Chapter Seventeen – Castle Dracule
Deep in the depths of the Romanian ministry was an empty unused room. It had been sealed for nearly a year, magical charms covering the entrance and the floo to stop unauthorised use of the connection. Romania had cut ties with the British since the rebirth of Voldemort and his minions. The government was all too aware of their countries reputation for been 'dark' but despite some evidence to back that assumption up, the current government was keen to dismiss those rumours. Sure they had a vampire problem, a big problem at that, and yes, Voldemort had taken refuge in the country when he was a shade – but the general populace of the magical community were good law abiding citizens keen to live good lives. So when the Dark Lord rose to power in magical Britain, Romania cut all ties with the beleaguered country and sealed the international floo.
However the blocks on the floo were suddenly broken and the familiar green flames rose within the space. Three people suddenly appeared, two gracefully stepping out of the grate, and the third stumbling and falling flat on his face.
"Ouch! Bugger! Why can I never get the hang of that?" Harry groaned from the floor. The light of the floo died and all three found themselves in a totally dark room.
"Lumos" Harry muttered and a ball of pure white light appeared on the palm of his hand lighting up the room in an intense white light; blinding all three of them with the suddenness of it all. Harry magically dimmed the ball of light until it was no longer painful to look at and left all three of them blinking away the sudden spots of light that appeared in their vision.
"Sorry, I guess I overpowered that a little. Where are we and where is everyone?" Harry asked as they all looked around the empty and very dusty room. Above the fireplace was a small Union Jack flag, faded and scratched but other than that the room was empty. Suddenly a loud alarm sounded and the door burst open. Four armed wizards ran in, wands aimed at them.
"Rămâi unde ești și nu te mișca. Ține-ți mâinile unde le pot vedea." The lead wizard shouted.
"Acum!" he shouted when they did not move.
Harry slowly raised his hands, he had not understood the words but the meaning was very clear. Even though Hermione and he could take the four with little problem, they needed the help of the government here so he decided to play it safe.
"Sorry, but I do not understand you sir" he said slowly and calmly.
"Inglsih? Do not move! Hands up!" The wizard told them in heavily accented English.
Slowly all three raised their hands. None of them had their wands drawn but Harry sill had the glowing ball of light attached to his now raised palm.
"Vot is dat?" the wizard asked, pointing at the ball of light with his wand.
"Sorry but it was dark when we arrived. Nox!" Harry said causing the light to fade. This alarmed the wizards who all now pointed there wands at Harry, the points of which were all glowing with barely repressed spells.
"Now Demetri, there is no need for all this hostility. I am sure that these fine people mean us no harm." A familiar voice said from the dark doorway. With a wave of his hand the lights came up in the room and everyone blinked in the sudden illumination.
"Viktor!" Hermione shouted with a smile on her face.
"Hermy-own-ninny? Is that you? Vot are you doing here? Is that Harry with you?"
"Viktor, yes it's me. Could you ask you men to stand down, it's very hard to talk when they are pointing wands at you."
"How do I know it's really you?" Viktor asked.
"Viktor, when you took me to the Yule Ball, you kissed me once on the cheek and told me to admit that I loved Harry. I spent the whole evening talking about him and you realised that I loved him. I didn't believe you and it took me a few years to admit it to myself but we are now together."
"It is you! Demetri, you and your men may stand down. These are friends and I am to take them to the Minister."
"Yes sir!" Demetri saluted and the four lowered their wands and moved to stand by the door.
"Hermy-own-ninny, what are you doing in Bulgaria? Are you in need of help?"
"Yes Viktor we need some help. We need your help to defeat Voldemort"
"You need to come with me then to speak to the minister." He told them, and turned to leave. The three followed him and the four Aurors followed behind at a discrete distance.
"So tell me, are you vell?"
"We are well Viktor. I need to tell you that Harry and I are married now..."
"That is great Hermy I knew you vud end up together. I am with Katarina now, ve are to be married next summer. You are one lucky man Harry, Hermy-own-ninny is a special lady who made me realise that my Katarina was the one for me."
"Thank you Viktor. Who is Katarina if you don't mind me asking?" Harry asked.
"Vell, she is the love of my life. She worked with the team during the world cup. I vos to scared to speak to here but Hermy-own-ninny gave me the confidence to ask her, and she said yes. You vill both come to the vedding yes?"
"Off course Viktor we would love to, that's assuming we can rid the world of Voldemort before then." Harry replied. They continued walking down the corridor, with Luna trying to look unobtrusive, that was until Viktor spotted her.
"And who is your friend Hermy?" he asked as they walked.
"Viktor, may I introduce a very good friend of ours, Miss Luna Lovegood. Luna is our...guide on this little trip."
"Good to meet you Miss Lovegood, any friend of Hermy-own-ninny is a friend of mine. Can I ask what your little trip is in aid of?"
"Well it would be best if we speak to your minister first."
"Off course yes, we are nearly there." He said as he led them to a large oak door with two guards stood outside of it. As they approached they both saluted Viktor and opened the door for him.
"Sir, he is expecting you!" one of them told the party.
"Thank you Alexi." Viktor said as he led the threesome into the large office. Sat at the desk was a large, stern looking man, who looked up as the party entered the room.
"Viktor! Sunt acestea intruși? De ce le-ai adus aici și să nu le ia în jos la interogatoriu?" The minister said.
"Yes, sir, these are the intruders, but as they are friends of mine I brought them to see you instead of taking them to integration. May I present Harry Potter, his wife Hermy-own-ninny Potter and there friend Luna Lovegood. Harry, Hermy and Luna this is Minister Vladimir Krum, my uncle."
"Harry Potter eh! Now this is a surprise. And Mrs Potter, Viktor has spoken of you many times." The minister said in heavily accented English. "To what do we owe the honour Mr Potter?" He asked motioning for them to sit at the chairs that had appeared in front of the desk.
"Well sir, we are in need of your help. I assume that you know of our fight with the so called Lord Voldemort?"
"Yes Mr Potter, we are aware of your Dark Lord problem. I had hoped that your government would be more pro-active in the curtailing of the bastard, but they seemed content to let the man grow to power."
"Well yes. It has fallen to me due to a prophecy to stop him and we are searching for dark artefacts he has used to anchor himself to this world. Once such object has been traced to your country and we need to find and destroy it."
"May I ask what this artefact is Mr Potter?"
"Sir, this is very confidential, but have you heard of a Horcrux?"
"Sweet Merlin! Surly not? He didn't make one of those cursed object did he?"
"No sir, he made seven. We have destroyed five and there are only two left. Once we destroy them then he can be killed."
There was a long pause as both Viktor and Vladimir absorbed the information.
"Where is the item located and how may we help you?" Vladimir finally asked.
"Well that is the problem. This item is in the hands of the Lord and Lady in Castle Dracule. We need to go there and get it, and we need someone to take us to the castle."
"WHAT? That is impossible! No one can go there; it would be suicide to even try. We have sent Aurors before to try to rid ourselves of our little vampire problem, but none ever come back...well none ever came back human anyway. I cannot allow you to go."
"Sir, you don't understand, we have to go if we are to defeat Voldemort. Can you at least give us a map of how to get there?"
"Sir, I will take them!" Viktor announced.
"Viktor, you cannot do this, you will be killed or turned. You all will!"
"Sir, if this is what it takes to defeat Voldemort then I am willing to help. You don't know Harry the way I do and he is the only one who can do this."
The Minister began to talk to Viktor is fast Bulgarian, with Viktor replying angrily. After a few minutes the minister sat back defeated.
"Special Auror Krum will accompany you to the deserted village, but he will return straight away. You will be on your own when he leaves."
Viktor looked up suddenly at the last bit of the minister proclamation. "Sir, you cannot expect me to leave them, my honour will not allow me to run away and leave them….Sir!"
Vladimir sighed and ran his hand through his thinning hair. "You are so like your father! He was as stubborn as you are. Very well, but if you die you are telling your mother. My sister-in-law is not the sort of woman I want to annoy."
Viktor laughed a sharp laugh. "Thank you Uncle, I will be careful." He stood and the other all followed suit.
"Thank you Minister for allowing Viktor to help us. I promise you that we will make sure that he remains safe….well as much as we can do so." Harry said. If anyone else had said this it would have sounded conceited and the minister initially started to scoff. That was until he looked in to the green eyes of the man stood in front of him. This wasn't a boy, but a battle hardened warrior, as was the young woman stood with her hand in his. He suddenly gulped at the thought that these two could obliterate him with a single thought, and this was quickly followed by a sudden feeling that maybe…just maybe these two could save the world.
"Thank you Lord Potter, Lady Potter. I won't tell you to be careful but good luck."
Everyone shook hands and Viktor lead them all out of the office. As they left tow of the Aurors that had accompanied them to the office took up station a few paces behind the small party.
"How are we to get there Viktor?" Hermione asked.
"Ve will floo to the village of Bram. It's been deserted for years, the populace all killed or turned by the vampires. We maintain an underground floo there in order to occasionally spy on them. It's highly restricted. However before we go we need to change our clothing. It's very cold in the area and you vill need warm clothing and good boots. How much do you know about fighting Vampires?"
"Not much other than sunlight and garlic…"
"Bah! Muggle media and fiction. Vampires are not killed by sunlight, they don't like it but they are quite able to valk in the sun. Garlic is an urban myth written by Hollywood. There are only three sure ways to kill a Vampire; decapitation, a stake through the heart and the use of Holy water. The last one is a difficult one, you cannot just cover them in Holy water, it needs to get inside them. The best way to survive an encounter with a vampire is to run away. If they capture you they vill either feed on you till you die, or feed on you till you are near death. They may then allow you to drink a small amount of their blood. You vill still die because you soul vill move on, but your body vill be taken over by a demon and you vill rise as a vampire. Your skin will be cold due to your lack of soul, but your body will be almost immortal – oh and you will still have a reflection; that is another Hollywood mistake."
They were all silent as they walked, however Harry and Hermione were having an urgent silent conversation. After a while they both smiled to each other; plans made. Soon they came to an equipment room where they were issued with comfy Dragon skin boots and dark Yeti fur coats. Viktor then led them back to the section of the ministry they arrived in. He explained that this was the floo station. Every country had their own room, but internal floo's operated from a large room with a dozen fireplaces set along a long wall. One of them was sectioned of with warning notices all over it and guards stood with cross-bows and wooden stakes in their hands.
"This is the floo to Bram. We have a permanent guard on it equipped to deal with any incursion. Any out-going floo's have to be authorised with a code-word which changes daily. The minister gave me todays code before we left. The code-word will only allow the authorised number of people to floo before the flame goes out."
Viktor walked to the guards and showed his I.D. They nodded and raised the barrier to the fireplace. On the wall was what looked like a Muggle computer keyboard that Viktor tapped in a long code. As soon as he had finished the floo flared a bright blue before settling down to a gentle blue flame.
"As this a restricted single destination floo you don't need powder." He told them
"And the blue flame rather than the green?" Harry asked.
"It's prettier!" he told them with a shrug. "Ready?" he asked
They all nodded and Viktor stepped in to the flame and vanished. One by one they all followed and once they had all gone the flame went out and the guards returned to attention.
I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.
In a dark basement of an abandoned house deep in the forests of Transylvania; a floo suddenly lit and four people stepped out….well three stepped and one fell.
"Bugger!" Harry swore, "Every time!"
Hermione and Luna laughed whilst Viktor looked confused.
"Sorry, old joke!" Hermione managed to say as she helped her husband to his feet. The air was cold and stuffy, the room covered in a thick layer of dust. The only source of illumination was from a small lamp that had lit automatically in response to the activation of the floo. In the corner was a steep set of stone stairs that led up to a metal door that was heavily bolted on the inside. On one wall was a large rack of crossbows all complete with wooden stakes for ammunition, as well as a small number of sharp axes. Viktor took one of the cross-bows along with a number of the wooden stakes, as well as strapping an axe to his back. Handing a cross-bow to Harry and Hermione who took them, he then tried handing one to Luna.
"Sorry Viktor but I do not need one, my future lies in another direction and I will not need one."
Viktor shrugged and went to the stairs; taking a key from his pocket he unlocked the doors and waved his wand before taking hold of the door and pushing it open. The door was mirrored and this allowed him to see into the room beyond and to check that it was safe to enter. The room was deserted and covered in dust, snow was silently falling through the broken roof above and a bitter wind assaulted them.
"Come on its clear. Ve have a half hour walk to the castle, but ve need to be very careful. The Vampires will have scouts about and they don't take kindly to visitors. Ve need to keep low and to the trees for as much as possible."
"Would it help if we had an advance guard?" Harry asked. Viktor raised an eyebrow to Harry who grinned and morphed into a tall grey wolf, his tongue lolling out of the side of his mouth.
#Mione, if you stay Human with Viktor and Luna then I can tell you if anything or anyone is around before they spot us.#
#Great idea Harry, I'll tell the others.#
Hermione told Viktor and Luna what Harry had planned and they all quickly agreed. Viktor felt a little daft telling a wolf which direction to go in, but soon the four of them were out in the forest following the pathway that lead to the castle. Harry was ahead in his wolf form checking for the scent of anything alive in the area. He was puzzled by the forest that lay around him. It was a very dense pine forest, that limited the snow-fall to the forest floor, and in other circumstances the sight of the soft snow-flakes gently floating to the ground would have been considered beautiful. However this forest was wrong and it took Harry a few minutes to figure out why. Finally it struck him; in other forests there were always the sounds of life around, the chirp of birds in the tree-tops or the sound of animals snuffing in the undergrowth. The difference was that this forest was silent, totally and utterly silent and devoid of life. It was an eerie feeling and Harry's wolf instincts were screaming at him to get out of there. Harry fought his instincts and soon he led the others to the castle itself. The three joined him and he morphed back into his human form. They were in a small ditch from which they could clearly see the castle. It was a foreboding looking castle, straight out of the Hollywood movies that Viktor had lambasted earlier. Tall thin turrets covered the main central tower and the whole castle was shrouded in a dark cloud that swirled around the top of it.
"Castle Dracule, the home of the Vampire king and queen. What is your plan Harry?"
Harry looked at Hermione and they both nodded. "You and Luna need to stay here, you cannot help us now. Hermione and I need to do this alone."
"Harry, that is not possible. Ve have to come with you!" Viktor said. Luna was surprisingly silent as she listened to Harry. She had a knowing look on her face, as if to say that Harry proclamation was not a surprise to her.
"Viktor, there is no cover between here and the castle. As soon as we step out of here we will be seen and then it's all over. Harry and I can get to the castle unseen."
"How?" Viktor wanted to know.
They both morphed into large eagles and then they both faded from view as they became invisible before returning to human form. "Like that"
"Oh! Well that's... okay, but what do we both do here?"
"Victor, Luna is a great friend of ours and we need you to keep her safe for us until we return. If we are not back in two hours get her back to your ministry. Don't worry about us, we will be fine."
Luna nodded at the other two and took Viktor hand. He looked at her in surprise and then settled back to watch. Harry and Hermione once more took the forms of the two eagles and then they faded from view. The remaining two could feel the sudden draft as the two birds took to the air and then there was silence.
High up in the air the two Eagles soared. There super-sharp eye sight watching the castle intently. They could see the vampire guards stationed at the turrets, and the scent of death hung over the castle. Spotting a quite roof area, Harry told Hermione to land. The two landed and took the form of human again but remained invisible for the moment. They moved cautiously along the roof until they found a small door that led into the castle interior. Entering they found themselves in a small room, deserted apart from a number of human skeletons scattered around. They could hear cheering from afar, and they slowly followed the sound until they came to a small room that overlooked a massive banqueting hall. The room was set up in a very similar layout to the great hall at Hogwarts, with lines of tables running along the length of the room and a long central table at the head. Above the central table was a raised platform upon which sat two black obsidian thrones, with the peak of the thrones crowned with the skulls of many human victims. The long tables were occupied by masses of cheering and drooling vampires and positioned on the tables themselves were the remains of trussed up humans. Some were still alive and Harry and Hermione could clearly see their eyes looking around in terror. Many were been drunk from, as the Vampires took it in turns to sink there fangs into the necks of the victims. As soon as one died it was unceremoniously thrown to the floor where an army of down-trodden House elves cleared away the corpses before bringing in another fresh victim and dumping them on the tables; to the cheers of the diners. Upon the top table was the minor lord and ladies of the 'court'. Here there was naked men and women bound by cords for the Vampires as they fed. Watching all of this was the king and queen, both sat on the dark black thrones. They were beautiful, the king with long black hair and a flawless face; the queen with deep red hair and a thin but beautiful face. Beautiful apart from the look of extreme cruelness etched on both of their faces as they watched their 'children' feast. On a small table in front of the thrones was a small gold cup. Stood next to the thrones was a cloaked figure, its hood pulled over its face. Harry turned to Hermione to see her silently vomiting as she tried to take in the scene.
#You okay love?#
#Urg! I will be, but that's horrible. Those poor people.#
#We need to stop this Mione#
#How Harry, there has to be hundreds of them. Even with our immortality all it would take is for one of them to get to the cup and run with it.#
#Remember the plan, you know what we have to do.#
As they 'spoke' there was a sudden noise from the room and a side door was flung open. Four Vampire guards entered and behind them was some more guards dragging a pair of figures.
"My Liege, we have apprehended some intruders." The vampire rasped.
The king sat up and raised his hand. Immediately all noise stopped and the host of vampires stopped there feeding. The only noise was the soft whimpering from the remaining victims.
"Bring them to me" he commanded in a soft voice.
The guards dragged the pair of prisoner's up to the raised platform. With a sense of foreboding Harry and Hermione looked at the pairs dragon skin boots and soft fur coats that were draped around the prisoner's faces. When they were at the foot of the platform the king moved gracefully to the taller of the two prisoner's and pulled back the hood. It was Viktor, his face blooded and bruised, but his eyes alert.
"Viktor Krum! What a pleasure to see you. What brings you to our little castle?" he asked in a cruel voice.
"Go to Hell!" Viktor rasped in a painful voice.
"Already there dear boy, already there. And who is your friend?" As he spoke the queen had stood and moved to the other figure. She pulled back the hood to reveal Luna.
"My-my, what a pretty one. Would you like her dear?" she asked her husband.
The king licked his lips, his fangs clearly visible as he did so. "Who is she Viktor and why are you here?"
"Fuck you!" Viktor told him, only to be rewarded with a strong punch to his face that knocked his head back and causing him to lose consciousness.
"Now dear, look what you have done. You've broken him before we have found out the identity of this delightful creature. Who are you dear and why have you come here?" the queen asked Luna. Luna merely looked at the queen with here large silver eyes.
"I know who she is!" a familiar voice announced from the side of the thrones. Moving forward and throwing back his hood, 'Ron' walked to the king and queen.
"Hello Luna, fancy meeting you here" he said in an amused voice. Luna glared at him but said nothing.
"Who is she cousin, and what do you know of her?" the king asked.
"Her name is Luna Lovegood, a pathetic human but a friend of Harry Potter and his whore. If she is her then you can bet they are around. I guess that they are here for that pretty trinket you are guarding, and I bet they are watching us now, Hello Harry, where are you?"
As soon as the prisoner's had been brought in Hermione and Harry had gone on to full alert, Harry could feel Hermione grab his hand and if the pressure she was putting on it was anything to go by, she was very worried. When Ron revealed himself Harry gave a sharp intake of breath and his eyes narrowed to slits.
"Come on Harry boy, come say hello or you can guarantee that things won't go well for little Looney here."
"Come on 'Mione, we are going to have to change the plan." He growled as they both stood and jumped through the window and down to the floor fifty foot below. They both landed with a thud and immediately began casting cutting curses, decapitating vampires all around them, the bodies turning to dust before they had time to hit the ground. They advanced towards the platform, killing as they walked.
"STOP!" a voice commanded. The queen had stood in front of the fallen Viktor and shouted in a commanding voice. The king had moved to Luna and had her head in his hands. Her neck was exposed and he was bent over it with his fangs just grazing her skin.
"STOP, one more move and your little friend is dead…or worse." She commanded. Harry and Hermione looked at each other and slowly lowered their arms.
#Shit! What do we do know?# he asked her.
#We cannot put Luna in harm's way, and there is Viktor to think about as well. We need to see where this takes us.#
As they lowered their wands the queen motioned for some of the other vampires to take them. They both felt their arms roughly taken and felt metal straps been put on their arms. As the metal straps were applied they both felt their magic dim, as if it was suddenly a long way away.
"Now that's better, and don't think of doing anything stupid, those are magic inhibitor bracelets on you both. Now we can chat."
"What shall we do with this delicious little morsel my dear?" the king asked.
"Do you want her my love?"
"Mmmm, yes please." The king replied, licking his lips.
"Then you may as well have her."
"NO! you can't" Harry shouted, struggling against his captors, he could see Hermione with an anguished look on her face as the king bent down to Luna's neck once more. As Harry was struggling he failed to see what Hermione saw, which was Luna look directly at Hermione and smile and wink at her. She mouthed two words…'Trust me'
#Harry! HARRY! It will be fine, Luna is up to something.#
Luna's face however scrunched up in pain as she felt the fangs piece her neck and the king began to drink. It didn't take long before Luna became very pale and her eyes started to flutter shut. Before long the king was holding her up as he drained her nearly dry of her blood. Finally he stopped and looked up, her blood dribbling down his face as he looked at the two teens. Harry and Hermione had tears streaming down their face as they looked at their young friend.
"Delicious, now for the best bit, prepare to say goodbye to your little friend. "He laid her down on the table and with one long claw like nail he slit his own wrist. Holding his bleeding wrist he presented it to Luna's mouth.
"Drink little one, drink and become strong."
Luna's body reacted by instinct and she lapped at the blood that was entering her mouth. After a minute or so she fell back to the table.
"NOOOO!" Harry cried as he witnessed the death of her, the rest of the hall laughing and cheering. Ron was laughing as he watched the look of anguish on his old friends face.
"Now what do we do with you two. Why are you here?" the queen asked.
"Fuck you!" Harry cried.
"They are after the cup my liege. They wish to destroy it so they can kill Voldemort." Ron told them. "They are no use to you, except as food."
"Very well, we are both hungry tonight." The King said in a cruel voice.
By now the king had left Luna to awaken and had moved to Hermione's side. "Watch as your beloved dies Potter!" he said, sinking his teeth deep into Hermione's neck. Hermione screamed as he brutally drained her. It seemed that her veins were not quick enough, so he moved and pieced her carotid artery, the blood now spurting out into his awaiting mouth; covering his body as it did so. After a few seconds Harry felt Hermione die and the king threw her body into a heap in the floor.
Harry screamed in despair as he witnessed the death of his wife, but this didn't last long as the queen sunk her fangs into his neck. The pain was indescribable as she fed on him, and soon he felt the world fade and his vision turned to black.
Chapter Eighteen – Surprise!
The queen let Harry's body drop with a thud and she laughed as she delicately wiped her mouth of his blood. She looked over at her blood drenched husband and smiled; he always was a messy eater.
"Clean yourself up my love, we have company." She told him.
Ron meanwhile had moved over to the bodies, and was checking for a pulse. Satisfied that there was none he stood, noting as he did that the magic inhibitors had come free, they had detected the death of their victims and automatically come free.
"Why are you checking that piece of meat cousin, they are dead...very dead."
"Yes, I thought so before but it seems I was wrong that time, I'm just making sure, and you are right, they are dead...finally." He looked at the others questioning glance before shrugging his shoulder. "Never mind, shall we continue the feast whist we await the birth of a new member of your clan?" he asked glancing at Luna.
The masses cheered and the party carried on as before. The bodies of Harry and Hermione were left where they were and no one seemed to notice the unconscious body of Viktor. The king and queen took their seats again and the king cleaned himself up.
Harry suddenly felt himself wake, as his body quickly manufactured more blood. He tried to keep still as the resurrection process took hold, but he felt his hand twitch as Hermione took it. She was awake too, she had come around before him due to the fact she died first, but had kept still whilst she waited for her husband.
#Harry you okay?#
#Yes, but Luna?...#
#I know, but we need to deal with the vampires first. You ready?#
#Ready! Now!#
They both stood up, surprising the Vampires stood around them; they both reached out there hands and there wands flew into them.
"Surprise!" Harry shouted at the king and queen.
"What? How? That's impossible!" the king stated. "You were dead!"
"Bugger not again...Tell me about it!" Ron muttered to himself.
"Well you can never be too sure, but you two have a problem, you drank our blood, blood that we own, and blood that we magically altered before coming here. With a single thought we can do this." Harry told them. They both concentrated on their blood, willing it to change. The blood lost its redness and took on the consistency of clear water, clear water that was blessed by God – Holy Water. The two vampires began to scream as the Holy water coursed throughout their bodies, infecting every cell with its pureness. Suddenly the two vampires began to smoke as they screamed, before they both burst into flames. As soon as they did, every single vampire in the castle and beyond, every single vampire that was a 'child' of the king and queen simultaneously burst into flames as well. Every single one except the small blonde haired girl that lay on the table. Before long every single vampire was nothing more than ash, except for the king and queen who were still burning and screaming. This lasted a few seconds after the last of their children died before they two joined the piles of ash. The room was silent for a few seconds before Harry noticed 'Ron' moving away from the group towards the small golden cup on the table.
"Ron, leave it!" he yelled at the moving demon. Ron stopped and smiled at him. "Harry Fucking Potter, still alive I see!" he taunted. Un-noticed the cup briefly glowed before it rattled and started to move towards the demons out-stretched hand.
"No!" Harry yelled and willed the sword of Gryffindor to his hand. With a huge throw, he threw the sword at the cup, it spun end over end towards the moving cup, slicing it in half as the sword flew. The cup burst into flames and a black smoke erupted from it accompanied by an agonised scream that faded into the air. One half of the cup continued its journey to Ron's hand and the other fell to the floor with a clang. Everyone stopped and looked at the quivering sword embedded deep into the stone wall, and at the half cup in the floor. Ron looked at the other half cup in his hand and growled a curse at it before throwing it to the floor. Unseen by anyone, Ron grinned to himself before looking at Harry.
"Curse you Potter!" he spat at him before grinning and with a wink at Hermione he flew upwards towards the ceiling and with a blast of his magic he burst a hole in the ceiling and flew off into the snow filled sky.
"He can fly now?" Harry asked no one in particular before walking and picking up the two halves of the cup and placing them in a back-pack he was wearing. He then moved to the sword and with a sharp tug pulled it out of the wall. He looked at the blade for a few seconds checking it for damage before it vanished from his hands. He slowly and sadly looked around the now deserted and silent hall. With a silent tear rolling down his face he walked over to the silent Luna and gently brushed her hair from her face. He was surprised to feel that her skin was still warm to the touch. He heard a groan and turned to see Hermione helping up a groggy Viktor.
"Viktor, are you you? Harry asked, checking his neck for bite marks. There seemed to be none.
"Dar! I am me, I think. Vot happened? Vere are the Vampires?"
"The Vampires are dead…"
"All of them?" he asked in an astonished voice.
"Yeah….well all but one." He said in a sad voice, pointing at the prone Luna.
Viktor looked sad and with a grim expression he took one of his wooden stakes from the ammo pack he was carrying. "Ve need to destroy the creature before it awakens. I'm am sorry but your friend is dead." He began to walk over to Luna, raising the stake as he did.
"Viktor wait! Feel her skin, she is still warm. I thought you said that you will be cold." Harry told him.
Viktor looked oddly at Harry and walked over to Luna, placing his hand on her forehead he almost jumped as he felt her skin.
"That's not possible, if she has been turned she is dead, her soul has moved on and she is possessed by a demon."
"What does this mean?" Hermione asked.
"I do not know; we need to get her back to the Ministry. We have vampire experts there and they may know vot is going on."
"How long before she awakens?" Harry asked.
"Vell it varies. Some take a few hours, some longer. We have time to get her to a secure location if she does turn violent."
"Well come on then, there is nothing left here and we have achieved what we needed to achieve." Harry said, impatient to be off.
"Are you really telling me that you have killed all the vampires here? All of them?" Viktor asked in an awed voice.
"Well we knew that if you kill the sires then the rest would die. We allowed the king and queen to drink our blood, which we then transfigured to Holy water. They then burnt to death, killing all their offspring."
"But how did you survive the loss of blood?" Viktor wanted to know.
"Painfully, and we are very tired. Do you think we can continue this when we have rested?" Hermione answered. Viktor nodded and they prepared to leave.
"How are we going to get back. It's a long way to carry Miss Lovegood back to the village and you cannot apparate to the ministry." Viktor said.
Harry meanwhile had taken Luna in his arms and with a grim smile looked at Viktor. "Wanna bet?" he asked and without a sound he vanished taking Luna with him. Hermione smiled and took hold of Viktor's unresisting arm and they too vanished from view. The castle remained silent for a long while before it slowly started to break apart, as if all the years of evil had cursed the very stones that the castle was made from. Within minutes the whole castle was reduced to nothing more than a pile of rubble.
I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.
Vladimir Krum was a worried man as he sat at his desk, a glass tumbler filled with the best vodka money could buy. He swirled the liquid around the glass watching it cling to the sides as it moved. He had hardly touched it; he was just holding the glass to give his hands something to do whilst he waited for word of Viktor. He loved the boy far more than an uncle should, mainly due to the fact that he was not his uncle. He was not proud of how he acted all those years ago, but he was young and his sister-in-law was so beautiful, they couldn't help themselves. When Viktor was born nine months later, they had both vowed never to tell his brother, that Vladimir was the father. He had watched the boy grow and his brother dote on the child. When Sergei became ill and was lying in the hospital bed dying he had asked to speak to Vladimir and his wife. He had told him that he had always been infertile and that he knew that he wasn't Viktor's father. He forgave both of them and had asked him to look after the boy, and so Vladimir had done so, but he had never told him who his real father was. Waiting for him to come back was torture, He had flooed his mother and told her, and she was not pleased with either of them, but understood her son's determination to stand by his friends. They were both proud of Viktor and all of his achievements, both on the Quidditch field and more recently within the ministry.
His musing were suddenly interrupted by the sudden appearance of Harry and the young girl who were quickly followed by his 'nephew' and his lady friend. Harry was carrying the blonde bridal style and all looked terrible.
"Fuck me! How did you apparate into here, there are wards to stop that."
"Later sir! We need a healer fast. Our friend is in need of medical assistance." Harry told him.
"What happened to her?" he asked as he stood and moved to them. He spotted the tell tale signs of the bite marks on Luna neck and swore, turning to Viktor he began to shout.
"Viktor, you know she has been turned, she needs to die and quickly before she awakens. Why did you bring her back here, you know better than that." As he spoke he had taken out a wooden stake and was advancing on the young girl.
"Uncle wait! Feel her skin, she is still warm." Viktor told the older man.
Vladimir looked at Luna with a curious look and tentatively felt her forehead. He pulled his hand back quickly as if it had been stung, before he moved it back to her forehead.
"It's warm! How is this possible? Was she not turned?"
"Yes, she was turned but something is different about her. She has no pulse and I can smell that she is a vampire, but it seems different." Harry told him.
Vladimir made up his mind. "Follow me!" he ordered and quickly left the room with the others following along behind, as they exited the two guards immediately followed behind, wands drawn.
Vladimir led them to a large hospital wing and he flung open the doors and quickly entered.
"Sophia! We need your help!" he yelled as a middle aged women came out of her office. Harry was immediately reminded of Madam Pomfrey as the healer came hurrying over.
"Minister, what is the problem?" she asked in heavily accented English.
"It's the girl, she's been turned but something is odd, she is still warm."
"Merlin! Bring her here!" she commanded. Harry followed her and gently placed Luna on the bed, whilst Sophie began casting diagnostic spells on her.
"This is Sophie Dachev, one of our most senior healers, she also specialises in Vampire injuries. Sophie this is Harry and Hermione Potter, you know my nephew, and I'm sorry but I don't remember the young girl's name."
Hermione spoke up, "She is Luna Lovegood, a very important friend of ours. Can you tell us what is happening please?"
"Good to meet you all as to what is happening I'm not too sure at the moment, can you give a few minutes to run some tests." The healer asked, not waiting for an answer reminding Harry even more of the Hogwarts healer. She waved her wand over the blonde's prone body a few times before raising her eyebrows and swearing in Bulgarian, before finally smiling.
"That is amazing. This young girl is a first. She is a vampire, and always will be but for some reason I cannot explain, she still possesses her soul. She will still be the friend you have always known, but changed a little...oh dear!" she suddenly finished.
Harry and Hermione had been looking very relieved to hear the healer's words but were worried by the turn her voice took. "What? Is something matter?" Harry asked anxiously.
"No, nothing but we do have a little problem. When your friend awakens she will need to feed. Soul or no soul she still is a vampire and she will need blood. It's the first thing they do, and without fresh blood to complete the transformation she will die."
"Ok, what if we donate some of our blood for her?" Harry asked
"You don't understand, donated blood will work in the future but a vampire's first meal must be from a live victim."
"What about an animal?" Hermione asked.
"No, it has to be human, and she will drain them dry. Its instinct, she will not be able to help herself."
Harry looked at Hermione with a resigned expression, before turning to the healer. "I'll do it." He said simply.
"Mr Potter, you cannot do this, you will die." Sophie said shocked.
"What again?" Harry muttered before saying louder "Don't worry about me, I will be okay. How long before she awakens?" he asked.
"Not long, she is starting to change." Sophie said. Sure enough Luna's body was slowly changing. She grew a few inches taller, her hair took on a silver sheen and she grew in other, more womanly areas much to Harry's embarrassment. She looked stunning, her skin a flawless porcelain colour.
"It will be soon." Sophie said in a low voice. Harry moved and took the young girl in his arms, and gently moved her hair from her face. He sat with her for a few minutes, Hermione's hand resting on his shoulder as they waited. With a low cry Luna's eye's flickered open revealing bright blue purple eyes with cat like iris's in them. She looked around in confusion before she saw Harry starring at her. She opened her mouth to reveal two sharp looking fangs, but she shook her head and tried to get away from him.
"Luna, don't worry, feed from me. You know I'll be okay." He told her in a gentle voice.
"Mrs Potter, you cannot let him do this, he will die!" Vladimir said desperately. As he spoke, Luna looked into the green eyes of her friend and realised what he was doing for her. She smiled at him. "Thank you Harry" she said in a quiet voice, before delicately and gently sinking her fangs into his neck and she began to feed. Unlike the last time Harry felt this happen, there was none of the pain and fear that he felt before. Luna was gentle and the sensation was quite pleasant as she gently lapped at his neck. All the time he could feel her eyes on him as she held his hand as she drank. Eventually he began to feel the world spin, and his vision began to darken. Finally he lost all sense of self and Hermione felt his life slip away, but this time it was a gentle feeling; full of warmth and love. She held up her husband's body as Luna continued to drink. Luna finally removed her fangs from the dead man's neck and held him in her arms.
"Thank you Harry and Hermione for this." Luna said, as she delicately licked the remaining blood from her hands and wiped her face. Her fangs receded back into her mouth, but her cat like eyes remained.
The healer gently took Harry's pulse as he sat in Luna's arms. "I'm sorry Mrs Potter, but he is gone." Hermione laughed and looked totally unconcerned.
"Sophie, Minister" she said before turning to Viktor. "Viktor, please keep this a secret but Harry isn't dead. He cannot die, neither can I. We are both immortal." As she spoke she felt the life force return to her Harry and he slowly opened his eyes. This was the gentlest resurrection yet and he looked around to find himself still in Luna's arms but his gaze sought out the only person he wanted. His green eyes found the cinnamon coloured ones of his immortal love, tears standing unshod in them.
"Hiya Harry. Welcome back." Luna said as she released her hold on him. The three other witnesses to the miracle were stunned beyond words.
I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.
It was a much more rested group sat in the comfort of the Minister office, all furnished with cups of strong coffee apart from Luna who had a small cup of Hermione's donated blood. The three Bulgarians were looking at the other three for answers, and Harry felt that it was time to give them.
"Okay, as Hermione said earlier, both she and I are immortal. We were given this gift by the Gods of Time in order to complete our mission here. First we have to destroy Voldemort, and now we also have to destroy a demon- a Soul Demon who is hell bent on ruling the world."
"My God! That is amazing!" Viktor said. "Hermy you will live forever?"
"Yes Viktor, with Harry by my side, and now it seems Luna as well."
"Yes, Miss Lovegood how come you are still you? I must admit this is the first time I have ever taken a coffee with a vampire and it is a bit unsettling." The Minister said. Everyone turned to look at the young vampire, sat sedately with a small cup of blood in her hand.
"Sorry but I have no idea why my soul remained in my body." She lied to the group. Luna felt very bad about lying but it wasn't time for her to reveal her true self just yet. "I just knew that I had to let the events happen as they happened. I'm sorry Harry and Hermione that you had to go through that, and I must admit to been a bit afraid about what I am now and how others will react to me. Madam Sophie has told me a lot about been a vampire, but even she is not sure what a vampire with a soul is capable of. One thing that I can tell you is that I never need to feed off a live human ever again. I can survive very well on donated blood and the odd animal."
"And we will always be happy to donate some for you Luna." Hermione told her with a smile. Sophie had taught both Harry and Hermione the spell needed to siphon of some of their blood, and with their immortality it was replaced instantly.
"Thank you both." Luna said in small voice as she drunk the rest of the glass of blood, her fangs showing themselves as she did. She delicately licked her lips and the fangs receded.
"What sort of things can you do Luna?" Harry asked.
Luna looked over at Sophie who nodded at her. "Well I am very strong now, and fast. I can make myself invisible if I want and I can Shadow move. That is I can use the shadows to move anywhere I want. But because I still have a human soul I can still use magic and my wand. Sophie and I tried earlier and it seems I am touch more powerful than before. Nowhere near as powerful as you and Hermione but I can do a lot more than before. Also unless my body is killed I am also nearly immortal. However I am susceptible to all that can kill other vampires other than Holy water." After a while the Minister coughed and asked a question that had been bothering him for a while.
"Harry may I ask how you apparated into my office earlier, the wards should prevent that from happening. If there is a security breach I do need to know about it?" Vladimir asked.
"Don't worry sir; the wards are still fine, only Harry and I can breach them."
"How?"
"Trade secret, but we can breach any wards, no matter how strong."
"Merlin!"
Harry smirked a little, they always said that.
"What are you going to do now?" the minister asked after a while.
"Well we have to go back to Britain and find the last Horcrux, although to be honest I have no idea what it is or where to look. Last time Luna helped with her sight."
"Sorry Harry, but since my turning I seem to have lost the sight. I just as stumped as you are on this."
"Damm! Okay we go home and have another war conference. Between everyone I'm sure we can come up with something." Harry replied.
"Well on behalf of the Bulgarian people I thank you both for ridding us of our Vampire problem, no offense Miss Lovegood, if there is anything we can do to aid you in the future please do not hesitate to ask. You are all friends of the country and we owe you a lot."
"Thank you Minister it was a pleasure. Now if you would excuse us, we have to be going." Harry said as he stood. Hermione followed and they both took Luna's hand.
Good by Harry, Hermy-own-ninny. Be careful please." Viktor said.
Hermione let go of Luna and walked over and hugged her friend. She kissed him gently on the cheek before turning to him. "See you at your wedding Viktor."
"Da! You are a lucky man Harry."
"I know" Harry replied as Hermione walked back over and took Luna's free hand.
"Harry, will my dad accept me now?" Luna asked in a small voice.
"Luna darling, you dad would love you no matter what happened. He will probably think that it's so cool that he will want to write about it in the Quibbler."
Luna laughed and with a small pop the three of them vanished.