Vampires and Ball Gowns

The events at Hogsmeade brought all of the Ministry Six unwanted attention. Luna, who had been an outcast inside Ravenclaw, suddenly became a source of House pride. The male students of all Houses, but especially those of Ravenclaw, began to notice that she was actually quite pretty despite being odd. The former image of Neville as a plump loser drove several boys to make moves on Luna, but she quickly turned them down.

On the other hand, the physical changes in Neville hadn't gone unnoticed by the female population of Hogwarts either. Many girls saw him as their most likely ticket to becoming part of the most famous group of wizards since "The Weird Sisters". When Luna wasn't around, some girls tried to get his attention. One night, after he had dropped off Luna and he was walking back to Gryffindor Tower, an audacious Ravenclaw flashed her breasts at him with a quizzical eyebrow. Despite his newfound fame and confidence, Neville was still quite shy; he quickly walked away feeling inexplicably embarrassed.

Fear of Ginny, and Harry's indifference, kept most girls from making any overt moves on The-Boy-Who-Lived. Despite that, he still was the object of many suggestive looks and winks. One early December morning during breakfast, he was sitting next to Ron, with Hermione and Ginny sitting across from them, when an attractive seventh year girl at the Hufflepuff table started smiling and winking at both boys.

Under the Hufflepuff table they could see that her school robes were open, and that her short skirt revealed a lot of leg. The two Gryffindors tried to ignore her, but when she slowly and deliberately flashed her knickerless crotch, it was hard to ignore her anymore. Ginny and Hermione noticed something was amiss when the eyes of their boyfriends bugged out. The two girls turned quickly, just in time to see the Hufflepuff bringing her legs together.

Ginny's face turned red with fury. She could overlook girls smiling, winking and even making suggestive comments to Harry, but flashing him was something she was not going to stand for. She got up and marched towards the terrified looking Hufflepuff girl, followed closely by an equally furious Hermione.

The Hufflepuff flasher was completely frozen with fear. People got away from her as if she had a severe case of Dragon pox and she was about to explode. Hermione pulled out her wand and cast a Muffliato charm around the three of them.

All of the school watched in rapt attention as loud buzzing filled the Great Hall. From the hand movements of Ginny, it was easy to figure out that gruesome violence was being threatened. When she stopped, Hermione leaned forward and shook her wand menacingly at the completely cowered seventh year girl.

If Ron and Harry thought they were off the hook, they were sadly mistaken. Hermione cast another Muffliato charm when they returned to the Gryffindor table and went on the offensive.

"What were you looking at?" she demanded angrily from Ron.

For his part, Harry knew he was in trouble when Ginny put her closed fists on her hips.

"Yes, Harry, what were you looking at?" she inquired with an icy tone.

Both boys looked at each other open mouthed and spluttered incoherently. Harry was able to talk first.

"It was impossible not to look," he protested. "She was right in front of us... I... I... I'd never seen one before..."

Harry regretted saying those words the moment they came out of his mouth. It sounded like a recrimination. Ginny's eyes narrowed, and she looked on the verge of hexing him, but then her shoulders dropped, and she seemed to deflate.

The redhead girl turned around and she stormed out of the Great Hall with Luna close behind. Harry tried to follow her, but Hermione stopped him with a reproachful look. She then turned to Ron.

"What's your excuse?" she spat before undoing the charm and following her coven sisters.

Romilda Vane, who had witnessed the entire incident, saw an opportunity. She got up from the far end of the table, and she walked towards Harry swaying her hips.

Harry narrowed her eyebrows warningly when she approached. "Get away from me, Vane," he growled.

She was about to say something when Ron spoke up angrily.

"Harry is too polite to speak more clearly, but I'm not. Get away from us, you fucking slag!"

Girls from all four Houses started clapping and laughing. Romilda froze for a moment, but then she raised her chin defiantly, and spoke under her breath. "Jealous bitches," she said contemptuously.

Unseen by her, Professor McGonagall had approached and was standing right behind her when she spoke.

"That will be a week's detention for slandering your fellow students, Ms Vane," the Transfiguration teacher said severely. "Mr Weasley," she added turning to Ron, "two days detention for... for using foul language."

There was a hint of a smug smile on Professor McGonagall's face.

OoOoO

During lunch that day, Hermione and Ginny ate at the Ravenclaw table with Luna. Harry tried to approach the redhead, but Hermione shook her head negatively at him. He was a bit relieved when all three girls showed up in the Room of Requirement for the night's training session. Only Ron was missing because of his detention.

They all did their exercise routines and katas silently. Later the two boys and the three girls sparred separately before changing to mixed sexes sparring. Since Ron wasn't there to spar with her, Hermione sat down and kept an eye on the Marauder's Map to make sure he was safe.

On Tuesdays it was Bare Knuckle Boxing night. After putting on their protective gear and training gloves, the two couples stepped into the boxing rings provided by the room.

Ginny was on Harry like a hurricane before he even had a chance to completely settle down. She quickly landed several body blows that sent him reeling back. Normally during sparring sessions, they didn't use full powered punches, but the sting in Harry's ribs told him that those punches had plenty of power in them.

Harry assumed a completely defensive position, only jabbing occasionally. Ginny was too fast for him, and the only way he could defeat her would be by using his superior strength and size to his advantage.

The redhead wasn't amused by Harry's attitude. She spat out the mouth guard. "Fight me!" she demanded.

Harry also spat out his mouth guard. "You're upset, Ginny. We should stop," he said reasonably. "I want to talk to you."

Unfortunately for Harry, his girlfriend hadn't worked out her aggression yet. She delivered a flurry of blows, most of which he managed to block, but a few got through.

"If you don't fight me, I'll knock you out," Ginny growled, stepping back with her guard held high and bouncing on the ball of her feet. She was looking for an opening or looking to create one.

"I'm sorry, Gi..."

The redhead started a new flurry of punches. Her speed was about to overwhelm Harry, so he had no other choice than to clinch her. Ginny tried to break the clinch, but he was too strong for her. She found a little space and attempted to deliver a full powered upper cut.

Harry's head moved at the last possible moment. Her fist whizzed by his chin, barely missing him. They both realized that even with the slightly padded training gloves, the punch could have caused serious damage if it had connected. Harry let go of Ginny. She stepped back and dropped her guard, visibly shocked by what she had almost done.

"Harry..." she whispered anxiously.

"I wasn't trying to recriminate you for anything this morning, Ginny," he said with all the sincerity he could muster. "I said it without thinking."

Hermione, who had been watching them with great concern, motioned Luna and Neville to follow her out of the room. When they did, the room transformed. The boxing rings disappeared, and a couple of comfortable upholstered chairs appeared.

Ginny let herself fall on one of them, still shocked that she had almost hurt Harry.

"I'll wait until you're ready, however long it takes," he continued.

Ginny gave him a skeptical look and raised a doubtful eyebrow at him.

Harry chuckled and sat down. "Ideally it would be before we reach retirement age, of course."

Ginny took a couple of deep breaths. "I don't want to do it just because I feel that's the only way I can keep you, Harry. I don't want to do it just because half of the girls in this school will shag you if I don't."

"Look. I won't deny I want more," he replied evenly. "I won't deny that I think about it... all the time. But I want you and no one else, Ginny."

The redhead's smile reached her eyes. "I think about it also, Harry. A lot." She paused to gather her thoughts. "I wanted to wait until I was sixteen..." she said trying to judge his reaction.

She wasn't going to tell him, but the more she thought about it, the more ridiculous the idea of waiting just for the sake of waiting seemed.

She wasn't just another immature fifteen-year-old girl. She was a mature young woman who had already seen more, done more and lived through more than most adults. Real life and death stuff, not just your normal teenage anxieties. The words of advice of her mother were still fresh in her memory, and she was absolutely certain that her desire for Harry wasn't for all the wrong reasons.

It wasn't the passing fancy of a girl with a crush; it wasn't something she wanted to do just to get it over with, or to feel like a grown woman; it wasn't hormones taking over her brain, although at times they almost did; it wasn't pure physical attraction with a thin coat of sentiment, either. It was real love, and she would hex anyone who suggested otherwise.

"I can wait until you're sixteen," Harry said evenly, bringing Ginny out of her thoughts.

"You can?" she asked surprised. "Because I don't think I can," she added with a sad smile.

Harry looked confused.

"Look, let's not set some artificial date," the redhead said earnestly. "It will happen when it will. But I still think that collecting samples is important. There are some important dates coming up, but I'm definitely hoping it happens before Walpurgis Night..."

"Walpurgis Night? Why Walpurgis Night?" Harry asked puzzled.

Ginny gave him her best suggestive smile. "Wouldn't you like to ritually prance naked around a bonfire with me? Not to mention that it isn't really Walpurgis Night, unless there is some naked flying involved. I've always wanted to do that."

"You have?" he replied lost in the imagery.

The idea of Ginny flying naked on a broom, and of him making love to her by a bonfire in the middle of the forest with the starry sky above them, made his ears feel hot. "Just don't tease me in the meantime," Harry said seriously. "You don't have any idea what's like to be a teenage boy and having the hottest celibate girlfriend in Britain."

Ginny got up and walked across to sit on his lap. She put both arms around his neck and pulled him down for a searing kiss. "Where's the fun in that?" she asked teasingly.

"I'm not kidding about the teasing, Ginny. This is really hard for me."

She had to laugh at the irony. "I can feel it's very hard for you," she said moving her bum a little to be more comfortable.

Harry laughed heartily before leaning down for another kiss. He loved her sense of humour and wouldn't want her to change it for the world. "Just don't overdo it."

Ginny had to shift again on his lap. Her beaming smile melted, and she looked at him with a serious expression as she got up. "I'll try."

Her gaze went quickly from his eyes to his crotch and back up to his eyes. She was seriously thinking about giving him relief with her hands. Harry seemed to have noticed something, because he was suddenly frozen, and his eyes had opened a little wider.

Even if Venus and the Sun were her ascendants, she could control herself. It didn't have to end in intercourse; she could just leave it at a handjob like other witches at Hogwarts did all the time; she could control the heat that was suffusing her entire body. The power of her will was greater than the power of the planets.

Wasn't it?

They were both panting heavily without realizing it. The building sexual energy between them could hardly be resisted. It wanted to pull them together. The hairs on the back of their necks were standing on end, and their skins tingled. The desire she felt was intolerable. Ginny's knees felt weak, and very soon she would have to sit on Harry's lap again. After that, there was no stopping it.

Suddenly a loud knocking sound came from all corners of the room.

"What was that?" they both asked startled.

A moment later Hermione peeked inside the room. "I just wanted to make sure that Harry is still alive," she inquired.

Ginny gave Harry an apologetic smile. "We were just leaving..."

OoOoO

"Have you noticed Malfoy?" Ron said casually during breakfast a week later.

Six pairs of eyes turned to look at Draco over at the Slytherin table. Luna was having breakfast with them that morning.

"He looks like shite," Neville said.

Draco's face was the colour of dough, and he had blue bags under his eyes. His hair looked like it had been falling in clumps, and he was thinner. He had food on his plate but wasn't actually eating it.

"The greasy git looks like a blonde version of Snape," Ginny added. "From the looks of it, he hasn't showered in days."

Harry narrowed his brow. "The question is, why?"

"He is up to something," Ron said emphatically.

Hermione chuckled. "I have to agree with you about Malfoy on this one, love, but whatever he is up to, it doesn't look like it's going well."

"He has been spending a lot of time in Snape's office according to the map," Harry said pensively.

Their observation of the blonde Slytherin was interrupted by the arrival of several school owls. Four of them descended in front of them. Harry, Ginny, Neville and Hermione opened the envelopes addressed to them.

"What is it?" Ron asked.

"They're invitations for the Slug Club's Christmas party," Hermione answered. "We can bring a guest," she added with a smile to Ron. "Look! There is a list of some of the invited guests."

"Are we going?" Harry asked surprised that anyone would even consider it.

"Yes, we are, Potter," Ginny said excitedly. "Gwenog Jones is going to be there."

"You better invite me," Luna warned Neville. "The vampire, Sanguini is going to be there also. I've always wanted to meet a vampire."

"I guess we're all going then," Ron said dejectedly.

The Slug Club's Christmas party was going to be in a little less than two weeks, on Friday the 20th, which was also the last day of the term. The next morning, they would all be taking the Hogwarts Express back to London for the Christmas break.

That Wednesday, in Hermione's room, the girls talked excitedly about the Christmas party as they prepared their cauldrons, mortars, pestles and ingredients.

What to wear was the main topic of discussion and concern for all three witches, but especially for Ginny. Hermione suggested she could borrow one of her Muggle dresses. She thought she had one that would be perfect for the redhead, and it would fit her like a glove with a little transfiguration. After they agreed, Hermione told her she was going to send an owl to her parents asking them to send both hers and Ginny's dresses for the party.

"Who are you most excited to meet?" Luna asked Hermione as she poured a pinch of Ginny's powdered nail clippings into a cauldron of Invigoration Draught.

"Myron Wagtail," Hermione said as she started stirring clockwise.

"I didn't figure you for a 'Weird Sister's' fan," Ginny said pouring some liverwort paste into the mix after the third stir.

"Appearances can be deceiving," the brunette replied smiling. She checked the timers on all three cauldrons they had brewing. "We can start exfoliating now."

The witches got their floor mats and exfoliating gloves out and started to strip down. When they were down to their knickers Ginny noticed that Hermione was beet red.

"What's the matter?" she asked.

Hermione took a deep breath. She was the oldest of the three witches, and according to tradition she was the leader of the coven. She intended to lead by example. With swift leg movements she removed her knickers and resisted the overwhelming urge to cover herself with her hands.

She stood completely naked in front of Ginny and Luna, both of whom looked surprised.

"If we can't be comfortable naked in front of each other, we'll never be comfortable when the boys have to be around," Hermione said by way of an explanation, but feeling very uncomfortable.

Ginny and Luna looked at each other. The blonde girl shrugged her shoulders and removed her knickers without the slightest hint of embarrassment.

Ginny turned just as red as Hermione had been a moment ago. "I guess you're right," she sighed resignedly.

The redhead removed her bikini knickers but couldn't stop herself from putting her hands in front of her crotch.

"You're cheating," Luna pointed out.

Ginny gave her blonde friend an annoyed look but moved her hands away. She then looked down pointedly at Hermione's curly black bush, to Luna's gossamer golden down and finally to her lush crimson moss. "We're a very colourful coven of witches, aren't we?" she deadpanned.

Hermione laughed. "I see I'm the only one without a matching carpet," the brown-haired witch added amusedly.

Within minutes the three witches were exfoliating themselves and each other's naked bodies as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"This was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be," Hermione said as she slowly rubbed Ginny's back.

"Well, it's part of our tradition after all," Luna pointed out.

"You realize that the main reason Muggles persecuted us," Ginny added, "wasn't because there was any truth to their fantasies about us dancing with the devil or kissing his arse. What really bothered them, besides their own ignorance, was our sexuality and the nakedness in the major rites."

"The osculo podex is tradition during Walpurgis Night," Luna pointed out

"That tradition should remain dead," Hermione said in her militant voice. "Kissing you wizard's arse to show submission to the male patriarchy is beneath any self-respecting witch. We're not in the sixteenth century anymore."

Ginny laughed and Hermione looked at her indignantly.

"I'm sorry Hermione," she apologized chuckling. "The other day I told Harry I wanted to celebrate Walpurgis Night with him. I sure hope he isn't expecting me to kiss his arse. He can expect to get everything else, though. Lately I'm so randy I think I'm going insane."

Hermione had already noticed that the sexuality of witches and wizards was more intense than that of Muggles. "I imagine that in the sixteenth century we would have burned. Three naked women touching each other while naked wouldn't go down very well with that crowd," she said amusedly. "When I got my Hogwarts letter," she continued more soberly, "I started researching the history of witchcraft. One of the books I read was the Malleus Meleficarum. The Witches Hammer. Back then witches like us suffered horrific tortures. They were accused of everything Muggles couldn't explain or understand; be it droughts, children getting sick or men being impotent. They were also accused of mundane sexual acts. Things like blowjobs, anal sex or even the osculo podex which of course the inquisitors always insisted had been performed with the devil. They were usually tortured while naked, with the excuse that the interrogators had to look for the witch's mark put on their bodies by the devil. Of course, if you had a birthmark, a mole or even a freckle," she said looking at Ginny, "they would burn you at the stake."

Her musings came to an end when they finished exfoliating. The three girls didn't bother putting their clothes back on. Being naked made them feel proud of their heritage at that moment. They just put more wood in the fire, cast another warming charm for the room, and kept working on their potions and talking about the party.

After they finished bottling the potions, Hermione gave Ginny and Luna a beaded bag each.

"Your bags are charmed the same way as mine. You just have to Accio whatever you need or look for it. They have your basic emergency potions and supplies like blood replenishing potion, skin restoring salves, essence of dittany, Skele-Gro; universal antidote, antiseptics, analgesic potions, and so on. There're also other useful potions and items like pimple vanishers, Mrs Monvoisin's skin care cream... even Doxycide. You get the idea."

"Did you put in a contraceptive potion also?" Ginny asked shyly.

After that day in the Room of Requirement with Harry, the redhead realized that the fact that she wasn't on the potion yet, wouldn't have stopped her from making love to him. Hermione's arrival had been providential given the legendary fertility of Prewett women.

"Yes," Hermione replied, "you have a six-month supply, but the one in there is only for emergencies." The brunette walked over to a trunk in the corner, and after grabbing a phial, gave it to the redhead. "One dose each month after your period," she told her. "We'll make enough for all three of us from now on.

"I also suggest that you keep an extra toothbrush as well as a couple of changes of clothes and underwear in there," Hermione concluded.

Since Ron and Hermione started being intimate, the girls had stopped sleeping over in Hermione's room. When the boys came over to escort Luna and Ginny back, the three witches had to scramble to get dressed. Their giggling and the calls to pass each other their clothes could be heard outside the door. Neville could swear that he heard Luna saying that Nargles must have taken her knickers.

"What's going on in here?" Ron asked suspiciously when they opened the door.

"You especially, wouldn't want to know," Ginny said to her brother laughing.

"You said you would invite us over some time ago," Harry reminded Hermione sounding intrigued.

Hermione and Ginny exchanged a look. The redhead shrugged.

"After the Christmas break, we'll probably work something out," Hermione said to the boys.

OoOoO

Forget Voldemort. Ginny Weasley was going to be the end of Harry Potter.

She stood at the top of the stairs of the Gryffindor Common Room wearing a strapless royal blue dress that made his mouth go dry. The wide and airy skirt was cut a couple of inches above the knee and the dress had a tight embroidered bodice that stressed every enticing curve of her body. She wore blue high-heeled shoes that made her legs and bum look stunning.

It was the first time that he recalled seeing Ginny in high heels, and he definitely liked it. She floated down the stairs and kissed him on the cheek with ruby red lips.

"You look amazing, Ginny," Harry said breathlessly.

"Thanks, Harry," she replied looking up and down at the bespoke robes he was wearing. "You look very, very handsome yourself."

"Thanks," he said a little embarrassed. "Aren't you going to get cold?"

"Sometimes a woman needs to make a few sacrifices to look her best," she said smiling. "Besides, I'm counting on you to keep me warm," she added.

Harry groaned. "Remember what we said about the teasing?"

Ginny giggled in that endearing way that he loved.

"You are letting your imagination run wild, Harry," she explained with feigned innocence. "What I meant to say is that if I get cold, I'll borrow your overcoat."

The couple joined Neville to go pick up Luna, who was wearing a very interesting silver spangled dress, and then headed to the party. On the way they caught up the Ron and Hermione who was wearing a youthful, but very becoming red dress very similar to Ginny's.

They arrived at the reception room and stood at the entrance for just a moment. Harry had never been to this room before, but it was very elegant. The lower third of the walls had rich oak vertical board wainscoting tapered into a point, and it had patterned marble floors. The curtains were made of the highest quality damask, and a giant crystal candelabrum with hundreds of candles hung from the ceiling.

Harry's observations were cut short when Professor Slughorn noticed that they had arrived. He quickly walked over and grabbed Harry by the arm. He started introducing the six students as if they were his best friends.

Hermione was visibly excited to personally meet Myron Wagtail, which made Ron feel quite miserable, but then he remembered that after the party was over, he was the one that would be going to bed with that girl, and that she loved him. He felt very smug about that.

Ginny not only got Gwenog Jones's autograph; her idol also promised to send her one of her personal Harpies' jerseys, and an autographed photo of the entire team.

Luna was disappointed that Sanguini hadn't arrived yet, but everyone they met seemed really excited to meet them as well. Ginny watched with amusement how mortified Harry was every time someone asked for his autograph.

The party was mostly about mingling and having some hors d'ouvres, but slow music started playing in the background.

"Ask me to dance with you," Ginny pleaded to her boyfriend.

"What?"

"Ask me to dance with you, please."

Normally Harry would have dreaded the idea of dancing, but he definitely didn't dread the idea of being close to Ginny.

"Will you dance with me, Ginny?" he asked extending his hand, and bowing formally.

Ron looked horrified when he saw Ginny and Harry walking to the dance floor. He had a look of incomprehension and betrayal on his face that made his best friend laugh. Hermione forcibly dragged him to the dance floor a few moments later.

Flashbulbs flashed, but Harry didn't care if the photo was plastered all over the Daily Prophet in the morning. Ginny clung closely to him as they swayed. Everything was good.

"Remember when you asked me to the Yule Ball?" she asked him.

"Please, don't remind me what an idiot I was back then."

Ginny chuckled. "I'm no longer your last resort date, then?"

"Certainly not. There's no other woman in the world I'd rather be with."

She sighed. "I had this fantasy that you would ask me to dance with you during the Yule Ball, even though I wasn't your date. You, of course, would fall madly in love with me, and you would kiss me in the middle of the dance floor for all the school to see..."

Harry suddenly leaned down and gave her a kiss that made her toes curl. More flashbulbs flashed.

"Like that?" he whispered, before giving her a softer, but equally passionate kiss. "Or like that?"

"Do I have to choose?" she asked breathlessly.

Harry chuckled. "No."

They continued dancing slowly and closely until the music stopped.

"I'm madly in love with you, Ginny," Harry whispered into her ear before pecking her lips.

She looked up at him with beaming eyes. "Me too, Harry. Thank you for making my dream come true."

The couple left the dance floor holding hands and joined their friends. Harry grabbed a pair of bottles of Butterbeer for them. Susan Bones, who had been invited to the party by Marcus Belby, approached the three couples. The Hufflepuff girl sent her date away on some errand, and proceeded to inquire about what was Harry planning for the DA.

Harry told her the truth. He thought that the DA was important, and that it could still play a role, but right now he had too many balls in the air to juggle. At that moment Sanguini and his guest, another male vampire, arrived. Professor Slughorn started making the introductory rounds with them. They were slowly but surely moving towards Harry and his friends.

Harry noticed that most of the women in the room were following the two undead creatures with their eyes. The attraction charm of vampires over women was well known.

"Those vampires are using their charm," Hermione said a bit confused. "I can feel it."

They all knew that vampires only used their strongest attraction charm when they needed to attract prey to feed.

"Someone is getting bitten tonight," Luna said matter-of-factly.

"Aren't they beautiful," Susan Bones gushed to no one in particular.

Hermione ignored the comment of the Hufflepuff. "It's very irresponsible to bring vampires to school if they haven't fed."

"They are almost here," Susan said excitedly.

"May I introduce, Mr Harry Potter," Professor Slughorn said as he approached. "Mr Potter, this is Mario Sanguini and his guest signore Montoni. Signore Sanguini is of course famous for his memoirs, which span five hundred years of history."

They shook hands and Harry was struck by their coldness. Slughorn introduced Ginny next. The vampire bowed deeply, and he raised Ginny's hand to kiss it. Harry noticed that the nostrils of both Sanguini and Montoni flared as they kissed her hand. Their nostrils also flared when they kissed the hands of Hermione and Luna.

All of Harry's senses went on alert, but nothing happened. Luna managed to ask Sanguini if he slept in a coffin, and if garlic really was a good repellent for vampires, but before she could ask any more questions, Slughorn pulled the two undead creatures away to continue the introductions.

"Oh, Merlin!" Susan Bones said, fanning herself with her hand. "Isn't signore Montoni a dream?" she asked Luna.

"His hands and lips were rather cold," Luna replied pulling Neville closer to her. "I'd rather have a warm, hot-blooded wizard than a vampire any day. I can't imagine having something that cold between my legs."

Butterbeer sprayed out of Neville's nose.

Hermione and Ginny laughed, but Susan looked indignant. She harrumphed and walked away.

Ginny noticed that Harry was tense, and that he was following the vampires with his eyes around the room.

"What's the matter, love?"

"Look at them," he said motioning with his head at the vampires. Sanguini and Montoni were talking conspiratorially on the other end of the room. "They looked like they were capturing your blood scent when they kissed your hand. I think we should go."

"I assure you, their charm isn't working on me, but yours is," Ginny said playfully.

Harry chuckled. "I'm not being jealous, Ginny. Something isn't right."

Ginny's face turned serious, and she motioned with her hand for Hermione and Luna to approach. Harry could tell she was all business now.

"We're leaving," Harry said with finality when the two other couples arrived. "I have a bad feeling about the vampires."

Seemingly out of nowhere the girls pulled wands out of their dresses. Luna put hers on top of her ear, while Hermione and Ginny secured them to their belts. The three couples started to make their way out, but people kept stopping them to greet them.

Harry saw Professor Slughorn approach the vampires and start a conversation when suddenly Montoni took a huge bite out of the professor's neck. Blood sprayed out as Slughorn fell to the floor.

People started screaming and running in every direction. The vampires moved with unnatural speed towards Harry's group. The boys instinctively pushed the girls back, but only managed one missed wand shot each before Sanguini and Montoni were on top of them. The speedy creatures had avoided the hexes with ease.

The physical strength of the three boys was no match to the strength of one vampire, much less to that of two. The blows the boys connected had no effect on them. The close proximity kept the girls from firing their wands. Ginny fired an accurate Diffindo charm dispite only having a very small opening to safely shoot. It hit Sanguini on the neck, but no blood came out of the big gash.

"Use your Portkeys!" Harry screamed to the girls before a blow from Montoni sent him flying across the room. He crashed barely conscious in a heap against a table. Ron and Neville were soon dispatched by the vampires. Ron received a nasty bite on the forearm before being smashed against the wall, and Neville was hit with a blow that broke several ribs and knocked him out.

None of the three witches used their Portkeys. They had no intention of leaving their boyfriends behind. With the boys out of the way, they fired a withering barrage of curses and hexes.

The vampires moved so fast that they seemed to be Apparating from one spot to the other. They ran up the walls, and on the ceiling, avoiding the hexes with uncanny efficiency. Their radar-like hearing allowed them to easily avoid the curses. They laughed at the efforts of the girls as they got closer and closer.

Sanguini chuckled derisively. "I've told you many times not to play with your food, Montoni."

"It's too bad we can't change them, but I'll enjoy sucking all that refreshing witches' blood," the younger of the vampires replied. "I've been hungry ever since I smelled their blood scent."

The girls drew closer together and started stepping back.

"Destroy the candelabrum," Hermione whispered to Ginny.

The redhead looked at the brunette as if she was crazy.

"Trust me," Hermione assured her. "Luna, you scream as hard as you can."

"BOMBARDA!"

The crystal candelabra broke into a thousand pieces. At the same time, Hermione transformed the broken crystal into tinsel chaff that slowly drifted in the air. Luna started a high-pitched scream.

The vampires seemed confused, and their movements became considerably slower. They moved erratically. Their sharp, radar-like sense of hearing was being confused by the sound waves of Luna's scream bouncing off the chaff in every direction.

"Get them!" Hermione yelled. "Keep screaming!"

The vampires still managed to avoid most of the withering wand fire of the three witches, but curses started to connect. Their resistance to bludgeoning and bone breaking curses was superhuman, but slowly they began to have an effect.

Harry sat up groaning from the pain of a dislocated left shoulder. He had seen a Dracula movie once, so he did the only thing that came to his mind at the moment. He pointed his wand to the tapered oak boards of the wainscoting.

"Confiero momentum!" he screamed whipping his wand towards Montoni, who was closest."

Over two dozen pointed boards flew with blazing speed towards the vampire, who was busy trying to avoid hexes. They impaled every part of his body. One went through his cold, non-beating heart, and he sank to the floor.

Sanguini managed to avoid most of the boards that Harry had whipped his way, but he was impaled by a few of them. Seeing what Harry was doing, the three witches followed his example. Hundreds of oak boards flew towards Sanguini.

The multi-centenarian vampire knew he had no escape. He stood tall and said a resigned "Fuck" before his entire body was impaled by the boards.

Harry and the three witches approached with their wands pointed at the fallen vampire.

"It's over," Harry said with a sigh of relief.

"Not yet," Luna said coldly. "Incendio!"

The body of Sanguini burst into flames. It didn't take long for the fire to become dangerously intense. They extinguished it with Aguamenti charms and repeated the procedure with the body of Montoni. Then ran to check on Ron's and Neville's injuries.

Dumbledore and Madame Pomfrey arrived at that moment. She took a quick look at Slughorn, but it was too late for him. By the time the school nurse had reached the students, Hermione had cleaned off Ron's bite with antiseptics, given him a dose of blood replenishing potion, and applied skin restoration cream.

"Am I going to turn into a vampire?" he asked his girlfriend with an expression of dread.

"Fortunately, he was trying to kill you, not to change you," Hermione answered.

Madame Pomfrey insisted that all three boys spend the night in the hospital wing. She reset Harry's shoulder with a painful spell and put it in a sling. Neville was given Skele-Gro and his ribs were bandaged. Ron, on the other hand, would stay just for observation. The nurse complimented Hermione on the first aid she had given him before she gave the teens some private time to say goodnight.

As soon as the nurse was out of sight, Harry spoke.

"You should have used your Portkeys," he said without reproach.

'We are all in this together," Ginny replied evenly. "Either all of us leave, or all of us stay. Get that through your head, Harry."

"Ginny is right," Hermione intervened. "We probably wouldn't have survived tonight if we hadn't stayed together."

"You know what this was, don't you, Hermione?" Harry asked concerned.

Hermione took a deep breath. "This was an assassination attempt. Voldemort wants Harry Potter's witches dead," she said soberly.

"The three of you should sleep in Hermione's room." It was more an order than a suggestion.

The three witches agreed, and each gave a heartfelt kiss goodnight to their boyfriend before leaving the hospital wing.

That night, Harry didn't sleep a wink. He spent the entire night looking at Hermione's room in the Marauder's Map.

OoOoO

In the morning, the buzz in the Hogwarts Express was that Draco Malfoy was missing.

"Do you think he was involved in what happened last night?" Ron asked.

Hermione slapped his hand when he tried to scratch the salve on his wound. "The timing is rather suspicious."

"Those vampires were there to kill the three of you," Harry pointed out to the girls. "I won't forget that if I ever see Draco again."

Neville and Ron grunted their agreement.

"Poor Professor Slughorn," Hermione said sadly. "I wonder who is going to replace him."

Unbeknownst to them, Draco Malfoy was at that moment unconscious in a basement room of Malfoy Manor. The torture that Voldemort had subjected him for failing once more had almost killed him. Only the desperate pleads of his mother, Narcissa, and the usefulness of his father, especially in the Ministry of Magic, had saved his life.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay at the Burrow, Harry?" Ginny asked, pouting.

"I promise I'll visit you every day, and sleep over on Christmas and New Year's, but I have my own flat now. I actually kind of miss it," he said a little surprised. "We should get together during the break. Maybe you can all visit my flat."

"I'd love to see your flat!" Ginny exclaimed excitedly.

"Me too!" Hermione added eagerly. "Why don't we do our Christmas shopping together on Monday and visit your flat afterwards?"

Ginny was almost jumping with excitement. "That's a brilliant idea, Hermione. I'd love to see the Muggle shops. My Dad says they have really amazing festive decorations during Christmas. Please, let's do it!" she said looking pleadingly around the compartment.

Neville and Luna readily agreed.

"You think we can convince Mum to let us go?" Ron asked looking uncertain.

"Leave that to me," the redhead girl said sure of herself. "You just back me up."

When they were 30 minutes away from London, Harry cleared his throat. "Sorry to dampen the mood, but we need to talk about security." After he was sure he had everybody's attention, he continued. "Tonks and Remus will be waiting at King's Cross to escort Hermione and her parents to their home. The rest of us will take the Knight Bus. We'll drop off Luna first, then Neville, and the rest of us will get off at the Burrow. I'll portkey to my flat from there. It's imperative that all of us have our Portkeys with us all times, is that clear?" Harry waited for everyone to assent. "Even if you're just going to the loo, take your Portkey," he emphasized.

The rest of the train ride they made all kinds of plans for Monday. Hermione, who was the most familiar with London, started to immediately work on an itinerary of the places and shops they would go to.

The Hogwarts Express arrived at King's Cross without incident. At the platform Ron and Hermione felt the intense pain of their first separation. It was accomplished with the utmost reluctance.

When they finally arrived at the Burrow, Harry had to politely refuse Mrs Weasley's insistent demands that he stay at the Burrow, before kissing a sad looking Ginny goodbye, and using his own Portkey to go to his flat.

OoOoOoOoO

A/N: Walpurgis Night is on the night of April 30 to May 1st. People did believe that witches flew naked on that night. I figured that would be something that Ginny would be interested in.

Signore Montoni is the villain in The Mysteries of Udolpho.