Shake it, Bake it, Brew it

Sick Leave?

Last Time:

With all the portraits frozen to prevent witnesses he began a ritual of his own. The headmaster held a little curly black hair he found in the Dursleys' cupboard over the rune sequence and dropped it ...

XXXXXXXXXX

It was time to leave and Severus was about to go through his own floo when he decided to ask a certain vampire a question. He went down to the library and found Armel sitting there reading a book ...

"How's Harry?" Armel asked without looking away from his book.

Severus studied the vampire a moment before answering, "He's doing well despite his head being split wide open. I checked on him before he flooed to King's Cross to board the train. He was understandably thrilled to hear that the investigation revealed three other horcruxes. One from the Black manor, one from the bank vault belonging to Bellatrix and finally from the Malfoy Manor all of which were destroyed along with the one that was in Harry. Save for a minor scuffle with a house elf everything went well. Harry did mention trying to pay back Lucius who ended up paying for the ritual since Harry fell unconscious, but I told him there was no point trying to argue with Malfoys when they owe a debt."

The vampire hummed, "Harry really should let himself be looked after once in awhile ... will Gringotts try to search the castle?" He asked Severus who was the only one who stayed behind with the Malfoys and therefore knew more about what was going on.

"Yes, the goblins hired a ghost to sneak into Hogwarts and look for any horcruxes and their analyzing the items chosen to hold the soul fragments to find out who this person was. They want to dig into his past to find any of the two remaining horcruxes." The potion master said.

"Good, I'm sure this will put Harry's mind at ease." Armel commented approving of the update.

There was something going on here. Severus was positive that Armel had some interest in Harry that was different than everyone else. The potion master failed the boy he vowed to protect once ... he refused to let even the smallest detail go unseen this time "why did you join us at Gringotts?" Severus noticed a very subtle shift in the other vampires there ... they knew something, but what?

"Someone had to be there for Harry and keep Trocar under control." Armel answered.

"Indeed." Severus reluctantly conceded to that point knowing not much could control the motherly vampire. "May I ask how it is you were turned?" He asked not convinced that the vampire would pour out such a personal story, but he had to start somewhere.

Armel shrugged, "I was a muggle from about 200 years ago. My sister came to me in a panic one day and told me she was pregnant. Believe it or not I was changed at only 16 years old. You can see why I was always mistaken for older due to my height so I could easily find a job wherever I go and immediately started helping my sister escape. The young man who impregnated her was not the problem for he passed a couple weeks earlier ... it was our father we feared. A bastard who hated everything and would no doubt kill both my dear sister and her unborn baby. Getting away was simple. She was able to give birth safely, but he eventually found us and had a gun. I made my sister run for it with the baby and I confronted him. We ended up struggling for the gun and I was shot in the stomach ... he only smirked as I laid there bleeding, but as he turned away I forced myself to get up and kill him. if I was dying then he had to die too or my sister would not be safe. I was desperate enough to bite down on his throat and rip it open ... we were both dying and someone was attracted by that ... Maria. She turned me, but not my father who apparently insulted her the night before. I drained what was left of my father's blood."

Severus raised an eyebrow, "And your sister?"

"We had an emergency plan in place. When she heard about our father's death and never heard from me she believed me to be dead. Not a big surprise considering my father's temper ... she took the baby and raced to a dear friend's home where she lived safely. I couldn't be near her for years due to the thirst all newborns vampires suffer ... it was best that I stayed dead to her." Armel said before returning to the book he was reading making it clear he had nothing more to say.