November 02, 2006
Blood Ties by Aurea--Chapter 65
Harry and Ron were trying to dig one of Mrs. Norris' kittens out of where it had fallen into the springs of an armchair in the common room. They could hear it mewling and were trying to reach into the frame to get it without damaging themselves or the chair.
"This had better not be another one of my brothers' voice throwers," Ron grumbled.
"If it isn't, then there's something else in this chair that licked my finger," Harry said. He was up to his elbow in the chair frame, feeling around for the warm kitten's body. "How did it get in there anyway?"
"Hermione will say it's gifted." Ron rolled his eyes. "She swears their eyes are ready to open already which is much earlier than an average kitten."
"Well, familiars are a little more special than normal animals. Maybe the magic rubs off on them." Harry heard something scratching inside the chair and started patting toward that area. He prayed it really was a kitten. "But Crookshanks is smarter than an average cat, and Mrs. Norris must be too. Why shouldn't the kittens be a little extra special?"
"How smart can they be if they're getting trapped inside chairs?" Ron watched Harry contort to reach around a set of springs. "Want me to have another turn?"
"Yeah. Try it from that side." Harry began to pull free and Ron knelt with a sigh to reach under the back cushion again. His arms were longer and lankier than Harry's. He began to feel around carefully and felt a wet snuffle against his thumb.
"Please let that be a kitten," he sighed and grabbed whatever it was. He felt a warm, fuzzy head, a damp nose, and heard a tiny squeak of outrage. It squirmed and he wrapped his fingers around its neck and body. "I've got it! I think. . . "
"Don't let go!" Harry hurried over to help hold the cushions apart. "Just ease it out."
"It's not easing!" Ron bit his lip. "She'll kill me if I hurt it."
"Get your wrist clear of the springs and pull," Harry suggested. His own wrists were red and scratched from trying to navigate the springs. Ron rotated his shoulder a little, leaned forward, and yanked his arm free of the chair. Safe in his grip, a dust-colored kitten began to yowl.
"Bwaha!" said Ron, holding it up victoriously, just as Hermione burst into the room, wide-eyed, wild-haired, and with an armful of clothing.
"Ron, Harry, I have to tell you-" she gasped out in one breath, then stopped. There were cushions everywhere. Harry was poised over an armchair that had been tilted onto its back, and over it all, Ron was brandishing the screaming kitten like a war-club. ". . . What are you two DOING??" Ron recovered well. He brought the kitten to his chest and stroked it between its ears.
"This one," he said with emphasis. "Is my FAVORITE." Harry tried to not to laugh. Hermione's nose wrinkled, but then she shook her head.
"It doesn't matter," she said, hurrying over to them. She looked around for anyone listening, but Harry and Ron's armchair wrestling had worn out its novelty half an hour ago and the other Griffydors had left them alone. "I've just come from Dumbledore's office. I went to Professor McGonagall first, and she took me to his. We have to tell Padfoot to leave before the Ministry shows up."
"They're already here," Ron said. The kitten had stopped its noise and now just looked sulky.
"More are coming," Hermione took a deep breath and tried to smooth some of her hair back. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "To deal with the Morthahg. It's here."
"And by here, you mean in Hogwarts?" Harry inhaled sharply too. "H-how is that even possible?"
"I don't know! Tanner saw it! He says it's down in the foundations and trying to climb up. I don't know how he found it. The Headmaster sent him back to the infirmary so that no one knows he was out. He has enough suspicions hanging over him without being associated with the Morthahg."
"What are they going to do?" Harry could tell Ron was as unsettled as he was. No one who had seen the Morthahg liked the thought of it.
"Bring in the Ministry to investigate," Hermione sighed. "Professor McGonagall thinks the school should be evacuated."
"Where would we go?" asked Harry, his stomach sinking even further.
"My house," Ron said at once. "You too, Hermione. Home for the holidays. Kittens and all. My mother will be ecstatic."
"We'd better find Padfoot," Harry said. "Tell him all this." Hermione nodded. She had gathered up coats, hats, and scarves for them on her way in. Ron lifted the kitten up to eye level. Its eyes were just tiny slits in an orange-striped face.
"I'm going to put you back in the basket," he told it sternly. "I want you to stay there until your mother gets home." It graced him with an adorable yawn and he set it back in with its siblings.
"What are you going to call it?" Hermione asked, tossing him a scarf. Her eyes were narrowed and she might've been holding back a smirk.
"Tallucifineus the Terrible," Ron said, with great dignity.
"You wouldn't dare." Hermione set her fists on her hips.
"I wonder if the Morthahg will damage familiars." Harry said, just to remind them that this was serious.
They checked the Map and Sirius wasn't on it, so they headed on out to the grounds. There was still snow on the ground. Lorelei had taken North and Padfoot out. It had been her excuse to get away from the Ministers for awhile. They were driving her crazy, which was making North nervous. He dug aimlessly in the snow, making little burrows and abandoning them. Padfoot was too stressed for even that. He paced in a slow circle around Lorelei. In a white coat over a gray robe, she was almost invisible in the snow.
Ron, Hermione and Harry managed to spot her from a distance and were heading down the walk toward her when a commotion came from overhead. They looked up to see a swarm of owls, all carrying messages, pour into the sky over Hogwarts.
"The word's going out," Hermione said.
"We have to tell Sirius," Harry said. He started jogging toward Lorelei and the dogs, but before he could get there, a side door blew open and the most imposing old man Harry had ever seen stepped out onto the walk. When this man had been young, he had been tall and broad-shouldered and time hadn't taken all of that from him. He walked with a cane, but it looked more like he used it to bludgeon subordinates with than as a crutch. His eyes were amber-brown, and as hot and bright as a dragon's. The lines on his face were etched as deep as scars. His gaze flicked over Harry and the boy felt a predator's scrutiny.
He was examined, evaluated, and dismissed as no threat in the blink of an eye. He felt like a rabbit that had suddenly looked up to see itself reflected in an eagle's eye, only to be spared as the bird drifted by for worthier prey. The wizard turned and started walking towards Lorelei. Behind the old man trotted a wolf. In the winter sunshine, the creature's brown pelt lit up chestnut and copper.
Harry realized he had stopped to stare. Ron and Hermione had slid to a halt a step behind him. They all wore the same look of startled concern on their faces and it must've looked silly, because the wolf made a sound suspiciously like a chuckle and shifted into a human-looking girl. She was dressed in a hodgepodge of red and green and had a scar around one eye that looked like it had come from a horseshoe.
"You're right to be unnerved," she said. She tossed her head towards the man, who hadn't stopped to wait for her. "That's Victor Zephyr, the Wolf Lord of the Mountains." She grinned at their expressions. "If you think the back of your necks are prickly now, just wait til you see him angry!" She half-turned when Victor called to Lorelei, who looked startled and then ran to hug him. The new werewolf sighed, but didn't move to join them. The old wizard held Lorelei tightly, then tilted her head up to look at her eyes. They could hear his voice raise in surprise, but couldn't make out what he said. Some interest flickered over the werewolf's face.
"Zephyr?" Hermione ventured, interrupting whatever train of thought was going on. "He's here about the Morthahg, then?"
"It would take more than a hateful phantom to bring Old Man Zephyr off his mountain," the werewolf said, crossing her arms. "He's here to check on his wayward granddaughters."
"And why are you here?"
"I'm Sian," the werewolf said. "I have kin to worry about here too." She gave them a wink and then dropped to wolf form again and trotted back to the Zephyrs.
Blood Ties by Aurea--Chapter 64
Morning found Sirius crazed with worry. Three men in gray had come to take the mirror and Esme's body. He had played the good familiar as best he could, snarling and refusing to let any of them near her until Lorelei had to be called to take him away. She had taken him to her room and been drawing breath to speak to him when a Ministry official had pulled her aside.
There was a lot of paperwork involved in transporting a magical prisoner. The job of that had fallen to Lorelei, it seemed. She had to fill out all the forms, make all the arrangements, and contact the rest of her family. She had spent most of the night writing to her parents, trying to explain everything that had happened.
She was only grateful that she didn't have to tell them in person. It was hard enough just to write down that Esme had come to her after ten years with a cure taken from the blood of the monsters she had been hunting all the time they thought she was running with Dark magic.
I hate being wrong, Lorelei thought gloomily. She put her quill down to rub at her eyes. She was tired, and her eyes burned.
"And what are your plans for her familiar?" asked the official at her elbow. The image of Padfoot flickered through Lorelei's mind. Black dogs were sometimes thought to be harbingers of doom. She thought of Esme being executed for High Treason and felt her throat tighten. It wasn't supposed to be like this. . . Even when she had thought Esme had knowingly sent her to the vampires, Lorelei had never wanted her sister dead. Punished, certainly. But never dead. Nothing like what the Council was considering. . .
Her consolation was that the couldn't do anything until her family had all had a chance to get involved. Her parents were from two old and powerful families.Their influence might be able to slow down the Council enough to find a way out for Esme. She wished she knew what Sirius had done. She was certain that such a famous trouble-maker would've tried something.
Lorelei had half-hoped to find the orb and mirror empty and the black dog 'escaped' with Esme this morning. She had seen the mirror with her trapped sister inside it like a glass coffin, and her heart had constricted. She had wanted to smack Sirius. I left you alone with her all night! she had wanted to scream. Why are either of you still here??
A headache began to pound behind her stinging eyes. Finally, the official left, babbling something about breakfast. Lorelei tried to focus on her letter again and her handwriting wavered in front of her. She put the quill down again and covered her face with her hands. A soft sound made her look up, just as the door knob began to turn. Even Severus would knock, she thought, standing quickly. To her shock, it was Raye. The girl had been drifting around Hogwarts with a suspiciously cheerful grin, and now she smiled at Lorelei with what she could only describe as smug sweetness.
"I only wanted to check on you, Ms. Zephyr," the girl cooed. She tilted her head so that her long hair spilled over her shoulders. Since her return, she had given up the long braid. Now, her hair was always loose, swaying behind her with every movement. "This must be very trying for you."
A thousand misgivings flared to life in Lorelei's mind. She wasn't the liar Esme was, but she could fake a smile. Pulling her lips upward convincingly, Lorelei stepped toward Raye. The girl was forced to lean her head back to keep eye contact. Raye's hair pooled around her shoulders again, covering her throat.
"It's kind of you to consider my feelings," Lorelei said. Her eyes narrowed to hide the flare of red as she opened up her sense to make sure the girl's heart was still beating. "Without a crossbow, that is."
Raye's sweetness faltered at that, but the smugness doubled to make up for it.
"I've given up on crossbow, ma'am," she said. "I've learned to be more reasonable."
"From who?" Lorelei's voice turned icy.
"From my pen pal," Raye purred. "I got a letter today." And with that, she left, closing the door behind her.
Blood Ties by Aurea--Chapter 63
For someone who looked like he did, Tanner could blend in with a crowd surprisingly well. He was up and roaming the halls in a school uniform that Madame Pomfrey had found for him. She had also cut his hair, which he had consented to in exchange for a very large and messy ice cream sundae and being allowed out in the first place. It was the neatest he had ever looked, but it was unraveling fast.
His hair was already shaggier than it had been when he left the infirmary, the shoes and socks had been abandoned at first opportunity, his shirt was untucked and his tie was loosened. Despite it all, he managed to fit right in. The Hogwarts students assumed he was from Elmskill, the Elmskills thought he was from Hogwarts.
He wound his way through the crowds and stopped by a statue to scan the corridors around him. He saw a flash of white that could only be Lorelei and shrank back a bit in case she should look his way. She was arguing with an older man who looked startled, but unbudging. Tanner felt a premonition tingle into life deep down in the roots of his incisors that said there was a storm brewing.
He missed Esme and Rosie. He honestly would've been glad of anyone to tell him what to do at this point. I haven't been in charge for so long, I hardly know how to think for myself, he thought, amused. Can't have that! He stepped back into the flow of bodies and started sniffing the air as discretely as possible. He was looking for any trace of old or weak magic. Magic stank like everything else when it began to rot. He fell into step behind some giggling girls with green ties and followed them for awhile so they could draw attention from him.
He caught a whiff of something that reminded him of the miasma and stopped, making a hulking child blunder into him from behind. The boy's face contorted in annoyance and he drew breath to say something probably rude. Tanner fixed the wizard child with his yellow eye and growled low in his throat. The boy stared, then hurried away, leaving Tanner to focus on the scent. Pinpointing one smell in the sea of odors would give him a roaring headache later, but he kept after it anyway.
Tanner wandered past the potion dungeons where the smell made his eyes sting. He lost the trail for awhile and had to circle to find it again. Now that the halls were emptier he was tempted to shapeshift. It would be easier to locate and process the scents in wolf form, but then Mrs. Norris appeared and glared daggers at him. Grumbling to himself, Tanner left that corridor. This wasn't that different from hunting vampires through catacombs and schmancy old houses. Only he wasn't as tense for an attack and he could think as noisily as he wanted without fear of alerting the old telepathic leeches.
Finally, his pointed nose caught the scent again and he followed it down another hall that branched into more hallways. Those halls became dark staircases that led down into darkness. Tanner went back to find one of the enchanted torches and wrenched it off the wall. A prim-looking girl in a painting winked at him and the fluffy little dog painted on her lap started to bark. He took the torch and started back down. The stairways led down into cluttered basements. The basements opened up into tunnels. Tanner decided he wouldn't turn back until he started to see cave paintings.
He opened his senses up and something began to seep into them, like spiders. The headache he knew had been coming kicked in the door. His stride slowed to creep. The light from the magical torch began to flicker and when it finally went out, the darkness didn't. A glow the color of nuclear Halloween played over the tunnel walls. Tanner sighed. He had seen that color before, but was in no pain yet, so decided to have a look anyway.
The tunnel opened out into a pit. Tanner walked to the edge and peered down into it. Sure enough, it was the Morthahg. It sat at the bottom of the chasm, reaching like an octopus to wrap burning tendrils around the foundation stones of Hogwarts. Something had to be holding it back. It would take careful control to keep the Morthahg so focused, busily breaking barriers without attacking, even with such sprawling mass of magic so close. Tanner looked at it for a moment, the turned quickly away.
He was back in the basement when he caught a warm, bright scent that was familiar.
"Over here," he called and he stood there waiting until a little ball of magical light came close enough to reveal him. It was Hermione, looking dusty from wandering in the basement. "You don't learn, do you?" he asked before she could speak.
"You would be the first person to accuse me of that," she said stiffly. "I saw you run by and then there was the torch missing and the painting told me where you had gone. . . " Her voice trailed off as he gave her his best silent stare. "Are you all right?" she added more timidly. "What are you looking for?"
"Trouble. Just like you."
"I was not! I didn't want you to get in trouble again-"
"And being found in a dark basement, all alone, with the pretty young girl I am already suspected of attacking and tearing open won't get me in any trouble." His voice had dropped to a combination of sarcasm and menace. "Will it?" Hermione opened her mouth, closed it, then opened it again.
"We're the first people down here in years, judging by the dust," she said. "I only came because I was following you and no one was following me. Who else do you expect to show up?"
"I already met the Morthahg," he jerked his thumb back towards the darkness behind him. Her eyes widened. They darted to the patch of black and back to Tanner's face.
"You couldn't have. . . " she said. He held up the torch.
"It'll never light again," he said. "It just got weaker and weaker until it died and then there was that lovely orange glow to light my way." Hermione reached out to touch the enchanted metal and pulled her hand away quickly at how cold it was.
"D-down there??" she asked, looking back the way he had come.
"Yep. Nestled in like a maggot in a bullet hole." The pale light from her wand kept him from being able to tell exactly what color she turned at that, but her color definitely changed.
"We have to tell everyone," she said when she recovered. "But how is it possible?? Hogwarts has all the barrier and wards, even if they were nullified, it would alert someone, someone would know, someone would-"
"If they do, they haven't told. Magic means nothing to the Morthahg."
"How did it get here??"
"How should I know?"
"What is it after??"
"Magic. Chaos. It's after all the little disorders that live here. It wants to suck up every spell and enchantment like noodles and leave your precious castle a stone ruin, piled high with magic-less, maybe comatose, human-shaped piles of meat."
"That's. . . that's. . . "
"Awful. Yes."
"What will we do??"
"Up to you, darlin'."
"Wh-what?" she stared at him. "You don't even care??"
"Oh, I care plenty. It's you that hasn't asked the important question."
"What will happen if the barriers go down?? Those enchantments are hundreds of years old!!"
"What are they keeping out?"
"I. . . don't know, really. . . Muggles. Dark wizards. . . " She gasped suddenly. "Dementors!"
"Vampires?"
"I don't know. Why would vampires come here at all?"
"Suppose they had a taste for magical blood? What better place to set up a harem of blood-dolls?" He was now talking mostly to himself, but his hand wrapped around her arm and he started steering back up the stairs to the lit halls.
"That's crazy!" she sputtered.
"Only by human standards," Tanner almost chuckled, picking up his pace. "And when was the last time we had to fight one of those. . . ?"
Blood Ties by Aurea--Chapter 62
"My grandmother used to say you could judge a witch by her familiar," Fudge said in what he probably thought was a warm, fatherly tone. He beamed down at North, who ignored him. The Minister seemed quite pleased with the way things were going. Lorelei had the sudden urge to turn him into sausage, and not by magic, but she was able to keep from saying so.
"Of course," Fudge went on. "She also used to say that her pillow was trying to eat her head while she slept, but we believed her about the familiars."
"What are you talking about?" Lorelei managed to unclench her teeth enough to say. He sat at a desk and began to ruffle through papers.
"Its just that it's uncanny how familiars match their owners personalities," he said. "Take you and your sister. You have this very well-behaved white dog. It is clean and well-groomed and has been the model of doggy good behavior throughout this little ordeal. Whereas your sister, if you'll forgive me saying so, has that awful black creature. It doesn't look as if it has ever had a bath, it smells like a gutter, and it keeps growling at people."
"So, if I understand you correctly," Lorelei steepled her fingers, and looked at him over the tips. "You are saying that I have a white mannerly pet because I'm a white mannerly person?"
"Well, there's more to it than that of course," Fudge found the paper he was looking for with a triumphant sound. "It's just interesting how it seems to work out. The good sister has a white dog, the bad has a black one." Before she could respond to that, he stood again and handed the paper to her. "This may be a difficult thing for you to hear, Ms. Zephyr, but your sister has been implicated in the deaths of several Muggles."
"Three isn't several," Lorelei said, reading the letter with a sinking feeling. Even to her ears, the retort sounded weak and childish. She didn't recognize the three names on the list, but that didn't really matter. Henrietta P. Charierre, Allexander Morgan, Sr., and Thomas D. Couver's names were written in red, scrawled like blood over the white paper.
Who had they been? Were they young, old, evil, or innocent? Had they died quickly or had Esme taken her time? She suddenly remembered what Nathiel had said in her dream. She killed ME. . . She lied and robbed and murdered to do it, but she killed ME. What had Esme had to do to get to the vampires? Had these people on the list been enthralled to the vampires? Or had they just been in the way?
A year ago, Lorelei wouldn't have had any difficulty believing her sister capable of murder. She had, after all, violently killed five vampires. Someone who could crucify a handsome young man, rip a woman to shreds, behead a child, or impale two gentlemen would probably have very few qualms about hurting people. Those five weren't people, though, she argued to herself. Just monsters who still wore human forms. But what was wearing her sister's form now?
"My grandmother has a saying too," she said, more to herself than Fudge. North perked his ears toward her voice. "When you look long into any abyss, the abyss looks back into you." Fudge tilted his head at her, puzzled. His look of forced concern and understanding was still plastered on his face.
She handed the letter back to him, so she wouldn't have to say anything else. How human could Esme still be after facing so much darkness? How much of the abyss had looked into her heart and stayed there? And how much has stayed in mine? she thought suddenly. Tears began to burn around the edges of her eyes. She hadn't cried for years before coming to Hogwarts. Tears didn't help, after all, so what good were they? Now everytime she got upset, she got weepy.
North's warm head shoved underneath her hand and her fingers tightened in his fur. He licked her wrist and she wiped her eyes with her other hand. Fudge hadn't noticed her moment of pain. He was babbling on about black sheep in everyone's family and how much her cooperation and courage was appreciated.
As if he knew anything about it, she growled to herself. If homicidal pillows were the worst his family had to offer, then he had no idea what he was talking about. He had no business being so smug about Esme either. She hasn't done anything to him! If anyone gets to badmouth Esme, it's me! She's my family, not his. I can say what I want about her, but that doesn't mean he can!
Sensing her growing anger, North whuffed' quietly. Fudge looked at him, pausing in his speech. Lorelei stood up stiffly. Her red eyes glowered down at Fudge. If I curse his eyes into facing inwards, she thought grimly, it won't be because I'm defending Esme, but only because this fool has dared to speak to me this way. Grandfather Victor would understand.
That thought almost made her smile. Her paternal grandfather was Victor Zephyr. That name wouldn't mean anything to Fudge, of course, but it had been her grandfather who had dealt with the wild werewolves at home. He had been a fierce, ruthless man to anyone who had crossed him, but a doting father, husband, and grandparent to his family. Rather like a wolf himself, Victor Zephyr would have likely hung Fudge by his ankles from the rafters just for speaking of anyone in the family with such disrespect.
I wish he was here now, Lorelei thought. I don't want to do this by myself. Her grandfather was far away though, so she thanked Fudge as politely as she was able and turned to leave.
Blood Ties by Aurea--Chapter 61
Esme was there. . . twice. He blinked and then realized that while one Esme was suspended in a capture orb, another was sitting dejectedly inside a mirror leaning against the far wall. Fudge was there, supervising some Ministry officials. One was casting an unbreakable spell on the mirror, over Lorelei's protests.
"To make sure there isn't a repeat of LAST time, extra precautions are being taken," he was explaining to her.
"Last time?"
"Captured criminals have a nasty habit of disappearing from Hogwarts," he said soberly. "Some just vanish, some are killed by Dementers, the whole thing is highly inconvenient. So, we are keeping her body in an orb and her self in a mirror-snare. As long as her body is reflected in the mirror, she can't get out of it. She'll stay separated until her questioning."
"The Ministry's failures are of no interest to me," Lorelei protested. "You can't be sure she did it!"
"It was her blood that released the thing," Fudge said. "We're sure of that much."
"But I told you that was the ichling!"
"Creating an ichling is a serious crime as well, Ms. Zephyr. It's been added to the list of charges against her."
"What??" Lorelei's outrage sent a cold gust of air through the room. "What list is this? You have no right to accuse her of anything without proof and if there is proof, why haven't I been notified of it??"
"Please calm yourself," Fudge was taken aback. Lorelei was doing her best to hold back her voice, but Fudge couldn't help but feel the menace there. "The Ministry has done some research and compiled a timeline of events and unsolved crimes that occurred in those times that your sister was, er, vampire hunting. As soon as the High Judges arrive she will be questioned. That is all for now. Would you, eh, care to see the charges. . . ?"
The last was offered very timidly, as Lorelei was all but baring her teeth at him. It took her a moment to get a hold of herself. The chill in the air was still there, but she was able to compose her expression and unclench her hands and her teeth.
"Very well," she said evenly. "As unlikely as I think it is."
"Good," said Fudge, obviously relieved. "Good, good. Come this way. . . Um, her familiar? What should we do with that?" Sirius found the Minister looking at him and resisted the urge to growl. His lips twitched up to show a flash of white teeth against his dark face. Lorelei looked at him carefully too.
"Let him stay," she said. "After this, it may be a long time before he sees her again." Fudge nodded a bit reluctantly and motioned the other officials out as well. When they were gone, Sirius went to Esme's body. It hung in the air, a few inches above the floor. He shifted to his human self to try and reach her through the orb. He expected it to hurt or burn, but his hand passed through the side of the orb with no more than a fuzzy sensation.
They had dressed Esme in a conservative robe that didn't fit her well. The sleeves were too long and the neckline was too wide. It was made of some kind of itchy velvet with a faint pattern like lilies and spiderwebs. It looked wrong on her, like they'd dressed her for her own funeral.
He took her hand. It was limp, but warm and he could feel a pulse throbbing gently in her wrist. He was afraid to reach in further than his shoulder, and gave her an experimental tug. She didn't budge, so he let go and pulled free of the orb. It let him go, which was a relief. Esme's reflection was watching him from the mirror. When he turned to see it, it gave him a little wave. She looked defeated, but smiled for him anyway.
He tried to speak to her, but she couldn't hear him through the mirror. He could see her mouth move as well, but not a sound made it through the enchanted glass. He tried to move the mirror, but it couldn't be budged either. Fudge had been careful this time.
Giving up when his arms started to ache, Sirius sat down next to the mirror and leaned against it. On the other side, she crouched down too. She wasn't able to move outside the confines of the frame, so she had to squirm to get down to a sitting position.
It was like she was trapped in a coffin, Sirius thought gloomily. That image, combined with the black dress left him a little queasy. He remembered his own imprisonment. Death might've been better than Dementers, but it provided much less opportunity for escape. He had only gotten away because he was an Animagus. He didn't know how to help Esme.
Sick with worry, he rested his head against the mirror, trying to think of anything that could get her out of this. He still had her rings, but he couldn't undo a mirror-snare without the keyword that had been used to lock it. He might be able to dispell the orb, but it wouldn't do her any good without her self. It would just be what Rosie would call meat. It would eventually weaken and die without a self.
He looked at her again. She had mimicked his pose, leaning her head against her side of the mirror next to his. Maybe she couldn't help it. Maybe being trapped as a reflection forced her to mirror whoever looked into it. His breath misted on the mirror's surface. Hers didn't. Reflections didn't breathe. The part of her that could was across the room after all.
An idea sparked into life in Sirius' mind. It would take too long, he thought immediately. It had taken him months to get it right. . . . but still. He had been learning on his own, without any help from someone who knew what they were doing. If he could teach her the words, and she could say them as soon as her self was safely in her flesh. . . It might work. . .
He sat up quickly and went fishing through his pockets. He pulled out one of her rings and held it up to show her. She looked puzzled, so he ran across the room to reach back into the orb with it. Making sure she was watching, he slid the ring onto her finger and pulled the ill-fitting sleeves over it. Esme blinked, baffled as he hurried back over to her. He breathed a cloud of mist out onto the mirror. Hand shaking with eagerness, he began to write backwards in it with his finger.
Blood Ties by Aurea--Chapter 60
What if Esme was a vampire now? A voice whispered in Lorelei's mind. What could you do then, but kill her? No one would blame you.
No, she told herself. She's still alive. You have to die to become a vampire.
A true vampire, maybe, the voice went on. But you never died, and yet you changed. . . Became something ELSE. Something much more dangerous.
What if she's only a blood doll, like you were? Would it be safe to let her run loose? Her only hope of curing herself would be to kill you and then Brohm. How long would it take for that to occur to her? How long would it take for her to act on it?
Lorelei grabbed that thought in a mental fist and squeezed it until its eyes popped out. She couldn't think about that right now. Too many things were uncertain. They hadn't given her time to examine her sister. The officials had almost ignored Lorelei when she had confronted them about it. They hadn't cared about whether Esme had been altered by the vampires, only that she had been contained. They hadn't even seemed concerned about the presence of such a large number of vampires so close.
It was maddening to Lorelei. Professor Dormire had intervened before her frustration got the better of her. He had sent her to wait in her own chambers until he could have a chance to find out what was going on. The idea that they might tell HIM something and not her made her teeth grind, but Lorelei had recognized a cooler head when she saw it and had gone back to her room.
A soothing tonic was already on the table waiting for her, but she ignored it to pace the room. Sirius was still in dog form. He had followed her and North back rather than be caught out on his own. He stayed as Padfoot so no one would expect him to say anything. He didn't trust himself to speak yet.
The close call was still sinking in. He honestly didn't know which would be worse, being caught by vampires or the Ministry. He'd come dangerously close to both that night, and he knew it. His luck had held, but he was still shaken. He could have been captured as easily as Esme had been. If that had happened, he would be in Azkaban right now, if he hadn't already been Kissed. He felt his hackles bristle and tingle at that thought.
He got up and set his paws on the table to lap a drink out of Lorelei's tonic. Just a taste, he told himself, to settle his nerves and stop the bristling. She wouldn't have even noticed if the ever-protective North hadn't growled at him. Well, it wasn't as if she was drinking it!
The tonic tasted somewhat like pears, and it took the edge off his panic. he took a deep breath and then shifted back to human form. Nervousness fluttered moth-like in his heart, so he took another sip.
"They can't be serious," Lorelei fumed. She had been waiting for him to shift so she could vent at someone.
"I can," he said, the tonic relaxing him enough to joke." She glared at him. Or at least he assumed she did. Her dark glasses were still on.
"Were you listening at all?" she snapped.
"To some of it," he admitted. "I missed some of it with the adrenaline screaming at me."
"And what could've upset YOU so?"
"Azkaban."
"Oh..." She pushed her glasses up to look at him more gently. "I should've realized. You can't be seen can you? With all the sneaking around we've had to do, I had forgotten that you have to hide from everyone."
"I hadn't." He sat down and met her red eyes with his own. "What do we do now?"
"Oh, NOW you want a plan?" She sat down on the other side of the table and sighed. "I'll have to hear what Professor Dormire found before I can decide on anything. All they would tell me, is that some Head Minister would arrive soon and then maybe they could tell me more."
"Psh. If they send Fudge, don't expect any help from him."
"I can't believe they didn't care about the vampires." Her voice fell to a surly grumble. Sirius almost smiled.
"Vampires move more freely here than they seem to do in your country," he told her. "And The House of Nalicus has been known to entertain strange guests. The least of which was my own family. It was well-known that the old Lord Nalicus had several colleagues among all sorts of people. And I use the word 'peopls' loosely."
"Brohm is back," Lorelei said. She his her face in her hands. "He's HERE. I had thought him left safely behind me. As safely as he could ever be." Her breath caught and he was afraid she might cry.
"Here." He slid the tonic over the table to her. "Have a sip. You'll feel better." She took it her hands and brought it in range of her mouth, but didn't drink.
"What could he have done to Esme? Who knows how long she was under his power? Long enough for him to have done something! He could've done ANYthing..."
"She only had the one bite," Sirius said. "She was warm, she was breathing, her heart was beating. She remembered both of us and could talk sensibly. I didn't smell a Bind. Whatever was done to her can be put right."
Lorelei shuddered, and took a sip from the glass. Sirius had wondered if she would drink after him. Maybe it was just a sign of how upset she really was. But that was what the tonic was before. After a few moments, some of the tension left her shoulders.
"I don't even know what I'm going to tell the family," she said softly.
"Will they be glad to see her again?"
"of course! Even when we thought that... that it had been deliberate... they wanted her back. So did I, really. As much as I hated her, I wanted her there to hate... That sounds crazy doesn't it?"
"Just keep drinking." He tried to smile. "You'll need to keep your head if they trot Fudge out to talk to you."
"No." She pushed the cup back to the middle of the table. "If they're going to annoy me, I want to be sure they recognize it when it happens."
Sirius actually chuckled at that. They sat in silence for a long while after. Then, a knock on the door sent Sirius back to Padfoot and under the table to sit beside North. Lorelei answered the door and found Dormire there.
"They're ready to see you, ma'am," he said. She nodded, and stepped out. North was on her heels and Padfoot followed too. They went down the hall to another room that was guarded by a pair of Aurors. The two swallows of tonic couldn't keep off the stab of panic that Padfoot felt at that sight. Would they notice him? Could they tell he was an animagus?
He crowded close to North in the hopes that the white dog would attract the most attention. I'm just a shadow, he thought desperately at them. Look at the fluffy white dog, not the perfectly normal black dog next to him. Just two dogs... One all shiny, one sort of blending in with the background... Don't even look twice. And they didn't.
They didn't pay the two dogs any attention at all. He and North were allowed to follow Lorelei through the door. He almost had time to relax before he heard her gasp.
Blood Ties by Aurea--Chapter 59
Light banished darkness, and in the glow of it, Lorelei felt her tears as warm as blood on her cheeks. She felt North crowd into her side and she buried her fingers into his fur and pulled him close. They were falling forward, and she had no idea where they would end up. You had to be careful with portal spells. It took time to do one right. She hadn't been careful and she hadn't taken time, so common sense said that they would be lucky to survive this at all. She hadn't even been able to think of a good destination.
I should have thought of Hogwarts, she thought, nestling her face into white fur. Maybe the potions room. I don't even remember what I was thinking when I opened it. Somewhere safe. Somewhere away. Maybe Sirius was able to pinpoint a spot to aim for. Thinking his name reminded her that he was here somewhere too. She tried to look back and saw a dim shape falling after her. Did he still have Esme? She couldn't tell.
The portal was becoming narrower which meant it would spit them out soon. But where? That was the question. And would anyplace be far enough to escape Brohm again? She shuddered, clutching North so tight he wheezed.
Then, there was cold and darkness again and the smell of dirt and stone. Sirius landed behind her with a thud and the last of the light faded. Lorelei scrambled to her feet, ready to fight. She had no idea where they were and it took her a panicked moment to realize that they were alone. A soft chuckle came from Sirius and she turned to look at him.
What's so funny? she demanded. She couldn't believe he could laugh after such a narrow escape.
"This, he said, motioning around. "I guess this was a safe place.
"You know where we are?" she asked, more hopefully. He nodded and set Esme down, then stood up and wriggled his arms to get the circulation going through them again.
"The last time I was here," he told her. "I was the one sick, and Esme took care of me. Now, we're reversed. This is a cave in the Forbidden Forest. We're not far from Hogwarts. You can probably see the lights from here."
"Oh good," she sagged again with relief. Then she lit her light spell to peer at her sister. Esme was still motionless. Her breath misted here and Lorelei summoned up a blanket to cover her with. She pointed and North obligingly laid down to add his warmth to the pile.
"Let's rest," she said. "Get our wits about us, and then go back to the castle."
"Fine," Sirius slid down the wall to sit beside Esme on the floor. He reached over to pet North, which the dog allowed. "Why couldn't they touch North?"
"He's charmed," Lorelei said. She hadn't sat down, but was leaning against the wall with her arms folded tight over her chest. "His collar is warded against all vampires and it keeps them from touching him. He burns them."
"Why didn't they make one for you?" he asked. She hung her head and didn't answer. "Well?" he pressed.
"We did," a weak voice said. They turned to see Esme's eyes open to slits. She glanced at her sister, then looked at Sirius. "It burned her."
"Shut up!" snapped Lorelei. Then, she remembered that Esme had been unconscious for at least a day. "How. . . are you feeling?"
"Like the last little piece of a vampire lord was sucked out of me through a hole in my neck," Esme said. Her eyes closed before Sirius could tell what color they were. She hadn't tried to move yet. "I'm trying to decide if I prefer the method you used."
"How long have you been awake?" Sirius asked her, prepared to pretend to be peeved if she'd tricked him into carrying her.
"Since he screamed," Esme whispered. "I've heard that sound twice now." He knew she meant Brohm, and from the way Lorelei went still, he knew that she did too. Sirius was tired of being so grim.
"Wait a minute," he said, looking from North to Lorelei. "If the vampire charm hurts you, how can you touch North?"
"I'm not a vampire," Lorelei sighed. She looked at Esme. "But I was changed, a little. Enough to turn my eyes red, anyway. Enough to mark me as his. The charm is meant to protect. It tried to protect me from the bit of him that's still there, but it couldn't drive it away without hurting me to get to it. See?"
"No."
"North is meant to protect her, too." Esme said. Her voice was still fragile, and she didn't open her eyes this time. "Combine the two protections and it works. The charm doesn't hurt North. North doesn't hurt Lorey."
"Have you tried to wear it since you were cured?" Sirius asked Lorelei, keeping his eyes on Esme to see if she reacted to that. She didn't.
"No," Lorelei said softly. "I thought they were all dead, so there wasn't any need to."
"Failed," Esme said, almost chuckling. "Went through all that, went through all this, only made things worse. Worse than failed." She sucked in a ragged breath and winced as if it hurt.
"No," startled to hear her talk that way, Sirius smoothed her hair back from her face. He thought her brow felt warmer than it should and laid his cold hand on it. "You did what you could. No one can ask more than that of you."
"Throwing rocks in the water," Esme said. "And the ripples go out and the ripples get bigger, and then there's the Morthahg and Ficus and everything gets worse and worse."
"That's life," Lorelei said. She was watching Sirius and his concern had gotten her attention. "What's the matter?"
"Perhaps a wee bit feverish," he said. She nodded.
"I might've known. She would have to be delirious to be feeling guilt."
"I'm not sorry," Esme said suddenly. "Can't be guilty if you're not sorry. Price must be paid. I just thought it would be me to pay it. I didn't mean for everybody to pay."
"What's she talking about?" Sirius looked at Lorelei, who shrugged.
"Throw a rock in a pond and it makes ripples," she said. "No matter how small the stone is the ripples spread out until they reach all the sides of the pond. That's how life is. It starts out as a little thing and then it spreads until everyone is affected. Ten years ago she told a little white lie, and now it has escalated to this. Morthahg running loose, a school destroyed, another school threatened, vampires, Sliders, murders, and werewolves, and it all started with something she said over her shoulder as she left the house one night. But she's not sorry."
"Why should she be?" Sirius said. "She paid for it, didn't she?" Before Lorelei could reply, a light winked through the trees beyond the cave entrance. They both saw it and froze. Soon, they could hear the heavy stride of feet in the snow. Sirius swore under his breath and became a dog again, pushing North aside to lay across Esme too.
"Who's there?" Lorelei called. She had her wand in hand, and remembering how she has reacted to Messalina's ghost, Sirius hoped whoever was out there answered quickly.
"Is that you, Professor Zephyr?" a voice called and Sirius didn't recognize it, but he saw Lorelei relax a bit. "
Over here!" she called. After a moment, the Elmskill professor Dormire stepped into sight. He wore a cap with ear-flaps over his bald head, sturdy mittens, and a quilted parka. Under all that, he was still wearing his khaki shorts, so his legs were bare. He made an odd sight in the winter woods. He had a wizard's lamp bobbing over his head, casting clear blue light in a circle around him.
"There you are!" he said cheerfully. "I found them!" he bellowed over his shoulder. Other lights and faint voices answered. "The Morthahg's been active," he explained, turning back to Lorelei. "One of the detectors picked up a magical disturbance and since you were the only witch unaccounted for, we were afraid you'd been attacked! Are you all right, dear?"
"Yes," Lorelei smile was strained and unconvincing, but Dormire didn't notice. His bright eyes had focused behind her to the dogs and Esme.
"You found your sister," he said, in a strange tone. He glanced back at Lorelei. What was he thinking, Sirius wondered. If he knew that Esme was Lorelei's sister, he must know of the bad blood between them. To see Esme with a vampire bite in her neck and Lorelei so off-kilter had to make the man suspicious.
"Yes," Lorelei said again. Then, more searchers appeared. Madame Hooch was there, and Flintwick, and a stranger Sirius assumed was also an Elmskill teacher. The fourth wizard, he recognized, and it was all he could do not to growl. It was a Ministry official, and before Lorelei could speak, he aimed his wand and cast a capture spell towards Esme. Sirius and North both scrambled to get out of the way. North was a familiar and could probably tell what spells he didn't want being cast on him. Sirius had no intention of being captured again this far along. They got out of the way in time, but Esme was bound.
Blood Ties by Aurea--Chapter 58
A female vampire was in front of them so quickly that Sirius had only an impression of an ice-pale face split into a fiendish grin. She threw out her arms and a thick cloud of bats poured out around them. Wings and little claws beat at them, snagging at the invisibility cloak.
The vampiress moved with the same mind-boggling speed. Her sharp fingers slashed through the cloak and Sirius realized that even if she hadn't been able to see him, the bats would know he was there. She didn't attack him, though. She didn't even spare him a glance. She was after Lorelei.
Shadows flowed around him like dark water. It was the other vampires, he realized as fear made him stagger. Moving so fast that they were just darker blurs in the darkness, they circled like sharks. He had no idea how to fight them. They were everywhere at once, too fast to even swing at. He kept waiting for the sudden pain when one would attack, but aside from the aching chill their eyes left when they glanced at him, they didn't seem interested.
I could run, he thought, shapeshift, apparate, anything! He felt something cold brush against his mind and he swayed. The words of a spell just came out in a gasp. Cold mist wrapped around his legs and when he looked, he saw it take the shape of arms that held him. His feet were held fast by the clutching fog. The cold something began to close around his brain like a fist.
"No!" someone screamed. For a moment, Sirius thought it had been him. But then a hot green light exploded around him. The bats were incinerated. They vanished in little puffs of ash. The mist dissolved backwards away from them, halfway returning to several vampiric forms before it was completely burned away. The vampiress blocking their path shrieked and fell back.
Lorelei stood in a halo of fire. Even in his terror, Sirius stopped to gape at her. It was like her shadow hound spell, only now the hounds were tentacles of green flame. She still had a deathgrip on his upper arm. Behind them, Brohm roared in outrage. With the fiery whips clearing a path into the dark garden, Lorelei ran, jerking Sirius after her.
As he was being bodily hauled away, Sirius saw Brohm grab North by the throat, then scream again as he dropped the dog. North sank his teeth into the vampire's arm and ripped it off at the elbow. Other vampires joined the fray, but every time they laid hand on North, they jerked away with cries of pain. North shook them off and bolted after Lorelei.
They ran. More mist and bats fluttered around them, but the flames drove them back. Shrill voices rang out behind them. Sirius felt the cloak catch on something and pull off him, but he didn't dare stop for it.
North caught up with them easily. His snowy coat was spattered now, but his eyes were bright and happy. He had done a good job and he knew it. He took the lead as they ran into the garden. His coat was the brightest thing in the evening. Lorelei followed him and Sirius was towed along after her. She was strong enough that if he stumbled, she would probably drag him and Esme both.
"Get away!" sobbed Lorelei as she ran. "Get away!" She cast a whirling crackle of light. It whirlpooled into a circle that Harry would've recognized from the night the Elmskill students had fled to Hogwarts. It was a portal, ripped into the world.
"Somewhere safe!" she screamed. "Think of someplace safe!" Then she jumped headlong into it. North jumped with her, a graceful white arc in the darkness. Images of places Sirius had hidden flickered through his head. When was the last time he had even been safe? Getting a better grip on Esme, he jumped into the circle of light.
Blood Ties by Aurea--Chapter 57
It felt like swimming through cold oil. It was awful and it seeped into every part of you. Then the oil was full of broken glass and it jabbed and it scratched and then they were out, suddenly standing at the bottom of another pit. This one was also scattered with mirror pieces. It also had a foot or two of water running through part of it.
Lorelei stood frozen in a state of fury.
She could not afford to act on her emotions right now. If she melted all of Mr. Black's bones, she'd have to carry Esme herself, after all. If she tied every nerve ending he had into knots, he'd scream his throat bloody, and that would bring undue attention to them both. If she filled his lungs with live baby eels, the gurgling would get tiresome.
As it was, she turned to lash him with her glare and told him quite calmly that if he ever did that again, his suffering would be a thing even Hell stood silent for. He wasn't even looking at her. His attention was on a pile of rags and bones on the floor. There was an ornate knife handle sticking out of it, and the dim sparkle of something blue on one of the bones.
"It's Messalina, he said softly. "That's her ring. I wondered why her ghost wasn't wearing it. No wonder she didn't want to come. He must've killed her and thrown the body down here with the bad mirrors.
"Then, Esme was either thrown down here too, or she jumped, Lorelei said. "Only she hit the mirror and went somewhere else.
"How are we going to climb out of here?" he wondered aloud. "I guess we will have to go back through the waterways. What's wrong?" He had turned to see her rubbing her temples.
"Something knocking in my head," she said. She started to say something else then stopped. "I'm ready to go home."
"We still have the cloak." Sirius said. "We can levitate up, look around and see how far we are from a way out. If it looks unlikely, we come back down here and backtrack through the waterways until we get to the pump again."
"And all your plans have been such glowing successes so far," she grouched, rubbing between her eyebrows now.
"I think it's going beautifully," he told her. "We got in, found Esme, and are now on the way out. We haven't seen or been seen by any vampires the whole time."
"Time," echoed Lorelei. "What time is it now?" She looked suddenly terrified. "How long have we been underground? Has the sun gone down yet??"
"I don't know. . . " Sirius admitted. "My God, there's no telling then!" She clutched her head as if it would break in her hands. "Let's Apparate! Right now! We're out of the chamber! Let's just go!"
"Easy," Sirius said. "I don't think I can. I'm tired, Ms. Zephyr. And I would be Apparating someone nearly my own size. If you want to go ahead, go on. I'll use the cloak to get out." Lorelei hesitated. He could see the moment of indecision flicker over her. She was desperate to get away from this place, but reluctant to leave what she had come for.
"I-" she began, but then something occurred to her. "I might. . . " She looked around her, at the water and the glass and the bones and the knife. "I might be able to make our own mirror. . . " It was almost a whisper.
"How?" asked Sirius, not sure he liked the way her eyes lingered on what remained of Messalina's body.
"My great-aunt taught me the things you can make from the blood of the slain and the weapon that shed it," her voice was suddenly distant, her eyes focused on something else.
"That sounds like Dark Magic to me," Sirius eyed her warily. She blinked and then focused on him.
"Do you really think Messalina would mind?" she asked.
"It doesn't feel right to me," he still protested.
"Desperate deeds for desperate days," she said calmly, and he couldn't help but snort.
"The only desperation here is yours," he told her. "Surely you can think of something better than grave-robbing."
"Surely," hissed a new voice. "Miss won't stand for such rudeness." Sirius and Lorelei, still beneath the cloak, both froze. "Surely," it continued. "Sir was better brought up than this." They were silent, staring at each other. There was no sign of the speaker in the darkness. There wasn't room for anything to be hiding anywhere with them. The voice sounded familiar to Sirius, and standing in a pool of broken fragments and staring at the blue stone gleaming in the sad remains, it came back to him.
"You're one of the Nalicus house elves," he said. There was a silence again. Lorelei's heart was pounding hard in her temples, but she had stopped breathing, perhaps waiting for the voice to speak again. "Is Gilles still alive?"
"Sir should know better," the voice replied, the sibilance fading. "Nothing here is as it was."
"Where are you?"
"Trapped as Sir is," it went on. "Only more so."
"Where? I don't see you.."
"I can't see Sir or Miss either, but I can hear them."
"Are you in one of the mirrors?" Lorelei ventured. "Watching us from somewhere?"
"Miss is quite clever. Trapped I am and in the mirror, too." Lorelei lifted the edge of the cloak a little to look around more carefully. Esme was beginning to get a little heavy, or maybe Sirius' arms were getting a little tired. He shifted her carefully and stepped close to Lorelei again so they could stay covered. She stooped to pick something up and Sirius leaned over to see it too.
It was a small mirror, no bigger than a saucer, and as far as they could see, intact. Peering from its surface was the face of a house elf. It was old and feeble-looking and had no body attached.
"Who are you?" Lorelei asked it.
"Retchett," the elf said. "Once in service to the House of Nalicus. I served the lord of the house until my death, and then was placed here."
"In the mirror?" Sirius asked. "Why not on the wall?"
"The master was never a wasteful one," Retchett said. "In the mirror, I was hung in her ladyship's chambers. When she learned of this, I was thrown down here."
"Lord Nalicus spied on his wife?" Lorelei seemed puzzled by this. Sirius hadn't thought she'd be that naïve and said so. "The House of Zephyr didn't have intrigue then?" he asked. He glared at him over her shoulder.
"Intrigue?" she echoed. "You weren't allowed in the house at all if you weren't trusted. Father had to build a special waiting room' onto the house for all the guests that my grandfather wouldn't let through the door. There was no intrigue. There was us' and there was them'."
"Who was allowed in then?" Sirius asked, remembering his mother's painting with a wince. "Only direct bloodkin? Certain pedigrees?"
"My grandfather," she said. "Was territorial. He was also brutally honest. If he had caught my father spying on his daughter-in-law he would've spit lightning that any child of his would be so sneaky. He likes a straight-on fight. Eye to eye, nose to nose, tooth to jugular."
"What would he think of us then?" Sirius asked. "Creeping around someone else's house with an invisibility cloak?"
"He'd be angry," Lorelei said. "But only that he wasn't called to take care of the matter before it came to this."
"What would he do in a situation like this?"
"He'd kick down the front door and bellow into the house for anyone to come out and face him," a fond smile touched Lorelei's face. "And then he'd storm through room to room until he found someone to answer him."
"And what would he tell us to do?" Sirius went on. She gave him a look that was more annoyed than wrathful.
"I know what you're getting at," she said. "Do you really think the two of us can fight our way through the horde of vampires the boys say they saw here? While carrying Esme. Honestly, now."
"Retchett," he said, turning to look into the small mirror. "Can you see into other mirrors here? Through the house."
"Only one," the old elf said. "In the master's study."
"Are there windows? Can you tell us if the sun is still up?" Retchett paused, seeming unwilling to humor them, then he faded from sight, only to appear again a moment later. It was probably the first task he'd had to do in years, Sirius figured. Something to do was something to do, even if it was at the request of ill-mannered strangers.
"The sun is low," the old elf said. "The sky is red and gold."
"We can still make it before it sets," Sirius said before Lorelei could say anything. "Up and out before anyone knows."
"All right, all right," she steeled herself. "Retchett, would you like to come with us? We can put your mirror wherever you would like to be."
"Oh," he seemed taken aback by that. "The Miss is so kind! Could Retchett be left in the front hall, so Retchett can see who comes and goes?"
"If it's on the way!" Sirius slid Esme back to the crook of his elbows so he could grab Lorelei's arms. She slid the mirror under her belt and took his shoulder in one hand and a fistful of the cloak in her other. She cast a levitation spell and they floated upwards.
It was a circular room with no windows they found themselves in. There was a collection of knickknacks covering every surface here, and they were all covered in inches of dust. A despairing sound came from Retchett at the mess. They hurried to the door and peeked out into the hallway.
Sirius noticed that being invisible didn't stop them from leaving footprints in the dust. He decided not to call Lorelei's attention to it. She was frazzled enough. She might just balk and refuse to move again. They ran on through the house, with Retchett guiding them when they couldn't tell which way to go. Finally, they started down a staircase that led straight into the front hall.
"Thank goodness!" Lorelei ducked out from under the cloak and took Retchett's mirror to set it on a small table facing the door. "And thank you, Retchett!"
"Just doing the job Retchett was given," the elf said happily. She ran to the door and pulled it open and gasped. Night had fallen. Behind her, Sirius saw where the moon was and knew that it was closer to midnight than sunset. The elf had lied.
"Master!" Retchett's voice rose behind them in a banshee's wail. "Master! Guests at the door!" And then the hall behind them was full of shapes. Still under the cloak, Sirius saw the gleam of their eyes before he made out the rest of them. They were all dressed in darkest black or purest white. Their eyes were the only color in them. Most of them had livid green or yellow eyes shining in fish-belly white faces. There were a few with eyes as pink as a lab rat's, and some had eyes as toxically orange as the Morthahg. Only one had red eyes. And the small crowd of creatures parted for him, though he never seemed to move. Despite his lack of motion, he appeared to be suddenly closer than before.
Brohm, thought Sirius immediately. He was in a new and younger body, but still with the same ancient, arrogant eyes. Lorelei stood frozen, staring at him, with eyes as red as his. His new form was young and handsome, dark-haired and sharp-featured. The patch of white hair had faded into the young body's bangs as well.
He looked like a Nalicus, Sirius realized. That was probably why Retchett had served him. Messalina's pretty sister had married away from her family. She had probably had children. Most likely, Gilles would have had no trouble in bringing one of his nephews to the old homeplace, to be served up to the vampires. Sirius hoped Gilles had died slowly.
Brohm smiled and Lorelei seemed to remember how to breathe again. He held out a hand to her, as if he meant to stroke her cheek. Sirius tensed to do something. He had no idea what. He was standing under an invisibility cloak with an unconscious vampire hunter in a room full of vampires who could probably hear every beat of his heart. He had no plan and no weapons.
Then, two things happened. The white pouch Lorelei wore around her neck leaped for the vampire before he could touch her. In midair it changed, becoming huge, furry, and snarling. It was North, and he tore into Brohm with a howl. Lorelei burst into movement, grabbing wildly at Sirius and catching his arm, and yanking him toward the door.