The Dark Cloak of Night

"Immortal fear

That voice so clear

Through broken walls

That scream I hear"

The day started off like any other day at the small Scottish wizarding village of Hogsmeade. The pleasant hooting of the owls flying in and out of the post office filled the air. Small witches and wizards skipped their way out of Honeydukes with chocolate stains still sticking on their fingers, and many students of the Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry could be found inside the Three Broomsticks accompanied by a Butterbeer or two.

The wind had turned. The leaves were transforming from vivid green to red and gold as the wind swept them off their branches. The sky had turned a darker shade of grey (which is not an unusual thing in Scotland, I should add), and the low rumbling of thunder could be heard rolling in the dis—

'That's not thunder!' howled a boy named Sirius Black, his dark manes dancing behind his shoulders as he faced the turning winds like a pirate at sea. 'That's – MUGGLES! MUGGLE ALERT! CHANGE YOUR BANNERS! ERASE YOUR SIGNS!' His friends – a dark haired boy with square glasses named James, a scarred and yet wise looking boy named Remus, and a rather plump and short mousy boy named Peter – swiftly swept through the streets copying Sirius's words to alert the town. The town's people, as performed by practise and drill, erased any signs of magic with a few gentle waves of their wand, making the town look nothing short of an old and ordinary village.

It was rare for Muggles to show their faces in these parts of the countryside. The signs alongside the roads would tell Muggles to take alternative routes, but sometimes it happened that a Muggle has gotten lost and stumbled on the place by accident. Only this time, it wasn't just a single Muggle... More than two dozen motorbikes rumbled their way to the edge of town. The men on bikes looked just like Sirius with their studded leather jackets, Levi jeans and heavy combat boots. Sirius's eyes started shimmering in delight at the sight of all the colourful Triumphs and mud-green Royal Enfields.

Sirius's friends had returned and ganged up to form a barrier between the town's entrance and the bikers. One by one the bikers stopped and the noise coming from their engines died. A man with vivid red hair and an equally red moustache had stopped at the very front of the group and oozed an air of leadership that caused the four friends to focus their eyes on him.

'I've ne'er seen this place before!' yelled a man with a thick Scottish accent from the back. 'I come from these parts, but this town, it's new te me!' Bobbing heads of agreement were exchanged at the man's comment, but the leader of the group merely shrugged at the sight of it. 'Good afternoon, boys,' he said politely as he stepped off his motorbike and shook hands with all four. 'We've got a problem on our hands. Perhaps the four you can help us out.'

James ignored the red-haired man's question and pointed at his motorbike. 'What exactly is that thing?' he asked, eyeing the two-wheeled machines with great suspicion. Remus smacked James against the back of his head. 'You should know, James,' whispered Remus, 'after spending so much time with Sirius.' Remus turned to the man with an apologetic nod. 'How can we be of assistance, Sir?'

The man shook off the oddness of James's question, and turned his eyes on the mousy boy, Peter, who was the only boy still wearing his school uniform. 'Two of my friends have gone missing in these parts of the country in the past week,' he said, and handed Sirius a few Polaroid pictures. 'How come they're not moving?' asked Sirius as he held up the pictures in front of him.

'Sirius, please,' gritted Remus through his teeth, and forced the pictures out of Sirius's hand. 'Do you know where exactly your friends have gone missing, Sir? I don't recall ever seeing any of their faces.'

'This is Dwayne,' he pointed at the top picture, his voice growing dark. 'He was a friend who was found dead in the forest nearby. They found out his body was completely drained of blood after investigation. The other man, David, has gone missing shortly after. We can only hope the same fate has not been bestowed on him.'

All four boys felt as if the air had been knocked out of them, but Peter was the first to speak up. 'Sir,' he said with a trembling voice, 'I think Vamp—' The last words came out as a muffled sound as Remus had clasped his hand on front of his mouth to prevent Peter from speaking any further. 'Don't,' Remus snapped, clearly getting annoyed but his friends' ignorant behaviour around Muggles.

People in town had gotten curious. One by one students and inhabitants started to come out of their homes and shops to look at the group of bikers, pointing and gossiping at the suspicious iron machines. Among them was Lily, a brave red-haired girl who quickly made her way up to the four boys, and Severus, her sallow looking friend who followed closely behind her.

'Some Muggles have gone missing,' whispered James into Lily's ear, completely ignoring Severus's existence. 'These men don't know it, but there are probably Vampires active in and around the Forbidden Forest.'

Lily nodded in understanding and introduced herself to the man with a firm handshake and a smile on her face. 'Can we speak with you in private for a moment, Sir?' she asked. The man nodded and walked in the direction of Hogsmeade Station with Lily and Severus following closely behind him, leaving four very confused looking boys behind. 'Did you show them the pictures?' she asked, nearly squealing in excitement. 'I did,' he said. 'David is a squib, as you call them. And Dwayne had a son graduating from Hogwarts a couple of years ago. At least they understand all this magical stuff. They're also very devoted to this prank you're planning on those boys.'

'Perfect,' said Lily, rubbing her hands together gleefully. 'Sev is also entirely into it. He's started to look more and more like a proper Vampire each day.' Severus nodded in agreement. 'Already stopped eating garlic,' he said proudly, 'and I avoid daylight as much as I can.'

'All you need now are the fangs, Severus,' said the man with a broad grin. 'You're already skinny and as pale as the moon's backside. Remind me to invite you over for Christmas to fatten you up a bit.'

'How could I ever miss out on an a Christmas with the Evans' family,' said Severus, sounding genuine. 'We better head back before they grow too suspicious.'

The three of them made their way back to the group. It took a while before the man was able to swat Sirius away from his motorbike, and it took some of Lily's sweet convincing that she had made an agreement on where to meet the gang of bikers if they had any news or information about the missing person…

The town turned back to its normal magical self once all the bikers had taken off. Lily and Severus observed the four boys intently from outside as they formed a secluded circle inside the Hog's Head. By the movement of the boys' lips they knew that they had started planning a way to capture a Vampire.

The show had begun.

…

'We went into the Forbidden Forest last night,' said James matter-of-factly to Lily as he was shoving breakfast in his mouth. 'We actually found traces of blood, but no trail, so we plan on heading back tonight.'

Lily nodded in approval. 'I see you're even doing some research,' she said, pointing at the pile of books in front of him. 'What's that all about?'

'Some information on Blodwyn Bludd,' said James, clearly looking over Lily's shoulder in the direction of the Slytherin table. 'He liked the sing to his victims before he killed them off.'

'I'm surprised you're reading at all,' said Lily dryly. 'What are you trying to look at?' she asked as she turned around, and winked at a rather exhausted looking Severus, who raised his eyebrows in acknowledgement in return.

Yesterday, with the excuse of wanting to pay Hagrid a visit and inform him on the situation, Lily and Severus had trailed off into the Forbidden Forest shorty after their trip to Hogsmeade. They left big drops of dragon blood (stolen from Professor Slughorn's private supplies) in odd places around the edge of the forest, combined with shreds of leather that looked similar to the jackets the biker group had been wearing.

In the present moment, Severus's nose was touching the pages of a book on magical dentistry (at the expense of his Slytherin friends cracking jokes on his crooked teeth). By the end of the day, though, he had found a way to make his teeth appear a little more edgy.

…

'Go on, Peter!' James hushed. 'You're the smallest among us. Make sure he – it, doesn't see you. We'll be right behind you.' All Peter could do was squeak back in his Animagus form. Though jittery as always, he had not been sorted into Gryffindor for nothing, and quickly buried himself underneath the thick layer of leaves as he rushed into the Forbidden Forest in search of a Vampire. It didn't take long before dark blood stuck to his tiny paws and his beady eyes caught sight of leather strips stuck from the bottom to the highest top of a tree. A stone dropped in his stomach at the sight of it, but reminded himself that Vampires probably had no interest in rats, and thus climbed his way up the shadow side of the tree.

Once Peter had made it to the top, he nearly toppled over at what he had discovered. A man with short white blonde hair (whom Peter recognised as David from the pictures) was dangling upside down from the tree's branches. Blood was gushing through punctures holes from his neck, and life seemed to drain from the man's body with his strained and shallow breaths. Peter prepared himself to scream for help from his friends, until the sound of high-pitched laughter interrupted his squeal. Within the blink of an eye, the sharp edges of fangs glistered bright in the moonlight, and the swish of a cloak caused the wounded man – and the Vampire – to disappear.

…

'I swear it was that David bloke,' Peter squealed at the breakfast table. 'And a Vampire. I could see his dark scary eyes and –'

'We heard you, Wormtail,' said James with an exaggerated sigh. 'We've gone over this the entire night, and –'

'No please, Peter,' said Lily as she shushed James and encouraged Peter with faked interest, 'do tell us more about what you saw. Did he have fangs? Was there a lot of blood?'

'Yes,' Peter answered with a quiver in his voice. 'There was a lot of blood. Maybe we should inform Professor McGonagall on what's happening in the forest? Or even meet with Headmaster Dumbledore. Maybe they'll know what to do.'

'Like hell we will!' Sirius snapped. 'And have them find out we were sneaking into the Forest in the middle of the night? How exactly do you intent on explaining to them how you even found a trail of blood, climbed to the top of a tree, and saw a Vampire with a Muggle's body we know has gone missing?'

'Fair enough,' said Peter sadly. 'What are you staring at, James?'

'You sure your greasy friend isn't a Vampire?' James asked Lily as he eyed the Slytherin table with immaculate suspicion.

'Fairly positive,' said Lily dryly. 'How so?'

'He's not using the salt,' said James bitterly. 'He's asking others to move it – as if he doesn't want to touch it. He hasn't exactly been out in the sun lately either hasn't he?'

'I don't think Sev's ever cared much for sunlight,' said Lily as she helped herself to another slice of toast, and grinned. 'I mean, how could I not know if my best friend was a Vampire?'

…

All four boys were startled when they heard bats flying overhead. The moon was nearly full, making Remus feel even less at ease. 'Are you sure we should head back into the Forbidden Forest?' he asked with a lump in his throat.

'We're already here,' said Sirius, staring determined through the thickening trees. 'We know that David is out there somewhere. We aren't worthy of the Gryffindor title if we don't go in and help.'

'I know you're overcompensating for your Slytherin family,' said James with a grin, 'but you're right Padfoot, we have a House to honor. Wands up! Lumos!'

The four boys ran straight into the woods. The light coming from their wands only illuminated several feet in front of them, and strange rustling noises they hadn't heard the day before seemed to come from the tree tops.

'AAARGH!' Out of nowhere, a high-pitched scream echoed through the forest, causing the four boys to petrify in fear. 'What was that?' said James, horrified. 'Was that a girl?'

The scream travelled through the forest for a second time. 'Who's out there!' yelled James. 'Please, show yourself!'

Behind a few trees, the body of a girl was lying face down on the ground. A creature was holding her by the neck, and blood could be seen trickling down in a puddle.

"Lumos solem!" said James. A bright beam of sunlight shot from the tip of his wand. Lily's red hair stood out against the dark soil, and the Vampire hissed and turned his cloak to disappear into the shadows. 'Lily!' James panicked, and dropped on both knees beside her. 'Lily, can you hear me?'

'James, don't move,' said Remus stiffly. James, Sirius and Peter craned their necks to see where Remus was standing, and found the Vampire wrapping his cloak around Remus, and white hungry fangs approaching his neck. Swiftly, wands were whipped out of pockets and held up to the Vampire's hair covered face. Shots were about to be fired, when suddenly Lily yelled "Expelliarmus", and shot each individual wand out of their hands. Before the boys were able to respond, a clicking sound and a bright flash of light blinded them.

'Gottcha!' said an unfamiliar voice. Once the brightness of the flash had subdued, the boys saw David and Lily laughing uncontrollably. 'This is going to make one hell of a picture,' said David as he held up his camera like a trophy.

'Hope you captured their faces well,' said Severus who was leaning up against a tree, and held onto the boys' wands. 'I would like one framed to hang above my bed.'

'So it was you, you greasy git,' spat Peter. 'I knew you were a Vampire! I knew it! I—'

'—better calm down,' said Severus, pointing four different wands in Peter's direction.

'Sev's not a Vampire,' said Lily, still giggling as she wiped away dragon's blood from her neck. 'You really should've seen your faces though. It was brilliant. Just brilliant.'

…

'That was still a very low prank of you,' said James with a sneer at the breakfast table. 'Also, how did you know that David guy anyway? What's his story in all this?'

Lily was holding on to the picture David had taken as if it were a delicate flower. All four boys looked like they were facing death himself, over and over again (as magical pictures do). 'You met my dad that day,' she said, still looking fondly at the picture. 'He's the one with the red moustache. David and Dwayne are friends of his who know about our world. They really wanted to be in on this prank, so dad pretended Dwayne was found dead and David took the time to cover himself up with some dragon blood. Sev's the mastermind behind all of this, though. He really wanted to give you all a good scare after what you did to him in the Shrieking Shack.'

Peter looked over at the Slytherin table. 'Still think he's a Vampire,' he said with a shiver. From the opposite side of the Great Hall, Severus made eye-contact with Peter and raised an eyebrow as he ran his tongue over his fangs. 'You're next,' Severus muttered. Not that Peter could hear it, but he could read lips well enough to know what Severus had just told him.

'One thing about living near the Forbidden Forest I could never stomach,' said Peter, 'all the damn Vampires.'