A/N: I promised a quicker update this time, and a quicker update is what I give you now! Meant to get it to you within 7 days, but school (approaching finals) + a ton of work = next to no writing :(.
Nevertheless, enjoy!
"Being busy does not always mean real work. The object of all work is production or accomplishment and to
either of these ends there must be forethought, system, planning, intelligence, and honest purpose, as well as
perspiration. Seeming to do is not doing."
-Thomas Edison
Chapter 6 - Pierced By Conflict
The shadows were clinging to him, trying to draw him in, compress him until he was nothing. Harry was doing his best to let them.
It was daytime. He was standing near the edge of a clearing, the thick foliage from the trees protecting him from the deadly midday sun. He was staring at the trees opposite the clearing, trying to envision himself standing in their shadows instead. It was his goal to end up in those shadows, but he wasn't allowed to walk around in the safe shadows.
Finally, perspiration beading on his cold skin, he exhaled loudly and gave up, his brain hurting. He had felt so sure that he was going to get it that time.
"Looks like I didn't make any progress after all," he muttered to himself, still staring at the far shadows.
"On the contrary," came a voice from behind him. Harry turned around to look at Shadow, who was sitting on a low branch of a tree. "You are making incredible progress. I could feel your intent, your determination, and I could see the shadows enveloping you, about to swallow you. You just needed one more push." He gave Harry a pleasantly surprised look. "Incredibly good progress," he said.
"Thanks," said Harry, laying down on his back. This was the fifth day in a row that Harry had been training, though it wasn't necessarily all Shadowalking training. There was also sparring, mental exercises, and speed training. It was all very taxing.
And though she would never show it, Harry knew that Hermione was growing more anxious with each passing hour. Katerina's execution was set for two nights from now and Harry's Inner Vampire showed no signs of surfacing any time soon.
But that was just Hermione's perception. Harry could feel the vampire side of him coming on strong, his hunger overwhelming. He would get bursts of bloodlust and would hear the faint voice of his vampire side, indicating that the change was indeed going to happen soon.
Harry glanced over at Hermione, who was sleeping on a bed she had transfigured from a leaf. Sure looked comfortable. She had switched her sleeping schedule to match their time of most activity and movement, though falling asleep during the daytime was still difficult for her. She had been doing training of her own during the night, training that confused and bewildered Harry. She wouldn't tell him what she was doing, only that it was beneficial and necessary to the success of their mission. He would've found out for himself, but he was too busy with his own training.
He sighed, staring up at the leaves as he relaxed on the soft forest floor, then grunted when Shadow stomped on his stomach. "How stupid," Shadow said. "If you're going to relax physically, than at least be mentally alert." He went to stomp on Harry again, but he only met ground as the younger vampire rolled away and stood up, clutching his stomach.
Harry took his fighting stance, Shadow doing the same. Then Shadow was behind Harry, who rolled, jumping towards the nearest tree afterwards to use it as a springboard. He shot towards Shadow, who easily dodged and caught Harry with a devastating uppercut to the face, making him crash into the ground after a little more flight time.
As he sat still on the ground, dazed, Shadow informed him. "I'm still only using half my speed, Harry. You'll need to do much better than that."
"I know," said Harry, his frustration beginning to rise more at himself than anything. Why couldn't he use his full potential?
"You're too afraid your inner vampire is going to take over," said Shadow. "You need to just let go and come at me with real killing intent. If that's absent, I'm afraid you'll never come close to touching me."
Harry, fully recovered now, stood back up and faced his mentor. He lunged at him, trying to find killing intent within himself. He was slammed in the side as Shadow dodged him again, saying, "I still didn't feel anything."
"I know," said Harry angrily. It was impossible for him to have killing intent; he just didn't hate anybody enough besides Voldemort enough to kill them.
He swung wildly at Shadow, who looked bored as he dodged. As he continued to lazily dodge Harry's flurry of punches, he said, "Come on, Harry. You can do better than that."
"I'm trying," he grunted, trying to even just touch his mentor.
Shadow glimpsed Hermione discreetly watching from a distance, now awake. She still hadn't fully adapted to the sleeping schedule change. "So, your girl…" Shadow remarked with a sly grin.
Harry didn't relent in his massive combo of misses. "She's not my girl," he said, his effort coming through his voice. "She has a name. It's Hermione."
"That doesn't really matter at the moment," Shadow remarked. "What I'm interested in is how you feel about her."
"She's my friend," Harry replied.
"Oh?" said Shadow with false sincerity. "Just a friend?"
"Precisely," said Harry.
"But that doesn't tell me how you feel about her," said Shadow, making Harry stop. Now he was intrigued as to where this was going. "Don't stop punching, Harry. I want you to see the effect of my next tactic."
Harry brought up his fists and began punching at Shadow again, doubtful about Shadow's tactic now that he knew it was coming. "You tell me you don't love her," he said.
"I do as a friend," Harry, replied, now even more annoyed.
Shadow glanced over at Hermione again, making eye contact with her. She scooted forward a little, getting closer to the fight.
"So you wouldn't mind if some other bloke dated her?" Shadow asked, a sly, almost invisible grin on his face.
"Of course not, as long as he makes her happy," Harry grunted, keeping a straight face. Shadow knew the truth though, when the speed of his punches increased.
"What if you knew he was screwing her every night, making her scream his name?" Shadow asked.
"Good for them," Harry said, his face turning red. His speed was now almost three times what it was from before.
"What if they got married?" Shadow asked, Harry's punches flying a little quicker in response as he kept his lips sealed, his sole focus connecting with Shadow's face to shut him up. "What if he didn't like the relationship you two had and she willingly agreed to the suggestion that you two stop speaking to each other?"
Harry let out the beginning of a feral growl, now completely forgetting the fact that he was reacting exactly as Shadow wanted him to. Shadow, meanwhile, was using his full speed to dodge Harry's lightning-fast punches, the wind caused by his swings compressed and fast enough to bruise an ordinary human.
"What if…" Shadow began, glancing at Hermione again as he pulled out his rapier. "What if I did this?" he asked, twirling around Harry and impaling Hermione through the chest to the hilt, blood-stained steel exiting through her back.
Harry was standing still in shock as Hermione looked up from the sword and met his eyes, hers glistening as the light slowly left them.
"You bastard!" Harry finally roared, recovering himself. He lunged at Shadow, who had no time to do anything as Harry tackled him so hard that they broke through four trees before he was slammed into the ground, making a rut.
Harry's fangs were extended, his eyes flickering red. He slammed his fist down at Shadow's face, the older vampire having no other option than to go with the blow as he did his best to dodge it. Harry's fist just caught the edge of his cheekbone, fracturing it as he skimmed it, slicing open his cheek. His fist slammed into the ground so hard that it left a crater, though he felt no pain. He lifted his fist to throw another, but a soft hand was suddenly holding him back.
Eyes still flickering red, Harry looked back over his shoulder to find Hermione smiling at him, perfectly healthy. "Her…how?" he choked out, grief making his voice raspy.
"I'm sorry we had to trick you, Harry, but that was just illusion magic," said Hermione. "Shadow's rapier was back at camp the whole time. I just created a physical hologram, if that makes sense. I had to do some quick magic to add the blood onto the blade, but…why am I rambling?" she asked herself. "Point is, it was fake and I'm fine. So why don't you let go of Shadow before you squeeze his head off?"
Harry looked down to see that his left hand was pinning down Shadow's neck so hard that he seemed to be in pain. Harry quickly released him, though not with an apology. He had deserved a lot of that. To toy with him like that was just crossing a line. If Hermione had really died…
Harry caught his line of thinking, sighing and standing up so Shadow could do the same. It was perfectly normal to have that kind of reaction if he was just best friends with the person who died, right?
"See what I mean now, Harry?" asked Shadow, who was completely composed once more. "Once you wanted to kill me, you were a mile above me in all aspects of combat."
"I got it," Harry groaned, clutching his head. "But I gave in to too much hate. I can't…hold him…back…any longer…"
Harry went limp for a second, falling to his knees, prompting Hermione to take a worried half-step in his direction. Shadow grabbed her arm though, saying, "It's happening. He's awakening."
When Harry looked up again, he was grinning and his eyes were crimson. He had an aura of command around him, an aura of arrogance. His vampire fangs were wickedly sharp and long, the grin on his face disturbing and creepy, the evil that was rolling off of him in the form of cloudy black mist only adding to the effect. Hermione hadn't noticed it before, but when Vampire Harry stood up it was much smoother than the way Harry stood up. Vampire Harry made it look like some sort of art.
It made Hermione need to suppress a snort.
"You find something funny, woman?" Harry asked, looking down at Hermione with utter disdain. "I thought I told you to never come near me again or you were going to regret it."
He raised his open hand, but before he could do anything more a different slap bounced through the trees. The slap of Hermione's hand meeting Harry's cheek.
Harry stayed still, his hand remaining raised as he looked at her in shock. "How…How dare you?" he demanded, his face growing dark.
Hermione stepped up close to him, narrowing her eyes at him as she did her best to stare him down while looking up. She didn't want to admit it, but Vampire Harry had a much better glare than normal Harry.
"Isn't that my line?" Hermione asked him.
Harry's hand slowly lowered. "What are you talking about?" he asked coldly. "I warned you."
"That slap was for last time even though I know it didn't hurt nearly as much as yours did," Hermione said. "But what I'm talking about is that you seem to fancy yourself to be some sort of gentleman when you're not mindlessly killing everyone."
"Of course I am," Harry said coldly, still not ceasing the glare directed at Hermione.
"What kind of gentleman hits a woman?" Hermione asked.
"What type of woman hits back?" Harry countered.
"A woman who's not afraid to express her individuality and strength, that's the type of woman who hits back," said Hermione. "And you'll get a lot worse if you try it again."
"Who are you to threaten me?" Harry demanded, sticking his nose up. "A pathetic flea, that's all you are."
This time Hermione did let out a derisive snort. "I already know who the pathetic, bloodsucking, flea is."
"You better watch yourself, woman," Harry warned her in a dangerous voice.
"Or what?" asked Hermione. "You'll hit someone who's weaker than you again? How manly."
"You really do infuriate me," Harry said through clenched teeth. "Leave my presence, now."
"You really do think you're so high and mighty," Hermione remarked, the truth finally dawning on her.
"That's because I am high and mighty," said Harry. "I could destroy you in an instant."
"Once again, thanks for stating the obvious," said Hermione, feeling like she was going in circles.
"Master," said Shadow, interrupting their argument. "This girl is very smart. She's on our side. If I may be so bold…could you just shake her hand and get over it?"
"This girl is not fit to be my mate," Harry growled. "I will not allow her to keep mingling with that other, softer me."
Hermione huffed, saying, "I'm not shaking hands with a complete idiot."
"You're really asking for it, aren't you?" asked Harry.
"Everything with you is violence," said Hermione.
"I'm a bloody vampire," Harry said.
Hermione sighed. She wasn't getting anywhere. "Fine then. Even though I have no interest in being Harry's 'mate', what do I need to do to prove myself to you?"
"You can leave for good," Harry said, his voice like ice. They were staring each other down again. Hermione could feel not quite hatred, but maybe loathing rolling of off the vampire Harry in waves.
"Alright Master, forget the handshake, but wouldn't it be a good idea to get something to eat before we storm the castle tonight?" asked Shadow hopefully. Hermione found it interesting that Shadow was a completely different vampire when Vampire Harry was out.
Harry stared at Hermione for a long time, giving her his coldest glare. When he spoke, his voice was deathly quiet. "Now you listen very carefully, woman," he said. "We will be back in less than an hour. If you're not gone by that time, we are going to have a serious problem."
"Master, she plays an important role in the plan," Shadow said quietly. "We-"
"We do not need her, Shadow," Harry interrupted. "Either of us could easily take on that extra role. All she is is dead weight. Not only does she make the other me weak, but she's not even a vampire. We would have to protect her. She's nothing but a nuisance."
Hermione continued to glare at Vampire Harry, anger rising. A nuisance, was she? "This is your last warning, woman," Harry said, his eyes the coldest they had been up to this point. "Be gone."
With that, Harry began walking towards the clearing again, Shadow right behind him, leaving Hermione behind, her fists shaking in suppressed rage.
"Master, why are you so hard on her?" asked Shadow. "It doesn't really have to do with her being weak, does it? Because we could definitely use her brains."
Harry glanced back at Hermione one more time before they began Shadowalking to their destination: a small town stationed a few miles away. He looked over at Shadow and sighed. "I'm hard on her because I don't think the other me could take it if she got hurt," he admitted grudgingly.
By the time the two of the showed up at the town, there were still about four hours of daylight left. Being so close to a vampire coven, the townspeople had to know not to step in or close to any shadows. If only Harry and Shadow weren't restricted by the invitation rule, they would have any easy time catching prey.
Nevertheless, they stood and waited, vigilantly watching the shadows. Finally, a woman stumbled and tripped into a shadow opposite them. The two immediately Shadowalked into the shadow, grabbing her and pulling her into a dark alley while Harry sank his fangs into her neck. The hot blood rushed down his throat, making him close his eyes in ecstasy as the woman slowly stopped fighting. Then she was dead, her blood completely drained. Harry picked up the body and glanced at Shadow, who was looking at him with faint surprise.
"What?" Harry snapped. "Did you think that just because I showed restraint towards the woman that I had gone soft?"
"Of course not, Master," Shadow remarked with a perfectly straight face.
The two buried the body in the woods, Harry kneeling at the foot of her grave as Shadow stood behind him. Harry muttered the vampire's prayer under his breath, the only time sacred words could pass an undead's lips. When he finished and stood back up, Harry nodded at Shadow and the two headed back towards camp.
To nobody's surprise, Hermione was still there when they arrived.
Harry walked up to her until she was less than a foot away from him, his disapproving eyes looking down on her. "I told you to be gone, woman," he said. When Hermione didn't respond, Harry said, "Be gone…woman."
"No," said Hermione challengingly.
"Don't make me…" Harry said, his voice dangerously low.
"Hit me?" Hermione asked curtly.
"I will do it," Harry threatened.
"And you think being slapped by you is going to make me leave Harry's side?" Hermione asked quietly. "You think watching you kill forty people is going to make me leave Harry's side?" she yelled in his face. "You think you being cold and superior towards me is going to make me leave Harry's side?" she cried. "Well, think again, because absolutely nothing will make me leave his side!"
"What if he wants you to leave?" asked Harry, eyeing her shrewdly.
"That's too bad for him, isn't it?" Hermione asked with a wild glint in her eye. "He's stuck with me whether he likes it or not. I can beat his stubbornness any day."
Harry studied her for a long moment, measuring her sincerity. Finally, he stepped closer to Hermione and grabbed the front of her shirt, pulling her onto her tiptoes as he brought them nose-to-nose. "You hold us back for one second, you complain about one little thing, you lose one ounce of determination…you're gone. When we're implementing a plan or in the middle of a fight and you fail to do your duty or hold your own…you're gone," he said. "We clear?"
Hermione, even though she was glaring at him, said, "Very." Once again, Harry held her eyes for a minute before letting her down.
Then he sighed and announced, "I'm going to meditate before we enact our plan."
"Very well, Master," Shadow instantly replied. "Is there anything you require?"
"Only peace and quiet," Harry said, leaving their sight as he walked through the trees.
"He actually likes you a lot," Shadow remarked once Harry was out of earshot.
"Really?" Hermione asked skeptically.
"I know the vampire sides," said Shadow. "I've never seen one accept a human in his or her midst so soon. "
"So?" Hermione asked.
"Harry was telling you to leave for reasons different than you believe," Shadow explained, trying to dispel some of the tension between the two.
"You're telling me he's not trying to get rid of me because he thinks I'm a useless, dead weight human who's dragging all of you down," Hermione stated disbelievingly.
"He's not as selfish as that when it comes to you," said Shadow. "Just…make sure you don't die tonight, alright?"
"I don't plan to," Hermione said.
Shadow began walking off in the opposite direction than Harry, waving over his shoulder. "Nobody plans to die."'
So Hermione was alone…again. She sighed and began pacing, thinking on Shadow's words. So was he actually implying that Vampire Harry was selfless when it came to her? There's no way that could be true. They hated each other!
Finally, curiosity overwhelming her, Hermione made her way over to Harry. She found him lying on his back using his hands as pillows, his eyes closed. He seemed to be deep in thought. Hermione, unsure of how to get his attention, gave a fake cough. Harry didn't stir. Hermione sighed. "E-Excuse me," she said.
"I have a name, you know," Harry mumbled.
Hermione turned scarlet, hating that she had set herself up for that one. So, irate, she said, "Well, you're not the Harry I know, so I can't call you that."
Harry opened one eye, studying her. Then he suddenly sat up, a smile on his face. A smile that was identical to the regular Harry's down to the crinkling of his skin at the corner of his eyes. "Hey, Hermione, I was just looking for you. I need a little help on my Transfiguration," he said, all coolness gone from his voice, replaced with the warmth of Harry's. Hermione took a step back from him. "I am Harry Potter," the vampire said, cold again. "It's you who has a warped perception of who's who."
Hermione swallowed. Then, deciding to ignore his jibes, said through clenched teeth, "I just came to thank you for coming around to my way of thinking."
Harry looked at her like she was crazy for a moment, then shrugged and laid back down. "I didn't do it for you," he said.
"You didn't do it for you, either," Hermione shot back.
Once again, a single eye opened. "Yes I did," he said. "You were being annoying and it was the only way to shut you up."
"Liar," Hermione immediately countered.
Harry shrugged again. "Whatever you want to believe," he said off-handedly, his eye closing again. "Just make sure you have a good sense of reality."
"What did I ever do to make you hate me so much?" Hermione asked before she had realized what was leaving her mouth.
"You took Harry's heart before I had any say in it," Harry finally answered honestly.
"I haven't done anything with Harry's heart," Hermione replied evenly.
"Subconsciously," Harry said tiredly. "Subconsciously."
Then something hit Hermione, making her freeze. "Shadow was wrong," she muttered, making Harry's eyebrows furrow. "You did do it for selfish reasons," she said.
Harry smirked, eyes still closed. "Now you get it."
"It's because you didn't want to see me in harm's way," she said in her 'I've had an epiphany' voice. "You love me."
Harry's eyes shot open. "I told you to make sure you had a good grasp on reality," he said as if Hermione's notion was laughable.
"Quiet," Hermione snapped, trying to keep her train of thought going. "You just said that you are Harry. The softer side of you, the side I know, only sees it subconsciously according to you. But you. You recognize the feeling. That's why you know the Harry I know loves me."
"I'm a vampire," said Harry evenly, eyes closed again. But Hermione could see that his muscles were tense. "I don't fall in love with anybody, especially you."
"You…Harry…really loves me," Hermione whispered, still astounded.
Harry's face was instantly less than an inch from hers, his a mask of disgust and fury. "You stupid woman. You aren't my mate and you never will be," he spat. "You're annoying, daft, crazy, and hormonal. Grow up and realize that I. Don't. Love. You."
Hermione shook her head, a small smile on her face. "The fact that you're so vehement about it just proves my point more."
"You're incorrigible," Harry said quietly, sitting back down. "It's no use arguing with you."
"Because you know I'm right," Hermione said.
When Harry turned his eyes on Hermione, he was amazed at how cold they were. "No," he said. "It's because you're amazingly thickheaded and stubborn."
"I am neither of those things," Hermione replied. "I'm just being logical. Following your logic, I'm correct."
Harry sighed, lying on his back. Why couldn't she just stop? "Look then," he said tiredly. "We're both wrong. I'm not Harry and I don't love you."
"Really?" Hermione asked. "Then why did you take dominance of Harry's mind when it seemed I had been slain?"
"I fed off of Harry's anger," said Harry. "It was my best means to take control. Nothing more. Nothing less."
"And you slapped me across the face the first time you were out because you didn't want to seem weak in front of Shadow," Hermione kept going, completely ignoring Harry. "Everything fits," she whispered.
"No!" Harry finally exploded, dark magic swirling around him as he levitated about a foot off the ground. "Nothing fits, little girl! Get these sick, twisted fantasies out of your head! Love leads to nothing but pain, which in turn leads to nothing but suffering! I'm not in love with you now, and I never plan to be! Do you not realize how much I despise you?! You, how can you stay so innocent after everything you've witnessed? How can you not be running from me screaming at this very moment? How can you be so stubborn when I've told you ten times that I don't love you?" he raged. "I hate you! I hate that you have the strength to stand up to me, and I hate that your grin only grew smugger as our conversation progressed! How, when there is so much evil in this world, can you stay so nice and understanding? You should be bitter and enraged! You and the other side of me both! I hate you both!"
Hermione was staring at him wide-eyed, not expecting such an outburst from the vampire. "I-I'm sorry," she said meekly.
Harry deflated. "And now you're apologizing…" he said, trailing off. "Great." Hermione opened her mouth, but Harry quickly said, "Leave. Just…leave me alone."
Shadow arrived at that moment, kneeling as soon as he appeared. "Master, Hermione, it's time," he said.
"Very well," Harry replied, his cool demeanor back in place. "I'll meet you two on the other side."
Harry immediately took off, Shadowalking through the trees to the edge of the forest, where the castle came into view. He kneeled down, his mind still a mass of swirling emotions despite his calm, collected façade. It was hard being in love with such a smart girl. She had found out too quickly. She had figured it out. He did indeed slap her upon their first encounter for that very reason, and he did take hold of Harry's mind in an effort to do whatever he could to save her as she had seemingly been run through with Shadow's rapier, even if it was too late.
He was indeed just all of the anger and hate that the normal Harry possessed, kind of like an exaggerated bipolar disorder. It didn't mean that he was incapable of love, though. Here he was, but a fledgling in this world, and he had to deal with the sharpest, wittiest, and most beautiful woman he had ever met every minute of the day. It wasn't fair.
Being the hateful side of Harry, he knew what love could be like. It was as fleeting as life itself. Born seemingly out of nowhere, it could be snuffed at any moment, gone, snatched by the cold hands of death. He didn't want to be the reason she felt that betrayal for the first time.
Because like all evil people, the evil side of Harry did indeed have a soft spot in his heart. He loved to kill, maim, and cause mass destruction, but it would only take one utterance of the word 'stop' from Hermione's lips to make him turn his back on all that. He really hadn't wanted anybody to figure that out, let alone the actual woman herself.
"What's done is done," Harry muttered to himself. "I must focus on the task at hand if I wish to survive."
He took a deep, instinctive breath, opened his eyes, and stepped out of the protective cover of the forest, ready to take control of the vampire world.
Hermione really was the only person who could stop him at this point, though he knew she didn't wish that.
The 'Master Vampire' was really going to regret not enforcing his policy better.
A/N: I know this chap was shorter than my last few and ended on a cliffie, but I really felt uncomfortable ending the chapter anywhere else.
With the amount of schoolwork I have plus work, I have to write my chapters in spurts, which may mean it's a little disjointed and not so smooth-flowing. Sorry about that. I should have a better arrangement for this next chapter.
Thanks for reading and I hope to see your reviews!