Dreaming Of You

Dreaming Of You

Part 15 - Red As Blood

Chapter 25

Once there was a time
Like no other time before
Hope was still an open door

Once upon a dream

And I was unafraid
The dream was so exciting
But now I see it fade
And I am here alone.

~*~

"Bloody idiot!" Miache glared at Xavier. "What would you rather have intact - your sister, or her honor?"

Xavier said nothing, staring resolutely away from his burned hand.

"I wasn't aware her honor was intact in the first place," Ferox said with a cold smile. "Though it's hardly an issue, of course." He glanced around. "Now then. I believe my Master required two hostages. Two human women, if I am correct. Where are they?"

Lianne ducked behind Severus when he translated for her. Typical Hufflepuff, he thought in disgust. Of course, it was probably the wisest course, since the wolf wasn't looking for a human man. But it certainly wasn't very brave.

"They left, of course," Miache lied calmly. "They didn't want to get involved in a war."

"I don't believe that." Ferox ignored her. He scanned the crowd, and Severus reflected that it was probably for the best that Lianne was short. It wouldn't help her if the wolves decided to do a full investigation, involving things like movement and effort, but for a quick glance around the room she should be all right.

Unfortunately, the Alpha didn't appear content with that. "Search for them," he commanded two of his wolves. They had only just begun when Sekihei returned with a vampire girl - the princess, presumably - and Erin.

Ferox held up a hand, frowning at the human girl. "Wait." He scrutinized Erin. "This girl is one of the humans we're to capture."

"I am?" It appeared to be news to Erin. Then Severus frowned.

"I thought she didn't speak French?" he whispered to Lianne.

"She doesn't," came the witch's bemused reply.

"She is," Ferox confirmed to his wolves. He fixed his attention on Erin. "Girl! Where is your companion?" Erin glanced over at Prissy. "Not her!"

"I don't know," Erin told him. "I was being held hostage, I don't know where anyone is."

"Hostage?" Ferox laughed shortly. "Well, then you'll be used to it." He looked at Sekihei. "You were holding her?"

"Of course," the Countess said impatiently. "Xavier grabbed her."

"Why not the other one?" Ferox demanded.

"How should I know?" Sekihei shook her head. "Does it matter? She's right in here."

"Is she?" A smile spread over the Alpha's face. "I thought she would be. Where was she when you left?"

"With that other human." Sekihei glanced around, and her eyes alighted on Severus and Lianne. "There. She's hiding behind him."

"Another human?" The Alpha did not look pleased as he turned to Severus. The Potions master drew his wand surreptitiously. "This is unexpected. I wonder if the Master would prefer to have you added to his hostage collection, or to have you die?"

Severus, having been doing some quick thinking while Ferox had his discussion with Erin and Sekihei, answered, "I doubt the Master would be at all happy if you were to kill one of his trusted servants." He reached back and grabbed Lianne's arm, pulling her in front of him. "Or didn't you know that he sent another Death Eater to handle the hostages."

"What?" Miache all but shrieked. "You - you traitor! You're on the goddamned Circle!"

Severus shrugged, holding firmly to a very confused Lianne. She didn't seem inclined to struggle as yet, which was good. He wasn't sure he could keep her from escaping without hurting her, and if he had to turn her over to the wolves, they would definitely hurt her. Hopefully she realized that.

"An insider?" Then the light in the Alpha's eyes went out. "How do I know you're telling the truth?"

In response, Severus raised his left arm, holding Li only with his right and praying she wouldn't try to make a break for freedom. Whether out of terror, shock, or an actual understanding of his plan, she stayed put as he shook back his sleeve and exposed his Dark Mark.

"Double-crossing bastard." Miache looked as though the only thing preventing her from tearing his throat out then and there was the fact that she thought he might be able to kill Lianne before she could finish him off.

"Lianne!"

Severus's attention was distracted at Lupin's cry of dismay. He looked over to see the man - as shockingly clad as all the other wolves - being led in between two other, much more muscular wolves. Beside him, being half-dragged as well as led by his guards, was a young man who had apparently been through a decidedly brutal beating. Severus didn't need to hear the princess call out his name to realize this had to be the Alpha's son, Delaney.

"Prissy - " Whatever the boy had been about to say was cut off when one of his guards jammed an elbow into his ribs. This upset both Lupin and the princess, but neither of them was allowed to get more than a step closer to Delaney before being stopped.

Ferox stared impassively at his son, and Severus wondered at the lack of feeling in the wolf's gaze. Surely he cared something for the boy? His own flesh and blood?

"You brought this on yourself, Delaney," the Alpha said, looking for all the world as if he was not even especially interested. As if it was someone else's son who stood there, bruised and broken. "You have only yourself to thank for whatever pain you are in. I have renounced you already, and now I do so again. You are nothing to me."

"It's mutual," Delaney assured him, with what breath he'd regained. He looked over at Priscilla. "I love you, Pri- " Another elbow shut him up as the vampire girl burst into tears.

"Lane! Oh, God, Lane!" She struggled against Sekihei, who held her in place, but apparently at least some of the woman's fat was muscle. That, or the princess was exceptionally weak.

Ferox looked over at her. "So you're the vampire that turned Delaney's head." He looked her up and down, making her flush bright red beneath her tears, before turning back to his son. "I must say, you might have chosen a prettier girl, if you had to have a vampire."

"Don't talk about her that way!" Xavier objected, eyes dark with pain from his hand, in addition to fierce anger.

Ferox's eyes moved to the prince. "Didn't you learn anything the first time you tried to defend her honor?"

"No."

The Alpha shrugged. "Well, it hardly matters now. Countess?"

"Prissy!" When Delaney and Erin both cried the girl's name, Severus realized that Sekihei had produced from somewhere a small squirt gun, and she was holding it millimeters from the bare skin of Prissy's temple.

"Don't try anything," the Countess advised them, smirking. "This is holy water, sprinkled with garlic. Perhaps the Lady Phoenix would be unaffected, but it should more than take care of a mere Owl. Especially if it eats into her brain."

~*~

Erin didn't dare move as the wolf who appeared to be in charge approached. "Give me the gun," he said, his hand enclosing it. "I will be the one who destroys her."

At that moment, Erin would gladly have stabbed him with a silver knife, if only she'd happened to have one. She didn't know much about what happened when vampires touched holy water, but she was sure it would not be a pleasant death.

But maybe she wouldn't have stabbed him. She seemed unable to move, whether from terror or from some vampire's mind control. She wanted so badly to knock that gun out of the wolf's hands, but she couldn't seem to make her limbs obey.

Prissy glanced at Erin, then looked quickly away, as though she didn't wish to draw attention to her friend. Erin's heart twisted, and unshed tears blurred her sight. Why should this poor girl die, just because she fell in love? This wasn't right. It wasn't fair. And it was going to happen, right here and right now, and there was nothing anyone could do. No one could stop it in time. No one could plead, or bargain, or pray. No one could do anything, except watch.

The wolf smiled with a cruel triumph that was more repellent than any sneer could have been. And he squeezed the trigger.

She had expected something to happen to stop him, Erin realized. Somehow, she hadn't really believed he would be allowed to go through with it. She hadn't believed that the universe wouldn't intervene, somehow, and say no, this is wrong.

But she hadn't expected it to have no effect.

Prissy stomped hard on the wolf's foot and thrust her elbow violently into his gut. Being a wolf, and stronger than either humans or vampires, it didn't affect him as it would have someone else. But it did distract him long enough for Prissy to pull a knife - a silver knife - from the front of her dress.

She didn't say anything. She didn't laugh, or gloat, or even smile. She just struck out as she turned, and slashed the wolf across the throat.

It wasn't a powerful strike. The knife ended up lodged about a third of the way into the wolf's neck. But that, in addition to the silver, was more than enough.

Everyone stared as Ferox collapsed. Prissy ignored the crowd, calmly bending down to scoop the squirt gun out of the limp fingers clasping it, and turned to face Sekihei.

"You killed my aunt." Prissy's face was cold, and somehow transformed from what Erin expected to see there. "You chose to follow a foreign human, rather than your own queen."

Sekihei said nothing. She was as close to the princess as Erin, close enough to see the change in the girl's face. The tears were gone, as if they'd never been. Helpless hysterics were miles away from this cool, capable young woman.

When it was clear the Countess would deny nothing, Prissy raised her gun and shot a long stream of water into the older vampire. Realizing what was happening an instant too late, Sekihei tried to duck out of the way. She succeeded only in allowing the holy water to touch more of her skin. Erin hastily closed her eyes against the sight of burning flesh, but she knew the smell, and the screams, would echo in her mind for a very long time.

"Your Highness?"

Erin opened her eyes. Miache stood there, her confusion plain on her usually unreadable face.

Prissy raised an eyebrow, looking eerily like her grandmother as she pocketed the squirt gun. "Miache?"

"What was..." The Phoenix hesitated briefly, motioning to the two dead bodies Erin was resolutely not looking at. "What was that?"

"They were in my way," Prissy explained. "Now they aren't."

Miache frowned slightly. "That wasn't what I meant. That holy water ought to have killed you."

"Oh. Yes." Prissy smiled sweetly. "Apparently I'm a bit more powerful than I thought." She began picking her way through the people in the room.

Some of the wolves shifted uneasily, as if unsure whether or not they ought to attack. "Murderess!" one brave - or stupid - soul called out into the otherwise silent room.

Prissy stopped and turned in the direction of the voice. "That's quite an accusation, coming from a wolf," she said, her eyes wide. Yet somehow, they'd lost the bright innocence they'd had just an hour before. "I thought you believed in trial by combat."

"This is hardly a combat," Miache spoke up, a frown still forming a crease between her eyebrows. "Killing the Alpha was possibly not the brightest course of action. Now you've got a leaderless mob on your hands."

"Don't be silly, Miache," Prissy said, continuing to cross the room. "Lane will be leader."

Erin noted that this seemed to be news to Lane.

"We won't follow him," spoke up a female wolf who had entered with the people holding Remus hostage. "The wolves don't work like that. The Alpha title isn't hereditary."

"I know." Prissy smiled at her. "It's decided by combat, isn't it? Whoever kills the current Alpha becomes the new Alpha?" But this point, Prissy had reached the throne. A pile of dust and clothing lay there, along with the Queen's crown, and a wooden stake. Erin realized, swallowing hard, that this must be all that was left of Queen Desdemona. Prissy looked down at the throne with distaste as she removed the crown from the dust. "Someone get rid of this mess."

"Your Highness." Miache's voice was low and penetrating in the bewildered silence. "You do realize what it is you've just said, don't you?"

"I won't insult you by pretending I think you're referring to the throne." Prissy turned to look across the room at the Phoenix. "Of course I know. I've killed the Alpha. That makes me leader of the wolf clan."

"You are a vampire!" The wolf woman's shriek was audible even over the outburst of protest from the entire room, wolves and vampires alike.

"I'm well aware of that," Prissy said calmly when the noise died down. "I certainly don't intend to rule you." There was a general sigh of relief. "Lane will do it for me, when we're married."

"You can't really mean to marry him," Hera said disbelievingly, staring at her cousin from the surrounding group. "Grandmother is dead, and that makes you the queen. You have responsibilities."

Prissy laughed. Erin shivered at the sound. The more Prissy talked, the more nervous Erin was getting. Something strange had happened. This was not the girl she'd met in captivity. While everyone's attention was focused on Prissy and whomever she chose to speak to, Erin slowly began edging across the room to Remus and Lane. She wasn't sure what she'd do when she got there, but she somehow felt safer, being near Remus. Even if he was currently being held by two very strong wolves.

"I know my responsibilities, Hera. I always have." Prissy shook her head. "I never could believe how silly everyone else is. You just don't seem to see what's right in front of your noses."

"What are you talking about?" Hera looked over at Xavier when Prissy did not appear to be inclined to answer with anything other than another laugh. "Xavier? What does she mean?"

"That is entirely up to my sister to reveal, as she chooses." Xavier smiled and leaned against a wall. He almost managed to keep the pain of his burnt hand from his face. "But I will say that she has my complete support. She always has, from the beginning of this entire affair."

"We know." Hera shot him a look of disgust. "You've made it quite clear that you don't care whether she marries a vampire, a wolf, or a toad."

Xavier's lazy smile broadened. "That wasn't what I meant, cousin. Though of course, if Prissy does take it into her head to marry a toad, I will support her in that, as well."

"Then what did you mean?" Miache asked, suspicion lacing her words.

Xavier only turned to his sister expectantly.

"He refers to the centuries of conflict between vampire and werewolf, of course," Prissy said, as though it should have been obvious. "It's awfully ridiculous, isn't it? I'd like to end it."

"It is ended," one of the wolves spoke up bravely. "We've defeated you, girl - you're just too blind to see it."

"Perhaps." Prissy smiled serenely. "But the point remains that I am the one who defeated your leader. Who will now lead the Ganrou? Your Trademaster? Or maybe your Huntmaster?"

"Either of them, before that boy!"

"Either of them? Of course, how silly of me not to see it. But," Prissy opened her eyes wide, "how will you decide which one?"

"Trial by combat." The wolf was on safer ground here. "As we always have."

"Ah." Prissy nodded sagely. "You obey the laws of trial by combat? The best shall triumph? Only the strong may rule?"

"Exactly." The wolf didn't seem to notice the twist of logic in Prissy's words, behind the innocent smile.

"Why, then, by your own admission, I must rule, because I have proved myself strongest!" Prissy looked delighted with her reasoning.

"You must not!" "Never!" "We'd sooner drink molten silver!"

"That can be arranged, if you wish," Prissy said, in reply to the last speaker. "But truly, hear me out." The wolves murmured angrily. "What sense is there to fight amongst ourselves? You say that the strongest must rule - and who could be stronger than an alliance of vampires and werewolves?"

The vampires didn't like that part either, and again it was Hera who spoke for them. "What makes you think the vampires would ever want to ally with wolves? You're mad to think it - mad for love of that wolf boy!"

"Oh, try to see sense for once, Hera! This doesn't have to be about Lane and me," Prissy said derisively. "Only think about it - an alliance would benefit both groups, and allow us to focus on a foe worthy of our combined power."

"And what foe might that be?" Miache spoke up slowly, foreboding in her eyes.

Prissy smiled sweetly, in much the same way Xavier often did. "Of course, Lady Phoenix. I never thought you would support such a plan. It would weaken your authority, wouldn't it? Yours would not be the only voice that the Queen would hear. And I assure you - "

"You are not answering the question," Miache said, advancing on the young vampire girl. "What foe?"

Prissy's eyes darkened as she steadily met the Phoenix's gaze. "The worst enemy to face both our nations - the human race."

~*~

"She is mad." One of the wolves holding Remus whispered the words, though too softly for anyone else to hear. He had sense enough not to draw attention to himself, as several other wolves had done.

"She's not!" Lane hissed from Remus's right, and it spoke much about the guards' state of mind that he was not beaten into silence for his audacity. But Remus had to wonder - how much of what Prissy was saying did Lane believe?

Lane had reacted to the new Queen's pronouncements with as much surprise as anyone else - and from what Remus had seen of the young wolf, he abhorred falseness far too much to be any good at acting. Which meant that he hadn't heard about these plans before. He'd been convinced he was going to die here. Prissy hadn't told him about any of this.

And in Remus's mind, that line of reasoning led directly to trouble. Someone was playing a very deep game here, and he had some nasty suspicions about just who it was.

Miache appeared to feel the same way. "The human race? You would unite the vampires and werewolves against the humans?"

"I would not expect you to understand, Lady Phoenix." The girl's voice was deceptively innocent. The words should have been a sneer, or an insult, or spoken in some other tone to show her feelings. "It is as the Countess had so often said - you gain much from advising compassion towards those who persecute us. It does not bother you that your own people are murdered at every turn by iron-wielding, torch-bearing mobs, while the darkest of the humans rampages onward ignored by those same mobs who cry 'evil' and 'villains' to us!"

"You speak of the British Dark Lord," Miache said slowly.

"You would ally with him?" a vampire cried in outrage. "When he supported the murder of the Queen, your aunt?"

"The vampires, ally with this Voldemort?" Prissy wrinkled her nose in distaste. "Certainly not."

"Then what did you mean, if not an alliance?" Miache wanted to know. She seemed to be connecting the dots in the same way Remus was, and she didn't seem any more pleased with the results than he was.

Prissy smiled grimly. "Annihilation." She turned to the wolves before they could speak in defense of their Master. "Come, surely you see that it is better to rule in your own right, than to follow a mere human!"

"Do you choose to fight the Dark Lord, then?" The question came from Snape, who was still holding Lianne prisoner. Remus wasn't entirely sure why the other man was doing this, though presumably he had his reasons. Come to think of it, he wasn't sure why Snape was there in the first place. To investigate Remus's disappearance, maybe?

"Your Dark Lord, and all other humans beside him." Prissy looked a bit miffed that this statement didn't immediately terrify the Potionsmaster, but the others' reactions more than made up for it.

"You know the treaty we signed," objected the vampire Prissy had referred to as her cousin, Hera. "We can't - "

"That treaty," Prissy interrupted deliberately, "was made with humans. And might I remind you how few humans have stopped in their murder of vampires? They are treacherous, lying beasts, and they deserve all the suffering we can heap upon their heads."

The room was silent. Of course, most Dark creatures felt that way at one time or another. Even Remus sometimes hated humans for the way they shunned him. But it had been many, many years since a leader had arisen to urge battle with the humans. And never, to Remus's knowledge, had any Dark creature's leader suggested an alliance, even to destroy the human race.

Miache was the one who broke the silence. "You would break your aunt's promise not to kill or enslave humankind?"

Prissy smiled. "I have just said so, have I not?"

Miache's ominous expression did not lighten in the least. "This is treason."

"Treason? I think not." Prissy laughed lightly. "You forget - I am now the Queen. I don't believe it is possible for the Queen to commit treason against herself."

"It is treason against the Queen, your aunt," Miache said relentlessly. "And I will not allow it."

"You would stop me, then?" Prissy raised an eyebrow. "Now who commits treason?"

Ignoring her words, Miache walked slowly forward, till she was barely a yard away from the young Queen. "I Challenge you," she said softly.

~*~

"Snape? Snape, listen to me!" Lianne twisted in his grasp to glare at him as he shushed her absently. "I will not hush! What's going on?"

Annoyed, Severus glared back at her. "We would send an emissary that can't speak French," he muttered, only half to himself. "Hold still, you'll draw their attention. And believe me, you do not want this group paying attention to us right now."

"Well, if you'd tell me what they're saying, then maybe I might have known," she pointed out.

"The princess - the Queen, now - has declared war against the human race," Severus told her hurriedly. "She's trying to stir up resentment against us. And as members of the human race, we are most definitely not going to be welcome guests, once she remembers we're here."

Terror showed in the woman's eyes, but at least she had sense enough not to panic. "Miache will protect us," she said finally, trying to sound optimistic despite the tremor in her voice.

Severus rolled his eyes. "Miache has just Challenged Priscilla."

"What - not a formal Challenge?" Lianne bit her lip. "But... a duel to the death, between a Phoenix and an Owl? That's not very fair."

"Oh, so you'd prefer to give the girl a sporting chance to kill us?" Severus shook his head. Stupid woman. This was what came of letting former Hufflepuffs do anything of importance. "In this instance, I, for one, am entirely in favor of unfairness."

The sudden gasp from the surrounding crowd of vampires and wolves drew Severus's attention back to the two vampires. Priscilla had apparently accepted the Challenge - not that she could do anything else, and keep whatever respect her people might still have for her.

Without warning, Miache shot straight upwards, to hover in the air several feet above Priscilla's head. The test was clear - could the new Queen do as much?

She could. Priscilla floated gently from the floor until she was just the tiniest bit higher than the Phoenix.

It was a tame enough beginning, but Severus knew it wouldn't stay that way for long. Cautiously, while the observers had all their attention focused on the combatants, he began edging towards the wall. When Lianne felt him move, she started to ask why - then mercifully shut up when she met his eyes.

By the time they were about a quarter of the way to the wall, the fight had moved on to mind control. Uneasily, Severus noticed how Miache seemed to strain, with no effect on Priscilla. Odd, for a girl known to be a mere Owl. The Phoenix should have had no trouble seizing the girl's mind.

Lianne, it seemed, had picked up on the same thing. "How come Miache hasn't won yet?" she asked anxiously. "I thought the Order of the Phoenix was the most powerful one."

"It is." Severus didn't even think to snap at her for being stupid - he was worried about exactly the same thing. But he was approaching it from a decidedly different angle.

Finally, Miache gave up on the mind control, and drew on the one weapon that Priscilla could not best. As she flung herself backwards, her human body shifted to that of a Phoenix, in all her fiery glory.

Shrilling with triumph, the Phoenix arched her flight higher upwards, then swooped down at the other vampire.

But Priscilla wasn't there. Instead, the red Phoenix had to pull up short to avoid a headlong collision with a second Phoenix, this one as black as the Queen's hair.

The vampires erupted at this, and Severus didn't blame them. He was decidedly shaken, himself. So Priscilla was a Phoenix, too, was she? That explained why she hadn't been afraid to speak against Miache and all the redhead stood for. But that did not bode well for the rest of them.

Severus took advantage of the distraction to drag Lianne even further away. The odds of getting out of this place alive were getting worse by the instant, but if they couldn't escape, they could at least send out warning to the Circle. If Priscilla succeeded in leading an army of vampires and wolves against the humans, Dumbledore, as well as the leaders of other countries, had to be forewarned.

"Have you got your Glacialispeculum?" Severus asked, once they'd reached the relative shelter of the wall.

"What?" Lianne blinked, tearing her eyes away from the battling Phoenixes. "Oh, yes, of course." She pulled it out of her bag. "Should we - "

"Oh, I zhink not." Xavier's hand swooped from out of nowhere to snatch the Glacialispeculum from Lianne's grasp. "Now, really, Lady Black - is zhis 'ow you repay our 'ospitality? Ve take you in, let you paint us, listen to your dull prattling about evil overlords and Circles, and you try to call your friends to complain?"

"You knew this would happen right from the beginning, didn't you?" Lianne accused him, her face pale. "You were in league with that awful fat woman, and you betrayed her, and now you're going to kill us."

"Precisely." Xavier smiled angelically. "Really, you ought to know better zhan to trust a vampire."

Severus debated trying the Death Eater bluff again, but he doubted it would have much effect on Xavier. The prince probably wouldn't care what Severus was, Death Eater or Auror.

Lianne, meanwhile, looked as though she was going to burst into tears. "Why?" she asked plaintively. "We never did anything to you. What do you have against us?"

"You're 'uman. Zhat's reason enough." Xavier shook his head, expression somber. "Vhat 'ave your people ever done except murder mine? It is only justice. So long you 'ave been in control, so long you 'ave persecuted us - vould you deny zhat it is our turn to rule, to murder, to destroy?"

"I never did!" Lianne protested. "And neither did Snape. Why would you judge us on what our whole race has done? There have to have been some evil vampires - would you like to be judged by them?"

"Ah, but zhere, you see, is ze catch." Xavier laughed. "I am vun of ze evil vampires. Do-gooders like your Lady Miache are ze exception - not ze rule. Ve are cruel, Lady Black. Ve are dark. Ve are menaces, monsters, villains zhat haunt your nightmares and pursue you through ze shadows. Ve are not nice. Ve are not gentle. But remember," Xavier leaned down so he was eye to eye with the smaller witch, "ve are vhat you made us."

Severus pulled Lianne away, out of the vampire's reach. The two of them might be killed, but he'd be damned if he'd let either of them be enslaved to the vampire's will through his eyes.

Xavier glanced at Severus, his mouth curling into a mocking smile. "So. You fear being overpowered and forced to obey me?"

Severus kept his eyes steadily on the vampire's chest. "I will not let you bait me."

"No?" Suddenly, lightning-quick, Xavier's hand shot out to grab Severus's chin, and force his eyes up -

- just as a burst of red and gold winged fire slammed into him. The two men were flung against the wall, along with the Lady Phoenix.

The black Phoenix gently landed on the floor before the three, smoothly transforming into a vampire girl again. She smiled, seeing that Xavier had managed to pin her opponent. "I win."

~*~

Lianne backed away from the scene, praying the princess, or the Queen, or whatever she was wouldn't notice one small human woman. The only reason she could keep herself from flat-out bolting was because that would draw even more attention to her - attention she definitely did not want just now.

I hope Snape is ok, too, she thought anxiously, watching as Prissy kicked him harshly in the gut. She winced in sympathy as the Potionmaster curled up in agony. Oh, God, let him be ok...

"Lady Black!"

Lianne caught her breath at the sharp whisper, turning quickly to see who had spoken.

It was Hera, the other princess, and she did not look pleased by her cousins' actions. "Lady, you shouldn't still be 'ere," Hera said urgently. "You must flee - now, vhile zhey're distracted wiz ze Challenge."

Lianne shook her head firmly. "My friends are still here."

"Zhat man? Ze girl? Or do you mean zhat volf?" Hera shook her head. "Zhey're as good as dead, Lady. Zhey've been captured already. Don't you 'ave a duty to spread ze alarm to your people?"

"I - but - " Lianne knew the girl had a point - and surely a princess would know what duty meant - but how could she just go? It would mean leaving her friends, people she cared about. All right, maybe she didn't like Snape all that much, but she certainly respected him, for the important tasks he performed for the Circle. And how could she abandon Remus, one of her first friends when she'd been brought into another country - another world!

And then there was Erin. Lianne could remember what it had felt like to have all your foundations snatched out from under you, to be painfully torn away and shoved into a new life that you had to deal with or die. She'd had friends, kind and wonderful people, to support her during her ordeal, and comfort her when she'd wept and screamed and the unfairness of the world for robbing her of family, friends, and home all in one blow. She didn't know what she would have done without those people.

And don't I have a duty to do the same for Erin? Lianne knew that she did. Erin didn't have anyone else here. Her old friends were gone, lost in the desolate emptiness of memory, and she hadn't had time yet to make new ones. One could argue that she had Remus... but Remus was captured as well. Besides, he seemed to have enough problems with that poor wolf boy.

No, Lianne couldn't see any way to argue it except that it was her duty to protect Erin, as long as she could. Maybe Sirius, or Miache, or someone brave and noble might have chosen differently, but Lianne didn't know how to think like they did. She could only follow her own train of logic, disjointed and derailed though it might be. She only had her own conscience. She only had her own mind.

"I can't go," she told Hera, squaring her shoulders with decision. "I've got to help Erin."

Hera stared at her in disbelief. Slowly, she shook her head. "I don't know if I should damn you as a fool, or bless you as a saint. Very vell. You vant to rescue your friend? Ve vill rescue your friend."

Lianne blinked. "We?"

Hera shrugged. "My cousin cannot afford to let me live. I may as vell die fighting, and zhis is as good a cause as any. So," she raised an eyebrow, "vhat vas your plan from 'ere?"

"Plan? Oh, right." Lianne scanned the room, and spotted Erin hovering - of course - near Remus. "First we need to distract those guards - "

Hera hissed for silence. Lianne drew back indignantly, then realized Prissy was speaking again. "What's she saying?"

"She again lays claim to ze two thrones," Hera whispered, eyes steadily following her cousin's every move. "She commands 'er volf lover to be released. She vants to marry 'im now."

Lianne, along with everyone else in the room, looked over at Lane. For a boy who had been perfectly willing to cause a war to be with this girl, he looked very reluctant to wed her.

"He doesn't seem too happy about it," she ventured.

"Vell, no," Hera said, as though it were obvious. "I suppose 'e vouldn't be." She noticed Lianne's failure to follow the line of reasoning. "You really don't see vhy?"

"Should I?" Lianne asked, after considering it a moment.

Hera studied the witch for a few seconds, then sighed. "You vould never survive in ze vampire society, dear."

Lianne smiled faintly. "I guessed that a long time ago."

~*~

"Are you going to go to her?"

Erin hung back, watching, as Remus spoke to the wolf boy, Lane. She wanted to approach them, but the boy looked so agitated, she thought he might have hysterics at any moment. She'd hate to be the cause of that.

"Go? To her?" There was fear in Lane's eyes, a wild panic that was as much terrifying as terrified. "I don't know."

"Well, you've got to either go or stay - " Remus began reasonably.

Lane cut him off. "No. I meant I don't know her." He stared at the slender girl in the black dress who waited calmly for him in the middle of the room. "Who is she?"

Erin felt much the same way. That girl wasn't Prissy. She couldn't be. Prissy was kind, and shy, and desperate for approval of any sort, no matter how little. She wasn't a dark menace who spoke like velvet and moved like a tiger. She wasn't a murderer.

"It's a mistake," she whispered, needing the comfort of a human voice, even if it was only her own. "It's got to be a mistake."

"What?" Lane jerked around, his eyes bordering on madness.

"Erin!" The mixture of emotions in Remus's voice would have been interesting to analyze, if the situation hadn't been so horrible. "You should have gotten out."

Erin shrugged, uncomfortably aware of Lane's eyes still on her. He spoke before she could. "You said it was a mistake."

"I didn't mean for anyone to hear that," Erin said quickly. "I just - " She swallowed against the lump that inexplicably formed in her throat. "I just can't believe Prissy could do this."

"You know her?" A light flickered in Lane's eyes. A light of hope, just barely alive. That light was so faint, though Erin could see it had the potential to be so bright, so consuming. She couldn't bear the thought of being the one who put it out for good.

"A little," she admitted. "Not very well."

Lane leaned forward eagerly. "And you don't think she'd do this, do you?"

"It does seem unlikely." Erin cautiously stepped closer. "She seemed so nice."

"She is," Lane agreed quickly. "Nice, and gentle, and loving - not this. This is what those wolves are." Erin could almost believe she saw the train of thoughts as they crossed his mind. "Because she wants them to accept her."

Remus immediately saw where this was heading. "Lane, I don't think - "

"It all makes sense now!" Lane exclaimed, overriding Remus as the light blazed in his eyes. "She knew there was no way we could ever get away, so she's arranging it so we won't have to! This way, the wolves will accept her, and the vampires will accept me. The speech about war, and killing humans, that was just an excuse to get that Phoenix woman out of the way. I knew my Prissy could never be this callous!" His eyes shone with starry idealism as he gazed wonderingly at Erin. "Thank you, whoever you are. Thank you so much."

With that, he shook the guards away from him and stumbled towards the new Queen.

Remus watched him go, eyes dark. "I wish you hadn't said that," he said quietly.

Erin nodded. "Believe me, so do I." Lane finally reached the center, and Prissy took his hand. "Will they need to find a priest?"

"A priest? To marry a vampire and a werewolf?" Remus snorted softly. "We should be so lucky. No, she'll do it. The vampire Queen is authorized to perform marriage ceremonies. Not religiously, of course - religions tend not to like vampires - but legally."

They fell silent as Prissy called for a wolf from the crowd, as the groom's required witness. Unsurprisingly, no one stepped forward.

"She did mean it, didn't she?" Erin asked suddenly. "About destroying the human race."

Remus hesitated, then looked away, unable to meet her eyes. He seemed to feel personally responsible for the Queen's words and actions. "Yes."

Erin nodded sadly. "I thought so."

"Lupin!"

Prissy's call cut their conversation short. Remus looked warily at the Queen. "Your Majesty?"

Her lips curved slightly at the address. "Lane wishes you to serve as his witness."

Erin could tell Remus was not pleased, though he quickly composed himself. "I would be honored." As if he could say anything else, Erin thought, her heart sinking as he walked away from her, towards the royal couple.

"And Mistress Erin Connor."

That certainly caught her attention. Erin stared at Prissy in shock, and horror. "Me?"

Prissy nodded gracefully. "You will be my witness, of course, will you not?" When Erin hesitated, an expression of dismay crossed the vampire girl's face, and Erin could almost believe the Queen was still the insecure creature who'd been locked up for loving the wrong boy. "You did say I could call you my sister."

What could Erin say to that? That she'd made that promise to a different girl, a sweet girl, who would die before threatening someone? That she wouldn't do this? Yes, she could say any of those things - and be killed seconds after.

"I - I guess so," she said carefully, wishing desperately for a way out as she made her way towards the one place in the room she did not want to be.

Then, miraculously, a way out appeared. "She can't witness." The objection came from Princess Hera, of all people, who stood beside Lianne. "It isn't legal. She's human, not a vampire."

"I'm well aware of that." Prissy smiled. "However, it is a difficulty that is easily put right."

Erin froze. "You said you wouldn't," she said desperately, as Prissy approached. "You said you'd leave me alone."

"Oh, Erin, how could I do that?" Prissy's eyes were wide with earnestness. "You're wasted as a human, you know. You're so smart, so observant, so brave - you could make a brilliant vampire."

"I'll stay as I am, thanks." Erin tried to back away - and found she couldn't. Her feet were stuck firmly to the floor, her legs paralyzed from the waist down. "Let me go!"

Prissy smiled as sweetly and innocently as she ever had. "No."

Erin stared at her, at the eyes that appeared so guileless, but were a thousand times not. "Why me?"

Prissy laughed. "Because I like you, Erin. You remind me of myself a century or so back - before I realized what the world was really like. You are ignored by your friend, your love, by everyone you meet - and don't tell me it's not true. You had been abandoned by Lady Black when I met you, had you not?"

"She was busy," Erin objected.

"Of course," Prissy said, nodding tolerantly. "That's what I said, at first. They always are busy, you know. It never ends. It's never your turn, your time, not if you sit patiently and wait for it. I learned that when they scorned me, again and again, because I was part of so low an Order. I only want to spare you learning that. I want to teach you to be one of the elite - the ones who will never be scorned again."

"One of the vampires," Erin said flatly.

"You would rather be human?" Prissy raised an eyebrow. "After I've just said the human race will be destroyed or enslaved? Surely you would prefer to be my sister in blood, instead. As I said, you're far too good to be a slave or a victim. You're too much like me, to be destroyed. You were made to be my sister, Erin. To be a princess. To be special."

"I..." Erin bit down on her lip, trying to think. What Prissy was saying did make sense - and she had to admit, the idea of being a princess, sister to the Queen, was tempting - but it still felt wrong, somehow. She heard a faint buzzing echoing in her ears. Funny, that. It sounded almost like Lianne. But she couldn't understand what Li was saying. "I can't..."

"You can," Prissy urged her. "Only think - what's left for you as a human? Your friend Lady Black doesn't care about you. Did she come when you were kidnapped? Did she rescue you? Did she pay any attention to you at all since you arrived? Or did she leave you to wander alone in a strange country, scarcely noticing when you disappeared without a trace?"

The frantic buzzing in Erin's ears increased in volume, and she could almost pick out individual words. But she still had no meanings to attach to them. It was the spell, she realized hazily. She could understand French in place of English. And Lianne only knew English. Erin tried to make sense of the words - "don't believe her" and "trust me," and other such odd phrases, mere sounds strung together at random - but she couldn't.

"You see?" Prissy's voice cut through the anguished words. "She can't even speak to you. Does that sound like someone who cares for you?"

"No," Erin had to admit. "It doesn't. But - " She struggled to think. It was vitally important, somehow, that she should manage to keep thinking. "But she does care. That's just how Lianne is, that's all. She's loyal to me. I know it."

"Loyal?" Prissy shrugged. "Perhaps. Loyalty as an abstract concept is all well and good, but the facts remain - you are here, and she is somewhere else. I would never abandon you, Erin. No matter what your friends do."

"My friends haven't abandoned me," Erin protested weakly. But the Queen was right. Her friends weren't here, when she needed them most.

"Haven't they?" Prissy's smile was bittersweet. "Not even your love will interfere for you. He just stands there, watching, as you ask for help. He doesn't care for you. He's said so often enough. Stop deluding yourself, Erin. I can offer you something real, something true. Not an empty room and unrequited heartache. Better by far to choose me. Better to be one of my people, than a low and mortal human."

"I - " Erin swallowed back against tears. She didn't want any of this. She wanted to be back home, in America, where there were no vampires and no wolves and no magical friends twenty years older than they should be. Where there were people who loved her and cared for her. Prissy was right. No one here cared anything about her. They'd only taken her in because they felt sorry for her, the poor little girl who'd lost her home. Wouldn't it be better to take what Prissy was offering, and to belong somewhere again? "I - "

"No!"

The pain, the anguish, the despairing loss in the cry was enough to cut through even a vampire's mind control. Erin shuddered a little. Whose voice was that? Not Lianne's, because Li didn't care. She knew Li didn't care. Besides, this was a man's voice.

"God, no! Erin, don't listen to her! Don't believe her! She's lying - remember what I told you about vampires? Listen to me - listen to what I'm saying! Erin!"

Erin looked away from Prissy, over the vampire girl's shoulder. Who was calling her?

"Don't believe such treacherous lies," Prissy said quickly, trying to catch Erin's eyes again. "He doesn't care for you. He only wants to prevent you from achieving what he knows you are capable of."

Erin was about to turn back to Prissy - her words were so convincing, so right - when her eyes fell on Remus.

He was staring wildly at her, eyes tortured with fear - for her? - in the grief-stricken mask of his face. "Erin!" he called again, desperation increasing now that he had at least part of her attention.

"Remus?" Erin blinked a little in confusion. Why was he so upset? He didn't care about her. Even ignoring what Prissy had said, Remus had made it plain he didn't want her. Why should he care so much about what happened to her now?

"That's right," Prissy agreed at once. "He doesn't care. He's said so. You're nothing to him. Worthless."

"Worthless..." Erin repeated the word, tasting the bitter reality of how Remus really thought of her.

He saw the word on her lips - or perhaps he heard it, if wolf ears were that good - and a howl of wordless agony was torn from his wolven soul. It held all the pain of an animal wounded beyond hope of relief, mingled with the shattering grief known only to the human heart.

Like a magnet, the cry drew Erin towards it. But she didn't get more than two paces before Prissy grabbed her shoulders in a grip like steel.

"No," the vampire girl ground out fiercely. "No. You will do as I command." She forced Erin to meet her eyes. "You want to be a vampire. Say it."

Erin fell into the girl's eyes. "I - "

The yells in the background got louder again, louder than they had been even at their last crescendo.

"I want - "

The words hammered at her mind, trying to force an entry, to make her comprehend them, but Prissy's power was too strong to break. Erin could feel the foreign mind speaking through her mouth.

"I want to be - "

And then the words came, the words that Erin had wanted to hear so badly that not even a vampire could barricade them away.

"I love you!"

Remus's words couldn't break the mind control completely - they were only words, after all - but they did set Erin free for one crucial second. She swung her hand back and slapped Prissy hard across the face, just before she was lost once more.

A dark red burn marred Prissy's cheek where the iron ring had connected with her flesh, but the girl showed none of the torture she had to feel. Her face was set with determination, not pain.

"You will thank me for this later," Prissy said simply.

And then she swooped forward, her teeth piercing into Erin's neck.

~*~

There really wasn't anything anyone could have done, Severus would reflect later, when he had time to consider all the events in detail. Not once the vampire Queen got hold of the girl. Oh, they'd made choices, reacted, done what they thought was best - but once Erin had fallen into Priscilla's grasp, the outcome couldn't have been any other way.

Everyone had been watching Priscilla, in a kind of horrified fascination. Even he had been staring, and he should have known better. But he just couldn't believe the Queen would actually bite her. And so Severus, too, had stood and watched, while the ensuing tragedy took place before his eyes.

But no one had been watching Delaney Alphasson. That, everyone agreed later, had been their worst mistake.

~*~

Priscilla and Erin collapsed to the floor together. At first, Severus thought it was some sort of vampire bloodsucking ritual - but then he saw Delaney.

The wolf boy was standing behind the two girls, staring down at them with a dead expression on his face. He reached down, and tugged hard at something.

A bloody stake came away in his hand.

In the utter silence that came over the room, the boy folded up on himself, and fell to the ground in a shuddering heap. The stake clattered to the floor, the sound of wood meeting stone unnaturally loud.

That sound was the signal for the room to come back to life. And it appeared that everyone in the room had the same idea - to get to Erin and Priscilla. The crowd, vampires and werewolves alike, surged forward to the Queen and her victim. Severus was almost glad he'd been kept in the corner with Xavier.

Xavier, however, had other ideas. "Get BACK!" he roared to the crowding groups. And, for some reason - probably involving the black rage burning in his eyes - they obeyed. And the prince bolted for his sister, nearly colliding with Lupin, who was trying to get Erin free from Priscilla's body.

Severus was about to move forward - Potions and Healing were somewhat similar, and, if Erin had survived, it was just possible that there was something he could do - when a feminine shriek split the air.

The tragedy had not yet played itself out.

~*~

Although Severus and Lianne later told him it had been piercingly loud, Remus barely registered the scream that grabbed everyone else's attention. The entire focus of his being was, at that point, centered on Erin.

Blood trickled out of the wounds of her neck, tracing a dark line against too-pale skin.

She looked awful. She'd lost too much blood. And the marks in her throat were torn, from when Prissy had fallen with her teeth still attached. Remus was sure that couldn't be good. Bad enough that the wounds were there, but that she should lose even more blood, after being once drained...

"Oh, God!" Remus gripped her limp wrist, feeling frantically for a pulse. "Oh, God, let her be all right! I'll be a good person for the rest of my life - I'll never complain about being a wolf again - I'll do anything - only let her be all right!"

No response came, either from the heavens or from Erin herself. A sob broke free of Remus's throat. "Why didn't you listen to me?" he demanded, his voice harsh with pain. "Why didn't you stay away from the vampires? Why didn't I keep you away?"

He reached out and brushed her hair away from her face. She was beautiful. Not conventionally, not like Miache, but beautiful nevertheless. Certainly she was the most beautiful, precious creature Remus had ever seen. And something so beautiful couldn't be destroyed so early. It wasn't fair.

Of course, Remus had long ago learned the cruel lesson life taught, that the world cares for neither justice nor compassion. It didn't matter if this was fair, if this was right. This had happened. He could see that, and see it far too plainly.

She didn't have a pulse.

Of all the reasons he'd thought of before, reasons not to fall in love with her, this had never been one of them. He'd never been afraid that he'd lose her like this. That she'd leave him, yes, he could believe that very easily. He'd known that thirty-some-year-old men could rarely hold young girls' attention for long. But that death would be the lover who stole her away? He'd never given such a ludicrous idea a moment's thought.

She wasn't breathing.

Remus stared down at her, frozen in a struggle with denial. This thing that shouldn't be happening - couldn't be happening - was happening. He wanted to scream, wanted to cry, wanted to do something - anything - except sit there with her. But he couldn't move, no matter how his mind raged at his body. All he could do was stay beside her, holding her wrist in his hand, as though if he just felt long enough, her life would restart beneath his fingers.

She wasn't moving, either.

Only the dead can truly lie still.

~*~

The scream that tore through the silence after Xavier's command came from a wolf woman.

Lianne and Hera, along with the rest of the room, turned to see. The woman was the one who'd come in with the wolves dragging Remus. She would have been extremely pretty, if it hadn't been for the terrified revulsion twisting her face into a mask of horror.

Lianne followed the woman's gaze - and her breath caught in her throat. While everyone was paying attention to Prissy and Erin, Lane had managed to get hold of the silver knife Prissy had left in the Alpha's throat. The results were not pretty.

And the worst part of it was, the wolf boy was still alive. He'd tried to slit his wrists... but Lianne remembered reading an article about suicides. There was a special method it took to slit your wrists properly. Lane apparently hadn't known it.

Though he didn't really need to. Lianne knew enough about wolves to be sure that cuts that deep, with a silver knife, would definitely become fatal.

Eventually, at least.

Lane looked back at the people staring at him. There was no apology in his eyes, only a wordless grief as he surveyed the crowd. It was as though he stood as a living monument to their guilt, dying before their eyes, pleading for the absolution they could not give, and the answers they did not have. Why did you do this? he seemed to say. You stole my life, destroyed my dreams, walled me in and gave me nowhere to run. Why?

Why didn't you help me? Why didn't you listen?

Why did you leave me alone?

No one likes to be accused. Both the vampires and the wolves drew away, leaving the boy to his chosen fate.

And the final heartbreak flowed through his eyes.

He was only young, Lianne realized suddenly. You didn't notice, because his manner was so much older, but he was really just a young man of perhaps seventeen. And in the last half hour, he'd seen things that would break even a hardened adult.

He'd lost the girl he loved, not to a person, not to death, but to the darkness she'd kept hidden in her own soul. And he'd killed her. Lianne couldn't begin to imagine the strength of will that must have taken, to be able to destroy the one person you cared that deeply about. She knew she could never have done that.

Lane had been abandoned, betrayed, torn loose from all his moorings. His world had been turned upside-down, with nowhere stable enough to stand for more than an instant, and emotional balance teetering on the pointed edge of a blade. And now he had been rejected one last time, by the people who could have given him the steady ground he needed to survive.

Lianne almost went to him then, to give him what comfort she could. She even took a step towards him. But she hesitated. Surely he wouldn't want some silly American stranger, who couldn't even speak his language, to approach him while he was in such pain.

Or maybe he would have. She never knew.

She did learn, however, that slicing open one's jugular vein is even less pretty than slitting one's wrists.

~*~

Severus considered himself somewhat fortunate that he only heard about Delaney's death after everything was over. From what Lianne said, it was not pleasant to watch.

He'd been distracted by the wolf woman's scream, yes, along with the rest of the room. He would have stopped - there were few things as distracting as a shriek of horror - but a pair of rough hands yanked him away.

"What - " Severus realized it was Lady Miache, looking decidedly worse for wear after her encounters with Xavier and Priscilla, who was steering him with a grip of steel. "What are you doing?"

"Taking you to zhat Connor girl," Miache snapped, taking advantage of the crowd's distraction to shove her way through to where Lupin knelt despairingly over Erin's body. "You're a Potions master, aren't you? You can 'elp 'er."

Help her? Severus grimaced. That depended on the point of view.

Miache released him when they reached Erin and Lupin. "Now, before it's too late!"

Hearing this, Lupin looked up, eyes haunted. "It's already too late," he said hoarsely.

Severus hesitated. "Not necessarily," he said carefully. "Wait - " He tried to forestall the hope lighting in Lupin's eyes. "Don't get too excited, because I don't know if this would help. But there is a... a sort of potion that could bring her back."

"Then what are you waiting for?" Lupin demanded. "Or - can't you make it?"

Severus gazed at the man for a moment, keeping his face expressionless. Lupin still didn't seem to understand what he was saying. Or maybe he just didn't want to understand.

"It isn't a question of whether I can make it," he said at last. "It's a question of whether you think she would want me to."

And dislike of the werewolf or no, in that moment, Severus would have given a year of his life not to have seen the terrible realization that finally grew in Remus Lupin's eyes.

~*~

Author's Note: Well, I did warn you it was a nasty chapter. From this point on, there's going to be a lot more dark stuff, so consider yourselves warned again.

For those of you who want more about Autumn and Hazel, please be patient. There's just one more chapter about vampire/werewolf stuff, and then we're going back to the girls in America and the boys in Britain.

Now, to all my wonderfully patient reviewers, thank you!

Mione Anne Potter - Sorry I didn't hurry quite as quickly as you'd hoped.

Kiki - Well, I didn't leave it at that ending. However, now you have a new cliffhanger! ^_^

Serene - Yes, I have kept writing! It keeps me sane. (Hazel will later have some of the same stress issues that I have.)

Azriona - Nice guess about the French spell, that was meant to cause problems. But yes, Remus can speak French. And thank you for being understanding about my time problems.

AquilisRose - Thank you!

Faerie - I'm really glad you don't think this is another American-transfer-cliché thing. That is one of my constant worries, especially since the girls do technically fit the stereotype.

Bertie Bott - Yep, Li wasn't pleased at all about the French thing. I'm glad people picked up on that! I wasn't sure it had come across the way I wanted.

Unicorn magic - Yeah, the wolves are pretty nasty. I think I have some sort of mental bias towards vampires...

LilyAyl - Autumn and Hazel are coming soon. I know I'm neglecting them terribly, but what happens to them won't make sense until the vampire/werewolf stuff has been resolved.

Clairvoyant Snake - Thank you for all your reviews! Believe me, I will never complain when someone wants to review past chapters! ^_^

Gilaesther - Than you!

MadAboutHarry - Nice summary of your opinions on the situation - no one matters but the girls and the canon characters. ^_^ Lane was threatening to return from the underworld to haunt you, but he was distracted by a shiny object.

Dreamergirl - Well, it was like Romeo and Juliet... ^^; Guess the foreshadowing came across, then.

Elf queen - Thank you!

Mione Granger - Well, your wish has technically been granted - Remus is seeing Erin, at any rate. Sorry the circumstances couldn't be a bit happier...

Angel in disguise - The answers to the transfer thing will come eventually. You just have to wait. But you're right about Autumn and Hazel - they are not happy.

Kumiko - Eep! Please don't eat me! You know, I don't think I've ever gotten that threat before. Death, yes, quite often. Being eaten - that's new. But if you eat me, I can't keep writing! ^_^

Sydney - Well, here's all the action that the last part didn't have. Hope I made up for it.

BlueDragon - The part in the author's note about me not abandoning this fic was for you. Don't worry, I only abandon fics I hate. And I love writing this one!