Author's Note: Whew! So finally this chapter is out! This is officially my least favorite chapter of this story… no matter how hard I tried; this chapter just wouldn't flow right. It's hard to show someone being distraught without having the sentences seem a little be disjointed. Well, at least to me. Lol. Nevertheless, I hope you all enjoy it, and I'm really sorry about the long wait.
Toodles!
Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own anything but my free will, so no, Harry Potter and his lovely darling Draco are not of my creation. There. I said it. Pout.
Chapter Six: Intempestivus (1)
Severus stared at Potter as he began to shake and stutter (probably something stupid) while pointing at Draco. He obviously thought the boy was dead – while neglecting to realize that his own heart was ceasing to beat. Honestly, the boy hadn't shown a bit of intelligence from the moment he woke up. Was it something all Potters were gifted with, or was Harry just extra 'special?'
"He's d-dead – not breathing! Oh gods, oh gods, oh gods…" While the rest of Harry shook, his hand seemed to be frozen in place, pointing in the direction of his 'rival,' who was not fucking breathing. Why wasn't anyone doing something? Where in the hell was Madame Pomfrey?
"Harry…" Sirius started quietly, trying to placate his godson.
"Dead… he's dead. Nononono… this can't be happening!" Harry's hand finally became unfrozen, and he began to violently pull at his hair, making it look even wilder. His acid green eyes brighten, making them look even more unnatural as he tried to contemplate a world without Draco Malfoy. It was… incomprehensible.
Remus' eyes widened, he hadn't thought Harry would have reacted so violently. They should have put the boys in separate rooms. "Harry, listen to us – "
"NO! Don't, don't fucking speak to me! You said he was alright. You said he was alive. Does that look alive to you?" Harry's grip on his hair looked painful, his knuckles white and fingers clenched.
"Potter, for gods sake, he's not dead! Stop acting like you've lost what little brain cells you may have had." Severus was sick at tired of Potter's hysterical behavior, what a bloody drama queen! It's not like the boys were even close. Potter liked Draco about as much as he liked Black.
Yet again Severus Snape proves that Denial is not a river in Egypt.
"W-What?" Now Potter was gaping at him in the most unattractive manner. Honestly, vampires were supposed to be ethereal beings, not fly catchers!
"I said: Potter, for gods sake, he's not dead. Or did your ears stop functioning when your brain did? If you w-"
"Stop insulting him, can't you see he's distraught? He doesn't need you acting like an arse –"
The last thing Remus wanted right now was another shouting match between those two dunderheads. "Sirius, stop it. And Severus, if you can't explain things to Harry without insulting him every five seconds, then keep your mouth shut!" Not even looking to see their reaction to his words, Remus sat on the edge of Harry's bed.
"Harry, I understand that you are confused and scared but you must listen to me. Do you remember what happened last night?"
Harry sighed, struggling for words. "I… a man attacked us last night." He shivered, remembering the sharp fangs that nearly took his life. "No, not a man… a, well he was…" Harry struggled for words yet again.
"A vampire." Sirius stated gently, carefully observing his godson's reaction.
"He bit Malfoy first… I-I tried to make him stop, but I wasn't – strong enough." Harry voice faded off to a whisper, the shock and fear of the night before hitting him. "He, he bit me too."
"And that is the last thing you remember?"
"Obviously!" Harry snapped the word out before he could stop himself. Looking at Remus' hurt face, Harry's own burned with same. "I'm, sorry Professor. I – just… it – "
Laying a hand on the boys shoulder, Remus said, "I understand Harry." He also decided not to comment on the fact that the boy called him professor again, despite the fact that he asked him not to numerous times.
"Potter, I know this is all a shock to you still, but you must listen. That vampire bit you, and Draco as well; however, you would both truly be dead if that was all that occurred that night. Knowing the rather dismal DADA professor you lot have had over the years, you probably have learned more about vampires from Muggle pop culture than you have in the classroom. You are will be learning much more about them in the upcoming months due to your current predicament."
Though already pale, Harry's skin lightened to an even whiter countenance. Regardless of Snape's accusations, he wasn't an idiot – if he understood what the former Slytherin was hinting that then…
"Bugger all, I'm a vampire aren't I?"
The last thing he expected to here was a snicker coming from his young looking Godfather. "You have quite a way with words, Harry."
Feeling a headache building behind his eyes, Harry lifted his head to glare at Sirius, who looked rather guilty for his comment.
"So… that's why Malfoy isn't breathing?"
Remus' kind, golden eyes crinkled at him. "Yes, he has yet to awaken."
"But he will, won't he?"
"Yes."
"Oh."
He known that vampires had existed of course, but it had always seemed like a threat far away, something that would never affect or hurt him. As the oddly attractive Snape had stated, he only knew the lies that Muggles did about the dark beings – what vampires truly were, he had no clue. But Harry now knew what they were capable of; he subconsciously shuddered as he thought of the demon that attacked him and Malfoy the night before. Would he becoming like that, attacking for no reason other than to sate his own bloodlust? But, that description didn't seem quite right.
If the vampire, Faeriort, had truly wanted them merely for food, then why were they still here? Why were they Changed?
Harry couldn't quite figure out what to say. So many thoughts were running through his head at the moment. Was he going to have to leave Hogwarts for being a danger to the other students? Was he a danger to the other students? What about classes, would he have to wear some long ridiculous cloak during the day so the sun wouldn't burn him, or would he have classes at night? What about Malfoy, why hadn't he woken up yet? Why did Harry even care?
Running a hand through his thick black locks, Sirius went about dispelling the lost look on his godson's face. "Harry, things will change now. You're different, obviously – you haven't gone through all of the Change yet, but your heart doesn't beat anymore." Panicked, Harry put his hand to his chest, expecting to feel the customary 'thump thump' of his heart. It wasn't there. "I'm not trying to scare you, just trying to make it easier on you then it was on me and Sev."
Looking speculatively at the 'remodeled' versions of Sirius, Remus, and Snape, Harry opened his mouth to question their physical. "Wait – are you vampires?" Harry asked incredulously.
Flicking a bothersome curl from his face, Severus rolled his eyes. "Well obviously Wolf-boy isn't one of the Fallen (2), but that inbred fool over there (3) and I am. Glad to know that you intelligence is slowly, very slowly returning, Mr. Potter."
"Bloody hell Snape," Harry burst out, "Do you have to keep attacking me? I've done nothing wrong to you, must you constantly insult me?" Harry said the last bit with more than a little desperation; he wasn't sure how much more of Snape's attitude he could take without snapping.
"Don't mind him Harry, Sev's disposition stinks more than flobberworm extract," Sirius punctuated the statement with a rather evil looking glare in the direction of the Potion's Master. "You must learn to ignore him, he's just compensating for his unnaturally small di – "
"Sirius," Remus growled out warningly. "And Severus, don't you start!"
Harry snickered at the comment before goggling at Snape's expression. It looked, dare he say it, rather pouty. Severus Snape pouting, what is this world coming to?
"As I was SAYING, Sev and I went through the same thing, except we didn't have anyone to guide us along."
Harry nodded slowly, struggling to understand that his godfather was a vampire. Finding out Snape was one, however, wasn't as surprising.
"But, I don't understand how… I mean, why this happened to us?"
Sitting on the edge of Harry's bed, Sirius prepared himself for a rather long winded speech. "Well, I'll tell you what I know on the subject, which isn't much." A snort was heard from Snape. "The vampires are an extremely old race of magical being, there are many theories about our origins, but none have been proven. What's known, however, is this: there are two very different strains of vampirism. I'm sure you've heard of the soulless vampires in DADA class, driven by nothing more than the hunger for blood and the need for survival. The other form of vampirism is extremely rare, the form in which me, you, Sev, and Malfoy over there have. There are many names for us, the Souled Ones being one of the most common. Basically, while we are driven to some extent by the bloodlust, we keep our souls and have the ability to stop ourselves from seeing every human as meals with legs. You following me so far?"
Harry nodded, a bit dazed. "Now, little is known about Souled One's because of their rarity and how secretive they are. Although I'm one of them, I still don't know much about them myself. All I know is that there is some sort of coalition between the world's Souled vamps – some sort of government that they answer to. It's not known why, but every once and a while, these vamps decided to Hunt for what they called Chosen – prospective vampires. I would say it's to keep them all from dying out, but when you're immortal, that really shouldn't be much of a worry. Anyhow, while only Souled vampires can sire Souled vampires, there's always a chance that something will go wrong and that person will become Undead – or a vampire without a soul. So, it's always a gamble, one that's rarely won. I'd go so far to say that us four are probably the only Souled One's that have been sired in the past two or three hundred years!"
Harry nodded once more to show that he understood what Sirius had relayed to him, but something was tugging on his conscious. "You – you said that only vampires with souls can make other vampires with souls, right? Well, the thing that turned me and Malfoy couldn't have had a soul – he was vile. It's just not possible!"
Sirius opened his mouth to explain, but thought better of it. It was then that Severus stepped in. "Potter, the intricacies of human morality are more than complex. The same can be said for any being which has a soul. Merely having a soul does not make a vampire 'good,' just as being born human doesn't automatically make one good. The choices which define us are much more complicated then 'because I have a soul, then I must do good.' Understand?"
TBC
(1) Intempestivus: Latin for understanding
(2) Fallen: Another of the numerous terms in this fic that will refer to vampires.
(3) Inbred Fool: I wanted to make the dynamics of the Noble House of Black a bit more interesting in this fan fiction. In this story, the Black family will have a history of marrying close relatives to insure that their blood was a pure as possible. Marrying distant cousins is considered common for purebloods, but the Blacks are considered to have taken it to an extreme level. Severus will often poke fun at Sirius because of this little fact.