Song Of The Guardians

Skirmish

Severus felt incredibly uncomfortable without his wand. He knew that the gloves worked, but it was still unsettling. He glanced at Hermione to see that she, Neville and George were following closely. They had their backs against the wall of one of the small homes in Hogsmeade. Severus could see that the front door had been damaged. The wood was cracked in a few places and the hinges looked loose, as if they had been blasted apart and haphazardly replaced.

George ducked to avoid the window and approached the door with a small flesh colored object. George placed what looked like a human ear, with a long thick string attached, in front of the door and waited patiently while it wiggled it's way under the door.

"That's creepy," Neville muttered with a shudder. He grinned when Severus nodded in agreement.

George put the string to his ear and listened. "Yep," he said grimly. "There's a decent sized group in there. Can't really tell who's a blood sucker and who's not."

"So let's ask," Hermione suggested with a smirk. She stood in front of the door and waved one hand over the handle while Severus and Neville's hands hovered over the hinges. The door swung open slowly, not making a sound. After taking a fortifying breath, she followed Severus inside with George and Neville at her sides.

Unfortunately, their silent entry wasn't missed by the vampires. Hermione froze when she saw one of the men stand very still and sniff the air. In a flash, he whipped around to find the intruders. The others turned a second later.

There were four men and two women standing in a disheveled living room. There were dents in the walls and splintered wood scattered about from some of the broken furniture. The vampires looked fairly normal aside from the sickly grayish pallor of their skin and the fresh blood splattered on their clothes and smeared on their faces. Behind the vampires was a terrified family of five. Each of them had been bitten. It looked as if the vampires had fed on them long enough that they were now too weak to cry out. A seventh vampire was squatting on the floor next to the family. With a wicked grin he grabbed hold of what was probably the father, before pulling some small object out of the pocket of his robes. The next moment, the vampire disappeared, along with the family.

"No!" Hermione cried out.

"Too late little witch," one of the men cackled. He waved his wand and the door slammed behind the four Harbingers. "I'm a little surprised that you'd walk in on vampires without your wands."

Hermione's expression was smug. She swiftly made a swatting motion and the vampire's wand flew out of his hand. Caught off guard, the vampire hesitated before lunging at the Harbingers while the other five began firing spells. The wandless vampire slammed into Hermione, shoving her against the wall.

Hermione gasped in pain as her back and head hit the wall. The vampire pinned her arms to the wall and pressed closer, intent on sinking his teeth into her. She quickly brought her knee up to connect with his groin, making him grunt and double over, releasing her arms. With a wave, she sent the vampire tumbling backward so he toppled into two of his comrades as they fired spells at Severus. The spells rebounded off the ceiling, darting back toward the harbingers. George lifted his arms, his palms facing the ceiling, casting a shield charm. The curse seemed to fizzle and disappear against the shield.

Neville had deftly pulled a wooden stake from the small holster on his boot and plunged it into the chest of the vampire closest to him. At the same moment, he used a spell to push two of the vampires further away from his friends.

Having gained a bit of breathing room, the Harbingers sent stunners at the vampires. They made short work of binding the vampires and pouring potion down their throats. They turned and left the house without bothering to watch the potion work. In a short time, the five vampires that hadn't been staked by Neville, would no longer be vampires.