Xithion's Gift

Xithion's Gift

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Chapter 5:

Between Vampires

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Sirius's eyes narrowed as he saw who came in. "Malfoy. Madam Pomfrey told that you would come."

Lucius merely raised an eyebrow, not at all surprised by his attitude. "Black. Ever so friendly, I see."

At this, the darkhaired teen snorted. "I don't see any reasons why I should be friendly to you," he snapped, eyeing the other young wizard nastily. He definitely didn't seem too pleased.

"Well, for starters," the blond said calmly, "you need me to understand what exactly it means to be a vampire. And I saved your life," he then added as an afterthought. "Maybe that's worth at least something."

"Not to mention that you're both sucking and fucking my best friend," added Sirius dryly.

This made Lucius smirk a bit and raise his eyebrow again. "My, my, Black, watch your language. Yes, Remus is my servant, and yes, we are lovers. I must also remind you that he's doing everything willingly."

"So I've been told." Sirius didn't sound too convinced, though.

Lucius, of course, noticed this. "You don't sound like you believed me," he commented casually.

"I don't see any reasons to believe you," snapped the Gryffindor.

Lucius shrugged, seemingly merely amused by his attitude. "Be that way, then. Now, before you ask anything, I must ask something, too. Do you know why exactly vampires need to drink blood?"

"Isn't it like food to them -- I mean, us?" There was no mistaking his bitter tone as he said the last bit.

"In a way, yes," admitted the elder wizard. "But, it's also much more. You see, a vampire's organism can't produce enough new blood to compensate the dying blood cells. That's the main reason why we have to drink blood from a willing servant. Rather soon the vampire has only his servant's blood in his body - nobody can tell whether a random blood sample is from the vampire or the servant, although only the vampire's blood can Turn anybody."

Now, it was Sirius's turn to raise his eyebrow as he gave the other vampire a cold glance. "Gives a whole new meaning to the saying 'same flesh and blood,'" he commented dryly.

Lucius chuckled at that. "You could say so, yes. The potion my father developed helps that, making the body able to produce enough new blood to keep the vampire alive."

"Can I eat normal food as well?" asked Sirius curiously. Like many boys of his age, he loved eating.

Nodding briefly in response, Lucius told him, "As long as you drink the potion, there's nothing different in your eating habits, other than the prohibition of garlic. The potion makes you able to digest normal food. If you get a servant, however, that has to change," he then added. "Then you'll only be able to eat a little, or you'll become sick, like I've come to notice recently."

Sirius raised an eyebrow, smirking at the taller young wizard. "And here I was thinking that you were on a diet or something," he said snidely. "You do look a bit pudgy."

"Very funny, Black," Lucius replied dryly. "Let's see how much you'll laugh when you get thin as well. Even with the help of the potion, your body cannot use all food on its advantage. Therefore, you'll lose weight."

"Okay, enough about that," decided the Animagus. "Is there anything else I should know about eating?"

"Hardly. Now, let's see some other things," the blond said then. "We cannot cross running water, be it a river, a stream, a brook - no matter how big or little. We cannot get a tan -"

Sirius sighed dramatically. "Goodbye, my gorgeous appearance!"

At that, Lucius snorted, rolling his eyes towards the ceiling. "Whatever, Black..." he said, his tone telling his exact opinion of Sirius's statement. "Then, we cannot enter a house unless somebody invites us in."

"Does it apply to every time we go to the house, or only once per a building?"

At this, Lucius shrugged a bit. "If you stay in the house for a longer time, there's no need to worry, you can go in and out just normally," he explained. "If you leave for more than a week, however, you need to be invited in again. Also, if there's a smaller apartment inside the building that's clearly separated from the rest of the house, you need to be invited into it as well. For example, I've never been able to just walk into a teacher's quarters unlike some, they always have to ask me inside."

"So there's something even a mighty Malfoy cannot do," said the Gryffindor, smirking again at the blond.

"You're so funny I'm dying, Black. Remind me to laugh," Lucius said dryly.

"I'll be sure to do that," Sirius said, not taken aback by his sarcasm. Instead, he went on talking -- he never was one to be quiet for long. "So, more than a week, eh? How are we supposed to get inside the school?"

"Usually there's a teacher inviting me in when I arrive. I think the same will go for you."

"What a relief," Sirius said mockingly. "So I won't miss a single lesson because of this."

"Oh ha ha," drawled the blond. "Did I already tell that you're incredibly funny, Black?"

"Yes, you did, but do say it again," the younger wizard said. "Coming from you, it's a joke all by itself."

"But of course. So, no matter if you're drinking the potion or you have a servant, you'll be able to be in sunlight, although you won't probably feel comfortable. And about crucifixes or even simple crosses - well, I'll just say that it's better to stay away from those. The same goes for holy water; you definitely don't want to mess with it. I once accidentally touched it, and I still have scars to remind me of its dangers."

Sirius looked disbelieving as he heard that. "Why on Earth would those things be dangerous to us?"

At his question, the blond again raised an eyebrow, looking serious. "People believe in them and their power, Black -- very many people. You'd be surprised if you knew how great power simple faith has."

Now, Sirius sighed. "Is there anything good about our curse, then?"

"Well, several things, actually," Lucius told him. "We're stronger than usual humans, both physically and mentally. We can live with very little food and drink, or even without eating and drinking, as long as we get enough blood or the potion you'll be using. We're able to see in dark, our hearing and sense of smell are a lot better than a human's - in fact, we're very much like werewolves in our strength and senses. We are immune to many curses and hexes, and some others don't work as well on us - again, just like werewolves. Plus, we can turn into rats, bats, or wolves."

Sirius grimaced. "Ergh. Now I at least know not to ask Remus what he's doing on the full moon nights. Not really the mental image I need, you know." Then, he started to giggle.

Lucius's eyebrows flew up again. "My, Black, you are a pervert."

"So I've been told," said Sirius, grinning. Oh, he most certainly had been told that many times.

Then, Lucius was back to business again, explaining more about their special skills as vampires. "As yet another similarity between us and werewolves, we're pretty hard to kill. Fire, beheading, other Dark creatures, wood through heart, that's about everything that can kill us. Put silver instead of wood and you know what to do if you want to kill a werewolf. And garlic to us, of course."

Sirius nodded. "So silver to werewolves or those holy things to us can't kill us, unless they get to our heart?"

"Nope," replied Lucius, confirming his assumption. "But, they can put us into a very bad condition. It's about the same whether you're dead or in a coma for the rest of your life."

"...Ouch," said the young Gryffindor, grimacing. That was not a very pleasant thought.

"Exactly," was all that Lucius said. He looked a bit amused, though.

"How often do we need to drink blood or the potion?" asked Sirius then. It was, after all, pretty important.

"Every couple of days, I'd say," the older boy told him. "It sometimes depends on the situation."

"Remus became your servant during the summer," realized the Animagus. "What did you do then?"

"What do you think?" Lucius shrugged and continued, "Took him home with me, of course."

"And what did your parents say?" asked Sirius, raising an eyebrow. "Nothing good, I suppose."

Lucius's answer, however, most certainly surprised him. "Why, they were overjoyed. It was about the time I found somebody who could accept me as myself, they said. Both my mother and father adore Remus, just like everyone does. To them, it doesn't much matter that he's a Halfblood -- appearances can be deceiving, you know, they're rather nice people once you get to know them."

At that, Sirius fell silent. He appeared to be deep in thought for some reason.

Lucius raised an eyebrow for the umpteenth time that evening. "What's wrong, Black?" he asked.

"I was just thinking about my parents," Sirius said slowly. "They most probably won't take this easily. They hate me already; what will they say when they hear that I'm not only a Gryffindor, but a vampire, too?"

"Don't worry," chuckled the blond, smirking a bit. "Just say that Lucius Malfoy Turned you; they'll be delighted. Besides, if you recall, vampires are Dark creatures."

"So are werewolves," reminded Sirius, "and my parents say they all should be killed. I've never even considered taking Remus for a visit." At that thought, he shuddered. His parents wouldn't hesitate to try to kill his Lycanthropic friend if they ever got their hands at him, that he knew for sure.

"Trust me, everything will work out. I can come to a visit over the holidays, even -- with Remus, of course. Let's see if they dare to talk against the Malfoy heir." The blond smirked at his own words.

Now, Sirius turned suspicious. "Why are you doing this?" he demanded to know.

"Doing what?" asked the Slytherin back, as if he hadn't known what Sirius was talking about.

"This," replied the Animagus, irritated. "Taking care that everything will work out for me and such."

At that, the older boy shrugged. "I Turned you. Even if I did it to save you, you are my responsibility now. It's also a bond -- not like the one between a vampire and their servant, but still a bond."

Sirius nodded slowly. "I understand... I think," he said. "A lollipop?" he then offered.

"A blood one?" asked Lucius, raising an eyebrow.

Sirius responded with a smirk. "Of course." He drew to sight two of the treats Madam Pomfrey had given to him, handing one of them to the blond boy next to his hospital bed.

"I'd never say no to that," Lucius said, accepting his offering.

"Figured so," said Sirius with a self-satisfied smirk.

Not replying at first, Lucius licked his lollipop. "Mmm. It's always just as good," he then said.

Sirius, too, licked his treat. "I have to agree," he then said. Chuckling, he added, "You can just imagine how surprised I was when I first noticed I actually like these."

"I've lived almost half of my life with these as my only sweets," Lucius told him nonchalantly. "Everything else tastes weird. By the way, do you know what Remus is eating?"

Smirking a bit, Sirius licked his lollipop a couple of times. "Chocolate, if I know him in any way."

Lucius chuckled between a few more licks. "Exactly, but not only that. Seemingly the company that makes these lollipops noticed that these are too strong for vampires' servants, even though they often need some blood strengthening. So, he's now eating at least two bars of blood chocolate every day."

"Bloody hell."

"Quite literally." Lucius smirked, then licked his lollipop. "Now, do you have anything else to ask?"

"Not right now," responded Sirius with yet another lick.

"Good," the blond replied. "If you want to ask something later, don't hesitate to ask me. You are my responsibility now, after all, and I happen to take my responsibilities seriously - no pun intended."

"So you actually noticed that there could be a pun? I'm impressed," the Gryffindor said, grinning.

Lucius snorted dryly. "I actually do have a sense of humour, Black. I just don't show it that often."

"Yeah, Remus must laugh himself sick every night." The Animagus smirked evilly.

"And what's that supposed to mean, Black?" asked Lucius, raising a questioning eyebrow.

"Just what I said," Sirius said with a smirk. That was all of an explanation he offered.

"If I didn't feel responsible of you, you'd be dead right now," threatened the other teen.

Sirius, once again, licked his lollipop. "Nice to see you care."

"Shut up, Black. Now, I do think it'd be better if you just rest. You'll have a hard day tomorrow."

"Bloody hell... Snape's coming," sighed Sirius. "Oh, yeah. I'm a dead man now."

At that, Lucius smirked triumphantly. "Exactly. Have a nice day tomorrow, Black."

"Fuck you," muttered the darkhaired teen under his breath.

Unfortunately to Sirius, at least at the moment, vampires had a lot better hearing than usual humans. So, Lucius calmly responded, "Why, thanks for offering, but I do think Remus would become quite jealous."

"Why, you little..." started Sirius, annoyed beyond belief. How dared this git to make fun of him?!

"Vampire?" offered the blond.

"No. A slimy, disgusting snake," spat Sirius, giving Lucius his most evil glare.

"Why, I'm insulted," said Lucius. He didn't look like that, though.

"That was my intention," huffed Sirius. "Nice to see I've achieved something."

Lucius chuckled yet again. "Figured so. Anyway, sweet dreams, Black."

Then he left the Infirmary, uncaring about Sirius's muttered curses.

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