Harry and Hermione Pt. III -- Finishing their Sixth Year and Into the Summer

Chapter III

"What should we talk about?" Remus asked.

"I shall talk first. I understand you know something about vampires." Remus shrugged modestly. "What happened a few weeks ago was more about a long-standing disagreement between two factions of our little community than anything to do with you and your world. Taking sides for or against this Voldemort was incidental to most of us, especially me. What mattered most to me was who was going to win. I picked the winning side that night, and I believe I picked the winning side tonight."

"How so?"

The vampire's shoulders moved in a minute shrug. "I did not attack anyone tonight. I caused no damage. Even my three surviving colleagues that claim to have taken your side can only complain that I did nothing to help them and their allies in the earlier confrontation."

"And what is it you want?" Remus asked.

"Ah. All you need to know is that I made a deal with your Headmaster several weeks ago. I was one of his sources of information about tonight's attack. I shall NOT be going back to Voldemort, although I may have to deal with a small problem with his forces, and with my colleagues who decided to continue their alliance with him."

"They are all . . . destroyed," Remus stated.

The vampire blinked rapidly from the surprise. "That is . . . surprising. All five?"

"All five accounted for. One of the vampires allied with us was also destroyed."

"I see." The vampire sat in thought for over a minute. Finally, she looked up. "I made a deal with Dumbledore for sanctuary. I expect that deal to be fulfilled. It was made in this office. For what it is worth, these paintings can verify the deal."

Remus turned to the painting of Headmaster Dippet. "Sir?" he asked.

"It is true," Dippet's image stated. "The Headmaster gave her his current password that sealed the office, and we were to only allow young Potter here in, besides the Headmaster, without a special code or Madam Cassandra's permission. We could not do so, since you were with him. We hoped that he would think of asking one of our other selves, which he did."

"While there is a cupboard in the other room I could hide in, I would really prefer to be some place . . . safer for daylight," Cassandra stated.

Remus and Harry looked at each other. Finally, Harry said, "My passageway?"

Remus chewed his lip in thought, then he nodded. He looked at Cassandra. "I want your oath that you will harm no one who is not directly attacking you, or feed off of anyone, while you are here."

"I could use some sustenance, but I agree," Cassandra stated. "I further swear that young Mister Potter here is under my protection."

"Very well. Harry, show her to your room."

"How long have you been a vampire?" Harry asked as they approached the mirror.

"I was made in Constantinople in the year 996," she answered. "You seem surprised."

"That was a long time ago."

"True," she acknowledged. "As one of the Muggle fantasists who writes about us has pointed out, many of us are not as able to handle an extended existence as we think when we are made. Half of us are destroyed before we last a century, and most of the rest of us are either killed by our own kind or choose to die off between the ages of two and three hundred."

"Yet you made it to a thousand," Harry pointed out.

"So I have," she acknowledged. "Very few witches are ever made vampires. I was made by accident. My father was a wizard, my mother what you would call a Squib. He was out of the city in the summer of 996, when the vampire caught sight of me and fell in lust with me. Our town house was run on Muggle lines, and we used weak wandless magic there when we used it at all, so he did not realize what I was, for he had been a Muggle. So he kidnaped me, fed on me, raped me, and made me a vampire." She smiled wryly. "I destroyed him two months later."

"I thought vampires were required to be loyal to their makers," Harry asked, showing her into the classroom that served as Hermione's study.

"If I had consented, I would have been. I had NOT consented, and therefore was not made an outcast." She looked around. "Very attractive. This is yours?"

"Technically and practically, no. Technically, this is just an abandoned and hidden set of rooms. Practically, this is my girlfriend's study, and our refuge is next door." Harry showed her into the bedroom.

"Very good taste. Yours or hers?"

"Our elves', actually," Harry told her.

Cassandra peeked into the next room. "A lovely bath. I may use it after I wake. . . ." She spun around at the scent she had suddenly come across. She looked on, stunned, as Harry stood over by the stuffed chairs and table, his wrist bleeding into a wine glass. "What are you doing, boy?" she demanded, her high voice a bit shriller.

Harry said nothing as the small wine glass filled to just over half. Then he healed his wrist with a spell they had just learned in the medical class and held out the glass. "You said you needed something to . . . drink. It isn't much, but I understand vampires of your age only need a pint of blood a week or so to maintain yourself." Less than that, and the vampire would slowly become more mindless, until it gorged on enough blood to regain its sanity. Harry held the glass out.

"Yes," Cassandra said, "and I am a bit behind." She swallowed drily. "Set it down. Step away from the glass. I don't . . . I do not wish to lose control."

Harry did as she asked. Cassandra almost flung herself at the glass, and swallowed the blood in one long gulp. Still holding the glass, she backed into the bath, coming out a few seconds later with a glass of water in her other hand.

"I didn't know vampires drank water," Harry said clinically as she sipped some of it.

"We do not need water to sustain our existence. It does make it easier to talk." Some blood had collected back in the bottom of the wine glass. Cassandra tipped the glass, and shuddered with pleasure as the drops oozed onto her tongue. Harry was reminded of a game he and Hermione had played on New Year's Night. She had reacted to his semen the same way Cassandra was to his blood coming from the same glass.

Cassandra swallowed again with a smile, then poured a little of the water into the wine glass, swirled, and drink that down as well. She rinsed the glass more thoroughly, and drink that more slowly. "You taste marvelous," she whispered. "Young, powerful, even tangy. Thank you." She kicked off her boots and laid on the bed. "Dawn is not coming soon, but still I shall sleep now." Within seconds, she was as still as a corpse.

"This had been a very weird twelve hours," Harry mumbled in the classroom. He called for Dobby, and told him the suite was off-limits until further notice. Dobby acknowledged the order, and left.

Harry first took himself back to the Infirmary. A visiting nurse refused to let him see Dumbledore, but did assure Harry that the Headmaster, and many of the others, had been visited by a phoenix, and that all were healing and resting.

Coming out of the Infirmary, he was met by Minister Bones coming in. She took him out to a classroom. "Ah, Mister Potter . . . I managed to talk with Dumbledore last evening, after the . . . attack. He was right in his assessment. We should have had you there. Between the two of you, Voldemort might not have been able to inflect such damage." She frowned. "And it was him. We could have destroyed or captured all the others. It was Voldemort who made the difference. We should have had an all-out victory, not a bare win." She frowned again. "We shall not make the same error again. The Headmaster has a plan for your training this summer. He should explain it to you in a day or two. If you agree to it, I shall."

"Thank you," Harry said. "Did we lose many?"

"Several, and perhaps a few more. Harold will likely survive, but I doubt if he'll ever be able to come back full time."

"You think a lot of Harold, don't you?" Harry asked, realizing as he did so that he didn't even know Harold's full name.

"I do. No sense of politics, and knows enough to usually keep his mouth shut. Now, why don't you go some place other than the Infirmary? I am. The Headmaster will call for us when he needs to see us."

It was just after 5:00 am. Harry went into the Great Hall and wrote a note for the elves to wake him at 6:30. He conjured a reclining chair and took a nap.

The entire school was coming together for an early breakfast, called by their Heads of House. Harry noticed that Ron had waited at the entrance, until he could talk with Susan Bones. Susan smiled shyly at Ron, kissed his cheek, and walked to the Hufflepuff table. Both she and Ron had smiles on their faces.

"New girl?" Harry asked when Ron sat down.

"Yes, actually," Ron replied.

"She won't be as . . . accommodating as Henrietta," Hermione pointed out, sitting down as well.

"Probably not," Ron acknowledged, "but then, I was never in love with Henrietta, and she was never really in love with me."

"And you're in love with Susan?" Harry asked, in a disbelieving tone.

"I . . . I . . . maybe," Ron finally admitted. All eyes were then drawn to Professor McGonagall, rapping gently on a juice glass. She started off by apologizing on behalf of the Ministry, the MLES, and the Headmaster and staff, and then fully explaining why the apologies were necessary. There was quite an uproar from the students over the Compulsions. When the outcries finally died down, McGonagall went on to explain the battle that had taken place. Harry noticed that McGonagall was clear that there had been only five vampires who had sided with Voldemort.

Remus had caught Harry just before he had sat down, and told him that Bellatrix and Wormtail had been two of the Death Eaters who had managed to escape. McGonagall now informed the students that there was a possibility that one Death Eater, an animagus able to turn into a rat, could still be present at Hogwarts. Any rats seen should be stunned by the students, and brought to the attention of the staff, one of the nine aurors now assigned to the school, or to Alastor Moody, who would also be present the rest of term as an additional security consultant.

Then, to everyone's shock, McGonagall announced who it was that had planted the portkey targets in the students' robes the previous November 1 -- Marietta Edgecombe and the Seventh year Ravenclaw Prefect Julia Collins, who had done the same thing the night before to allow Voldemort's forces in. Their best friends, Cho Chang and Su Li, were also being held for questioning. The relief from Slytherins was nearly as great as the anger from the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs, although it did not match the consternation or embarrassment or feelings of betrayal felt by the Ravenclaws.

After breakfast, Harry was called to meet with McGonagall, Tonks, Remus, and Moody, where he was told he would meet with the Headmaster at 4:00, and would likely meet with Cassandra before dinner. Harry nodded, and went off to explain to Hermione why she couldn't use her suite that day.

Harry announced his determination to nap until well into lunch. His fellow Gryffindors nodded their acknowledgment after he told them about seeing Dumbledore and having to stay up all night running errands. Harry was glad the twins had left school -- they would have decided this was a good time to play a joke on him.

Harry woke up to a pair of hands massaging his neck. "That's good, Hermione," he mumbled, "but you shouldn't be here."

"It's me, Harry," Colin said. Harry tensed. "Relax. I . . . I need to apologize for last night."

"Colin. . . ."

"No . . . I was wrong. I took advantage of the . . . intimacy created by the merging. I could tell how upset you were."

"You did take advantage, and I was upset," Harry acknowledged. "But Colin, I was more upset at myself than I was with you. I don't want you to get the wrong idea, or to think I'm leading you on."

"You're not," Colin assured his adoptive brother. "Maybe you should acknowledge that you at least lean a little to the bi-side."

Harry shrugged. "Maybe. I never thought about kissing a boy like that before, but at that moment, I wasn't seeing you as a boy." Colin's magic and aura hadn't seemed masculine or feminine to Harry. Harry had responded more to Colin's attraction to Harry than having any real physical attraction to Colin.

"I understand. I'm glad you're not upset."

"I'm not." 'But I'm going to make sure I NEVER merge my magic directly with another guy!' Harry swore to himself.

Harry presented himself at Dumbledore's hospital bed promptly at 4:00. He was sitting up, and Fawkes was perching nearby. "Ah, Harry. I need to apologize for being a touch . . . dramatic last night."

"That's alright, Professor."

"I understand you have met our . . . guest."

"You mean Cassandra? Yes, I have."

"Good. Would you be willing to visit her? We don't want her to feel imprisoned. Madam Pomfrey assures me that I will be able to meet with the Ministry people Monday morning. You need only visit her briefly tonight and tomorrow."

"Of course, sir."

"Good. We'll speak a bit more on that before you go. Now, about this summer."

"Yes, sir?"

"With your approval, we shall ask your aunt that you be allowed to stay with them over part of Easter and the first week of the summer vacation. At that point, we will move you to a secure location for intensive training."

"Back to the cabin in the valley?"

"No," Dumbledore said firmly. "It shall be overseas, but that's all I should say at this time. The question is, who should go with you?"

"Hermione," Harry said firmly.

"Of course," Dumbledore agreed, "providing Miss Granger and her parents agree. I was originally thinking of a small group, perhaps just Miss Granger. Then, I had a thought. It is possible that Voldemort will be able to set the final challenge soon after you attain your majority. In that case, yes, the small group, coupled with intensive training for you, might make the most sense. However, it is also possible that you will not be facing Voldemort for well over a year. In that case, the intense training would actually ruin you for your final year of schooling and further more perhaps not enhance your chances against Voldemort in the longer-term. Intensive training cuts corners, corners that usually exist for good reasons. There is every chance, Harry, that should you live as long as I, you shall experience two or even three more Dark Wizards. Even if you do not think you will face them directly, you shall likely be targeted by them, and would-be imitators, just as I have been."

"Wizards trying to gain a quick reputation, you mean?"

"Exactly. I was lucky. The wizard who was in many ways my predecessor took on many enemies, before dying in 1915."

Harry sighed. "I'll do whichever you think best, sir," Harry stated.

"Then start thinking of whom you might wish to join you this summer. Name as many as you wish. We shall go through them and consider them all."

"I shall, sir."

"Now, about our guest. . . ."

Harry looked around the class room. "I have a purpose, calling you all here. First, I need everyone to take a drink of pumpkin juice."

"Why?" Ron asked before anyone else could.

"First things first. First, I promise you that this is just pumpkin juice, and I will explain as much as I can. Second, I am doing this at the request of the Headmaster. This brings us to number three. Hermione has created a contract for us. I think you all know what that entails?"

The group did, and grumbled about it. "Sign or don't," Harry told them. "I promise to burn this as soon as I can, which will release us. I also promise that signing only commits you to silence. There is a course of action involved, but you do NOT have to participate."

"Why don't you sign first, Harry," Dean suggested.

"Alright."

Harry signed, then Hermione signed as well, saying as she did so, "I'm signing, and I have no idea what is going on. I trust Harry." The rest of the group followed: Ron; Dean; Colin; Parvati; Padma; Lavender; Seamus; William and Anna Lloyd; Neville; Ginny; Luna; Susan Bones; Millicent Bulstrode; and Daphne Greengrass. Harry had thought about a number of possible people to ask. He finally asked Anna because she and Seamus had recently become a serious couple, William because he was a close friend of Colin's. He had decided to ask Millicent and Daphne so that Anna wasn't the only Slytherin. He had decided to ask Susan so that he could involve at least one Hufflepuff, and asking the Minister's niece might be a good political move, unless it backfired.

Harry then explained the presence of Cassandra and the role she had played. "And you'd like us to, well, donate?" Millicent asked, shocked.

"Yes," Harry answered. "She's going to try and work against Voldemort. If she feels she can get close enough, we might be asked to donate again, as she won't have time to feed. If she cannot, we will not be asked, and I should be able to destroy the agreement by Easter."

"How much?" Daphne asked, "and are we all going to donate?"

"Colin can't donate, due to his condition," Harry pointed out. "At her age, just over a millennium, she needs just a pint a week."

"One fluid ounce from each of us, then?" Ginny pondered.

"About that, yes."

"I'll do it, if the rest of you will," Susan stated.

"I'll do it, if Granger or Longbottom does the cutting," Millicent growled. "I don't trust any of the rest of you with a knife."

"You'll trust me?" Neville asked, surprised.

"Even in potions, you never mishandled a knife," Millicent pointed out, "no matter what else went wrong. Must be all that pruning."

With that, everyone agreed. Harry produced a beaker which would keep the blood at body temperature. In less than forty minutes, they were done, Hermione adding a few drops of an acceptable anti-coagulant along the way. As they were going through the procedure, Dean approached Harry. "Why is Colin here?" he asked, as he and Harry drifted off to the side of the room.

"I didn't want him to feel left out, and this way we can talk about what's going on in front of him."

"That makes sense." Dean looked Harry in the eye. "I need to talk to you in private."

"Tonight, in our room, around Seven-thirty?"

"Sounds good."