Hey guys i'm alive ! This is the last chapter of PftH before I start on the sequel so I hope you all enjoy it. And reviews/faves would be lovely of course :)

Disclaimer - I don't own Darren Shan or Harry Potter. Still.

When Darren awoke the next morning he was greeted by a slight stinging sensation in his left hand. His vampire abilities were taking longer than he'd expected to heal the new wound the sadistic toad had given him, and he frowned at the thought of dealing with her daily while his mission was still underway.

Thinking back to the abandoned coffin he had found tucked away in the secret passage, his frown deepened. It was definitely one of them, but he wasn't quite sure how to find the beast while keeping his... 'situation' hidden from the staff and students. He mulled it over for a few minutes, then sat up as an idea sprang to mind. "That could work..." He murmured to himself, a smile forming slowly.

He scribbled a rough note explaining the awkward situation he'd found himself in and tucked it within his robes before turning to the dormitory exit. Dropping into a low crouch, he crept from the room and down the stairs, passing several students who had passed out studying in the common room. He pushed the exit open, wincing as the wall scraped to one side to reveal a low hole serving as a door. He sped up once out of the common room and out of hearing - at least, out of hearing of anyone not portrait.

He made his way to the owlery, climbing the winding tower to the room at the peak where the owls resided. Once inside, he examined the school owls before settling on a strong looking bird near the top of the room. He coaxed it down with some effort, giving it a quick appreciative stroke down its smooth back when it finally alighted on his outstretched arm. He carried it to a low perch and waited for it to hop over and turn to face him again, watching him balefully as he fastened his note to its leg. He lifted it again once done, and carried it to one of the many windows in the room, gazing out at the beautiful landscape that surrounded the castle. "Be swift." He whispered to the owl, releasing it into the sky. It beat its wings to catch an updraft and hooted softly, and he watched until it had disappeared from even his vision. He paused a moment to take note of the position of the rising sun, before quickly leaving the owlery and making his way to the Great Hall.

While making his way to the Hall, he passed the same kid from his DADA class, the one who had repeatedly asked him questions he did not want to answer. Ruffled black hair and glasses, and rather skinny to boot. At least he ought not to become a victim, he supposed. At least, not for his prey, but if the kid kept harassing him who knew what might happen.

Harry was walking to the Great Hall for a much needed breakfast, accompanied by his ever present best friends, when he caught sight of Darren. He faltered in his step, and watched the strange boy for a moment, still puzzled by him. A question was leaping unbidden to his tongue when the other turned and glared at him without prompting, and he bit the words back. 'What IS his problem...' He dwelled on it for only a moment, before shrugging it off and resuming walking.

They were halfway through their breakfast when the interruption came. The enormous doors swung open with a loud boom that echoed throughout the long room, reminding many present of their first encounter with the false Mad-Eye Moody. Half expecting to see the grizzled auror stalk into the room, a wave of whispering passed through the room when instead a talk man stalked into the room, a bright red cloak swirling in his wake. The man was tall and thin, with flaming orange hair and a white scar slashing down one cheek. He cast a thoroughly annoyed look about the enormous room, his gaze flitting from student to student until finally it settled on Darren. The boy in question smirked ever so slightly, a gentle curving that was barely noticeable. He was glad his owl had made it, and so swiftly too, but boy was it going to be fun watching the newcomer dealing with the kids.

Dumbledore rose from his seat at the head of the room, spreading his arms wide as if to greet an old friend. "Ah, you must be our new assistant. A pleasure to meet you at last." He smiled serenely, turning his gaze to the students. "Students, this year we have decided we will have an assistant for Defence Against the Dark Arts classes, after our rather unfortunate track record... This is Larten Crepsley. I expect that you will all treat him as you would any other professor."

The day passed in a blur, until once again Harry found himself sitting at his DaDA desk. Everyone was leaned over the thick books in front of them, quietly working from the books Umbridge had shared out with a flick of her wand. The new assistant professor was wandering the room slowly, offering help and extra explanation to those who needed it. Harry grumbled under his breath, irritated; these lessons with Umbridge were useless, not teaching at all, and to add to his annoyance the new assistant always seemed to drift back towards Darren.

Darren scribbled down another sentence before he called Mr Crepsley over under the pretence of asking for an extra explanation. He was actually filling his old mentor in on the recent attack, as well as conversing as quietly as possible about the castle in general. He inwardly smiled, although he kept his expression calmly 'interested' as if listening to an explanation; he'd missed his mentor, even if he wouldn't admit it. As a Vampire Prince he was a target to many, but he knew he was safe with another vampire around; especially when that vampire was Crepsley. Leaning in close, he whispered his own thoughts on the attack and also relayed where he had found the rotting coffin to the older vampire.

As the class finished and Umbridge gathered the books back with a sweep of her wand, Harry returned to his friends sides and the trio joined the mass of students leaving the room. He glanced between his friends, noticing Ron staring pointedly at the back of Darren's head, frowning. Harry nudged his best friend, and with Hermione looking on curiously Ron shrugged. "I don't trust him. He's a bit strange, you know?"

Darren made his way to his next lesson quickly; he'd planned to meet with Mr Crepsley at night, when there was no-one else around to question them. He sat through each lesson impatiently, only half paying attention to the loud chatter of students and the teachers trying to speak over them to teach their subjects to the unruly students. After what seemed like a painful eternity, it was nearing the end of his last lesson of the day. Darren was eager to leave and for night to fall; he wanted to continue his investigating now that Crepsley had joined him at the castle, and he was sure there would be another attack soon.

Night fell quickly once lessons were out of the way, and soon enough Darren was once again sneaking out of the Slytherin common rooms. As he left he saw a tall figure waiting in the shadows for him. He joined up with Mr Crepsley and the two set off in silence to search for clues as to where the attacker had made it's new hiding spot. They searched much of the dungeons, drawn towards their prey by the faintest scent of blood in the distance. As they neared their goal the smell became heavier and more cloying, covering all other smells with its sickly sweet stench.

When the pair finally uncovered the rough hole that led into a small hidden room, Mr Crepsley shifted into a more defensive stance to protect the two of them, crouching and inching into the room. The small opening made it difficult to see above and all around, and he was wary of a surprise attack taking place while he was slipping through and unable to stretch out. He scanned the room for any danger once further in, Darren following close behind and joining in. They turned full circle, bemused by the room - empty, yet still drenched in the scent of blood.

Mr Crepsley called out suddenly and Darren reacted immediately, flinging himself to the side and rolling into a crouch. He was just in time, avoiding a hefty blow from a heavy purple form that had dropped from the ceiling. He lashed out with one hand before the Vampaneze could move, catching his nails in its chest as it twisted to the side. Mr Crepsley kept behind the bloated form as best as possible, of which the Vampaneze was aware. He was forced to keep his distance by flailing hands with sharp nails, and so was waiting for the opportune moment to strike.

The Vampaneze charged at Darren with surprising speed, and the young Vampire dropped to the floor, passing between purple legs and catching hold of one ankle with both hands. He gripped tight and pulled, twisting his body to the side to avoid being trampled on when the Vampaneze staggered backwards in response. Their foe wailed angrily and kicked to break his grip, but too late; Mr Crepsley had taken the chance when he had staggered, and had stepped in close behind. Even as the Vampaneze wailed, he plunged one hand nails first through its back and angled into its heart. He tore his arm out again as the Vampaneze gurgled and collapsed in on itself, stepping back with an expression of distaste.

The pair stood and watched, silent witnesses to the Vampaneze' life passing before them. Once the gurgling stopped and the body lay still, Crepsley sighed and looked down at his hand; his arm was drenched in the Vampaneze' blood up to his elbow, a rather difficult thing to hide, especially with portraits awake and alert in some areas of the castle. "We ought to leave now before we are seen. We should head to the forest and flit away."

"What about him?" Darren tilted his head slightly toward the corpse between them, picking at the drying blood under his nails.

"We'll take it to the forest and the animals will dispose of it." Crepsley responded curtly, crouching and hefting the heavy body up as best as he could, disgruntled about the blood seeping into his clothes where it lay.

Darren grimaced in response but nodded his assent, moving to follow his mentor out of the small room and into the corridors again. It was still night, so they should be able to make their way out of the castle reasonably undisturbed - at least, by students. They ought to be long gone before they were noticed missing. Darren stiffened suddenly, halting and sniffing at the air. He ducked around the corner and glanced up to see Filch passing down the hallway with his cat at his heels.

He watched silently as Mr Crepsley dashed from his hiding spot and clamped a hand over Filch's mouth and nose, knocking the man out cold and catching his cat before she could escape, leaving her with her master unconscious and lifting the corpse again. The pair of them left the castle swiftly, meeting no other disturbances on the way.

It didn't take long for the duo to reach far enough into the forest for their purposes. Crepsley slung the body onto the forest floor and crouched to make it easier for the young Vampire Prince to clamber up onto his back. Once Darren was safely in place with a firm hold, he broke into a run until he reached flitting speed, and they swept away from the castle.

Harry awoke the next morning and lay still momentarily, before he fully woke and could think coherently. He grumbled when he remembered his timetable for the day; he had Defence Against the Dark Arts immediately after breakfast, and he was in no mood to deal with that witch.

After waking Ron they met up with Hermione in the common room, then made their way slowly to the Great Hall with the flow of other students all aiming in the direction of breakfast. They settled together at the long table, piling up their plates when food began to appear in the golden dishes before them - Naturally, Ron's was piled higher than the others. As they dug into their food, Ron looked around the room disinterestedly, his gaze stopping at the Slytherin table. He paused in his food, looking bemused. Harry followed his friends gaze, not seeing what it was that confused the other. "What?"

Ron tore his gaze from the other table, looking back at Harry and shaking his head. "That weird new kid isn't here."

Harry blinked slowly, slowly working out who his friend was speaking about, before it hit him. "...You mean Darren? Maybe he wasn't hungry this morning?" He shrugged, returning to his food. Ron hummed in assent, digging back into his breakfast too.

When breakfast came to an end the trio of friends rose reluctantly, the boys more so than Hermione. She hefted her bag, heavy as always, and led the way to their classroom while the pair dragged their feet behind her. They settled into their seats once they'd arrived, going silent when Umbridge entered the room for fear of rousing her temper. She scanned the room, expression imperious, before her gaze alighted on an empty seat near his own. "And where is Mr Shan?" She asked sharply, eyes narrowing slightly. She huffed when no one answered, beginning the usual dull routine of her lessons; a flick of the wand to share out the books and continue reading where you left off, thank you very much. Halfway through the lesson Harry got into a heated argument with Umbridge. The moment she claimed that Cedric's death was an accident and the 'truth' Dumbledore had told them was a lie, Harry flipped, screaming at her about how Cedric was killed by Voldemort and that he had seen it with his own eyes.

"Detention Mr Potter."

Harry shivered as she seemed almost pleased with that result, but accepted it with little more argument.

Later that day Harry returned to Umbridge's classroom, knocking on her door before entering. He tried not to grimace at the completely pink covered room, and succeeded, with difficulty. Sitting down Harry looked at the piece of parchment and quill that had been placed in front of him. "You will write 'I must not tell lies' until it sinks in."

Harry looked confused but picked up the quill and searched the desk for the ink. Upon finding none he told Umbridge. "Oh you won't need any."

Feeling that same shiver from earlier, Harry began writing, clenching his left hand as he did so. After the first line had been completed the pain had become unbearable. Looking at his hand, Harry's eyes widened as the words he had wrote scratched themselves into his skin. He handed the paper to Umbridge wordlessly, leaving the room and heading for his common room.

When the day came to an end and neither Darren nor their teaching assistant Crepsley were anywhere to be found, the other teachers began a thorough search of the grounds for the pair. It was much later when they all returned, and regretfully each reported that there had been no sign of either of them, although Hagrid reported finding some strange scraps in the forest that was deemed irrelevant.

So that's it, did you like it? Hope so.

AquilaCinereo - Ah yeah, Darren is with the 5th years, and thank you :) x

My lovely Guest - Thank youu :) x Haha Maybe i'll make another fic with that pairing sometime.

EmmaKlein - Thank you so much xx And yea, I forgot about that.

Mpmadfish - Thanks x It's being continued :) And a sequel which will hopefully turn out ok.

Well thats it for now, love you all xxx