked at the crystal that acted as the central nexus of all of the wards.
"Oh my. This is interesting, I've never seen one like this." Harry said.
"How do they normally look?" Helena asked.
"Well we don't usually use centralized ward stones any more, we'll ward different parts of the property, like a few stones buried at the four corners, then we'll ward the entrances, the windows, the building as a whole. It's more difficult and time consuming but it makes them more flexible and easier to replace if one goes bad." Harry said, pointing his wand at the stone and pushing his magic into it. The basement lit up as the magical sconces lit up and they heard a thrumming as the dying wards were re-energized.
"That should be good for another hundred years at least." Harry said with a smile.
"Thank you." Helena said. Harry nodded and took her hand and guided her to the exit of the basement.
"How long have you been on your own again?" Harry asked.
"Two centuries. I leave to feed every now and then but I never talk to anyone. It's been... lonely." Helena said.
"I'm so sorry. Why didn't you find any others to talk to? Vampires, wizards, even regular humans?" Harry asked. She looked down.
"My friends.. They were... Butchered." Helena said. Harry's eyes widened.
"Oh! Oh dear... I'm so sorry." Harry said. Helena looked down at Harry's shirt and pointed at the Hellsing insignia.
"By them." Helena said. Harry looked down at his top.
"Oh..." Harry said. Helena frowned, but said nothing.
"Are you hiding here then?" Harry asked. She looked up at him, then nodded. Harry dropped to a knee and looked her in the eye.
"I'm sorry. You must hate me." Harry said sadly.
"No, I really don't. When I saw you approach, I'd intended to kill you." Helena said, then appeared surprised when Harry's only reaction was to nod.
"You know that and yet you do not fear me..." Helena remarked. Harry nodded.
"Oh I am afraid, I'd be foolish not to be. I just don't like letting my fear rule me." Harry said with a sad smile. Harry opened his arms and looked into her eyes.
"I am afraid that you might choose to harm me, but I'm not going anywhere." Harry admitted. Without a word, Helena walked forward and Harry wrapped his arms around her. He felt her shaking and felt the tears soak into his shirt, and he just knelt there holding her.
"Thank you." Helena said.
"Thank you. You know. For not killing me." Harry said with a grin, that earned him the first laugh he'd heard from her.
"Let's go back upstairs and talk for a bit, ok?" Harry said. She nodded and took his hand. When they arrived back in her apartment, Harry told her his story, explaining about Hogwarts, Voldemort, the state of his world, but she was surprised when he got to his descriptions of working with Hellsing.
"So Hellsing actually has a vampire working for them?" Helena asked. Harry grinned
"There are five. Alucard, Seras, Rip, Zorin and Schrodinger. The last three were artificially created by a group of monsters called Millennium. We are working on taking them down." Harry said.
"So you don't just hunt down every vampire you hear of?" Helena asked.
"No, I don't think it's been that way since Abraham Hellsing defeated Alucard. The Hellsings are aware of my world, and there are dozens of vampires living in peace in the Wizarding world. They are treated poorly, and many of us are trying to fix that. Same with Veela and Werewolves." Harry said. She cocked her head.
"Werewolves too?" Helena asked. Harry nodded
"My friend Lavender and my uncle Remus." Harry said.
"Times have definitely changed." Helena said. Harry grinned.
"What's even funnier is that I'm engaged to a vampire." Harry said. Helena smiled.
"You are a very interesting person, Harry Potter-Victoria." Helena said. Harry shrugged.
"May I ask what you're willing to share about your history?" Harry said. Her expression dimmed, but she told her story about being turned as a child, fleeing from Hellsing for a century, finding a sympathetic wizard to ward the building, and the last couple of hundred years of pouring through her extensive library looking for a way to grow older.
"You know I'm actually looking to do that for Schrodinger too. He doesn't seem to mind being a boy, though I have no idea how old he really is. I suspect at some point though he'll want to experience adulthood." Harry said.
"It is difficult. You watch people around you falling in love, marrying, having children. I haven't loved anyone in a very long time." Helena said. She was shocked to see Harry's eyes well up with tears.
"Oh Helena." Harry said, taking her in his arms again. An alarm on Harry's watch went off, startling Helena.
"Sorry, it's an alarm on my watch. I suspect my friends and fiancee are back from baby shopping. One of my friends, Integra Hellsing no less, Is carrying my child." Harry said with a grin.
"I thought you were to marry a vampire..." Helena said. Harry nodded.
"I am. Seras Victoria. She's the one that claimed me. Integra is my boss, and a dearly close friend. The muggles have a technology that allows impregnation without sexual intercourse. It's a long story, but I should return." Harry said. Helena looked heartbroken.
"You're welcome to come with me, but given your history I'm expecting that would be a no." Harry said. Helena nodded.
"Can I come back tomorrow? Maybe I can bring Seras with me? She'd love to meet you. Harry said.
"Really?" Helena asked. Harry nodded.
"Of course. I'll bring more blood for you too, Seras eats exclusively my blood and I share with the other vampires too, so I've gotten to the point where I almost don't need replenisher potions any more. Tomorrow around lunch time?" Harry asked. Helena nodded with a smile, and tears in her eyes.
"I'll write you a letter when I get back, my owl Renfield will wait for you to reply, if you want to send another. May I add myself as an exception to your wards?" Harry asked.
"Yes, please do. It has been an absolute pleasure to meet you, Harry." Helena said
"The pleasure is all mine. If you're interested I can look for another place for you to live near my friends, but not near Hellsing. I'm sure my friend Hermione would love to meet you, though full disclosure she works for Hellsing too." Harry said. Helena smiled and nodded, and after swinging by the ward stone, he hugged her again and left.
Harry returned to Hellsing in time to see Zorin carrying a large, oak crib into the building.
"Hey Harry!" Zorin said, Harry rushed forward to hold the door open for her.
"Thanks. That's always the hardest part." Zorin said with a grin. HE followed her up to the nursery which was attached to Integra's bedroom, where Seras, Hermione, Rip and hilariously enough Pip were assembling the furniture with gusto.
"They won't let me help. I'm not even showing but they refuse to let me do anything strenuous." Integra said, smiling.
"You're surrounded by people who love and want to protect you, get used to it." Harry said with a grin.
"Hormonal pregnant woman, harry. You know better than to say things like that to me." Integra said, wiping happy tears out of her eyes.
"I remain unrepentant." Harry said, laughing.
"Speaking of crying, found yourself another damsel in distress, have we?" Rip asked, pointing at Harry's shirt.
"In a manner of speaking yes. I encountered a building In London, it was warded but the wards were ancient and failing, so I investigated and was met by a vampire. A girl, who seems to have been turned before the age of 12." Harry said.
"That's awful!" Zorin said. Harry nodded.
"She's been there alone for more than a hundred years too. She only leaves to feed and then comes back and reads through her extensive library." Harry said.
"Why didn't you bring her back here?" Integra asked.
"It's complicated. She recognized the insignia. Her friends were hunted and killed by Hellsing a couple centuries ago." Harry said.
"Oh no!" Integra said
"I thought you only hunted vampires when they attacked people." Zorin asked.
"We do now. My ancestors however were paranoid barbarians. Abraham Hellsing was almost disowned for capturing Alucard instead of killing him. I personally refuse to let Alucard, or in the past Walter harm vampires that were just living their lives. My only goal is to protect my Queen and Country." Integra said.
"Sorry. I was just worried for a minute..." Zorin said.
"It make sense. We are a vampire hunting organization. We're just a lot more discerning than we used to be." Integra explained.
"Im going to send her a letter and ask Renny to stay with her so she can reply. I'm going back tomorrow too, I was hoping you'd come with Seras?" Harry said.
"Of course! Perhaps seeing a vampire in Hellsing uniform will help." Seras said.
Hours later, Renfield made his way to the roof of her building with Harry's letter and an invitation to reply, which she did immediately. That night for the first time in centuries, Helena went to sleep with a smile on her face.
