403 The Vampire

"Chris?"

Through the talisman, Ginny's voice broke Chris and Harry's perfect moment.

"What is it, Gin? Did you guys find Hermione and Ron?" Chris asked in her mind, as she slowly pulled away from Harry.

"We did and Hermione is losing her mind," Ginny replied.

"What? Why?" Chris furrowed her brows in worry and Harry immediately recognized the look on Chris's face.

"What is it?"

Chris motioned Harry to wait as she spoke through the talisman rapidly,

"What's going on, Gin?"

"It's nothing probably. But we saw some people near the village square and Hermione thinks they are suspicious," Ginny sounded worried. "And she asked me to call you and Harry quickly. To be honest, I don't want to risk it either."

"It's ok, Gin. I trust Hermione's intuition. We will get out of here before they notice us," Chris said hurriedly looking around. "Take everyone to the place we apparated, Harry and I will meet you there."

"Okay," Ginny answered as Chris turned to Harry.

"There are some people Hermione thinks could be dangerous. We need to get out of here," Chris clasped Harry's hand. "C'mon."

"But Chris we need to — I need to . . ." With a sigh, Harry looked at his parent's grave.

"Sorry, Harry, but —" Chris began but Harry stopped her.

"I know . . . Let's go," Harry whispered holding Chris's hand and tugging her with him as they took off.

Chris and Harry sprinted out of the graveyard and the Church. But Harry slowed down at the road, glancing at a few passersby. Chris got the message of blending in and slowed down as well. They quickly made their way out of the village but Chris didn't see anybody suspicious.

Five people were gathered at the apparition point and as soon as Chris and Harry reached them, the old woman or Hermione let out an exaggerated sigh.

"What took you so long? Never mind now let's get out of here," Hermione said holding out her hands hurriedly.

"Wait!" Colin stopped Ron and Harry just as they were about to join hands with Hermione. "Chris, where are Oziyat and Sol?"

"What?" Chris looked around panicked. Of course, Oziyat and Sol weren't with them, they were not disguised. How didn't she notice that?

"Who?" Ron asked perplexed. Harry and Hermione looked at them confused as well.

"Weren't they with you?" Ginny turned to Chris.

"Yeah, they were outside the church but I thought they came here with you all," Chris frantically looked around for any sign of Oziyat or Sol but there was none. "I didn't even see them on the way here. Where are they?"

"Can anyone tell me who are you guys talking about?" Hermione looked out of patience. "We need to get out of here, now!"

"Hermione, Oziyat and Sol —" Colin began but Chris cut him off.

"I will go back and look for them and Hermione isn't wrong. We do look suspicious if we all keep lingering here. You know what? You all go on, just tell me where you are going and I'll meet you there."

"No!" Harry and Ginny both almost jumped up.

"We are not leaving you," Harry gripped Chris's hand tightly.

"But Harry —"

"What do we have here?" A raspy voice came from behind them and all of them froze.

Chris reached for her wand and slowly turned around to see six men sauntering towards them with smug smiles. They didn't look exactly like Death Eaters but didn't look better than them either.

"New ministry employees," Ron whispered. "Don't act suspicious or they are dragging us to the Ministry."

Chris and others exchanged looks. They knew what Ron meant. They could easily fight them but there was a chance they realize who Chris, Harry, and others were. Which could result in alerting Death Eaters or Malgino's people, and endangering the people of Godric's Hollow.

"What's going on here?" The man with the raspy voice stepped forward and eyed all of them. "Why are you all gathered here on Christmas Eve? Shouldn't you be inside your homes, where everything is safe?"

"Give us your name and wands," another one smirked.

"And also tell us your blood status to save time," the tall one joked.

They were enjoying this and it made Chris's blood boil. She balled her fist but didn't say anything. However, the raspy-voiced one caught Chris's glare.

"You all are not on run, are you?" He sneered.

"No! Not at all. We just came here to visit. For Christmas. We were just leaving," Hermione quickly tried to back away but all of the men pulled out their wands.

"You all are not going anywhere before you give us your wands and names," the raspy-voiced one tried to step closer and Chris pulled out her wand, pointing at him. He got defensive. "Don't do anything stupid or else —"

"Or else what?"

Before Chris or any of those ministry men could attack, Oziyat's cold voice came from somewhere, and then in a flash, he was in front of Chris, completely shielding her with his tall frame.

"What the —" Ron jumped back in reflex and Hermione gasped in shock.

Harry, who was still holding Chris's hand almost yanked her back from Oziyat. But the worst was the ministry people who were facing Oziyat. They all jerked back and Chris saw the raspy-voiced one's eyes widen in shock and fear, seeing Oziyat's red eyes so close to him.

"You're – you're – a – vampire —" he started shuttering.

"Yes," Oziyat gave a maniacal smile slightly baring his fangs. "And a very strong one at that."

Chris could practically see a shiver going down his spine. They all looked scared but one of them tried to be brave and move forward.

"What are you . . . doing here, Vampire? This isn't your place."

"And do you think you can show me my place?" Oziyat slowly looked at the man, eyes narrowed. He took a step forward and all the men shrank back a little. For a moment everyone thought Oziyat is going to attack but then he spoke in an absolutely deadly voice. "You all don't have anything to do here either. So if you don't want to get all your blood sucked out of you in the most painful way possible, then run.

The men froze for a split second and stepped back a little more. They looked at each other, then at Oziyat.

"Anyway, we are not here for you anyway," the tall one said and started walking away.

But as soon as Oziyat started to turn around, two of them pointed their wand at him. Nobody saw Oziyat move but the next second, both of those men were on the ground cursing and moaning.

"Oh, I forgot to answer your question. You asked what am I doing here?" Oziyat looked down at the men on the ground and his smile stretched. "I am hunting."

And that was it. They ran. The ones couldn't get up as quickly but scrambled as fast as they could and limped away. Everyone watched them go silently and only after they were out of sight, did Oziyat turn to Chris, and instantly his eyes changed, from vicious to soft.

"Are you okay, Christina?" His eyes scanned Chris from head to toe, worriedly.

"I'm ok," Chris nodded.

"That's better," Oziyat murmured as his eyes lingered on Harry and Chris's joined hands. But he looked away hastily. "We should get out of here."

⟦To be continued⟧