Chapter 15:
Vlad felt like he was burning, that was the last thing he could remember, his dreams were filled with fire. With great effort Vlad managed to open his eyes, it took a moment for his vision to come into focus and suddenly wished it hadn't as the first thing he saw was Renfield smiling down at him. "Oh, master Vlad you're awake" Renfield said rambling on about how good it was that had finally woken up –
"Yes, thank you Renfield," Vlad said before attempting to rise out of his coffin collapsing back in pain. "You shouldn't try to move Master Vlad" Renfield said before hurrying over to his trolley and returning holding a vial of brown liquid "You need to drink this Master Vlad" Renfield said before gently placing the vial to his young master's lips, he tipped the vial and Vlad swallowed it in one gulp. He then preceded to grimace in disgust and dry heave "WHAT was that?" he demanded
"A small healing concoction of my own creation, Transylvanian bat vomit mixed with werewolf spit and a sprinkling of ground-up cockroach, it will heal those burns right up master Vlad" Renfield said as the burns on Vlad's face healed up as he spoke
"Oh well thanks Renfield," Vlad said
"I should point out that side effects may include drowsiness" Vlad promptly passed out.
Remus was nursing a cup of tea he had been rationing this single cup of tea for over three-quarters of an hour. He was sitting in the tea shop awaiting a meeting with Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster had requested the meeting for the late afternoon and Remus had arrived early. He had it drilled into him by his father that he should always be punctual and polite because given his condition people would judge him and that Remus should never give them any other reason too. Remus twitched scratching his neck, still not used to his new robes, it was a great shock when had saw the contents of his Gringrotts vault. Who knew working for a vampire family would pay so much, then again from the point of view of a family who claimed to be royalty they probably thought they were underpaying him. He chuckled at the thought. A voice spoke next to him "Is that seat taken?" –
Remus turned with a start and gawped in shock at the vampiress standing next to him. "I'll take your gormless expression and silence as you offering me the seat, why thank you of course I'll join you for a drink" Ingrid said in clear amusement as she sat in the empty chair opposite him. "Miss Dracula -"
"How many times, call me Ingrid," she said and then with a hand wave and snap of the fingers summoned the waiter who like most of the male gender stared at her in awe. Ingrid ignored him picked up the menu from the table, and looked down at it for a moment before deciding "I'll have a cup of warm pig's blood" she said before placing the menu back on the table before noticing the waiter still stood there "are you still here? Go and get my order before I decide to drink something else" Ingrid said smiling at the waiter with just a hint of fang. The waiter scurried away with wide eyes and a terrified look on his face. "Miss Dracu Ingrid was that really necessary" Remus said tone well used to scolding unnecessary behaviour.
"No but it was a lot of fun" Remus looked at her sternly "You sound like Vlad"
"To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?" Remus asked
"Oh, I just popped in for a drink and spotted a familiar face so thought I'd say hello," Ingrid said nonchalantly. The waiter returned at this moment with Ingrid's order which he placed on the table and virtually ran away from the table to the sound of Ingrid's laughter before she took a sip of her drink. "So, what brings you here then Remus?
"I'm meeting someone," Remus said quietly
"Oh, meeting someone, a female someone," Ingrid said with a smirk "You old dog you"
"Oh, we've progressed to dog jokes that's a novelty," Remus said in a feigned bored tone
"Young Remus was in fact meeting me, but I can understand why he might find your company preferable to an old wizard like me" Albus Dumbledore said in a light mischievous voice with a twinkle in his eyes.
Both Remus and Ingrid jumped as Dumbledore spoke, neither had been aware of his approach lost in their own little world. "Prrr professor you're here," Remus said standing up to greet his former headmaster. After a handshake, Dumbledore withdrew his wand and proceeded to start a complex series of wand movements, which captivated Ingrid. His wand stopped as suddenly the table extended and a large wingback chair popped into existence. Dumbledore proceeded to sit down in his extra comfy chair "So Remus aren't you going to introduce me to your friend"
"Oh yes, right Albus Dumbledore Ingrid Dracula" Remus said indicating from the professor to the vampire.
"Charmed my lady," Dumbledore said placing a kiss on Ingrid's outstretched hand. "oh, you must regale with the circumstances of your meeting, I do so adore the gossip of young people comes from working in a school I suppose"
"Oh, it's not that special I'm afraid Remus has been tutoring my youngest brother" Ingrid said with a charming smile "But anyway I must be getting along, Remus we must do this again sometime" she said getting up from her seat "Mr Dumbledore a pleasure" Ingrid nodded her head and proceeded to leave the tearoom.
"What an interesting friend you have there Remus" Dumbledore said with clear humour in his voice. "She's more my employer's brother than a friend really," Remus said. Count Dracula hadn't spoken a single word to him or acknowledged his existence, so he considered Vladimir to be his employer. "How are you finding your first foray into the world of education? I have found that the shaping of young minds to be one of life's great joys" Dumbledore said softly.
"Oh, you know it's going alright, helps take my mind off, oh well you know" Remus said in a mournful voice. "You may be wondering Remus why I asked for this meeting"
"The thought had crossed my mind professor" Remus said with a light chuckle
"I asked to speak to you Remus because I hoped you may be able to shed some light on a rather delicate situation," Dumbledore said "I have heard that one of Fenrir Greyback's lieutenants was recently dispatched to muggle London, word has reached the ministry and as I'm sure your aware the ministry has not been well disposed to werewolves recently"
"Or ever" Remus muttered
Dumbledore continued, " I would rather like to ensure that a pitched battle does not occur between members of Greyback's pack and the werewolf capture unit".
"And you're wondering if I might know anything," Remus said amused
"To put it bluntly yes Remus I was," Dumbledore said
"As it happens, I do know something, you see some of the werewolves that pay homage to Greyback run an illegal booze racket in muggle London, as a way to earn a living because of all the ministry restrictions. But recently most of the muggle gangs that did business with them have shall we say a change of management" Remus said
"What sort of change of management?" Dumbledore asked
"Vampires professor"
"Vampires you say, interesting"
"Aye Greyback's heavies have come down for protection for if or should I say when hostilities break out" Remus said
"Are you so sure violence is inevitable?" Dumbledore asked
"You say that because you're thinking if violence between Lycanthropes and Strigoi is so inevitable how come I'm employed by a family of them" Remus said
"Well, I wasn't going to mention it but yes"
"The difference is that the violence will come about due to the inevitable arguments over territory and prey, it will be bloody and nasty, and I plan to stay well out of it. I'm just going to stick to my tutoring. If you want my advice professor, keep well clear of it and make sure the ministry keeps clear too because if wizards get involved it will only make matters worse" Remus said
"If there's going to be violence, shouldn't we try to prevent it?" Dumbledore asked
"Normally I'd say yes but, in this case, trying to prevent will only make it worse"
"How so?" Dumbledore asked genuinely curious, it wasn't often that he was the one learning new things and he always enjoyed the experience.
"The fighting will last a couple of days, there will be deaths on both sides and then an agreement will be reached, honour satisfied as they say, and everything will be fine" Remus said.
"You sound so sure of the outcome"
"It has happened before; it will happen again," Remus said in a resigned tone.
"I thank you for your advice and it has been good to see you Remus, we must meet up more often," Dumbledore said.