Wolfram and Hart's New Guest
By jessebelle
A/N: Hey guys, sorry about the wait. Quick recap: Drusilla's kidnapped Hermione, though she doesn't know who her kidnapper is, the Fang Gang and the wizards are working together to find her, Harry and Ron have been sent home, a plan is in the works to spy on ol' Voldy involving Lucius Malfoy and Angelus, Bill is doing an ancient spell to lead them to Drusilla, and Xander doesn't know what a galleon is. Go back and read if you want more, but otherwise…enjoy.
Toodles,
jessebelle
After answering Xander's question, the group had started preparing for the spell and now all they had to do was watch Bill cast it and follow him do Drusilla's location.
"Okay, I've got all the blood I can from the note." He'd had a disgusted Xander assist him in scraping the dried blood off of the note and into a cauldron they'd procured. "Now all we need is a little of your blood." The red head tried not to show his apprehension of taking blood from Angel. With Hermione's kidnapping, it hadn't really sunk in that he was in a room with, and going to be working with two of the most famous and vicious vampires in history in order to find another vampire, Drusilla, who'd he'd down his school paper on. Taking out a gold dagger from his waist, he tried not to wince as facts from said paper came flooding back to him. Looking up at the figure in front of him, he asked, "Ready?"
Angel nodded. He stuck out his hand and tried to ignore Angelus who was practically salivating at the wizard's fear. Bill took a deep breath as he held the dagger to Angel's arm.
"After I do this, step back and be ready to go."
"Got it." With one last look around the room to his companions, Bill quickly sliced the offered arm, collecting the blood in the cauldron. As soon as he let go, Angel stepped back and the redhead began to chant.
"Eleka nahmen nahmen. Ah tum ah tum eleka nahmen. Eleka nahmen nahmen. Ah tum ah tum eleka nahmen." As they watched him perform the spell, Spike turned to the rest of the group.
"Think it'll work?" Sirius sighed.
"I've never heard of it, but for Hermione's sake I hope so." From where he stood quickly bandaging Angel's arm, Wesley joined in.
"Thinking of it logically, the spell makes sense. I see no reason why it shouldn't work assuming the words are correct." The former watcher's patient nodded as he picked up his sword.
"Good, because I think you're right and I think it's time to go." Everyone turned to see a gold flash quickly envelope the eldest Weasley son before he reached down and picked up the newly enchanted gold galleon. As if he was in a trance, which technically he was, the red head slowly stood up and began walking to the door. And, after one last check to see if they had the proper weapons, the rest of the group began to follow.
Hermione Granger was one unhappy witch She was cold, tired, her butt was numb from sitting on the cement floor, and it hadn't taken her long to decide she hated being tied up. However, for the first time, she didn't know what to do. Taking a deep breath she tried to hold back the tears that had been trying to escape since she'd woken up. She hated this helpless feeling and the fear was making her crazy. But, someone had to be looking for her, right She didn't know how much time had passes, but it had to have been at least an hour or so, and she was in LA so Angel and the guys would protect her, so they had to have noticed she was gone by now.
Taking a deep breath she tensed, then again began trying to untie herself. So far she'd managed to loosen the rope just a bit, but she'd rubbed her wrists raw. She wasn't sure if it was worth it, but the pain did give her something to concentrate on This time, however, it was too much.
"Uhh!" a frustrated and painful grown slipped past her lips. "Damn it!" her curse echoed off the walls. For a moment she thought of Ron He'd be shocked that she'd uttered one of the phrases she'd repeatedly told him were inappropriate. And Harry…he'd be laughing at the two of them Merlin, would she ever see the two of them again? As her thought became more and more morose, she failed to hear the footsteps of the approaching figure and was startled when said figure began to speak.
"Naughty girl, trying to escape from Mummy; now you're hurt."
Hermione, her nerves fried, terribly frightened, and her patience worn thin did what anyone else in her situation would do, she screamed. Her captor, a woman from the sound of her voice, quickly was at her side to cover her mouth.
"Shh poppet, can't let the vultures hear you. My daddy would be terribly upset if they took you to their leader. Now if I remove my hand, do you promise to stay quiet? It'd be a shame to lose you before Daddy gets here." Weighing her options, Hermione slowly nodded. She wanted to see who had kidnapped her and find out why. She couldn't do that with her captor behind her and covering her mouth. The hand retracted and the figure stepped into the light.
"Good girl, maybe now you'll join Miss Edith and me at our tea party. They'll be tea, and cake, and jam. And if you're really good maybe we can dance with the stars."
It was a woman, she looked maybe in her twenties however, she gave off an old fashioned, childlike feeling. Her hair was dark, as were her eyes, and it contrasted greatly with her pale skin. She wore a dark red velvet dress and in her hand she clutched a blindfolded doll. She spoke with a childlike tone, but her words made no sense. Hermione had a hard time believing that his was the person who had kidnapped her, for the woman looked so fragile. Then she remembered the mention of 'daddy' and dread filled her once again. She had options though; she could sit there and listen to the crazy ramblings of tea parties from the obviously insane woman, or she could satisfy her curiosity and start asking questions.
"Who are you? Do you work for Voldemort?" Even though she doubted it, it was still a possibility. Her instincts were proven accurate, however, when the woman hissed like a cat and pulled a face.
"Nasty Snakeman, tastes like death. No, daddy and my Spike would be very cross if I helped your foe. The stars whisper your importance; wssp, wssp, wssp. Keep the bookworm safe to munch, munch, munch."
Hermione was confused as hell, but nodded like she understood. She had a vague idea what the woman was saying, but that still didn't tell her who had taken her. Now the bigger question was, "Who is your daddy?" The woman's eyes sparkled in delight.
"He has the face of an angel, but the bite of a wolf; he'll take good care of you and keep you safe." Her words sparked something in Hermione's brain. Slowly she went over everything her captor had said, then mentally reviewed all the things she'd read before. Face of an angel? Like lightning it struck her, the Scourge of Europe, on of the cruelest vampires to ever walk the earth, the one with the angelic face…
"Angelus." Her voice was filled with fear. The women's eyes flashed yellow and she clapped her hands excitedly, dropping the doll to the floor.
"Ohh, I knew you'd read of daddy." Reviewing what she could remember from what they'd learned in DADA, it only took her a few moments to realize the identity of the woman, her captor.
"You're Drusilla." The vampire grinned and picked up her doll.
"You're books speak the truth, but do you know daddy's secret yet?"
Angelus had a secret? At her words Hermione again thought of what she knew of the vampire. His human name had been Liam O'Connell, sired in 1752 in Galway, Ireland by Darla of the Aurelius line. Together he, his sire, his childe Drusilla, a girl he'd tortured to insanity before turning her, and her childe, a Victorian man nicknamed William the Bloody traversed Europe for over a century known as the Scourge of Europe. There'd been no mention of him after 1900 when there'd been a brief sighting of him reunited with the rest of the Scourge in China during the Boxer Rebellion. There were a few rumors that he was cursed after feeding of an angry witch or that he'd been killed by the slayer the night of the Boxer Rebellion leading to William the Bloody making his first kill of a slayer in revenge, but those were simply rumors. The only thing else in the book had been an old picture, but…
She froze. Sometimes having a photographic memory came in handy and other times like now it really sucked. She could see the face in her mind, and as she slowly stripped the period clothing, long hair, and goatee, replacing it with a more modern clothes, a short, spiky hairstyle with a clean-shaven face, she felt her insides turn to ice. Slowly the pieces of the puzzle came together, and she didn't like the picture they made.
"Angel is your daddy, your sire. He's Angelus." Drusilla just smiled.
"No and yes and yes and no. Not-daddy's mean, the flames burned. And now he's taken my Spike."
Of course, William the Bloody changed his name to Spike. He and Drusilla had continued to terrorize people as a couple long after Angelus and Darla dropped out of sight. She remembered her first encounter with the blonde and tried not to gag when she realized she really had been covered in blood. Red paint! She couldn't believe she'd fallen for that. And no mirrors; it was obvious something had been going on. But why in the bloody hell would Dumbledore send her to two of the most notorious vampires in history for protection? And an even bigger question was why her cousin knew and trusted them. She was so lost in her thoughts she didn't realized she'd been untied until the pain that came from her arms waking up set in. Shaking out the tingles, she looked at the vampire in confusion.
"Why?" Drusilla smiled kindly at her, which perhaps frightened her even more.
"You can't join my tea party if your hands had been tied. Now come along or you shan't get any biscuits." Hermione was pulled forcefully to her feet; obviously her first impression of the fragile woman had been wrong. After a few moments of dizziness, she followed her captor wondering what a vampire's version of a tea party consisted of.
To her surprise, it was an actual tea part like a little girl might have, complete with dolls seated around the table. Of course, at a normal child's tea party the dolls wouldn't all be blindfolded and in various states of torture. There were two empty seats and as Drusilla sat down she eyed the other one cautiously. The vampire laughed at her nervousness.
"I don't bite, it's bad manners, and daddy would be cross if I wasn't a proper lady. Of course, if you ask me too…"
Hermione's eyes showed her panic at those words and she quickly took the seat. She felt a wave of relief as the vampire nodded in satisfaction at her actions. Maybe she wouldn't be eaten just yet. She stayed still trying to move as little as possible as she watched Drusilla serve her dolls. While she was untied, she had no doubts that she was still in danger as long as she remained in the vampire's presence.
"Tea and cake?" She couldn't help the startled jump at Drusilla's question. Looking up she saw her holding out a teapot.
"Um…" The vampire smiled comfortingly as she poured real tea into her cup, and if she hadn't known who she really was it might've helped.
"You shan't worry poppet, mummy will take good care of you until the blonde vulture leaves. The stars tell me you have lots of questions. Ask and I shall answer." Well the stars were right about that one, and suddenly she wondered if all seers were crazy. She did have lots of questions, and regaining her bravado, she decided to and solve mystery she'd been caught up in. She started with the most important question, one that had been weighing heavily on her mind.
"Why am I here?" The vampire didn't pause in her actions of passing out cakes as she replied.
"The stars whispered for me to keep you safe and I am. The nasty Snakeman wants you for himself, but we won't let that happen. No, daddy would be very cross if that were to come to pass. He sent his king vulture off to see the wolf, ram, and hart. If he'd seen you it would've been dreadful, so I scooped you up, now you are here, and not-daddy shall be here soon to take you away. Cake?"
Hermione swallowed nervously as she accepted a piece of the confection while trying to make sense of what she'd heard. The part she was most worried about was 'daddy' coming to get her. Angelus was coming ans she wasn't forward to facing the infamous vampire now that she knew who he really was. What did he want from her/ She didn't think it had to do with Voldemort, as Drusilla had told her they were, ironically, keeping her safe from the Dark Lord. But he had to have an agenda of his own; he was evil, right?
This train of though led to her reexamining the time she'd spent in his presence. At least that explained why he was running a law firm at such a 'young' age. But in all her time she'd spent with him, hell, the night before when she's spent all night talking to him, making him dance; was it all a ruse? He had seemed so sincere.
And what about the rest of them? Charles wasn't a vampire because he'd picked her up in the sun, but was he a demon? And Wesley…Xander? Were they all in on this, trying to lure her in, make her trust them, act like her protectors? They'd never compare to Remus and Sirius, but…Merlin, the boys! They'd been in the conference room when she'd been taken. Were they in danger? Did they know of the danger they were in?
Drusilla observed the young girl as she went over the situations. Poppet made the most interesting faces as she though. She refilled their cups, then turned to Miss Edith and began to scold her. Someone would not be getting any cake today.
A/N: So, it's been a while, sorry for the wait, but I won't go into detail. I had to finish my senior year, I graduated, had to work all summer, my grandma died, and now I'm at college. Ironically I was dreading finals week due to the massive amounts of homework and studying I though I'd have to do, but it's the calmest it's been all year, hence the update. I feel really rotten because I've actually had this chapter prewritten and just needing to be typed up for a few months now, but, time got away from me. Anyway, I hope it was worth some of the wait, and I'll hopefully be updating before the new year, but if not, definitely sooner then last time. Thanks for sticking with me, and if anyone spots the quote I used, name where it came from in your review and I'll bestow upon you the secrets of the universe…or just the satisfaction of being right.
Huggles and Snuggles,
jessebelle