Chapter 7: Make a List
"They are going to kill us," Draco muttered as they walked down the streets. Harry snorted.
"We don't even know how to die so they won't kill us," Harry reminded. "They'll just torture us painfully for a few hours." Draco rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, I can guess Hermione's torture," muttered Draco. Harry shook his head, amused, before they came to a stop in front of Knockturn Alley.
"Do you think he will talk?" Harry asked and Draco grinned.
"We have ways to loosen someone's tongue," he reminded. Harry chuckled as both of them made their way down the stairs into the Knockturn Alley. It was obvious that they knew their way around the street as they made their way over to the local pub/inn where the low-life liked to keep a low profile or brag about their latest victory.
Opening the door, there was a tall balding man behind the bar and customers scattered about at different tables. The man, behind the counter, paled upon seeing them before bowing his head.
"My lords," he greeted, respectfully.
"Where is he?" Draco asked. The man pointed off to the side, keeping his head bowed.
"You'll be paid after we've finished with him," Harry told him as both men walked past him. Draco reached the door where the barman had pointed and kicked it open. Female screams came from inside the room as Harry and Draco made their way in.
There was a slightly chubby man lying on the bed with a busty blonde-haired woman covering herself with the bed-sheet. It was obvious to what was going on.
"Get out of here," Harry snarled at the girl, who scrambled out of the room as fast as she could while the man sat up on the bed, annoyed with the interruption only to pale when he spotted the intruders.
"Hello Crabbe," Draco greeted his 'old friend'.
"Malfoy," Crabbe stuttered.
"Sorry to interrupt your little moment with the local whore," Harry apologised, not once sounding apologetic as he moved closer to Crabbe. "But we needed to have a little talk with you."
"About what?" asked Crabbe, trying to sound brave but failed. He remembered the time that he had tried to have fun with Luna only to face retribution from the two men.
"About Voldemort and where he might be hiding," Draco told him as he pulled Crabbe out of the bed and slammed him onto the wooden chair; he was still naked.
"What makes you think I know where our Lord is hiding?" Crabbe demanded and Harry grinned, wolfishly before he grabbed Crabbe's arm and snapped it, causing Crabbe to howl with pain.
The customers and the barman man, outside, winced at the screams. Some of the customers actually left, unwilling to be the next victim of the two men that were obviously having fun with the pain. The Barman just hummed to himself, trying to block out the sounds as he did.
"He isn't our lord, you arrogant little prick," Harry whispered harshly into Crabbe's ear. "Do not make that mistake again." Crabbe whimpered as he tried to deal with the pain. Dealing with Voldemort's torture spell was easy because he could always get a pain relief afterward but dealing with broken bones with people who have not finished with you takes longer.
"I do not know where he is!" Crabbe told him.
"Wrong answer," replied Draco as pain shot through Crabbe's pinkie. Looking down, he found that he was staring at an empty space and screamed.
"You have plenty of digits for us to remove. I suggest you start cooperating and you will retain them," Harry warned him. "We will remove everything if we have to."
"Please…" Crabbe begged as he peed himself in fear. Harry and Draco grinned at each other; it was always so easy to scare them.
"Just answer our question, Crabbe, and you'll be free to go," Draco told him.
"I can't," he moaned only to scream once more as two more fingers cut off.
"You can," warned Harry as he held a scalpel to Crabbe's throat. "Do not piss us off. You think Voldemort is scary when he is mad, you do not want to see us. Compared to us, Voldemort is like a harmless garden snake." Crabbe whimpered at the comparison.
"He will kill me," Crabbe whimpered only to cry out as he lost his left hand. He only had his right hand with his thumb and index finger.
"We will torture you, push you to the brink of death, and bring you right back to start the whole thing over again. Voldemort will just give you death," Draco whispered.
"No," sobbed Crabbe, the image was playing repeatedly inside of his head.
"Just give us our answer," Harry told him before snapping his other arm. Crabbe screamed but refused to give the answer up.
"Fine, we'll have our fun," Draco told him before he reached down and snapped Crabbe's leg, the thigh bone breaking the skin and peaking out, blood spraying everywhere. Harry punched Crabbe, breaking a cheekbone.
Repeatedly the beating went until they decided to go for the kill…his penis. Harry brought up a large butcher knife and brought it toward Crabbe's dick. Crabbe's good eye, the one that wasn't swollen due to a punch, widened and he shook his head, attracting Harry and Draco's attention.
"You ready to tell us?" Harry asked and Crabbe nodded.
"The Ministry!" gasped Crabbe. "The Ministry is riddled with Death Eaters. Anyone there could tell you where my lord hides." Harry and Draco looked at each other.
"Think we have our answer?" Draco asked and Harry nodded.
"I think we do," agreed Harry as he yanked Crabbe's tongue and pulled it out before slicing the scalpel through the air.
There was a gurgled scream as the organ slid out of Crabbe's mouth and landed on the ground with a sickening wet thud.
"Don't take it personally," Draco shoved Crabbe back onto the bed. "We can't have you telling anyone what you told us." Both of them left the room, Harry closed the door behind him before they moved over to the counter where the Barman was still standing.
"Wait half an hour before transporting him to the hospital," Harry ordered as he pulled out the sack that contained the money and dropped it on the counter. "You know the rules - you never heard and seen anything."
"Yes my lord," the barman nodded.
"What of my other request?" Harry asked and the man shook his head.
"He hasn't been by but I have heard rumours of where he could be. My sources are hunting these leads and will tell when they do find him. When they do, I will tell you," the barman told him.
"Good, remember, I want him alive," Harry reminded and left the bar with Draco. The Barman sighed with relief before heading into the room only to gag when he saw the sight.
"Who are you looking for?" Draco asked. Harry just growled.
"An old friend of mine, he did something he shouldn't have and I want my revenge," Harry told him, refusing to saying anything else. Draco just left it alone, knowing that he will find out when the time was right.
"Home?" he asked and Harry nodded.
"Home," agreed Harry and both of them disappeared from sight.
***********
Hermione was on the couch in the living room. She and Luna had spent most of the day cleaning and redecorating the place to their taste. The living room reminded her of the Gryffindor's common room with the fire roaring in the fireplace.
Hermione was currently reading a book she had found from the library, it held a lot of information about dark magic and she was curious to how Voldemort been resurrected. Harry had mentioned that it was a ritual and she had looked in Hogwarts Library but could not find anything.
The library in the cellar had plenty of books but this one had caught her eyes and proved to be useful in her findings. She lifted her head when she heard the familiar whooshing sounds and saw Harry and Draco arriving in the hallway.
"Hey, you're back," she greeted, standing up and moving over to Harry. Harry slid his arms around her waist, pulling her into his body before taking her lips into his. Draco rolled his eyes.
"I'm gonna go and find Luna." He left them alone in the living room only to wince when he heard the sound of a back slamming against the wall and a pleasurable moan coming from Hermione. Shaking his head, he hurried up the stairs, taking two steps at a time, before he reached the landing.
Upon entering his room, he found Luna was half under the bed, her ass stuck up in the air and he licked his lips.
"Not right now," Luna strained, knowing that Draco was behind her and his thoughts.
"What?" Draco complained. He wanted to have sex with his girlfriend, he hadn't seen her nearly all day, and she was denying him.
"Give me a minute, I have to get this then talk to Hermione about something, then you can ravish me all night," she finally came out from under the bed, pulling a book with her. Draco arched an eyebrow.
"Is that the book that Voldemort had been looking for in his teens?" Draco asked and Luna nodded.
"Yes, I had managed to find it when I was six years old but it had disappeared and somehow ended up here. Crookshanks revealed the way to me," she motioned toward Hermione's cat, which was sitting on the table, licking her paws.
"Hm, I think you need to have a talk to Hermione about her pet," Draco reached out and scratched the back of Crookshanks' ear. She purred under the pleasure, pushing her head into his hand. Draco grinned as he swept Crookshanks into his arms and headed out of the room with Luna.
Harry and Hermione were making their way up the stairs and Hermione smiled when she saw Crookshanks. She took Crookshanks out of Draco's arms and hugged her cat.
"Where did you disappear to?" Hermione asked.
"She was showing me the way to the book that Voldemort had been looking for since his teens," Luna lifted the book to Hermione and watched as Hermione's eyes widen in disbelief.
"This is the book that contains all of the spells and ritual a person could ever need," Hermione exclaimed, excitedly as Crookshanks jumped out of her arms and headed down the stairs.
"What's so important about the book?" Harry asked as Hermione took the book into her hands.
"It contains all the information. It goes back as far as Merlin. All of his spells, the founders' spells are all in here. Everything you ever wish to know. It holds rituals on how to stay looking young forever, time travelling…I don't mean the time turner; I mean actual time travelling. All the dimensions of our worlds," Hermione listed. Harry and Draco looked at each other, shocked.
"No wonder Voldemort wanted this," Harry muttered. "With this, he would have been invincible; no one would have been able to touch him."
"Why did it disappear?" Draco asked.
"Because it was rumoured that it would only reveal itself to the person who it deemed itself worthy of the power that it contained," Hermione and Luna recited together, startling the boys. Hermione and Luna grinned at each other, amused.
"I know people like to dismiss books but have you ever been drawn to a book, which you have to have this book and you have to read?" Hermione asked. Draco and Harry nodded, thinking back on it. "Well, this book is the opposite, it is drawn to the person who they know are worthy of holding the powers. It must have recognised our need and revealed itself."
"This book can help us with Voldemort?" Draco asked and Hermione nodded.
"And countless of other things," she told him. "We could reshape the Wizarding World with this book, to either rule it or make it a fairer world."
"Okay," Harry clapped his hands. "We have had a long day and I want a long night but not of reading."
"Harry…" Hermione pouted but Harry was firm.
"No Hermione, I know you and you will be up all night to read that book. You are going to get some sleep. We know the book is safe and obviously has deemed one of us worthy to read it so you can wait until the next morning," Harry told her. Hermione was about to protest but decided against it, Harry knew ways how to distract her and she did not want that to happen during her reading.
"Fine," she muttered. Harry grinned.
"Great," Harry swept her up onto his shoulder, eliciting a squeal from Hermione.
"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed.
"We're heading to bed, I want to act out more fantasies," Harry informed her. Hermione lifted her head to glare at Draco as he snickered.
"You promised to answer all my questions!" Hermione shouted from over Harry's shoulder.
"Make a list!" Draco shouted back as Luna dragged him into their bedroom and the door slammed closed, leaving the couples to their nightly rituals.
********
Snape arrived at the double doors of a large castle. The guard stood in the middle, blocking anyone from entering the large room.
"I have news for our Lord," Snape told the guard. He nodded before stepping aside, allowing Snape to step through into the room. Voldemort lifted his head when heard the doors opened, his red eyes narrowing when he spotted Snape making his way into the room.
"What news do you have for me?" Voldemort asked from his throne. Snape stepped forward, keeping his head bowed out of respect.
"Potter is a half-vampire," Snape said. Voldemort sat up straighter as hushed murmurs from his death eaters started up.
"Quiet!" Voldemort snapped. The hushed murmurs shut down into silence. Voldemort peered closer at Snape. "What evidence do you have to support this?"
"That he has chosen the Mudblood Granger as his mate. He bit her in their third year. He left the Blood protection and left her his dog-tags," Snape explained. Voldemort rose up from his throne and moved over to Snape, circling him.
"A half vampire?" he asked. "How did that happened?"
"Dumbledore has sent the Order on a mission to find out when Potter was changed, so far, my sources say he was bitten at the age of five," Snape explained.
"My lord," a death eater stepped forward, "You could become a full vampire, and you would even more powerful than you are right now." He was cut shot when a green light hit him in the middle of the chest. He fell backward on the ground, dead.
"Any other ridiculous suggestions?" snarled Voldemort as he looked around at his group. "Surely you all know by now that vampires have no magical core to speak off. By becoming a full vampire, I would lose all my powers, the ability to walk in sunlight and I would be easily killed." He turned back to Snape. "Tell me…how powerful is Potter?" Snape shook his head.
"I have no idea, my lord. None of us have seen Potter," Snape told him. Voldemort walked away, thinking to himself.
"I want all my Death Eaters on alert for Potter and his mudblood. If Potter is a half-vampire, then he could prove very useful to me," Voldemort ordered them and everyone bowed. He turned back to Snape. "How is my other plan coming along?"
"Very well, my lord, it will be ready by the next full moon," Snape assured him and Voldemort smiled to himself. For once, his plans were coming in shape.
"Good, make sure there will be no distractions or mistakes that could destroy my plans," Voldemort ordered. "Dismiss!" Everyone left him alone in this throne room.
Voldemort rounded his throne, sliding a hand over the back of the chair, curling his other hand. "Soon…I will have my goal within my grasp."
********
"Well, Voldie is one happy person," muttered Harry as he sat up in bed. Hermione moaned as she curled into his side.
"What do you mean?" she whispered.
"He's happy about something," Harry told her and she snorted.
"Makes a change from his usual grumpy self, I don't like it when he's angry. You get hurt when he's angry," she mumbled out, sleepily. Harry grinned as he lay back down and she shifted so her head was lying on his chest. He kissed her the top of her head, running a hand through her curls as her breathing deepened once more.
He looked up at the ceiling, Voldemort was happy about something and he needed to find out why and fast before it was too late to put his plans into action.
*********
Dumbledore stood up as his office door opened to reveal the Order, Ron, and Ginny to make their way into the office. He gave a short nod to them before sitting back down once more. Everyone sat down on the chairs that they conjured up.
"What do you have to report?" Dumbledore asked as he sat back down on his chair.
"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has sent his death eaters looking for Harry Potter. He somehow got information on Potter leaving the blood protection," Snape spoke up. Dumbledore frowned as he thought about it.
"How could he get information on Harry leaving the Dursleys?" Dumbledore asked. Snape shook his head.
"It sounds like he has been keeping an eye on Potter since Hogwarts let out for the summer," Snape told him. "I only found out about him looking for Potter when I went to visit and find out information."
"Hm," Dumbledore filed it away to think about it later; he had pressing things to concentrate on. "Have we found out anything about Harry being bitten?"
"Yes," McGonagall stood up as Snape sat back down. "It looks like he had been bitten at the age of five, although we are still unaware of who bit him. It looks like his sire had dropped off the face of the earth at that point."
"Does anyone have any idea why they would bite Harry Potter?" Dumbledore asked.
"Turning the hero of the light to the dark side?" Snape spoke up with a scoff. "Don't know why anyone would bother to ask that question." Everyone looked at him for a moment before looking at Dumbledore.
"What are you saying?" Ron spoke up. "Is it true that Harry, by being bitten, could turn evil?"
"It depends on his nature," Dumbledore explained. "He did not have a life suitable for a child and having the Wizarding World change their loyalties at different times could have pushed him in different directions."
"He would still save us, right?" Molly demanded, almost hysterically.
"I think the question is…should Harry save us?" Ginny asked and they looked at her. "The Wizarding World are not the victim here…Harry is. He was one year old when You-Know-Who went after him and he was the one who had to save the wizarding world each year. From my calculations, the Wizarding World had plenty of times to take down You-Know-Who before the prophecy. The question still stands…Should Harry Potter save us when we have done nothing but turn our backs on him when he needed us the most?" Ginny finished, leaving everyone in silence.
Dumbledore just stared at the young red-haired woman. There was something different about her and he needed to find the answer and fast.
*********
"So old Snake-Face is happy about something?" Draco asked before snorting, "Didn't think the guy knew how to be happy." Harry grinned as Hermione finished writing up her list and lifted her head.
"Okay, I have finished my questions," she told him. Draco arched an eyebrow.
"You made a bloody list?" Draco demanded. Hermione shrugged.
"You told me to," she reminded. Draco's jaw dropped as he remembered and he couldn't believe that the girl had taken him seriously.
"I was being sarcastic!" he exclaimed. "Surely you know the difference between being serious and sarcastic." Hermione shrugged.
"It sounded like a good idea and if I have anymore questions, I can always tick them off or cross out the ones I don't want to ask or have been answered without me asking," Hermione told him. Draco just mouthed soundlessly before he looked at Harry, who grinned.
"Why do you think I'm dating her?" Harry asked.
"Because she's fabulous in bed and gives good head?" Draco remarked sarcastically only for Hermione to slap him up the back of the head. "Hey!" he snapped only to flinch when he saw her glaring at him.
"Don't make assumptions about my abilities in bed. I'm for Harry's eyes, ears, mouth, touch, and knowledge only," she hissed. Luna grinned in amusement as she settled herself on Draco's lap. Draco just pouted as he rubbed the back of his head.
"You didn't have to hit so hard," mumbled Draco.
"You do have a thick head," Luna pointed out. Harry snorted back his laugher as he turned his head away while Draco glared at his girlfriend. Hermione laughed, at first, she had found Luna's straightforwardness quite…loony at the beginning, but now, she just loved it. Luna had made her laugh more over the summer than she had put altogether the five years she shared with Harry and the moron.
Harry pushed his chair back as Hermione climbed into his lap, smoothing the list out.
"Okay, I know that you and Draco have been bitten by the age of five, you don't know who your sire is, both of you are half-vampires thanks to Harry's mother finding a way to make that happen because your sire's lover saw the future and he warned Lily. You go through the blood lust for three days and when you bite someone during that event, you mark someone as your mate," Hermione listed and got nods. "Ok, what are you magic limit? I know you can do some magic but do you know your limits?"
"We can do easy magic, like repairing or levitating something but something that actually use a lot of magic…say warding off the dementors can take a lot out of us," Harry explained. "Even though I have mastered a lot of spells, there are a few that would eventually kill me."
"What about using your wand?" Hermione crossed off the question on her list.
"If we use our wands too much, we could actually burn it out. Wandless magic is easier because we do not have to focus on the wands. We use our wands to keep up appearances in classes," Draco explained. Hermione nodded as she scored off two questions.
"What are you like as vampires?" she asked. "I mean, we have read the books and information on them in our third year but are they accurate?" Draco shook his head.
"A majority of the books are written by wizards and witches, not vampires. Any vampire knows that it's breaking the rules of their clans if they were to write books about themselves," Draco explained.
"We can walk in sunlight, eat garlic and such. We are strong after feeding on someone but stronger if we feed off our mate. Something about our mate accepting us for who we are and willing to give up their blood for us," Harry explained. "We are pretty much invulnerable to stakes and sliver. There is a way to kill us but Dumbledore didn't know what it was because our sire never fully explained things to him."
"Huh, this more information I get in a book," she muttered to herself, annoyed with the lack of books. She scored off a few more questions. "How many times do you need to feed?"
"Er, it all depends. We wouldn't be able to feed on you through the blood lust because you need time to rest and for your blood cells to regenerate but we're used to not feeding," Draco explained.
"We fed on the other girls whenever we were hungry, food can sustain us but we would need to actually have blood because food can't replace the nutrients and such in the blood," Harry finished.
"You bit a lot of girls?" Hermione tilted her head to look up at him. Harry looked off to the side with guilt clear on his face. He didn't like thinking about the times he fed from the girls. Luna reached across and placed her hand over Hermione's, drawing Hermione's attention.
"They had to bite other girls, especially when they didn't have a mate. I know it sounds horrible that the girls' minds were wiped clean of the attack but it was for both of their protection. If they hadn't fed, they would have eventually gone a blood feud and killed everyone at school," Luna explained, softly and patient as ever.
Hermione gave a short nod, understanding, before she turned back to Harry and cupped his cheek. Harry turned back to face her. She reached up and kissed him, softly, before resting their foreheads together.
"I wasn't being judgemental, I was just trying to figure out how many girls you bit…I mean; did you have to feed every day or every now and then? Was there a time-line of when you had to feed or you just fed when you needed to," she explained. Draco rolled his eyes in amusement while Harry grinned, understanding what his girl was trying to explain.
"We mostly just fed whenever we needed to. It just differs to be honest. I didn't bite a lot of girls though, just three," Harry told her.
"Three?" she, Luna and Draco asked together and he flushed.
"Susan Bones, first and second year. Cho Chang, third to fifth year, and Hermione," Harry explained. "Susan was the easiest person I could access at the time. Cho Chang, well, pretending that I had a crush on her helped me to gain access. Of course there was the time I 'dated' her thanks to Ron oblivating us all the time." They nodded, understanding before the three of them turned to Draco, who flinched.
"You know me, I to keep up appearances that I changed my girlfriend like my underwear," he muttered, getting snickers from the others and Luna rolling her eyes.
"After he fed, he would make the girls think they had been making out or further," she explained. Draco winced as Harry and Hermione looked at him, curious.
"I'm a Malfoy," he pointed out. "We are supposed to do these things!" Harry and Hermione rolled their eyes.
"Do you have any more questions?" Harry asked his girlfriend. She looked down at her lists, scoring off the ones that just been answered and shook her head.
"No, that's them all," she told him.
"Good timing," she looked up at him, curious and he nudged his head in the direction of the window. "Cause Hermione has just arrived with a letter." They all looked toward the window in time to see Hedwig, dyed black, come through the open window, and settle on the table, fluffing out her feathers. "Hey girl," Harry reached out and stroked her breasts, soothing her.
Hedwig nibbled Harry's finger for a moment before lifting her leg so he could remove the letter from he. Hermione pushed the plate of bacon toward Hedwig, who nibbled upon it. Hermione turned back to Harry as he finished opening the letter and scanned it.
"It looks like Voldemort has gotten wind of me being on the run and had sent his little death nibbles after me," Harry told them.
"Bet it was Snape who told Voldemort," Draco spoke up. He and Harry had discussed about Snape's loyalty, it seemed that Snape preferred the dark side better than the light side as he continually referred Voldemort as his lord.
"Dumbledore says that Snape said someone else told Voldemort, which is a clear indication that he gave the information to himself. They also found out when I was bitten but they don't know who my sire is…which is something," Harry finished.
"What does he say about Ron?" Hermione had gotten off Harry's lap to get a drink.
"Ron is still pissed about you dumping him, going missing, and being with me," Harry told her. "Molly is the same but Ginny is acting indifference." Draco and Harry locked eyes for a moment but Hermione caught it.
"What?" they looked at her.
"There is something that Draco and I have noticed about Ginny but we are keeping a tight lid on it because we need to be sure first before we start sprouting accusations, it wouldn't work if we got it wrong," Harry told her. Hermione was about to protest but thought better off it. Harry would tell her when the time was right.
"What does he say about Hogwarts?" Draco asked.
"Hogwarts is opening as normal this year and all the students are returning despite knowing that the Ministry was wrong about Voldemort. I guess they feel the kids are safer at Hogwarts," Harry told them before folding the letter and placing it on the table.
"What about the teacher?" Luna spoke up.
"They found a teacher, she is an old friend of my mother, and she is willing to take over the DADA for the time being," Harry explained before frowning. "He has asked if we are coming back to Hogwarts."
"Do you want to?" Hermione asked, moving closer to him and sliding an arm around his shoulder.
"Not right now, we have too many unanswered questions and we still have a lot of hunting to do. Maybe at a later stage but it would depends," he told them and they nodded in understanding before lapsing into silence.
********
"Hogwarts is opening as usual?" Ron demanded as he stood up from his seat. "Are you crazy?"
"Ronald, sit down," hissed Molly as she yanked her son into his seat.
"This is the best course to take, Mr Weasley. The Wizarding World must continue as normal if we are to take down Voldemort. If we were to keep Hogwarts closed, it wouldn't do as it would seem like a defeat," Dumbledore explained. "All the students, apart from Miss Granger, Miss Lovegood, and Mr Potter, will attend to Hogwarts. Anyone who is missing, we can safely assume his or her parents have pulled them out of Hogwarts or have decided not to return to Hogwarts."
He watched as everyone nodded, get up, and leave his office to get Hogwarts ready for the return of the students. Turning his seat, he looked out of the window and frowned. The Weasley boy was beginning to prove more of a problem than a solution, he needed to find a way to shut him up and fast.
TBC
See you next week *Grins and hides*