Lust Caution Chapter 2: The Forbidden, a harry potter fanfic

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter but I do own Nicholas Cain. So there.

Lust Caution

"There is a charm about the forbidden that makes it unspeakably desirable."

—Mark Twain

Chapter Two: The Forbidden

Sirius honestly didn't know what to expect when he had first heard Dumbledore announcing the arrival of the vampires. In his mind, he had been imagining creepy old men with long white hair and fangs dripping with blood. It hadn't helped that recently, the muggleborns in Gryffindor had reading aloud muggle literature of vampires as the Wizarding Community had little to none of books about vampires except that they were dangerous, to be avoided at all cost and of course, mysterious.

Sirius shuddered a little as he remembered what Lily had said aloud yesterday night in the Gryffindor common room. The graphic tale of the vampire sucking the blood out from a victim was a little too violent, bloody and horrifying for Sirius. The other Gryffindors had fun tormenting Sirius with mentions of vampires. They knew that his greatest fear was vampires, after the boggart incident during their third year. James enjoyed bringing up that incident very once in a while as well, before Sirius threatened to show James's nude pictures.

When the doors were flung open, Sirius honestly thought that Dumbledore had been mistaken and that those people who arrived weren't vampires at all, but mere tourists that had gotten lost, and mistakenly stumbled to Hogwarts. Though, Sirius had to admit later when he regained his senses that their clothes were too strange to be from this time.

Sirius was suddenly not that afraid of vampires anymore.

A young man, not older than Sirius sauntered in with a smile on his face, and for some inexplicable reason, Sirius's eyes was drawn to him. Sirius swallowed and was suddenly aware that his mouth felt very, very dry.

The young man had red hair, redder even than Evans but then again, Sirius thought, her hair was more orange than red anyway. This man wasn't very tall and Sirius was sure that he was taller than him. He was wearing a white shirt exposed in the chest, with ruffles at the edges, and he could carry it off with a charm and grace no one of this time possessed, and Sirius stared at the powerful muscles that rippled with every stride the man took, damn, those breeches were tight.

"Oh Merlin," breathed James nudging at Sirius's ribs, "Look at the girls.. Man, she's hot."

Sirius belatedly realized that there were others behind this person that he had been observing at. (He refused to admit to himself that he had indeed, been staring at the man's thighs and crotch area.)

Sirius couldn't stop looking at him though, and when the man stopped, standing right at the back of the hall, where both the students and teachers could see them, Sirius wondered why he was still keeping his eyes closed, as if listening to something those normal human ears could not catch.

Turning his head away, Sirius tried to observe the other vampires. To his surprise, it took more of an effort than he had expected.

Six other vampires slowly strode in the hall. Three females and another three males made up the group along with the first that came in. They were all beautiful.

There was a female that reminded Sirius of Lily, as she was a redhead as well, and Sirius was sure that this was the girl that James had exclaimed as hot. She couldn't possibly be older than them, but she still had an air of arrogance and grace. She wore something that probably came out of the forties, and probably was wearing a corset as well. She was smiling happily, glancing around excitedly.

Another girl held her hand, and she seemed like a plain Jane at first sight, but as Sirius took in her appearance, he changed his mind. She had brown eyes that spoke of intelligence, and she held her head up high as she walked alongside the other girl. She didn't fidget, nor did she falter from the stares of the students. Instead, Sirius felt a need to cower when the girl's eyes landed on him for a second that went fleetingly past.

The other girl, now, Sirius raised his eyebrows when he saw her, she seemed young as well, and acted young unlike the others. Her black hair and blue eyes reminded him a little too closely of Bellatrix, his hated cousin, but there was a softness to her blue eyes his cousin lacked. This girl was trailing behind the young man Sirius had been scrutinizing, and kept turning her head from one end to the other, trying to avoid eye contact with any of the students but still her eyes roamed the hall, trying to take in the wonders of Hogwarts as any first year that came here.

The men, boys perhaps, they definitely didn't look much older than Sirius, and he wondered why they had become vampires so young, did they grow old? Questions flitted past his mind, but he assessed each of them, and came to the conclusion that vampires were not any ugly old thing with blood dripping out of their fangs. They were immensely beautiful creatures, with elegance, grace and that feeling of superiority and untouchability that made them all the more attractive.

There was a young man with shoulder-length black hair that he did not bother to tie up like the other two, a blonde and another red head. They all had aristocratic looks, and the young men wore more or less the same outfits. But Sirius couldn't help but think that the first vampire that had stridden in wore the outfit with more grace and fluidity than any of them.

The blonde was smirking and was the last to enter the hall while the unusually tall red head strode back to close the door and had an amiable smile on his face.

The students were completely silent, and no one spoke nor commented on the vampires, a stark contrast to the day before when Professor McGonagall had announced the impending arrival of the vampires. Perhaps they were all trying to burn into their minds the images of these vampires that were beautiful beyond any compare. Sirius was definitely not that all afraid of vampires anymore, how could he have ever thought that they looked horrifying when they seemed even more beautiful than the angels themselves. They were definitely more alluring than any Veela, though Sirius had not met any before.

"Albus. It's been a while." The first man spoke, and his voice was velvety smooth. It made Sirius's heart jump and he briefly wondered how it would feel like if words were whispered to his ear with that very voice. Sirius shook his head when he realized that his thoughts were very inappropriate indeed. He was Hogwart's resident badboy and he was straight! To think of such things with another guy was just disturbing.. Sirius was trying very hard to convince himself as he continued staring at that vampire.

"Nicholas." Dumbledore said simply and that man, Nicholas, opened his eyes, and Sirius was captivated by the brilliant hue of purple of his eyes that seemed unnatural. There was a hint of gold in them and his eyes had that faint bruises of purple around it. Did he not have enough sleep? Did vampires even sleep?

"Welcome to Hogwarts. And teachers and students of Hogwarts, may I present to you the Family of Cain, a clan of vampires that have been of existence since a very long time ago."

They bowed, the girls lifting their skirts a little and curtseying while the boys crossed their legs and bowed, an act of chivalry forgotten by most at this time.

Sirius was simply blown away by the fluidity of their actions, their looks, them. He listened attentively when they began to introduce themselves.

"I'm Nicholas Cain, and it is a pleasure to be here." He spoke again, and Sirius was enchanted by his voice. Could vampires kill using their voices alone? It seemed possible now. Sirius would do anything if that voice commanded him to do so.

Sirius was even more enraptured by the grin Nicholas gave when someone had actually blurted out something Sirius had in mind himself. "The pleasure's ours."

"I'm Ginerva Cain." The girl with the red hair said with a melodious voice, and her blue eyes widened as she caught James's eyes and the snot waved at her, grinning. Sirius wondered if James had finally gotten over Lily and moved on instead to this vampire.

"I'm Hermione Cain." The brown haired girl said quietly.

"Dora Cain." The other girl said with a light, airy tone. "Her full name's really Nymphadora." The man with the blonde hair said with a smirk and Dora glared at him before turning to look at the students and saying, "If anyone of you calls me that. I'll kill you."

"Nymphadora." Nicholas abruptly said, without turning to look at her, and although he still had a smile on his face, Dora cowered and muttered an apology. Sirius wondered if the other vampires feared Nicholas.

"Hadrian Cain." The one with black hair said, his voice as caressing as Nicholas, and his green eyes twinkled as he smiled. The vampires all had eyes that shone brightly with that tint of gold in them, but all of them also had the light purple bruises around their eyes. He moved forward and placed a hand on Dora's head whom was pouting rather cutely, and added, "You can call me Harry."

"Draconis Cain." The blonde one said as he leaned against the wall with the smirk still on his face. His grey eyes roved the hall, and he had a mad look in his eyes whenever he stopped and stared at someone, be it female or male.

"Ronald Cain. Ron's just fine." The last one said huskily, smiling, and looked very similar to the one named Ginerva. He was the tallest of the group and looked to be around his twenties. He seemed to be the oldest of the group.

"Are all of you siblings?" asked Lily curiously and Sirius applauded her in his mind for being able to think straight and ask intelligent questions in the presence of these vampires.

"No. Not all of us are related to one another," said Nicholas with a hint of amusement in his voice. He was grinning, Sirius thought, and it took Sirius breath away when Nicholas came closer to the Gryffindor table and looked at Lily straight in the eye. Sirius suddenly wished that he was the one to have asked that question.

"We all got together under one name, to protect ourselves from other clans. Ginny and Ron are siblings, and I and Harry are siblings as well. Draco and Dora are cousins. I hope that my answer was satisfactory Lady…" Nicholas trailed off and cocked an eyebrow, waiting for her to end the sentence.

"Lily," She said breathlessly, awe in her voice and excitement as well. "Lily Evans."

Nicholas smiled slowly, and he walked to where Lily sat, which wasn't far from where Sirius was since James had always insisted to be close to Lily. Nicholas passed him, and with Sirius's strong sense of smell, he could smell a sort of scent of Nicholas. And he smelt good. It might have been his imagination but Sirius was quite sure that as Nicholas passed him, he seemed to turn to look at Sirius for a split second with a look of confusion before turning away as if nothing had happened.

Sirius promptly forgot about that when Nicholas took Lily's hand in his and bend down to kiss it. "Thank you for your question Lady Lily." Nicholas softly said, and Lily blushed.

Sirius clenched his hands into fists and was unsure of the reason why he was suddenly very angry. James beside him had gasped and started muttering under his breath that Lily was his. Perhaps Nicholas heard him for he shot James an amused look before striding away without a second glance at Sirius.

"Are there any other questions then?" Nicholas murmured.

"Take a seat first Nicholas." Dumbledore said as he waved his wand, and comfy cushions appeared some distance away from them, in full view of the teachers and the students.

"Don't mind if I do." Dora said primly and sat down shifting her skirt as she did so. She looked like a doll, with her full lips pressed together and her hair in curls around her face.

The others nod, but waited for Nicholas to take a seat first before settling themselves. Sirius wondered why, but then again, it must be because Nicholas oozed the most charm out of them.

"I've heard that there would be a leader that leads each clan. Who is it in this clan?" Someone from Ravenclaw asked and Hadrian – Sirius was sure that this was Harry, Nicholas's brother – chuckled.

"Couldn't you tell? It is for certain that Nicholas is the one who leads us, although he looks lithe and well," Hadrian shrugged, "small." With that, Nicholas gave Hadrian a withering glare but he continued nonetheless, "he is the one who protects us and guides us."

The murmurings started then. "Wow, I wonder how powerful he is to lead a clan." James said thoughtfully beside him.

"Nicky might seem shrimpy but he's really really cool!" Dora exclaimed suddenly, apparently annoyed by some statements uttered by someone from Slytherin as she turned to glare at that house. James grinned and whispered to Sirius, "Great! A vampire who hates the Slytherins is definitely our friend." Sirius couldn't help but agree.

"Dora, hush." Nicky said softly to her and she glowered at the Slytherins one last time before turning away "Dora is the youngest, so you must forgive her if she appears to be a little insolent." Draconis snorted. Dora glared at him, and huffed, crossing her arms.

"But I'm still older than any of you," Dora said loudly to the students of Hogwarts, a hint of warning in her voice and Remus chuckled suddenly, the only sound that echoed throughout the hall. All of the vampires turned to look at Remus, and he gulped. Dora's eyes narrowed.

James looked at him as if he were mad. "Are you daft? Laughing at a vampire could get you killed!" He hissed, hand gripping his wand tightly should the vampires suddenly appeared and attacked Remus. He was a werewolf after all. Sirius grabbed his wand as well, and glanced at the vampires who had made no move. Peter started shaking in fear and clutched his wand.

"But she sounded cute!" Remus whispered back frantically, as he shuddered under Dora's glower.

It was apparent that the vampires could hear what they had said when Dora suddenly squealed. "He called me cute Nicky!" Her whole demeanor changed abruptly, no longer was she glaring at Remus, now, she was smiling happily at him and even waved at him.

Remus slumped down, relieved, and he smiled shyly back at her. James sighed in relief as well, and thumped Remus on the back, "Well, looks like you've gain a friend in them." He whispered.

"They're still talking about Remus!" Peter said abruptly and they kept quiet, listening to the vampires.

"He said you sounded cute, not that you were cute." Draconis said snidely.

"Oh, you're just jealous." Dora said and in an instant she was suddenly beside Remus. She hugged him tightly, and Remus turned pale as she made no move to release him.

"Dora," Nicky said amusedly, "Leave the poor boy alone. He finds it restricting to breath with your hold on him Dora."

"Yeah Dora, don't get too excited now!" Ginny exclaimed with a laugh and Sirius found that many of the boys in Hogwarts were staring at her. Peter himself had a look on his face as he eyed the vampire.

"Sorry!" Dora said and hurriedly released Remus whom smiled weakly as he gulped down huge breaths of air.

"It's alright. I'm sorry for laughing at you." He said and added as an afterthought, "Lady Dora."

The girl vampire laughed. "Call me Dora, and you are?"

"Remus Lupin." Remus said, and he seemed infatuated on Dora, Sirius raised his eyebrows and glanced at James and Peter whom looked shocked as well. Remus only looked like that when he had found a book that he really liked and dubbed it his soul mate.

Ooh, Moony-boy was growing up..

Sirius's attention was diverted again to Nicholas as he stood up and spoke to the headmaster. "Albus, I do believe that it is getting late, and your students do need their rest. The questions can wait until they have thought further in what to ask. After all, we will be here for some time, and that time would be sufficient enough to sate all of your curiosity."

Nicholas's smile faded away as he continued. "And," he paused. "There is that matter at hand which I would like to discuss further in your office Albus, if I may."

"Of course Nicholas." Dumbledore said as he stood up himself. "Well, then, students, you may leave for your dormitories."

"But where would they stay Professor?" A Slytherin asked and Sirius recognized the girl to be Narcissa.

"Oh! I have forgotten about the sorting!"

Dora squealed once again. "We're going to be sorted Nicky!"

"Does that mean, we'll stay in separate dormitories if we are in separate houses?" Hermione asked.

"Why yes Lady Hermione." Albus said as he smiled warmly at the vampire.

"Well." Dora said, "I hope I won't be in the same house as Draco then."

"Hmph. We won't be." He assured her as they glared at each other again.

"There's no love lost between them eh? Sort of reminds me of you and your cousins Sirius." James murmured to him and Sirius couldn't help but disagree. This sort of banter was normal between siblings and close cousins, but the fights that he had with his own were more intense, and dangerous. James didn't quite understand but Sirius was still grateful for James to have taken him in during their fifth year when he couldn't quite take it anymore. His family was nuts, and he didn't want to be part of them.

Professor McGonagall brought out the sorting hat and walked briskly to where the vampires were standing. She didn't call them to the front to sit on the stool to be sorted and merely handed the hat to Nicky. Maybe it would have been disrespectful to have been sorted that way.

"Ah, Nicholas Cain. How long has it been since I sorted you last?" The hat spoke up and Nicholas replied, "It has been some time."

"I want to go first!" Ginny exclaimed, and Nicky plopped the hat on her head. "Gryffindor!" Ginny looked satisfied and handed the hat to Ronald who took it and place it on his head. "Gryffindor!"

"Do twins go to the same house?" Dora asked, and it was from that statement that it was clear that both Ronald and Ginerva were twins.

"Not necessarily Lady Dora." Professor McGonagall informed her.

"Oh. Well, my turn!" She cried out and Ron chuckled as he placed the hat on her head.

"Gryffindor!"

"Yes! I'm in the same house as Ginny and Ronnie!"

When Draco reached out to put the hat on his head, the hat had immediately shrieked out its answer. "Slytherin!"

"Hah, we won't be in the same house Dora, and I wouldn't have to be around you all the time too. Bliss." Draco sneered and Nicholas shot him a look and he added in haste, "But I'll…" He seemed reluctant to continue but Nicholas was still giving him a look, "Miss you."

"Oh Draco! I'll miss you too!" She ran towards to him and gave him a hug and Draco looked resigned and a little irritated as he patted her on the head.

Nicholas smiled and took the hat from Draco whom was still enveloped by Dora's hug before passing it to Hermione. She gingerly placed the hat on her head. "Ravenclaw, without a doubt." She smiled, also satisfied and tossed the hat to Harry whom caught it agilely.

"Gryffindor!" Harry chuckled and said aloud, "That is to be expected. The last time you were here, you were sorted in Gryffindor as well, isn't that right Nicky?"

"Yes. I do not think there's a need to be sorted again Professor. You can have the hat back." Nicholas said smiling, but there seemed to be something veiled in his eyes.

"Alright. Your rooms will be designated shortly, and the prefects of each house, please help our guests find their way through the school. Nicholas, please follow me."

Nicholas nodded and Sirius watched him flit pass and he seemed to flicker and in a moment, was beside Dumbledore. Sirius knew, after Remus had bashed it in his head that apparating was impossible in Hogwarts, but still, that kind of speed should have been impossible. But, Nicholas Cain was a vampire after all.

He wondered briefly what Nicholas wanted to speak to Dumbledore and continued watching the pair until they disappeared from sight.

"Sirius! Come on, James and Lily are going to bring the other vampires around the school now. We have to hurry!" Peter said as he tugged on Sirius shirt.

Sirius turned and looked dazedly at Peter.

There was no doubt about it this time. The vampire, Nicholas, had definitely looked at Sirius before he left with the headmaster, and the brief, and yet intense look that he gave Sirius made him weak in the knees. He couldn't be wrong.

"Right, let's go." He muttered and allowed himself to be led by Peter to where James, Lily and Remus were addressing the vampires, along with another prefect from Ravenclaw and Slytherin.

When Sirius turned to look at the other vampires, he found the vampire, Hadrian to be a little too close for comfort suddenly. Their noses were almost touching and Sirius stumbled back, shocked. Hadrian's mouth was opened and he could see the sharp incisors of the vampire and his hair stood on end.

"You look like him." Harry murmured thoughtfully as he continued to stare at Sirius with a strange look in his eyes. "How interesting.."

Then, as suddenly as he appeared in front of Sirius, he was back at Ginny's side again, not before turning and smiling at Sirius.

Sirius wasn't aware what had happened next, but like the incident in his third year, with the boggart, after that close encounter with the fake vampire, his breathing became harsher and he vaguely heard James shouting his name.

Darkness consumed him and he thought no more.

xxx

A boring Chapter Two, I know, but it's still in the introduction, and it needs some time before the story can flow. But I hope it's still okay.

I didn't quite know how to end this chapter, and I didn't really like how I ended it, but bleah, whatever. Not overly concerned about it right now.

Maybe I'll change it come December, but for now, I'd appreciate the comments about this chapter and tell me what should I write to improve it.

And yes, some traits of the vampires are based on Twilight by Stephenie Meyer.

Thanks for reading, and reviews are appreciated.

Nicole

xxx

14th October 2007

11.27 pm.