Harry Potter The Vampire Lord

Chapter 23

The room was doused in tense silence. Each of the inhabitants were looking at each other, wondering who would be the first one to break the silence. Emma Granger got up silently, intending to make some refreshments. She desperately needed to do something to take her mind off of the tale that Hermione had told them.

She had nearly died four times in the past three years. Sure, they had been informed by the Headmaster, but hearing the true accounts of the events from Hermione's own mouth was chilling, and stabbed at her doubts about Hermione living in the Wizarding World incessantly. She mechanically prepared some coffee, the familiar action of making the beverage calming down her racing thoughts. She and Dan had always been supportive of Hermione's decisions, and were proud of their daughter. But, this was no mere school problems that teenagers face. It was a matter of Hermione's life. She knew that she had to be strong, Dan was already leery of the idea of Hermione's recent decisions. She needed to make sure that her family would get through this . . . . hopefully together.

(Break)

Tonks was feeling uneasy in the tense silence. She had always been one to voice her thoughts, sometimes without any thought of the repercussions of her frankness. But she remained silent. She had too many thoughts on her mind. Harry was her friend, only one of the handful that she had. He was younger than her by five years, but even the first time that she met him, she had sensed that he was a very mature kid. Hearing Hermione's tale today, she had a very accurate idea for his maturity. Seriously, fighting against a deranged professor in his first year, slaying a thousand year old Basilisk in his second year, and fighting off god-knows-how-many Dementors in his third year. Harry had faced more dangers within three years of joining the Wizarding world, than most folks did in their lifetime. She couldn't help but feel awed by him at the end of Hermione's tale. She hadn't pried much into his life while she was at Hogwarts, sensing early on in their friendship that he was immensely uncomfortable talking about anything concerning the rumors that surrounded him. She was curious, but was reluctant to strain their friendship.

And then there was the whole fiasco with the cloaked figure, the Order member as she had later learned. She could not believe that it wasn't just a fairy tale that her mother used to tell her as a bedtime story, and apparently, Harry was involved with them as well! She couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed that he didn't trust her with these things.

She saw Hermione's mom get up, and saw an opportunity.

(Break)

Daphne Greengrass gave an appreciative glance at Harry Potter. She wasn't as surprised by the recital by Hermione as the others were, she had heard it from her before after all, granted she had left out a few crucial things , but she had been able to figure out the rest on her own.

Her interest in Potter had been steadily rising this summer. The more time she spent with him, the more interested she became. He was an enigma, and tonight's events only added to the mystery surrounding Potter. Judging by recent events, Potter was connected. A connection that she could make use of. She made a note to herself to get to know Potter a bit better.

She was a Slytherin, it was time she put the traits her house was famous for to some use.

(Break)

"Harry?" Tonks said, her voice sounding unnaturally loud in the silence of the room.

Harry looked up, brought out of his thoughts. He knew that he and Hermione had some explaining to do.