October 06, 2004
Blood Ties by Aurea--Chapter 32
Summary: The agony was sudden and blinding. Snape had watched Lorelei suffer through the other four vials, but that was nothing compared to this. She screamed and her veins stood out black under her skin. Her eyes flooded with blackness too, looking like empty holes in her white face. She looked like an ivory sculpture that had begun to crack.
The bite scar on her neck opened and blood gushed from the two punctures. It soaked her white blouse red as she clawed at her face. Then, the blood flowed black and began to clot. It congealed, then hardened, and crumbled to black dust. More blood poured from her eyes and mouth. She collapsed with another wail and passed out cold.
The agony was sudden and blinding. Snape had watched Lorelei suffer through the other four vials, but that was nothing compared to this. She screamed and her veins stood out black under her skin. Her eyes flooded with blackness too, looking like empty holes in her white face. She looked like an ivory sculpture that had begun to crack.
The bite scar on her neck opened and blood gushed from the two punctures. It soaked her white blouse red as she clawed at her face. Then, the blood flowed black and began to clot. It congealed, then hardened, and crumbled to black dust. More blood poured from her eyes and mouth. She collapsed with another wail and passed out cold.
Her mind wandered into a nightmare trance. The holes in her throat were burning. She was somewhere dark and full of winding hallways. She could never see more than a few feet ahead of her and wasnt sure if the darkness was in the hallways or in her eyes. The disembodied feel of a nightmare hung over her.
"It's a dream," she said aloud, relieved to hear her own voice. She repeated it like a mantra as she went. She called for help a few times, but no sound but her own breathing could be heard. Not even her footsteps made a sound. Then, she nearly fell when the floor suddenly became stairs.
At the bottom of those stairs, lay Esme. She was sprawled out on her side. Her black coat blended with the shadows so well that only her head and hands were very visible. It was also hard to tell if she was breathing. Her mirror shades hid her eyes, making her face all that much more expressionless. Lorelei called to her, but she didn't move.
"She can't help you anymore," purred a voice that made Lorelei's skin crawl. Gaston materialized out of the darkness, sauntering down the corridor toward her. The part of her that didn't cringe was quietly amazed at how young he seemed now. He was as she remembered him, but she'd aged 10 years, and he hadn't. He was a kid, though a dangerous one. His eyes gleamed red and his arrogant smirk was razor-sharp.
"She can't even hear you," he went on. "Not over all the noise." He took a few steps closer. "You know that story about vampires not being able to cross running water? It's not true." He spread out his arms and let his hands hang limp at the end of them, pantomiming crucifixion.
A hand exploded out of his chest, making Lorelei gasp. It was a woman's hand, long nails and elaborate jewelry glinting on the pale fingers. Gaston's body fell backwards as Vanessa stepped out of him, shedding him like a cicada's skin. She was a beautiful, elegant woman. Her hair fell in waves to the floor, gleaming here and there from some gemmed ornament. Silk patterned like a snakeskin hung from her shoulders.
"Your sister is walking on glass now," she said. Her voice was higher than Lorelei had expected, but not shrill. "She hasn't broken through yet, but she has to step carefully. If she moves too quickly, the glass will break and she will fall...But you know all about that don't you? You've been so careful, so correct...And for what?" She bent over in a mocking bow. Her head slid off, rolling away on the floor and disappearing into the shadows.
Lorelei was left staring in horror into the black hole of Vanessa's neck. Two red eyes blinked out of it at her and then Opal's face squeezed out of the neck. She grinned playfully, the childish expression ruined by the fangs. Vanessa's body was stepped out of like an oversize garment and the child vampire tossed her blond hair.
"You were so desperate not to become a vampire," she said, almost sulkily. "What were you so afraid of? That your oh-so-wicked sister would come and cut off your head like she did mine? We couldn't let her have that satisfaction could we? Oh no."
"She wouldn't," Lorelei whispered. Opal was still smoothing her hair, but she looked over her shoulder at her. The contempt on her face was plain.
"What do you care, anyway?" she gestured at Esme's body still on the floor. "Those damn werewolves were closer to her than you ever were. She left you behind and then you left her. I think you're well rid of each other." She smoothed her bangs with one hand and then rammed her fingers into her own eyes.
Lorelei flinched, but found herself watching as the girl ripped her own face off to reveal Nathiel's. He tore Opal's body off and stood glowering down at her. He was tall and grim and cold. His lips curled in a sneer at her.
"Sniveling little meatbag," he growled. "At least that one had the guts to fight. You cowered in the dark for a year. She killed ME...She lied and robbed and murdered to do it, but she killed ME. You fell to a half-fanged punk no older than yourself!"
"It's just as well," Brohm's too-familiar voice made her spin away from Nathiel. The vampire lord stood at the foot of the stairs, one booted foot resting on Esme's head. "As soon as your blood touched my lips I knew I wouldn't turn you. There's something burning in your veins, little doll, something powerful. I thought it best not to give you an eternity to use it. I thought you were to be my last child, but you've slipped from my fingers.
"This one," he leaned some weight onto his foot and Esme's sunglasses crunched. "Was lucky to get as far as she did. She managed to save YOU, but her luck has run out and her friends are far away."
"Esme!" screamed Lorelei.
"I'm here," the body said suddenly. Her voice sounded weak and distant, and over it, Lorelei thought she heard the sound of running water. "Where are you?" Before Lorelei could answer, Brohm grinned and crushed Esme's skull under his foot. There was a cracking sound and a gush of blood, and Lorelei screamed herself awake.
Snape was there, his coat wadded up into a pillow under her head. She looked around wildly, still expecting to see her dead sister bleeding in the floor. She had a roaring headache. Her head felt like a boot had gone through it too. Snape pulled her hands away from her head to peer into her eyes.
"They're still red," he said, forehead creasing with worry. "How do you feel?" The pain behind her eyes tripled. She wasn't able to form another thought through the agony. She burst into tears.
Blood Ties by Aurea--Chapter 31
Summary: "You're working yourself up for no reason," he said. "The book says it can be done. That it has been done before."
"He's old enough to have written that book!" she cried. "How can I know for sure?"
"You can drink the vial." He said. She glared at him, but he only looked tired. Slowly, she broke the seal on the vial with her fingernail. After another hesitation, she twisted the lid off. The fluid looked black. A smell wafted up from it and triggered the memory of the night shed been brought to Brohm.
Her hand began to shake. She had been so helpless then, pinned like a butterfly by the red stare. In the blackness she had only been able to tell that he was tall and strong, with long black hair marked by a white streak. The big man had moved like a cat, and his velvet-smooth voice had matched that image too. There had been a paralyzed fear and a wild, anticipatory dread. He had leaned in so close that all she could see were the glowing red eyes and the white fangs.
Elsewhere, Lorelei stood in an empty room. It was almost a cell, bare stone and empty. There were no windows, and not even a door. The last vial was clenched tight in her hand. It was the fifth day. She hid Brohm's name with her thumb. It's years later and I can't even stand to see his name. How am I supposed to drink his blood? she wondered.
What she knew of vampires wasn't encouraging either. Brohm already had her blood. If she drank his, wouldn't it just finish the process and finally make her a vampire? For all her sister's prankster ways, Lorelei didn't think Esme would deliberately deceive her like that. It might not be a trick, but what if Esme was just wrong??
The wall opened, stone by stone, to let Snape in. The wall closed behind him. No one else wanted to be near her for this last part of the ritual. Snape was looking haggard from a long night of going over the Mayhem Manual for any way this could go wrong. He was the only one willing to be there, and was grudgingly glad of the company.
"The book says it will be painful," he said. "But it doesn't give details." Lorelei nodded and looked back at the metal vial. "Are you afraid?" He asked next.
"Yes," she said. "I've adjusted to what I am now, but it was hard and frightening and took years. After this, I'll have to start all over again as...whatever I'll be when this is over."
"Fear of the unknown," Snape said more gently.
"Fear of the only guessed at." She pulled her eyes from the vial and looked at him over the rims of her glasses. "If it DOESN'T work. . . What if it makes me worse?? I. . . can't believe Esme was really able to kill Brohm. Not unless he had some reason for making her think she had. . . . This could be some plan of his, to remove his progeny and set up stronghold in a new place where there is no vampire as powerful as he is. . . "
"You're working yourself up for no reason," he said. "The book says it can be done. That it has been done before."
"He's old enough to have written that book!" she cried. "How can I know for sure??"
"You can drink the vial." He said. She glared at him, but he only looked tired. Slowly, she broke the seal on the vial with her fingernail. After another hesitation, she twisted the lid off. The fluid looked black. A smell wafted up from it and triggered the memory of the night she'd been brought to Brohm.
Her hand began to shake. She had been so helpless then, pinned like a butterfly by the red stare. In the blackness she had only been able to tell that he was tall and strong, with long black hair marked by a white streak. The big man had moved like a cat, and his velvet-smooth voice had matched that image too. There had been a paralyzed fear and a wild, anticipatory dread. He had leaned in so close that all she could see were the glowing red eyes and the white fangs.
She forced her mind away from the memory before it got to the part where he had bitten her. It was like forcing herself awake before the end of a nightmare. She was still standing there, clutching the vial in her shaking fingers. Snape was still watching in silence. She clenched her eyes shut and poured the vial down her throat.
Blood Ties by Aurea--Chapter 30
Summary: Hermione lead the way to a corner and pulled back a curtain. Mrs. Norris was there, curled in a huge basket of black wizard robes which she had shed all over. The house elves had waited on her hand and foot. There was a bowl of milk to one side and a dish of tuna on the other. She reclined with all the dignity of a very scruffy Empress, and squirming next to her were four tiny kittens.
"Does Filch know?" asked Harry, kneeling down beside the basket with Hermione.
"Yeah," Ron chuckled. "He's in here every hour. Hermione convinced him that as paternal grandmother, she gets visitation rights too. We've been declared uncles."
"Does that make Crookshanks MR. Norris, or her Mrs. Norris-Granger?" Harry asked. They both laughed and the kittens stirred.
Filch marched Harry to McGonagall, who was more concerned with his bloodied eye than what he was doing out after hours with Snape's broom. He told her what had happened on the way to the infirmary. She sent someone to get Ron off the roof and to check on the prefect in the hall.
Madame Pomfrey was tending his eye when Sirius and Lorelei burst in. He told them what had happened as well. Lorelei didn't seem surprised, only grim. Sirius was more upset than confused, but fussed over Harry and his eye before sprinting off with Lorelei before Pomfrey could throw them out. Filch left in a grouch.
With a bandage on his head and a tingly feeling in his eye socket from the healing spell, Harry tried to rest a little. He was put into bed in what was now a familiar routine. I do seem to end up in here a lot, he thought. Then, he noticed Raye in a bed further down the room. She was staring at the ceiling and making no sign that she knew he was there.
He wondered if he should speak to her, but decided not to. If she was ignoring him, she wouldn't want to talk anyway. He heard Madame Pomfrey hurrying around the other room and after a moment, Snape's voice halted her. They talked for awhile, and though Harry strained his ears, he couldn't make out any words. He hoped he wouldn't be in trouble over the broom. Then, there was a flutter of several feet on the floor and Lorelei asked them what was going on now.
Her voice was woozy, but louder than an infirmary whisper. Maybe she had taken another vial, Harry reasoned. Snape reported that a bottle of harpy blood had been taken from his cabinet.
"Good gracious!" said Pomfrey, forgetting to keep her own voice down. "If the creature tries to drink that-"
"She'll be easy to find," interrupted Lorelei. There was a pause after that and Harry pictured shocked expressions on the other witches' faces. He must've been right, because Lorelei's tone was more defensive when she spoke again.
"I've had to put up with this all my life," she said. "I'm thinking of performing a study on the phenomenon and declaring it the Esme Curse, so others will be warned. She always does this! I know it's not intentional, I know she means well, but she has never once failed to make a bad situation worse!"
"Speaking of which," came the hurried voice of McGonagall as she swept in the room. "I'm sorry I'm late, but the Weaselly twins have somehow made voice throwing devices. I think most of them have been confiscated, but be on your guard. They had Trelawney thinking she was being visited from beyond."
"What about the younger Weasely?" came Moody's rasping voice.
"He's fine."
"The sun will be up soon," said Snape. "Will she be able to bear it? Such an ancient vampire would surely fear the sun, even if he was in a human body."
"Professor Moody," said McGonagall. "You and Ms. Zephyr are both Defense teachers. What d you suggest we do? How do you catch a vampire?" There was another long pause and then Moody spoke again.
It isn't so much a vampire as it is your sister," he growled, apparently to Lorelei. "You know best what her habits would be."
"No, I don't," Lorelei sounded worried this time. "This is the first time I've been this close to her in years. And I can't even guess what Brohm's influence would make her do."
"What do you know him? Of Brohm?"
"That he's old. Biblical old. And every bit as powerful."
"No longer!" said a cheerful voice that Harry thought was the Elmskill Professor Dormire. "Now, he's a bit of Dark Magic turned parasite. This Esme will still face charges, but if it can be proved that she was infected with a Bind, things may go better for her."
"Well," Lorelei's voice was hesitant. "I have to catch her to get it out of her again. I don't know where she would go, but...there may be a way to lure her back to me...I haven't done it since I was a child. but she should remember..."
"You know her best," Moody said again, and then there was the sounds of the group leaving. Harry laid back down to think about it all. He wondered what drinking harpy blood would do to a vampire in a human body. He wondered what Lorelei had in mind to catch her sister. Full of such thoughts, he dozed off.
A soft voice calling his name pulled him from a dream of following a trail of blood through the Hogwarts halls. He blinked himself awake and squinted into the light. Hermione and Ron hovered over him. They burst into smiles when he focused on them. By the brightness from the window and the empty feeling in his stomach, he guessed it was late morning.
"How are you feeling?" Ron asked. Harry felt the bandage over his eye gingerly. When it didn't hurt at all, he pried the cloth off and squinted with both eyes.
"Good as new," he said, sitting up. Raye was still there, but facing the wall now.
"Well, we were told we could take you to breakfast if you felt up to it," Ron told him. "And Hermione has something to show you." Harry glanced at her. She was beaming and bounced on her toes.
"Oh, if you can, come and see!" she pleaded, so Harry allowed them to pull him from the bed and drag him off. They went deep into the castle, to a steamy room full of house elves ironing. Past that was a room full of clotheslines and wet clothes hanging from them.
"So this is where Hogwarts' laundry gets done," he mused. Hermione sniffed, but was too giddy to go into one of her S.P.E.W. speeches. They went through the washing room which was full of many-colored bubbles and elves working hand-cranked wringing machines, and from there into the dirty clothes room.
The smell was incredible. It was like stepping into the world's largest and most worn sweaty sock. Harry saw special hampers in the back where the elves worked with clothespins on their little noses. One was marked Potions Classes' and seemed to be glowing. Another said Care of Magical Creatures' and whenever an elf looked in that one, it would turn green and run away gagging.
Hermione lead the way to a corner and pulled back a curtain. Mrs. Norris was there, curled in a huge basket of black wizard robes which she had shed all over. The house elves had waited on her hand and foot. There was a bowl of milk to one side and a dish of tuna on the other. She reclined with all the dignity of a very scruffy Empress, and squirming next to her were four tiny kittens.
"Does Filch know?" asked Harry, kneeling down beside the basket with Hermione.
"Yeah," Ron chuckled. "He's in here every hour. Hermione convinced him that as paternal grandmother, she gets visitation rights too. We've been declared uncles."
"Does that make Crookshanks MR. Norris, or her Mrs. Norris-Granger?" Harry asked. They both laughed and the kittens stirred.
"You'll wake them up!" said Hermione, so the boys quieted down and crouched to look. There were two orange tabby kittens, one calico, and one was dusty-beige with the faintest outline of stripes over it. Each of them had Crookshanks' crooked tail.
"We should call these two Fred and George," said Ron, reaching to touch one of the orange tabbies. Mrs. Norris gave him a warning look and he pulled away.
"Except that Fred is a girl," said Hermione, stroking the calico. Mrs. Norris tolerated that.
"Fredina then," Ron said airily. "Fredina Sabrina Jolina Norris-Granger."
"The name is bigger than the kitten," Harry said, and they all laughed again. Then his stomach gurgled.
"I forgot you hadn't eaten," Hermione said. "Let's get you some breakfast." They pulled the curtain back into place and left.