1. Back to England

Disclaimer: Disclaimer: Nope, not mine. If it were we would be celebrating a very different epilogue, you know. Everything you can recognize from Twilight belongs to Stephanie Meyer. The legends about vampires and their explanations are taken from “The Twilight Companion” by Lois H. Gresh.

A/N: And so I'm back to writing HP fanfiction, lol. After a period of really busy real life, and the lack of inspiration, I've finally found something I want to write, for which I'll try to make time to grant all of you regular updates as my usual, however I won't promise anything. Last year of university is a bitch in terms of free time. I hope my (very limited) writing ability hasn't become too rusty in the meantime.

Anyway, this is kind of a crossover with Twilight, this means it will obviously deal with vampires. I haven't read those books but the movie fascinated me so I'm going to. For this fic though, any referring to Twilight you might recognize is a reference to the movie, which I don't know if it changes things from the book. Also, to adjust the HPverse to the Twilight story (somewhat) it needs to be quite AU, so you're warned about that too.

Well, enough chatting, let's start with the chapter, shall we? *laughs* This one will be from Hermione's POV, and some other parts of the story will be too. I'm sure you can guess which role Hermione will have in the story compared to Twilight just from this *laughs again*

The Cold Ones

Chapter One: Back to England

I never thought I'd go back to the United Kingdom. I moved to France with my parents when I was seven, to Marseille to be more precise. We used to live on the outskirts of London, and both my parents had jobs as dentists there, jobs they loved very much and in which they were both successful. We weren't exactly wealthy, but we were quite comfortable, and life in London was ok I guess. I didn't have many friends, true, but I didn't care much. The boys and girls at my primary school were too childish anyway.

All of this to say that we didn't have any problem in London that we needed to go abroad to escape. However, my mother has always been a bit obsessed with France, really, so we usually spent most of our summer holidays there. I, thus, learned to love the country from a very young age. To tell the truth, France has always held a special place in both my parents' hearts, since it was there they met for the first time, and eventually fell in love when they were teenagers like I am now, so my father Charlie didn't object much when Michaela, my mother, suggested we consider moving to France.

I don't know if my life would have been much different had we stayed in England, but I doubt it. After all, my primary concern has always been to be top of my class and to prepare for life after school, and Beauxbatons is one of the best schools in the world for witchcraft and wizardry.

That's right. I, Hermione Jane Granger, sixteen years old, am a witch. A witch who has spent the last six years of her life in a world she didn't even know existed until she was eleven years old, and the Headmistress of the French school came to our door to explain to me and my family all about the Wizarding world. Well, all that needed to be explained, at least. From her I learned that I was a Muggle-born witch, where Muggle means non magical, just like my parents. However, Madame Maxime immediately reassured me that being Muggle-born didn't mean I was bound to be less powerful or skilled than any Half-blood or Pureblood.

It was an easy decision for me to choose to claim a place in the world I belonged to, although it pained me that I would be away from my family for the biggest part of the year. However, Beauxbatons has quickly become my second home, and while just like in primary school I don't have many friends there, the few I have are really special to me. Besides, I am not going to school to make friends, right? I mean, that's not the most important reason for going to school. Getting high marks and learning all that I can is my real focus there, and that will earn me the respect of all the teachers, and most of my schoolmates, even those who think I'm only a bookworm and a know-it-all can't help admitting that I've got the highest marks.

I'm proud of that, and my parents are too. Of course, they don't understand most of what I tell them when I come back home from school, but they understand that I'm doing well, and the fact I've been a Prefect for the last two years is something they can understand and relate to.

However, there are things in the Wizarding world that are better left unsaid to someone who doesn't live in it. For example, the fact that in England there's a madman named Voldemort who wants to rule the world, both magical and Muggle, and that there's been a war against him going on for years. Or all the dark or dangerous creatures that inhabit the Wizarding world, like Vampires, werewolves, and dragons. Not that I had any close contact with them, but Fleur Delacour did a couple years ago when she went to Hogwarts for the Tri-Wizard tournament. She had to battle a dragon in her first task.

Hogwarts…I didn't go there for the Tournament, I was too young to be part of it, but I've read lots about the school. The Headmaster is Albus Dumbledore, supposedly one of the most powerful wizards alive, and the only one Voldemort seems to fear.

It should be exciting to learn from him, although he doesn't actually teach any subjects.

So, here I am, sitting on my bed, holding a letter from the Headmistress.

Dear Miss Granger,

Your academical results in the years you spent here at Beauxbatons

have been astounding, as our faculty often told you. We have a tradition

going on with Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, to encourage

fraternization by exchanging one seven year student every year.

Beauxbatons has always chosen the most worthy for this exchange, and you

can easily guess that out of all the students who will be attending their last year

here next term, you're the most qualified for this reward.

Of course, you're under no obligation to accept, and I don't expect a reply straightaway.

Think about it, but know that I strongly suggest you claim this opportunity to further

grow and mature by being part of a different culture.

Beauxbatons Headmistress,

Madame Maxime

What should I do? The idea of knowing a different school, different teachers, supposedly Hogwarts employs some of the best specialists on Potions, Transfiguration and Charms you could find in the Wizarding World, and last but not least a different magical society is alluring.

I guess I should talk with my parents about it. I absent-mindedly give the owl a treat, and it hoots appreciatively before flying out of the window.

“Mum, Dad” I start that night at dinner. I had all day to mull over the letter and decide if I wanted to go or not. If I didn't, it would have been pointless to talk to my parents about it, wouldn't it? “Today I received a letter from the Headmistress. She informed me that I've been chosen for a student exchange with Hogwarts School, you remember I told you about it a couple years ago?”

“Sure, pumpkin. Isn't it in England, or something?” dad says, while neatly cutting his steak.

“Scotland, actually” I automatically correct him. “The Headmistress says it's a tradition between the two schools to exchange a seventh year student to give him, or her, the chance to know a different country, society, and such. They think with my grades, I'm the most worthy, but I'm not in any way obliged to accept” I explain.

“You want to go” Mum says. She always was perceptive of what I was feeling. I guess all mothers are, in some way. I wonder how they do it.

“Well, yeah, I'd like to” I admit, nervously picking at my food. “I know this is sudden, but thinking about it, it won't be much different from going to Beauxbatons. I'd still be away from here for nine months, and travelling is much faster in the Wizarding world than in the Muggle one so coming here for holidays wouldn't be a problem at all”

My parents exchange a look, then they both sigh. “You're seventeen now, Hermione. You're growing up. Sooner or later we will have to accept that you will be moving away from home and living on your own, and there's nothing we can do to stop that, as much as we'd like you to remain our baby forever. You will be our baby forever, but we have to let you make your own choices. If you want to go, then you should go” Mum says, squeezing my hand to let me know she was really ok with that. Dad nods his approval too, although I know it pains him to see his little girl growing up and getting more and more independent. I guess it's part of being the father of a teenage girl, Muggle or witch makes no difference.

I thank them for being so understanding, and we finish eating while making small talk. I like how relaxed we can be with each other, and sometimes it's what I miss the most about being away from home.

The next day, I send my reply to Madame Maxime, telling her I accept the exchange, and asking her details on how it will happen. I know my owl, Phoebe, can fly fast, but I'm pretty surprised when I see her back in my room that night, a thick scroll attached to her right leg.

“Hey, girl, you outdid yourself this time” I tell her while affectionately running my hand on her head, ruffling her feathers. She hoots softly, and gently pecks at my finger with her beak.

“I know it was important” I smile, untying the parchment and pushing a small bowl with water and owl treats in front of her. “You deserved it” I wink at her and she seems to nod before she tucks into her meal. You really have to wonder about these owls, they almost seem to lack only the ability to speak. At least, that's what I think about Phoebe.

Opening the letter, I find it filled with details about how to reach Hogwarts. It says I have to go to King's Cross, in London, then on Platform 9 Â¾ and from there board the Hogwarts Express. It's not really different from how you travel to Beauxbatons, I only wonder about that strange platform number. Here we have a whole station dedicated to Beauxbatons so we don't need to hide our train between the Muggle ones.

Attached to the letter there is a book list for seventh year.

“Let's see, I could order these by owl and start a bit of reading before the holidays end” I muse. I'm particularly interested by the Defence Against the Dark Arts books, Don't Run, Fight Back With The Right Spells and There's A Dark Creature Next Door, How To Recognize It.

However, the book list mentions also black robes are needed, and Beauxbatons uses a different colour, so I'll have to buy them too. I guess I better plan a trip to this Diagon Alley place. Besides, it will give me a chance to start to get acquainted with the English Wizarding society.

We are two weeks away from the start of school, and I've agreed with my parents that they would accompany me to Diagon Alley two days before September 1^st, and we would stay there until the day of my departure to Hogwarts, so I could attend my shopping and take a look around, so to say. This of course means that I'll have to wait to read the new school texts until those two days. At least, I can still revise what I did last year to make sure I am ready.

Revising also has the added effect of stopping me from being nervous. It is silly, really, but I wonder how I'll fit. I mean, the other students will have known each other for years, and there I would be, new and knowing no one. The language is not going to be a problem, my parents never expected me to forget English so we speak it at home and I also read a lot of novels.

I better reread my Transfiguration essays from last year, and worry about it when the time comes, otherwise I'm going to make drive myself crazy.

Finally, the moment of leaving came. I'm currently grabbing my bag so that I can follow my parents and disembark from the plane that took us to Heathrow. I suggested we travel through the Floo or a Portkey, after all being of age I could do magic at home and I have the skills to do either but my parents were firm on that. They wanted to travel by Muggle means, and so we flew to London.

I have to admit that doing something the Muggle way once in a while feels good. It's like I'm not forgetting where I came from.

Slowly, we walk out of the plane and into the airport. Having been there many times before, my father has no problem leading us to the right exit and to a queue of taxis. Sliding in next to my mother, I wonder if I'll be able to find the entrance to Diagon Alley. According to Professor McGonagall, Hogwarts Transfiguration Professor, who took it upon herself to give me all the information I might need about the Wizarding part of London, only magical people can see the Leaky Cauldron. She told me this through a very long letter and a small book she sent me once Madame Maxime confirmed I would take part in the student exchange.

The letter also contained a map so we give the driver the address and then we discuss the plans for the upcoming holidays. But I'm too excited about this new adventure that is about to start to concentrate on the chatting my parents are doing.

“Honey, you seem distracted. Are you alright?” my father asks me.

I smile, nodding. “Yeah, I'm ok. Just a bit nervous”

“You'll be fine” my mother reassures me squeezing my hand.

When we finally arrive, I help my father unload my trunk from the taxi, then while he pays I look around, my eyes scanning the buildings for the Wizarding pub. And sure enough, there it is.

“It's there” I say to my parents, who look where I'm pointing but come up with confused faces. I grin stupidly, and lead the way. Pushing the door open, I take a look around. The pub seems almost deserted, only a few patrons occupy the tables, and then there's an old man, obviously the bartender, who is cleaning the bar with a rag. Hearing the door open, he looks up and smiles at us.

“Welcome to the Leaky Cauldron. I'm Tom, the bartender. How can I help you?” he says.

Since my parents are still speechless at how the pub came into view for them once I opened the door, I do the talking.

“Hi Tom. I'm Hermione Granger and this is my family. I understand that you have rooms here, can we have one for a couple days?”

“Oh, of course. Number three, up the stairs and at the end of the corridor” he says, picking up some keys and handing them to me. I nod, and start walking toward the stairs, followed by my awed parents.

Finally, I'm back in England.

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2. New School, New Friends

Disclaimer: Nope, not mine. If it were we would be celebrating a very different epilogue, you know. Everything you can recognize from Twilight belongs to Stephanie Meyer. The legends about vampires and their explanations are taken from “The Twilight Companion” by Lois H. Gresh.

A/N: Here is chapter 2, I hope you will enjoy. And for those of you who have read Twilight, I hope you will agree with me on the roles I gave to the Potterverse characters, lol. Well, I'll leave you to the chapter then. I have changed all the Weasleys' ages, hope you don't mind too much.

The Cold Ones

Chapter Two: New School, New Friends

The next couple of days have passed almost as a blur. I remember asking Tom, the bartender, how to get to Diagon Alley, and hearing my parents whisper in awe when the brick wall opens to let us pass. Seriously, I've been a witch for six years already so this kind of thing doesn't faze me too much, but even I have to admit that the view once the passageway opens is pretty fascinating.

Diagon Alley seemed pretty busy even that early in the morning, with lots of people going back and forth between shops to do their business. I guessed we better get a move too, we had lots to do so I motioned for my parents to follow, grabbing my wand in my pocket. Not that I expected to be attacked, but better be safe than sorry, right?

First stop was Gringott's, where we exchanged some Muggle money into galleons. That was not much different from the Gringott's branch in France. I guess goblins are unkind all around the world.

I also made a withdrawal from my vault. Having my key, I gave it to a Goblin, who brought it to his Chief. After examining it, he looked up at me.

“International withdrawals have a fee, Ms. Granger. You will have to pay 5% on the sum you want to withdraw” he barked to me.

“I understand” I said, unfazed by his rudeness. I was used to dealing with them.

“Do you wish to proceed all the same?” the goblin, whose name was Urkthok as I could read from the tag on his chest, asked me.

“Yes, by all means. I want to withdraw 80 Galleons. But considering the fee, make it 85” I said. I needed all that money to make it through a year away from home and with my parents in another country, or so I guessed. Not that I like to spend, but going there to make another withdrawal or to change money wouldn't be handy when I would be in a school situated in Scotland, would it?

Once we left the bank, we headed to Madame Malkin's to get me a couple sets of black robes. As I was being measured for them, I saw a really pretty redhead who was being fitted for some robes too. She looked at me curiously, but said nothing and went to pay for her clothes while I entered the changing room. I wondered what that was about, but soon forgot about it as I was turning back and forth like Madam Malkin was telling me so she could apply charms to the hem of the robes to make it shorter.

It took me half an hour, but we finally got the measurement done.

“Come back in a hour, Ms. Granger, and the necessary alterations will be done to your new robes” she warmly said to me once we were done paying the bill. I nodded, and finally set out toward the bookshop.

Flourish and Blotts was pretty crowded, and you could see there were lots of Hogwarts students doing some last minute shopping for their coming school year. I rolled my eyes. How could they reduce themselves to the last days? I was coming from abroad so I had a reason, and I wasn't pleased about not being able to do some reading in advance, but they had no justification to be so lazy.

Anyway, it was not my business so I just went to scan the shelves for the books I needed, my father helping me carry them through the store. Of course, being the book lover that I am, I ended up buying another four books which were not on the list, and spending a total of three hours in the store.

My mother chuckled when we finally left and my father teased me about it. I had the decency to blush and shoot him a sheepish grin.

The day was completed by a lunch at the Leaky Cauldron and a ice cream at Florean Fortescue's parlour while we were strolling through the alley in the afternoon. Even with both my parents being dentists, they didn't completely stop me from indulging in sweets, neither did they stop themselves for that matter, although they required I brush my teeth after eating them.

But in the French wizarding world I had found something really handy for that. Gusseniere's Teethwashing Candy was the wizarding equivalent of Muggle xylitol gums, only it was ten times better. No risk for the teeth, and complete oral hygiene as the candy actually cleaned your teeth with its magical ingredients. Sadly, it doesn't seem they have it here in England, at least I haven't seen it yet while in France it is very common amongst young wizards and witches. But the French are supposed to be more careful about their appearance, right?

Then we visited the apothecary so I could buy my Potion ingredients and Dad, being the sport lover he is, dragged us into Quidditch Quality Supplies. He loves Quidditch from the books I got him on the sport, even if he never saw a match. I don't care much for the sport, really, but I don't care much for flying which is the heart of the sport itself so I guess that explains that.

The second day, I resisted my urge to read the new books knowing I would not see my parents for months, so we spent it in Muggle London, and I could tell by the looks on their faces that while they loved living in France, they were glad to be back in England as well, even if only for a short while.

We had dinner at the Leaky Cauldron though, as I had a big day ahead of me and we all thought better if I should get to bed early. Since the evening wasn't very busy, Tom sat with us at the table, and made small talk.

“So you're going to transfer to Hogwarts?” he asked, smiling at me.

“Yeah, I used to go to Beauxbatons” I started, and as soon as I said that, a look of comprehension came upon his face.

“You're the exchange student then. Every year one comes, I should have guessed it. But they usually are French so I recognize then straightaway” he chuckled. I smiled at him, he was really friendly and easy to talk to.

“Yeah” my father started. “We transferred to France some years ago but we are actually from here, and we didn't want Hermione to lose her heritage so we keep speaking English at home, plus she reads lots of books in our native language” he said, looking at me warmly.

The rest of the evening passed quickly, and sooner than I knew it, I was in my bed, reading Hogwarts: A History with my parents in the next room. I didn't even realize I was so tired, but when I woke up this morning the book was sprawled next to me on the bed. I must have fallen asleep reading it.

Right now, I'm on the Hogwarts Express, the loud whistle signalling the departure of the train. My trunk is with me here in this compartment, I managed to find an empty one. As the red train leaves the station and starts to pick up speed, I look back to the platform still full of parents seeing their kids off. A twinge of sadness wrenches my heart as I think I won't see my parents till next summer. It's not that I saw them much more when in Beauxbatons, but at least I came home for the Christmas holidays. This year, we realized it would be too complicated for me to travel back to London, then take a plane to France and go home. I will be staying at the school this Christmas.

Sighing, I take out There's A Dark Creature Next Door, How To Recognize It and start reading. It's pretty thick, I wonder if we will cover all of it in DADA class this year…

I was still engrossed in my reading when I hear a knock on the door. Looking up, I see a boy grinning at me, pulling the door open and leaning on its frame.

“So you're Hermione Granger, the Beauxbatons transfer” he says. “I'm Dean Thomas, ears and eyes of the school. Whatever you need, ask me, I'll be able to guide you” he introduces himself. “Or comfort you if you ever need it” he adds with a wink. I am at a loss for words, rare event in my life.

Finally finding my voice, I reply. “That won't be necessary, I usually deal with that by myself”

He chuckles. “Can I come in?” he asks then.

“Of course” I answer, motioning for him to sit down. He tells me we are pretty close to Hogwarts by now, and I wonder just how long I've been reading.

“You should get changed into your Hogwarts robes” he suggests. Still, he makes no motion to leave.

“Well, leave me to it then” I encourage him after a minute or two of silence. He raises his eyebrows.

“Are you kicking me out? So sad, I was so looking forward to see you change” he grins.

“Oi! You know me for five minutes and you already want to spy on me changing? What a perv!” I mock reprimand him, a tiny smile twitching the side of my lips. I can't believe it, but I'm actually having fun bantering with him like that.

“Aw, come on, it would be interesting for the Hogwarts Chronicles if I did” he suggests. “We are going to have you on the first page in the next issue”

“An article on me?” I gape at him. “Seriously, you shouldn't…” I start protesting, while fishing in my trunk for my robes.

“You don't want it? Ok, we don't do it then” he agrees. “Leave it to me, baby” he winks at me again, before finally leaving me alone to change.

I look at the door he just left through a moment ago. Was he flirting with me?

As we get off the train, I notice a huge person calling out for the first years.

“Firs' years, this way. Firs' years!” he keeps shouting, and his booming voice is easy to hear.

They seem a bit scared by him, to tell the truth, but they group in front of him nonetheless. I guess he is a half-giant by his size, but I could be mistaken.

As I stare at that particular scene, I don't watch where I'm going, so I end up slamming myself against someone else.

Always the klutz, Hermione!

He turns, and after steadying myself I tell him I'm sorry, and that I got distracted.

“No trouble at all. That's Hagrid, if you were wondering” he says, smiling at me and guessing what had caught my eye. “He seems menacing but he's as good as they come. He has a hut on the grounds, and lives there. He's also the teacher for Care of Magical creatures, and the Grounds Keeper” he tells me as we start walking away from the station. I guess he knows the way to the castle so I keep walking with him.

“And I'm Seamus Finnegan, Gryffindor seventh year. You're Hermione Granger, right? The Beauxbatons transfer”

How come everyone knows who I am already?

“Yes, I am” I politely reply. “Sorry for slamming into you like that” I say, embarrassed.

“Hey” a girl says, joining us. “I'm Lavender Brown” she introduces herself, smiling at me, and then looking sideways at Seamus. She moves to walk by his other side, and I can immediately tell she fancies him. Seamus, however, is oblivious to it, and he keeps talking with me all the way to the carriages.

“We use these to get to the castle, while first years use small boats. They get to see the castle from the lake, and believe me it's a gorgeous view” Seamus says as we board one of the carriages. Dean hops in after us, and we start to move.

During the quick trip they tell me more about the school, especially how the four houses have strong rivalries between them, particularly Gryffindor and Slytherin.

“So I hope you don't get sorted there, honey” Seamus jokes, but I can see in his eyes that while his tone was light, he really hopes I won't.

“Aw, come on, Finnegan, don't scare her. There's no way a lovely girl like her will wind up in those smelly and humid dungeons with the snakes” he comments.

I wonder about what he is talking about.

When we get to the castle, Seamus tells me which way to go to join the first years that need to be sorted. I'll have to do it too.

Eventually, McGonagall comes and leads us to the Great Hall. I had seen pictures of it in Hogwarts: A History but in real life the ceiling is even more awesome than I thought. It perfectly mimics the outside sky, and right now it shows a perfectly star lit night.

I look around, and I see some curious faces staring at me. I'm sure they are quite used to seeing an adult witch or wizard amongst the ickle firsties, it happens every year after all, that's why not everyone is looking at me. I thank God for that, since that would have been embarrassing.

I spot Seamus, Lavender, Dean and another girl I don't know on a side of the Gryffindor table. I see that Seamus is keeping a seat free near him. They all meet my gaze and give me the thumbs up, and I nervously smile back.

I sure didn't expect this kind of greeting, I haven't been sorted yet and I already have made three friends. Maybe it won't be as bad as I thought getting acquainted here.

Finally, it is my turn. I walk up to the stool with the hat on it, and put the old cloth on my head. Now I know I'm a witch but some things seem strange even to me. Having a hat talk to you directly into your mind is one of those.

“Mmh, you've got brains. Ravenclaw would suit you very well. But you aren't scared easily either. You can take a challenge when you're presented with one, and you're not going to back down. That's Gryffindor trait, for sure. Where to put you, where to put you…”

I look at my new friends, they are all staring at me expectantly, and even worried I might end up in Slytherin. That's not an option, it seems. Still, Seamus even kept a seat for me. I don't want to let them down.

“Put me in Gryffindor, please” I think.

“You sure? Well, if you are, then…”

“GRYFFINDOR!” the hat shouts, and I see Dean and Seamus break into equal grins as they relax. I grin back and walk to them, taking the seat the Irish offers me.

“Hi Hermione. I'm Parvati” the girl I didn't know introduces herself and I nod.

“Pleased to meet you” I say. Then she flashes her camera at me.

“Parvati! The article's dead, no need to take photos of her” Dean glares at her, taking away the camera.

“No need to get snappy” Parvati pouts, but then looks up at me and smiles again. “So, tell us something about yourself”

I am about to, but then the doors of the Great Hall open again, and a group comes in. I spot the girl I saw in Madam Malkin's, so my curiosity is piqued.

“Who are they?”

“They are the Weasleys” Parvati replies. “The adoptive sons of Arthur Weasley and his wife”

Then Lavender chimes in. “They always are by themselves, because they are all together. I mean, together together” she whispers. “I don't even think it's legal”

“Lav, they aren't really related” Seamus reminds her.

“But they live together!” she objects. “Anyway, the redhead girl in the front is Ginny, and the tall one with the strange earring is her boyfriend Bill. Then there's Fred and George, and finally there's Luna, the blonde girl, who is with Ron, short for Ronald, the one who always looks in pain” she tells me. I take them all in, but then my attention is caught by a movement by the door. Another one entered.

“Who's he?” I ask, as I suddenly meet his green eyes.

“That's Harry Potter, another one of the Weasley family although he chose to keep his surname. His parents were murdered when he was only one, and the Weasleys took him in, that's the story at least. He's absolutely gorgeous” Lavender gushes, then her face falls, “But it seems none of us is good enough for him. Not that I care of course” she says, trying to sound nonchalant about it, but I think she does care, at least a tiny bit. “So, seriously…don't waste your time on him, Hermione” she advices me.

“Wasn't going to” I automatically reply as I follow him with my gaze until he sits with the rest of his family, at the other end of the Gryffindor table.

As I'm about to look away, his eyes find mine again, and I'm mesmerized by his emerald orbs.

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3. Strange Things

A/N: Here is chapter 3, I hope you will enjoy. I hope I'm not getting too similar to Twilight, but if I am, it will have to stay this way for a couple chapters, then I should be able to move away from it, at least some.

The Cold Ones

Chapter Three: Strange Things

After dinner, I follow the other Gryffindors up many flights of stairs, to Gryffindor Tower. There, a portrait of a fat lady guards the entrance, and without a password you can't enter.

“It's the same for the other houses, you know. The Common Room is password protected” Parvati tells me.

“Hungarian Horntail” Dean says. He's a prefect, thus he knows the password already. I guess his position helps him find scoops for the Hogwarts Chronicles, too.

In the common room, we sit on the couches for some time, chatting before heading to bed. To tell the truth, I'd like to keep reading the book I had started on the train, but Lavender and the others are making an effort to make me feel welcomed and the least I can do is respect this by staying in their company.

Of course, most of the common room is interested in me, sneaking a glance now and then. I feel a bit self-conscious about it, actually.

“Oh my” Lavender rolls her eyes. “They are acting like children with a new shiny toy”

Then she stands up, and motions for me to follow her. So does Parvati.

“Come Hermione, we are going to show you to your room” the blonde tells me. “Every one of us has a whole room for herself, they aren't huge of course, but they are nice” she explains as I follow her up the stairs.

“And we don't have to worry about boys coming here to spy on us, because the stairs change into a slide if one of them tries to climb up to our rooms” Parvati giggles. I have to admit that the scene of a boy trying to climb up the stairs and being sent crashing down back to the common room because the steps changed to a slide is a bit funny.

As predicted, my trunk is already in my room, which is between Parvati's and Lavender's. I wouldn't have thought that the tower was big enough to accommodate all these rooms, both on the boys and the girls sides, but it's probably magic at work that allows it. The castle is a thousand years old but the magic embedded in it is still working perfectly, some times you just have to marvel at that.

“Well, we will leave you to it now, you must be knackered. It's been a long day for all of us, but for you, with the added stress of being new to the school…you must be tired” Lavender tells me. “Good night, Hermione”

“Good night” I call after both of them. Once they are gone, I sit on my bed. Very comfortable, I can already tell you that.

So now I'm at Hogwarts. Tomorrow lessons will start, but believe it or not, that's not my first concern right now. Every time I close my eyes I can see his green ones.

“Great” I groan. It's going to be a very long year, I just know it.

Next morning I meet with Parvati and Lav in the common room, and we head down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Professor McGonagall comes to us and delivers our schedules.

I have Transfiguration first, then Potions and Charms. Last lesson of the day, after lunch, is Herbology.

I am not really hungry right now, so I just munch on my toast and have a glass of orange juice, and then I wait for my friends to finish. After all, I don't know the layout of the castle yet, so I wouldn't be able to get to the classroom on my own.

Transfiguration has always been one of my favourite subjects, but the way Professor McGonagall teaches…wow, I can't explain it, but it's fascinating. Makes everything seem easier.

“So Potions is in the dungeons?” I ask.

“Yeah” Lavender says. “We don't have it though, we didn't get high enough grades in our O.W.L.s but we are better off this way. Professor Snape is a pain in the arse” Lavender says. “And he always favours his own house, Slytherin. Be careful with him, he has a knack for taking points from Gryffindors for absolutely nothing”

They had to explain to me about the house points system last night. It's a sort of competition, but if one of the teachers is favouring a house over the other three, especially over Gryffindor, it's not really fair, is it? Anyway, my first worry now is how to get to the classroom.

“I can walk you there” Seamus says. “I barely scraped thru in fifth year, and Snape wasn't excited about it but there was nothing he could do. He set a minimum grade to access the N.E.W.T. Potions course, and I got it, so I have every right to be in the class” he winks at me.

I think Dean might not be the only one who likes to flirt with girls he barely knows.

Finally, after lunch, it's time to head to Herbology.

“It's in the greenhouses” Dean tells me. As he, Seamus and I leave the castle, he points toward nearby buildings. They are full of plants, so it's obvious that there is where Herbology is taking place. I didn't notice them last night though, I was probably too nervous and it was too dark.

“Professor Sprout” Seamus says, motioning toward me.

“Oh, yes, Miss Granger” she smiles. I take a look around, and spot him, alone at one of the small tables in the greenhouse. “You can take that place, it's the only one I've got” she tells me. “That place” means I'll have to share the table with him.

He doesn't say a word, inching away from me and covering half his face with his hands, effectively sheltering his nose. I wonder if I stink somehow. Maybe some of the potion from before spilled on my robes?

I don't smell anything funny on me though. Whatever, I've got a lesson to follow.

I try to concentrate on Professor Sprout's lecture about Devil's Snare but I feel his gaze on me, so now and then I look toward him, meeting his eyes.

Finally, as the lesson comes to a end, he rushes out of the room.

What the hell is his problem?

Still confused, and a bit hurt I hate to admit, over his behaviour, I walk back to the castle, not really listening to Seamus and Dean banter with each other. I have to go ask our Head of House, Professor McGonagall something.

Imagine my surprise when, finding her office door open, I spot him inside, asking her to change his lesson plan, and dropping Herbology.

“I'm sorry that can't be arranged, Mr. Potter. The other courses are all full”

“I see” he growls, standing up and roughly grabbing his bag. He walks past me muttering to himself how he just has to resist.

Am I that disgusting to share a table with during a lesson?

After dinner I decide to write to my parents to let them know how I am. I'm sure they are worried about how I'm doing in a new school.

Mum, Dad,

I wanted to let you know that I arrived at school perfectly fine

and I'm settling in quite nicely. Today was the first day of lessons

and I already can see what all the fuss over Hogwarts teachers being

so good was. The Transfiguration Professor is something else, really!

I've never met a better teacher. And I can see she's already taken a

liking to me. After all, I was the first one to get the spell right today,

and it was no easy spell either. The Potions Professor is really grumpy,

and I can see why most of the students hate him. His attitude is awful,

but he clearly knows what he's doing. I can learn a lot from him.

Thinking of Seamus, Dean, and the girls, I smile.

Everyone is being vey kind to me,

Well, not everyone, right? I sigh thinking of how Harry Potter has been giving me the cold shoulder since we met. I hate to admit that it hurts. But I choose not to tell my parents about that.

so yes, I'm enjoying it here for now. I hope I'll be able to write again soon.

Love, Hermione

Folding the parchment, I leave my room to go send it with Phoebe. I knock on Lavender's door.

“Come in” she says.

“It's me, Hermione” I say opening the door. “I was wondering if you could show me where the owlery is”

“Of course” she smiles. “I have to send a letter too, so I was going there anyway”

We fetch Parvati, who is eager to accompany us, and set out for a walk through the castle and the grounds. We finally reach the Owlery, and I spot Phoebe.

“Hey, girl” I call affectionately as my owl flies down to me. “Bring this to my parents, will you?” I say, tying the letter to her leg. She hoots softly, and then takes off into the black night.

A couple days have passed, and I've decided that I need to talk with him about what the hell his problem is. However, he's nowhere to be seen. His “brothers” are there at Gryffindor table at every meal, and they even hang around the common room, although secluded together in a corner, but he's not there.

He doesn't even come to the following Herbology lesson, and I start to wonder what has happened to him. Is he sick somehow? Not that his behaviour should have me all worried about him, mind you, but I can't help it.

I am somewhat worried, I don't even know why since he was so rude with me, but I am. So, not seeing him makes me feel even worse than when he didn't say a single word to me.

To add to my sadness, and a general gloomy atmosphere settling at Hogwarts now that the rainy season seems to have started, the Daily Prophet reports a Death Eater attack in Manchester. The worrying part is that while usually Death Eaters kill without making much of a mess of their victims, this time the bodies are severely mutilated, and there's blood everywhere.

Just looking at the photo makes me feel sick, I can't understand how Aurors can stand to see that first hand.

Anyway, according to the newspaper, the slaughter means that the Death Eaters had at least one vampire with them. Which is bothersome, because if Voldemort manages to get the alliance of the vampires, or the werewolves for that matter, it's going to be much more difficult to stop him.

As I'm reading the newspaper, Neville, another friend of Seamus and Dean, calls out to me. I look up at him, and motion to the newspaper to let him know that I'm reading now.

He shrugs, and turns to Seamus. “She's always on her own” I hear him mutter. I don't care about that.

It has been a week since I saw him last, and when I enter Herbology I'm soaked to the bones because outside it's not raining, it's absolutely pouring, and I didn't think about using a shielding charm to keep the water away.

“Hey, Sunshine” Seamus teases me, referring to the fact that I come from southern France where it's supposed to always be sunny. “How do you like this rain?”

I roll my eyes at him, drying myself with a spell, and then I look up. I didn't expect him to be there, but he is.

I feel strange seeing him again. I'm angry at him, but I am glad he's back. I want to tell him to fuck off for how rude he was to me, but I also want to talk with him like with my new friends.

Mustering all my nerve, I sit down near him, and I'm shocked to hear his voice for the first time. A velvety, really enticing and somewhat sexy voice, to tell the truth.

“Hi. I'm sorry, I didn't have the chance to introduce myself last time. I'm Harry Potter. You're Hermione, right?”

“Yes” I squeak, and hate myself for it. Seriously, Granger, get a grip!

Professor Sprout hands us a couple plants, and then she starts to explain how to care for them. We have to prepare a special nourishment and put it in the dirt that is in the pots the plants are in.

“These are a mini species of the Devil's Snare, which only grows in South America in nature, but we managed to reproduce its habitat in greenhouse three. Now, these are considerably smaller than normal Devil's Snare, especially now that the plants are considered newborns” the Professor lectures us, “but they are highly venomous, so be careful when you put the nourishment into the pots not them let it scrape you”

We set to work, and while we do, I speak again. “You've missed several classes” I almost accuse him.

“Ah, yeah. Bit of a personal problem” he fends off my question.

“It's done” I say, putting some water on the nourishment powder with a final swish of my wand. It has to be damp when we put it in the pot, this allows the ingredients to mix together in a cream-like substance that we will have to smear on the dirt.

“May I take a look?” he says, and checks the cream is the right consistency and colour, comparing it to the book.

“It's good” he says.

“I knew that” I rebut, and he smirks at me. “So, do you like the rain?” he suddenly says, smiling. I almost scoff at him.

“What's the matter?”

“You're making small talk with me?”

“Yeah, I guess so” he replies, seemingly concerned about my reaction.

“Well, I hate rain. I hate wet and cold things” I tell him. He chuckles.

“Why are you laughing?”

“Nothing” he says. “It's…done” he says, finishing his own bowl of nourishment. After all, we have two plants to feed. “May I check?” I mimic him from before.

“By all means” he grins at me and I feel butterflies in my stomach. Merlin, he shouldn't be allowed to grin like that, mixed with his handsome face and the mesmerizing green eyes it is a killer combination!

“It's good” I whisper, and he smirks. “I knew that”

I give him a small smile as I realize he's teasing me.

“So, if you hate rain how come you accepted the transfer?” he asks me.

“Well, it's complicated…” I start, as we proceed to smear the cream-like nourishment into the dirt.

“I'll make an effort to understand, try me” he encourages me, and I tell him how we were from England and then moved to France. The lesson ends, but we keep chatting as we walk outside the greenhouse.

“So basically you accepted the transfer because you felt a need to come back to where you were born and learn to live in the English Wizarding society as well as in the French one” he says once I finish telling him why I accepted the transfer. “You probably felt like you were still an outsider there, even if you've been living there for almost ten years. Am I right?”

“Well…” I start. Thinking of it, he is right to an extent. “Not exactly, but…I guess part of me has always wanted to come back to England, yes” I admit.

“Sorry, I'm just trying to understand you” he apologizes for the interrogation-like chat we were having. “It's difficult for me to read you”

I then notice that his eyes are different. “You've got a golden streak in your eyes” I say, in a surprised voice. He immediately closes them.

“Yeah, it happens at times” he lamely starts, before he suddenly runs away. What the hell is wrong with him?

********

I swear Hagrid is mad. What the hell is he thinking bringing a dragon to the school?

“Today ye'r going to learn how to care for a dragon” he starts. “Ye'll start learning how to feed them, so you'll enter one by one into the fence and levitate the meat to it”

What? He wants us to enter the fence with a dragon? He's fried his brain!

“Mr. Longbottom, care to start?” he calls to Neville. He shakily nods, and walks toward the cage.

“Remember, keep eye contact with it, or it will think you're afraid and chase after you”

He enters the fence, and keeps eye contact with the beast. I can see he is shaking, and timidly raises his wand to levitate the raw meat to it.

“Neville! It is smelling you, quick, levitate the meat!” I hear Seamus call to him behind me.

Then, before I can really understand what's happening, all hell breaks loose. As if in slow motion I see Neville turn toward us, the dragon roar with hunger and start to move toward him, and Hagrid stepping inside the fence to calm the beast. It starts pulling on its chains and roaring, then he suddenly stands up and swings his long, spiked tail, shattering the fence.

I look, shocked, at it approaching me, and before I know it Harry's put himself between me and the tail, wrapping an arm around me and pushing it away with his hand. He then looks at me, exhaling a long breath, while I, still shocked by what has happened, look at him.

Then, without even a word, he walks away from me and the class.

-->

4. Vampire!

A/N: Chapter 4 for you, I hope you will enjoy. This shall prove to be a very interesting chapter, I guess ;) And again, I hope it isn't too similar to the movie or the book, but I really love the quotes and I just had to use them here :P

Also, I want to thank my wonderful beta Gingercat for her precious help!!

The Cold Ones

Chapter Four: Vampire!

“Hermione, are you alright?” Seamus worriedly asks me. He's not the only one, the rest of the class is all around me, concerned about my well being.

“Yes, yes, I'm fine” I reassure them.

“Anyway, you'd better go to the Hospital wing so Madame Pomfrey can check you out and make sure you're fine” Dean suggests. The others agree, and since Hagrid had already dismissed class, they all accompany me.

I am fine, really! But I appreciate their concern, so I let them lead me there as I've never visited the Hospital wing before.

Pomfrey, or Poppy as everyone in the school knows her even if only the teachers are allowed to call her that, makes me lay on a bed, and runs some spells over me to make sure the tail didn't make any contact. Dragon hide is very resistant, but those creatures aren't the most tidy in the world, so often getting scraped by their claws or their tail if it is spiked can cause infections.

“Well, it was a scary experience, Miss Granger, but I believe you'll be fine soon. No wounds whatsoever. You must have had very good reflexes to avoid that tail” she tells me.

“It wasn't me. It would have been a lot worse if Harry Potter hadn't saved me. Amazing, he was far away from me but he arrived in just an instant” I tell the nurse. She raises her eyebrow at me.

“Then you have been very lucky”

For the rest of the day I stay in my room, running the episode in my head, trying to understand how could he be so fast. I've never seen a human being who could move in an instant like he did, and I'm sure he did!

I hear my stomach growling, so I look up to the window. Sure enough, it's dark outside already. I'm going to miss dinner if I don't hurry.

As I make my way down the stairs to the Great Hall, I spot Harry whispering fiercely with Bill and Ginny.

“Someone saw you?” Ginny accusingly asked.

“What else could I do? I couldn't let her die!” Harry spats back.

“Doesn't involve only you, Harry!” Ginny hissed.

Bill is the first one to notice me. “We better talk about this later” he says, and makes to move.

“Harry” I call out to him. “Can I talk to you for a moment?”

He sighs, and walks toward me. “I'm glad you're alright” he says, giving me a tiny smile, but it doesn't really reach his eyes. Not that I can allow myself to be distracted by his eyes, anyway. I have to ask him something.

“H-how did you manage to get there so fast?”

He looks at me almost surprised. “I was already there by you, Hermione” he says, giving me another smile. Charming as it is, I'm not falling for it right now. I can't afford to.

“No, you weren't. You were on the other side of the fence, quite far from me!” I insist.

“Hermione, you're in shock, you've got your facts mixed up” he chuckles, but I glare at him. “I know what I've seen”

“And what have you seen?” he asks, suddenly worried and on edge. Ha! I knew he's hiding something!

“You! You stopped the dragon's tail with your hand and pushed it away!” I almost shriek, once more disbelieving he could do that now that I think about it for the umpteenth time.

“Nobody would believe you anyway” he almost threatens me.

“I…I wouldn't tell anyone” I say, in a small voice. “I just have to know…” I look at him almost pleading.

“Can't you just thank me and be done with it?” he hisses. I realize I haven't thanked him yet!

“Thanks!” I immediately blurt out. God, he saved my life and the first thing I did wasn't to thank him but to interrogate him! I'm awful…

“But forgetting is not an option, right?” he sneers.

“No” I stand my ground on that. I need to know how he did that!

“I hope you won't be hurt by the disappointment” he whispers, before walking away. I look at his retreating back, and wonder what the hell he meant by that.

I suddenly jolt awake in my bed, sweating. Merlin, I was dreaming about the incident, and this time Harry wasn't there to save me! Or, better, he was there but he didn't move a muscle. I can tell you it wasn't pretty how the dream, or better still, the nightmare, ended.

Looking around startled, I spot a pair of green/golden eyes looking at me from the darkest corner of my room. I blink, and they are gone.

Perfect, I'm now dreaming of him being in my room watching over me! I sigh, and plop back onto my pillow. Taking a deep breath, I close my eyes but I know sleep won't come easily now.

That was the first time I dreamed of Harry Potter.

It has been two weeks since the incident, we are by now in November, and Harry had been avoiding me like the plague, even if I caught him looking at me quite often. I was secretly pleased about that, but I didn't really know what to make of it. Of course, the fact that I caught him staring means that I was also looking in his direction. I was almost drawn to look at him, and I missed the companionship we were developing before the dragon incident happened.

As me and Seamus are walking toward the greenhouses, I can feel his gaze on me. He is already there, leaning on the wall by the door as he waits for the lesson to start. I look back at him and miss what Seamus is asking me.

“So, will you?” he finally asks again.

“Will I what?”

“Come to Hogsmeade with me this weekend” he repeats, hopeful. He's asking me out???

Oh my, how did we come to this?

“Er…I'm sorry, but I have lots of things to do this weekend…” I lamely say, not knowing how to turn him down without hurting him. He's a good friend, after all, and if I'm settling so well into Hogwarts I owe it mostly to him, Dean, Parvati and Lav. Lav! That's how I can gently turn him down!

“Can't you do them another day?” he asks, a bit dejected. I now have a plan, so I insist.

“Sorry, no” I say, looking apologetically at him. “Why don't you ask Lavender? She's love to go with you” I suggest, and he looks at the blonde.

When she notices he's looking, she grins at him, and blushing a bit waves her hand. He waves back, and then nods at me, before accelerating his walk to go join our other friends.

“What do you have to do this weekend?” Harry asks me when I reach him. I look startled at him.

“How do you know?” I ask, and he looks like he's struggling to get out of the mess he put himself in. It's kind of cute. “You didn't answer my question” he finally says, deciding to ignore what I asked him altogether.

“You never answer mine. You didn't even say hello” I point out, walking past him into the greenhouse. He follows.

“Hello” he hastily says.

“So will you tell me how you stopped the tail?” I ask him, almost challenging him to do so.

“Yes” he says. I hope for a moment he will tell me the truth, but when I hear his next words, I roll my eyes. “I had an adrenaline rush, it's common”

“I've got to write to my parents, that is what I've got to do” I snap at him, but as I try to walk past him, I slip. That knocks me down a peg or two with my smart arse attitude, I guess. He steadies me.

“Can't you at least avoid slipping?” he teases me with a hint of a smile, and I blush. He was about to say something else but Lavender comes squealing to me, so he leaves.

“Seamus asked me to go with him to Hogsmeade this weekend!” she excitedly tells me. “I thought he fancied you” she admits, looking down. And I guess he did, since he asked me first, but I won't tell her that of course. “It won't be awkward, will it?”

“You joking?” I say, giving her a bright smile. “You two are a pair made in Heaven” I say, making her giggle.

“I know” she says dreamily. I'm glad someone is happy, because right now I'm not.

After the lesson, we walk back to the castle. I am walking alone when suddenly Harry approaches me.

“Hermione, we…we shouldn't be friends” he says.

“Sorry you realize this only now” I reply. “Could have let that dragon crush me, you wouldn't have any worry right now”

He looks at me with wide eyes. “You think I regret saving you?”

“It seems like that, but I don't know why” I whisper.

“You know nothing, nothing” he hisses, but before he can say more Luna approaches us. “Hi Hermione” she greets me with a warm smile. “Will you join us at dinner tonight?” I'm baffled at her invitation so I gape at her for a moment.

“No” Harry replies before I can, and then he walks away. The blonde gives me an apologetic look, and then goes after him.

I'm still upset with Harry, so I skip dinner altogether to avoid running into him. I'm not hungry anyway.

I can't get over the fact that he hates me for some reason, and I can't figure out why. I didn't do anything to him!

I decide to distract myself by reading There's A Dark Creature Next Door, How To Recognize It.

It's morning, I wake up early. Having skipped dinner last night, I'm quite famished, so I quickly shower and get dressed with a white shirt, my jeans, and then I don my school robes over them. I throw my bushy brown hair into a messy ponytail, and then head downstairs to the Great Hall.

It's almost empty, so I choose a seat and start filling my plate.

“Hungry?” a voice startles me, and I drop the apple I was holding. I always eat fruit first thing in the morning, I love its freshness.

Before the apple collides with the ground, a foot lifts it up, making it roll up the leg, and then hop into the waiting hands of none other than Harry Potter. He offers it to me with a smile. “Hermione” he says as he does so.

“Thanks” I mutter. He takes the seat near me.

“I swear, your mood swings make my head spin” I snarl to him. Is he trying to make me go mad?

“I said we shouldn't be friends, not that I don't want to be” he points out, and I look at him sceptically.

“And what does that mean exactly?” I ask, frowning and mildly glaring at him.

He looks at his nails, completely unbothered by my reaction, then looks back at me, “It means that if you are smart, you'll stay away from me” he seriously says.

Now, being smart has always been a pride for me, so I really can't believe what I say next. Still, I need to know how he saved me. It's like the less he says, the more I want to know!

“Okay, let's say for argument's sake that I'm not smart, would you tell me the truth?”

“No, I guess not” he says “But I'm interested in your theories” he adds then, with a smile.

I chuckle despite still being a bit peeved at him. “Well, I've considered radioactive spiders and kryptonite, even magic of course, and gamma radiations” I sheepishly admit with a tiny smile.

He looks at me amused. “All superhero stuff” he chuckles, then turns serious again. “What if I'm not the hero? What would you do, if I was the villain?”

Does he want to scare me away? Come on!

“You're not. I've seen how you act, you keep away from everyone else, try to keep them at a distance. It's a faÃ§ade” I say, looking directly into those green/gold orbs of his even if I risk melting at his feet doing so. I swear those eyes should be banned.

“Why don't we spend some time together?” I suggest. “Everyone is going to Hogsmeade this weekend, come with me” I boldly invite him. No, I'm not asking him out. Or maybe I am, who knows. I just want to get to know him better and this seems a smart idea.

“Hogsmeade?” he frowns. “It's a bit crowded, isn't it?” he says, politely turning down my invitation. Oh well, it was something worth trying.

******

It's the end of November, and another Hogsmeade weekend awaits us. I spent the last one in the castle, studying, while everyone else was outside having fun, but this time Lavender and Parvati invited me to go do some Christmas shopping with them. I agreed, so here I am, following them through stores, as they giggle and gush over possible presents for their parents, and in Lavender's case for Seamus too. And of course, they are also looking for clothes for themselves.

“What do you think of this top?” Lavender asks me, and I look up from the couch I'm sitting on.

“It's perfect” I say, barely looking her way. I'm getting quite bored with their shopping spree.

“You aren't much into shopping, are you?” Parvati asks me. I shrug.

“It's just that I've seen a bookstore at the end of the main street and wanted to check it out…” I admit, and my friends grin.

“Then let's do it this way, you go there, and we will meet at the Three Broomsticks for dinner, ok?”

I smile and nod, standing up. “Thanks for understanding” I tell them. “See you later”

It takes me few minutes to reach the bookstore and then I start roaming thru it. It's pretty big considering how small Hogsmeade is, but then, with Hogwarts so close, maybe it will do a good business all the same. The shop seems fairly new, I notice as I roam the rows of books. I stop now and then to check the shelves when I find they are about a subject I am interested in, for example healing, or Transfiguration.

Picking up a book from the Charms section, I scan the pages, and finding a nearby armchair, I start reading bits of it.

It's so easy to pass time when looking at books, at least it is for me. I have a fascination with them, and I can't help it. So when I finally head out of the store, the sky is already dark. Shit, I was supposed to meet with Lav and Parvati for dinner!

I start making my way there, when suddenly some boys come out of a dark alley. I recognize a couple of them as seventh year Slytherins.

“My, if it isn't the Mudblood” one sneers.

“She is packed with books, as usual” another taunts me. Well, I wasn't exactly packed, but I did buy a couple books.

“She's pretty hot though” another leers at me. They start advancing toward me, and I instinctively back away. I have my hands full so I can't get my wand, and even if I could it's five of them against me. I am not easily scared but I know when the odds aren't in my favour.

They keep advancing, and I keep backing away, until they manage to push me into a deserted alley. I can feel one grabbing my shoulders.

“Stay with us” he says. “You will have fun” he taunts me again, before slipping one hand to touch my arse.

“Don't touch me” I shout, trying to move away from them, but I'm surrounded and can go nowhere.

This is it, they are going to rape me and I can't do anything about it. I feel a hand moving up my side toward my left breast, but before it can go further a voice bellows from the entrance of the alley.

“Leave her alone”

I recognize that voice. It's Harry, and he is pretty pissed off. They turn to face him, and sneer.

“There are five of us, Potter” one mocks him. A moment later, he's unconscious on the ground. Nobody even saw him move, but Harry had slammed the guy against the wall, probably giving him a nasty concussion. I'm sure you understand if I'm not concerned about his health.

The other four flee, leaving me alone.

“Are you ok? I should have killed them all, with what they were thinking…”

“How do you know that?”

“Not hard to imagine” he covers his slip. “Let's talk about something else or I'll go after them and kill them all” he growls.

“Er…nice weather, uh?”

He laughs. “Yeah, a bit chilly though” he smiles at me and I feel butterflies in my stomach, even after the threat of being raped. With this, it's the second time he has saved me.

We reach the Three Broomsticks just as Lav and Parvati are coming out.

“Hermione! Where have you been, we were worried!” Parvati tells me, almost like she is my mother and is scolding me. But I don't care, I know they must really have been worried about me.

“Sorry girls, it's my fault. Hermione and I met by chance and lost track of the time while chatting” Harry says, with his charming grin. My friends, who hadn't noticed him before, immediately smile.

“No, it's ok, it can happen” Lavender says. “Anyway, we are finished, and we're going back to the castle. Hermione, what do you want to do?”

“If it is ok with you” Harry says, looking at me, “I'd like to see that Hermione has dinner” he says.

“I'll walk you back” he says to me then. I nod, still in a daze. “Yeah, I should eat something”

“Ok then, we will see you tomorrow” they say, before walking away. As we enter the pub, I can hear a faint echo of their giggling.

Madame Rosmerta brings me my roast chicken, and she asks Harry if he wants anything. He politely refuses.

“You sure you're not hungry?” I ask him. He leans closer, and my breath hitches in my throat.

“My diet is quite peculiar” he whispers. This brings me back to wanting answers from him, and I tell him so.

“How did you know where I was? Were you following me?” I ask. He looks like he's going to deny it, but then his shoulders sag. He sighs, and looks directly in my eyes.

“I feel very protective of you, Hermione” he says, and the intensity of his tone sends a tingle down my spine. I try my best to not show how his words affected me.

“So you followed me” I state. Again, he doesn't deny it. “I was going to keep my distance, but when I heard what they were thinking…”

“You heard what they were thinking? You can read minds?” I ask, astonished.

He chuckles, and looks around. “I can read everyone's thoughts in here. There's sex, food, money…but with you, I can't. It's quite frustrating” he says, jokingly.

“Is something wrong with me?” I blurt out, and the moment I do I realize how stupid that sounds.

He laughs. “I tell you I can read minds and you think you're the one with something wrong?” he asks me. I blush and give him a sheepish smile, before tucking in. I am quite hungry after all.

But I stop when I hear him talking again. “I can't find the strength to stay away from you even a minute” he admits. I swallow the lump that has formed in my throat.

“Then don't” I whisper.

As we leave, he helps me into my coat. Our hands brush, and I shiver feeling how cold he is.

“You're freezing” I say, surprised. He says nothing, and we silently walk up to the castle. He walks me to the stairs leading to the girls dorms.

“Goodnight, Hermione” he says softly.

“Goodnight” I whisper, before going up the steps to my room. As soon as I'm in there, I whip out There's A Dark Creature Next Door, How To Recognize It and go straight to a particular chapter.

I scan through the pages, and mutter to myself as I read.

“The cold ones. Demons of the night. Dismemberment of the demon. Undead. Speed. Strength. Cold-skinned. Paleness. Immortal. Blood drinkers”

Oh. My. God.

I go down to the Great Hall still shaken by my discovery. As I spot Harry, I walk past him, and out of the castle. I keep walking through the grounds, toward the Forbidden Forest. Somehow, I know he's following me.

I keep going until we are way into the forest, then I let my bag fall down, breathing deeply. I can feel him behind me.

“You're exceptionally strong, and fast. Your skin id pale, and cold as ice. Your eyes change colour. You don't eat or drink anything. You don't come out in direct sunlight. How old are you?”

“Seventeen” he answers me.

“How long have you been seventeen?” I ask, fearful of the reply.

“A while” he says. He knows that I know, I can feel the tension in his voice.

“I know what you are” I whisper, my voice breaking.

“Then say it. Out loud” he encourages me. I don't. Saying it makes it all more real.

“Say it” he urges me on. I finally turn to look at him.

“A vampire”

-->

5. I'm not scared

Disclaimer: Nope, not mine. If it were we would be celebrating a very different epilogue, you know. Anything you recognize from Twilight movie or book belongs to Stephanie Meyer and Summit Entertainment. The legends about vampires and their explanations are taken from “The Twilight Companion” by Lois H. Gresh.

A/N: Chapter 5 here, I hope you will enjoy the conversation in it. I added something from an outside source here about vampires, and will keep doing so in the next chats they will have. Hopefully you'll like it ;)

Thanks to my great beta Gingercat!

The Cold Ones

Chapter Five: I'm Not Scared

“I know what you are” I whisper, my voice breaking.

“Then say it. Out loud” he encourages me. I don't. Saying it makes it all more real.

“Say it” he urges me on. I finally turn to look at him.

“A vampire”

“Are you scared?” he asks then. I can hear how anxious he is in his voice. It is still velvety, and charming, but the anxiety is clear in it.

I look up at him, meeting his eyes. “No”

“Then ask me the main question. What do we feed on?” he tells me. I can see that now that I know what he is, he feels the need to prove to me that I should be fearing him.

And he is right, because vampires are very dangerous creatures. A human has basically no chance against a vampire, that I know. But if he wanted to kill me, he would have already.

“You won't hurt me” I say to him, looking at him almost with defiance. It's key that I make him understand I don't fear him, because I can see that while he is doing what is rationally right, warn me against himself, he is really scared of me distancing myself from him.

Then something comes to my mind. “Shouldn't you be burned by sunlight?” I frown. That's what I've always known of vampires…that they come out only at night because sunlight hurts them. And while Harry and his brothers don't come out in the sunniest days, they attend school regularly on most days.

He chuckles, then grabs my wrist and starts leading me.

“Where are we going?” I ask, and he lifts me up, pulling me on his back. I automatically close my arms around his neck to keep myself on him.

“I need to show you something” he tells me. Then he takes off at vamp speed, running through the trees. I can barely make out the huge trunks around us, as he takes the turns at breakneck speed. In a few minutes, we are out of the forest but on the other side of it, not toward Hogwarts but toward a Muggle village. The sun shines on a nearby hill, peaking through the clouds, and in another few minutes, while for a human it would have taken at least an hour, we are there.

He lets me slide down his back, and I steady myself as my feet reach the ground again. Then he takes off his robes, and opens his shirt, stepping into direct sunlight.

“This is why we can't go out in direct sunlight” he says, turning toward me. “It would be obvious how different we are”

I gape at him, at his sparkling skin, like a million tiny diamonds were on it. I was in awe, and couldn't stop myself from saying that.

“You're gorgeous” I whisper, and he scowls at me.

“Gorgeous? It's the skin of a murderer!” he spats, turning away from me, and stepping out of the sunlight. I move to follow him, and reassure him that I don't see him as one. He seems really pained by what he is.

“I'm a murderer” he repeats.

“I don't believe it” I stubbornly say, walking closer to him.

“That's because you believe the deceit. It's a camouflage. I'm the deadliest predator on Earth. Everything about me draws you closer. My voice, my appearance, even my smell with its pheromones” he explains, trying to convince me of what he's saying. He then scoffs.

“As if I need that. As if you could get away from me” he bellows, and starts darting back and forth around me at vamp speed, so fast that I barely see him move before he stops again on my other side.

“Or if you could fight me off” he growls, taking a nearby small tree with his bare hands and pulling it out of the earth, then flinging it away, far away from us. “I'm made to kill” he finally says.

He's clearly showing off his abilities to scare me off, because he feels he has to for my safety. Well, he's sorely mistaken. Hermione Granger is not easily scared, and I know that if he had wanted to kill me, he would have already, so I trust him. I just have to let him know that and convince him of it.

“I don't care” I say.

“I've already killed” he says, almost desperately trying to make me see how dangerous he is.

“I don't care” I stubbornly reply.

“I wanted to kill you. I've never craved so much the blood of a human before” he reveals, moving closer. He gently touches my cheek with his hand.

“I trust you” I say, revelling in the touch.

“You shouldn't” he softly advices me, still caressing my cheek. How can he be a murderer if he is so sweet?

“I'm here. I trust you” I try to convince him, and he suddenly moves away. Then he turns, and looks at me.

“Me and the Weasleys, we are different from other vamps. We only feed off animals. We know how to control our hunger. But you…your smell…is like a drug for me. It's like you're my most addictive drug”

I feel a shiver going down my spine at his words, at the intensity of his stare when he spoke them. I then move closer to him.

“Why did you hate me at first?” I ask. I have to know.

“I hated you because I craved you too much. I still don't know if I'll be able to resist” he admits, turning away. I move again in front of him. “I know you can” I whisper, and move closer to him.

He moves away, and I follow him. We stop in front of a big tree.

“I can't read your mind” he says, abruptly turning toward me. He chuckles, as I lean on the tree trunk, and puts his hands on both sides of my head. “You've got to tell me what you're feeling”

“Now I'm scared” I blurt out. He pulls back. “Good” he mutters. I roll my eyes and move toward him again.

“I'm not scared of you. I'm scared of losing you. I feel you will disappear” I admit, taking his hand. He lets out a deep breath, and looks into my eyes. “I should”

“But you won't?” I tentatively ask. He smiles, and moves closer again. Looking tenderly at me, I think he might be going to kiss me. He speaks again then, softly. Almost needing.

“You have no idea how long I've waited for you” he admits, pushing a strand of hair out of my face. I feel my heart thumping faster in my chest at his words.

We stay silent for a few moments, before he talks again. “So the lion fell in love with the lamb, uh?” he jokes. I look at him.

“What a stupid lamb” I whisper.

“What a mad and masochist lion” he whispers back. We both smile, and move from there hand in hand. We lie on the damp grass, Harry not caring at all if the sunlight hits his face. I can't help being fascinated by that sparkle.

“So” I ask. “how did the legend of vampires being afraid of sunlight come to be?” I'm curious, so what?

He grins. “It's been you humans who spread it. Particularly, a movie, Nosferatu. Before that, even in human legends vamps had no trouble at all being in the sunlight, although in Dracula he was much weaker while in the daylight, which, by the way, is completely untrue too” he explains with a smile.

I nod, understanding. I guess my geeky side is coming out now, because I notice that another characteristic of vampires, or what I knew of them, is not noticeable in Harry.

“Aren't you supposed to have fangs?” I ask. He nods.

“According to your legends, yes. And, we have them. Only, they are not so big as you would think, and they are not always shown either” he tells me. Then, keeping his mouth open, he wills them to come out.

As his fangs elongate, I can't stop looking, fascinated. Truthfully, they are only few millimetres longer than his other teeth when completely out. Barely noticeable at all.

He then wills them to go back to their normal state.

“We do, however, have razor sharp teeth, and even a cut from those is infective” he tells me. I frown.

“Infective?”

He nods. “When a vampire bites you, there are two chances. One, you die because he sucks you dry of your blood. Second, he stops and then the venom infects you, so you turn into a vampire too. That's how I became one” he tells me.

“What? You were turned?” I ask, surprised.

He nods. “When my parents had been killed, Arthur Weasley took me in. But the problem was that the murderer had tried to kill me too. It was Voldemort, by the way” he says. I gasp.

He bitterly smiles. “So, he tried to kill me but for some reason he failed. Arthur was the first one to arrive, since Remus, one of my parents' best friends, is a werewolf and was not in any condition to come fetch me that night”

“Full moon?”

“I guess” he shrugs. “And Sirius Black, my Dad's other best friend, was so angry… that he hunted down another supposed “friend” of theirs, Peter Pettigrew, who had actually been a spy for Voldemort. Sirius ended up being arrested for killing the rat when all along the “rat” had caused all the problems. Sirius was sent to Azkaban and spent 12 years there. So Arthur was the only one of my parents' friends left who could take care of me, and when he arrived Voldemort didn't want to encounter a full grown enraged vampire, so he hastily cast the Killing Curse on me and then fled, maybe by Portkey, or he Disapparated, who knows. According to Arthur, the curse was supposed to kill me on the spot, but possibly because of Voldemort's hastened casting, it didn't. It was, however, slowly sucking the life out of me”

I gasp at his story, and he shrugs, giving me an half-smile. I can see that talking about the night his parents died, even if he was only one at the moment, is painful for him.

“He brought me here, Poppy did her best but in the end she said there was nothing she could do. It was then that Arthur suggested turning me, and Dumbledore agreed. Remus was not that happy, but in the end he understood”

“What did you feel?”

“Extreme pain. Probably also because being only one, I had a very low threshold for pain back then” he smirks. “But for Arthur, it was worse”

“Why? Didn't he just have to bite you and then let go?”

“It's complicated. When a vamp tasted human blood, we enter into some kind of frenzy, and it's rare to have the will to stop before you kill the one you have bitten” he explains.

“But Arthur managed” I say.

“Both with me, and with his wife. And Luna” he confirms, pulling me closer.

“So he's the reason you don't kill humans?” I ask him. He looks ahead of us, his eyes hard with determination. “Not only that. I don't want to be a monster” he says. Then he turns again toward me, smiling.

“Me and the Weasleys think of ourselves as vegetarians. We survive thanks to animal blood. But it's like a human living off only tofu. Feeds you, but you're never truly satisfied” he explains. “Wouldn't be like drinking your blood, for example” he casually tosses in, and I good naturedly roll my eyes at him, sticking out my tongue.

“The Weasleys can read minds too?” I then ask. He shakes his head. “No, it's only me. But Luna…she can see the future”

“Bet she saw me coming then” I chuckle, and he stands up. “Her visions are highly subjective, because the future can always change” he mysteriously says, before giving me a hand so I can get up too. He then brings us back to the castle at the same breakneck speed as before, and this time I can let myself appreciate the felling truly, as we have had a long chat and settled some important matters between us.

As I go down the stairs to the common room, ready to go to have breakfast in the Great Hall, I think back to yesterday.

Of three things I'm completely certain. First, Harry Potter is a vampire. Second, a part of him, who knows which one and how big, craves my blood. Third, I'm definitely in love with him.

As I step into the common room, he's there, waiting for me with his roguish grin. I am surprised, but pleased, as he comes to greet me, and wraps an arm around my shoulders, leading me out of the portrait hole. I can feel the few people in the common room staring at us.

As we enter the Great Hall, many more people are there to witness our showy entrance.

“Look, everyone is staring at us” I whisper. He grins. “Not that Ravenclaw…ok, now he's staring too” he says. I playfully nudge him.

“We are breaking all the rules, but since I have to go to Hell anyway…” he jokes, sitting near me at the table with an arm still draped over my shoulders. I giggle.

That must have been a first, because giggling and Hermione Granger aren't usually in the same sentence. But I truly feel on cloud nine right now.

-->

6. Christmas Visit

A/N: Chapter 6 is here guys! Once again, I hope it isn't too similar to the movie or the book, although this time I might distance myself from it a bit, or at least not put things in the same order, lol.

Thanks to my beta Gingercat!

The Cold Ones

Chapter Six: Christmas Visit

It has been a few days since Harry and I had “gone public” in the Great Hall. I can't really define what we have here.

I know I'm in love with him, and he says he is with me too, but we haven't even kissed yet, while most couples kiss first before admitting their feelings. Of course, we are not a usual couple, so I can somewhat understand. And I'm glad to be with him, even without kissing.

But I wouldn't mind if he ravished me with his perfect lips either, you know.

As I'm walking back to Gryffindor Tower after dinner, I'm preoccupied with these kinds of thoughts, and pay little attention to my friends chatting as we go up the steps. However, I can't help a smile, albeit a bit wistful, as I see Seamus peck Lavender on the lips, and she snuggle into his embrace as they walk. They really are cute together.

Now if only Dean would wake up about Parvati, that would be perfect. The Asian witch has had a crush on him for ages, but the bloke is really thick.

I guess I'll have to devise something to help her, if I find time. Between homework, lessons, and time spent with Harry, I barely have time to write to my parents as it is. Actually, I haven't in more than a month.

I should write them tonight.

Once we finally reach the common room, I excuse myself saying I want to write to my parents, and bid the others good night.

“Good night Hermione” they call back, waving at me. “Sweet dreams” Seamus says then, winking at me. Lavender swats at him, but she's smiling. We all know Seamus is flirty by nature, but he doesn't mean too much of it. Of course, with me he is a bit more flirty, because he likes me quite a bit, but that's not the point.

He's a good bloke, and I know he will make Lavender happy, as she will him.

Plopping on my bed, I gather some parchment, a quill, and start thinking about the letter to my parents.

Should I tell them about Harry? Not what he is, of course, but what he means to me? Mmh, maybe not directly, uh?

Sucking on the tip of the quill, I ponder this a bit more, before grinning and starting to write. I know my mother will read right through this, but maybe Dad won't…

Dear Mum and Dad,

I'm sorry for not writing sooner, but

I've been pretty busy. I'm perfectly adjusted

to Hogwarts, if you are wondering, and the studies

are going well. Lessons are really interesting.

I'm really liking it here, you know. I was a bit worried

before leaving, I've to admit, but now…wow, being here is

just wonderful.

I hear a rustling sound, so I look up, and find myself looking directly into Harry's eyes. I laugh incredulously at him.

“How did you manage that? The stairs are supposed to change into a slide if they sense a boy”

“But I'm not an ordinary boy, am I?” he winks at me. Seeing as I'm still pretty interested, he speaks again. “Vamp speed, then ducking out of the stair window for the last part, so I don't have to open your door, otherwise you'd hear me. Crawling on the tower side for a few meters, and then back into your window” he grins, looking like that's the most normal thing in the world.

“Oookay” I say. “And you've been doing that for long?” I ask.

“A couple months” he casually answers, looking completely unfazed. “I like to look at you as you sleep. It's pretty fascinating” he admits with a warm smile that reaches his eyes. I'm touched at his tone, and smile back while I make the calculations in my mind. So he was here that night! I wasn't dreaming it!

Anyway, this is not important. He's here now, and I don't want to waste time thinking about that.

“Well, give me a minute to finish this letter to my parents, ok?” I say, holding the parchment up to show it to him. He nods, and sits on my bed as I finish writing.

Got to go now, will write again soon.

Love, Hermione

Yeah, that's it. I'm really eager to spend time with him right now, if you couldn't guess that.

Putting away the ink, quill and parchment and putting the letter in my bag so I'll remember to send it tomorrow, I turn to face him.

“I want to try something” he says, moving closer. “But you've got to hold completely still” he warns me. He moves closer, and closer. Tilts his head…oh my… is he going to do it? Is he?

I can't help moving toward him too, closing the already little space between us even more.

“Don't move” he reminds me. I still myself, waiting for him to keep moving. I rationally know why he's moving so slowly, and asking me to stay completely still. It's his teeth. They are razor-sharp and could cut me easily if one of us made the wrong movement, and even such a small graze can infect me.

But knowing it rationally, and actually holding still while you're about to be kissed is not easy. I have to use all of my willpower to do so, otherwise he might stop.

Finally, his lips brush against mine. Merlin, they are so soft! I want to keep kissing them all night, and then all day!

He moves back for a moment, before moving back toward me, brushing his lips against mine again. I can't stand it anymore, and I start to kiss him back, moving toward him as I seek his lips with mine. I wrap my arms around his neck, slipping my tongue into his mouth, completely forgetting the risk of getting cut by his teeth. He seems to have forgotten too, because he meets my tongue with his own, and the moment they touch, I feel like the butterflies in my belly have finally let loose into my whole body.

I can feel goosebumps on my skin, the way his tongue his caressing mine with utter adoration. A girl could get used to this, you know. I moan softly into his kiss, and he suddenly pushes me down on my bed, taking charge. I can feel his hands running down my sides, and then back up, as our kiss grows more and more heated, tongues now fiercely battling for dominance as I bury my hands into his raven locks of hair, marvelling in the silkiness of them. I immediately know this will become a new favourite hobby of mine, running my hands through his messy, unruly hair.

I gasp as he cups my breast, his eyes asking if that's ok. I keep kissing him to let him know it's more than ok, and I inch my hands under his shirt…and BAM!

He's suddenly on the other side of the room, slammed against a wall, looking completely breathless, closing his eyes for a moment as he takes a deep breath. He then looks at me again.

“Sorry” I hastily say.

“I managed to stop” he says, still leaning on the wall.

“Yeah? I wish I could say the same” I admit. He sighs.

“I can never lose control with you” he tells me. He makes a move toward the window, and I call out at him.

“Don't go” I say. “Please” I add then, looking hopeful. He gives me a shaky smile, it's clear he's still a bit rattled at how close we came to losing control, but he moves toward my bed again. Gingerly, he sits near me, and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.

“So, you mentioned you have been watching me sleep for two months. When do you sleep then? Not during the day, because we are at school or spend time together anyway. Not at night, and that is somewhat right, because vampires are supposed to be nightly creatures…”

“I don't sleep” he replies, taking my hand in his own.

“Ever?” I say, surprised.

“Ever” he confirms, slightly smirking at me. “Usually I go hunting in the Forest at night, at least when I'm hungry. But that's not everyday. I can go on for a week after drinking my fill of animal blood, and if I were to drink human blood, I could double that time” he explains.

I just nod, fascinated.

We chat for at least two hours, both lying on my bed, side by side, before I start to feel sleepy.

“Don't leave, please” I mumble as I feel my eyelids grow heavy and I let sleep take me.

“I won't” I hear his whispered reply, and smile contentedly.

As I wake up, I feel something different from my pillow under my head. Blinking twice because of the glaring light, I turn my head to gather my surroundings, and blush deeply as I find Harry's green/golden eyes staring back at me.

“Good morning” he smiles. “Slept well?”

“Never slept better” I admit, as my blush deepens when I realize that somehow during the night I've shifted and ended resting my head on his abdomen. “Sorry” I mutter, and he raises his eyebrows at me.

“About what?” he asks, confused.

“Sleeping with my head on you. Must have been uncomfortable for you to lay there all night without being able to move” I reasoned as I moved to get up.

“Not uncomfortable at all” he shrugged. “Plus, I have been too busy admiring you to notice, even if it had been uncomfortable” he admits, his pale cheeks taking the faintest trace of pink. I guess that's as near to blushing as a vampire can get.

“Well, I'll see you in a few minutes in the common room then. I've got to get dressed” I said, gathering some fresh clothes from my closet, and trying to make him get the hint that he should go and let me change. He made no move, still lying on my bed, grinning mischievously at me.

“I don't mind watching you do that” he says, trying to sound innocent. I narrow my eyes at him.

He chuckles, and raises his hands in defeat. “Ok, ok, I'm going” he says, finally moving from the bed. Satisfied, I turn back to my closet, muttering about having a perverted vampire as boyfriend, but I don't get to the end of that because I feel a hand caressing my pyjama-clad bum for a moment before it lightly swats at it. I turn, incensed, and see him dangling from the window, sticking his tongue out at me, before he finally leaves.

“Git” I say, but I smile despite myself as I head to have a shower.

Last night has been a huge step forward in our relationship. We finally kissed, and while it got a bit out of hand and we need to be more careful about that, the snogging was absolutely fantastic. Not that I have much experience in the department, but still, it was amazing.

Finally stepping under the water spray, I can't help thinking that it would be very nice if Harry was here with me right now, washing my back and then doing other more interesting things with my body…

As I was entering the Great Hall to have breakfast, I meet Harry with his family leaving. He winks at me, and I blush as I enter. I sit near Seamus and start filling my plate, ignoring his stare, when he finally speaks.

“So you and Potter, uh?”

“Yeah” I reply, still ignoring his antics. He shouldn't be concerned with my love life, he has Lavender to take care of.

“I don't like it. He looks at you like…like he wants to eat you!” he finally blurts out, and that I can't ignore. I burst out laughing at the irony of it.

Seamus, if only you knew how close you are to the truth!

“You're exaggerating” I tell him with a tiny smile, before taking a last sip of my pumpkin juice, then I stand up and walk away. I stop then, and walk back to him.

“By the way, Seamus…you should worry more about Lavender and less about me or you're going to lose her” I whisper in his ear, before leaving again.

It's after classes, and Harry and I are taking a walk around the lake. It's cold, but not too extreme. I like the scenery, we are heading toward Christmas and it has snowed quite a bit these days, so the grounds are all white.

“It's beautiful” I say, and he nods, taking my hand into his own. I've grown used to our difference in body temperature, so I don't even shiver anymore when he does that.

“So, do you have plans for Christmas?” he suddenly asks, and I shrug. “Nothing special, I've chosen to stay here instead of going back to France. Gives me a chance to further settle here” I tell him.

“I'd like for you to come to the Burrow” he says. “The Weasleys' home” he explains, seeing my confused face.

“Whoa! You must be serious about me, Mr. Potter! You want me to meet your parents” I tease him, and once again he blushes, as much as a vamp can. Then I look down. “What if they hate me?” I softly whisper.

He chuckles at that.

“Let me get this straight, you're worried not because you'll spend some days in a house full of vampires but because you're afraid my parents won't like you?” he says, disbelieving.

“I'm funny, uh?” I sneer, a bit peeved at him for not taking my worry seriously.

“It's going to be alright. They'll love you” he says, pulling me to him and wrapping his arms around me. I cling to his coat, feeling safe in his embrace.

That's it, I'm completely crazy. I feel safe in a vampire's embrace, for Merlin's sake!

I can't help the broad smile that spreads across my face though.

I join the crowd of students walking to Hogsmeade to board the train, going home. I'm not going home though, I'm going to visit Harry and his family. He squeezes my hand to reassure me that they will love me. I hope he's right.

We claim a compartment for us, Luna, Ron, Fred and George. Bill and Ginny aren't here though.

“They are going to spend the whole trip snogging and shagging in a deserted compartment” Fred says, grinning. I blush at his explicit approach.

Harry glares at his brother, and I notice Luna does too. It's strange, I've never seen her angry. Not that I've seen her a lot, though.

“Hey, brother, I think we pissed off the ladies” George says, nudging his twin and looking at Luna.

“You two are worse than trolls” the blonde sniffs, cuddling with Ron, who says nothing, but by the twinkle in his eyes I think he is on the twins' side.

Eventually, we move on to less dangerous conversation, and I find out that the twins have a fascination with pranks and jokes. Their dream is to open a joke shop, or so they say.

“Just like Zonko's” George says, but Fred interrupts. “Not like Zonko's, beloved brother. Far bigger and better” he says, nodding seriously.

“Oi, there, businessmen!” Ron calls from the corner he and Luna are snuggling in. “Make sure you have a discount for Hogwarts students, will you?”

Harry rolls his eyes, and pulls me on his lap. I let him, and lean on his chest as he wraps his arms around me. It's not long before the train movement lulls me into sleep, as I'd been too nervous to sleep well last night.

Finally we arrive at King's Cross, and there we gather into two different cars. In one are Bill, Ginny, Fred and George. In the other one, me, Harry, Luna and Ron.

“How come you had cars ready here?” I ask, curious. Harry shrugs. “We usually have Arthur and Molly come to pick us up, but they said they couldn't be here at this time today, so they just brought the cars. We already had the keys with us as we drove them here on September 1^st, so it works for all of us” he explains. I nod, satisfied with his answer.

It takes us a bit longer than an hour to get to the Burrow, and as we get out of the cars, I look at the building in front of me, very surprised.

“It's beautiful…and airy” I whisper. Harry, the only one who hears me as the others have already started walking toward the house, chuckles.

“What did you expect? Coffins, dungeons and moats?” he teases me.

I look at him, and tease him back. “No, not the moats”

“Not the moats” he repeats, shaking his head smiling, as he leads me to the house. “This is the only place we truly can be what we are” he then says to me quite seriously. I understand.

Here, no one will question them if sunlight makes their skin sparkle, nor do they have to explain why they don't sleep, or why they are uber-fast and strong, or why they don't eat anything.

Speaking of which, I smell pasta. Harry groans.

“Merlin, I told them not to do that!” he mutters, and leads me to the kitchen, where we hear the others already being greeted by their parents.

As we reach the doorway, I timidly stand by Harry, not because I'm scared of them though.

“Hermione, this is Molly, my adopted mother” Harry says, motioning toward the redhead woman behind the counter. She was chopping something, probably for the dish they are cooking for me. I am amazed at seeing her look so pretty and young, before I remember that vampires don't age and she is not really the mother of all of them anyway.

“Hi” I timidly say, and she grins at me. “Welcome” she says, putting down the knife and coming to give me a hug. A strong hug, at that. I'm left almost breathless.

“You gave her a reason to use the kitchen for the first time” the man who must be Arthur says with a smile, coming to greet me too.

I can see Ginny glaring at me, and if looks could kill I'd be dead by now. I don't know what her problem is, she's the only one acting that way.

Harry must have sensed that because he glares back, pulling me closer. “Ignore Ginny, like I do” he whispers, loud enough for her to hear though, almost as if he's challenging her.

“Yeah, of course” she raises her voice. “Let's keep thinking this isn't dangerous for all of us”

So that's her problem.

“I wouldn't say anything to anyone” I protest.

“She understands” Arthur says with a warm smile. Bill walks toward us too, nodding. “We know, Hermione. But the fact is that you two have gone public now, and…”

“Bill” Molly warns him, but Ginny is unstoppable now. “No, Mum, she's got to know. If anything goes wrong, it's going to be hell to pay for the whole family” she says, still with a hostile tone.

“Wrong as in…I become the meal?” I meekly say. They all chuckle, and I try smiling too, but it comes out very weak. Harry gently pushes me out of the room by the shoulder, still glaring at Ginny.

“Come on, I'll show you to your room and the rest of the house” he says, and I'm more than glad to follow him.

-->

7. Christmas Visit, part II

A/N: Chapter 7 is here. I'll describe the Burrow better, and you will see it is pretty different from the one depicted in canon…

Thanks to my great beta Gingercat!

The Cold Ones

Chapter Seven: Christmas Visit, part II

Harry leads me, hand in hand, up a flight of stairs. As we go, I can't help looking around and notice how beautiful this house is. I understood with such a large family the Weasleys were frugal, but looking at this house they are most definitely among the wealthiest wizarding families around this area.

“It's only a cover” Harry says, seeing the surprise etched on my face. “All vampires are supposed to be rich, so the Weasleys keep a poor profile to hide even better their true nature. But they are quite well off, and I've done my part too. One of the conditions I had for Arthur once I grew up a bit and knew of my story was that he allow me to pay for my own things. Of course, growing up I've never needed food” he jokes, “so that wasn't something I had to pay back, but I stood my ground about my Hogwarts books and things” he explains.

“My parents left me well off, but I don't care for money” he adds then, after a moment of silence. Then he takes my hand again, and we move to a nearby room.

“This one is the guest room. Never been used before, as you can well imagine” he chuckles, “and with a couple cleaning spells it has become spotless again. I hope you like it” he asks, a bit uncertain, and looks sideways at me.

I grin, and move closer. “You could have asked me to stay in a coffin and I'd have loved it, as long as you were there” I say, cupping his face with my hands, and see him rolls his eyes at my words with a smile, “but I assure you that this room is perfect” I whisper, before closing the gap and kissing him.

We have become better at this “snogging with a vampire” thing. I learned to rein in my urges a bit, and he pushed himself a bit further toward the limits of his control. So a repeat of that first time when he suddenly jumped away from me never happened. I suspect this is also because that first time we had such a desire for the other that we couldn't totally control ourselves, but now that we are snogging regularly the urge is less demanding.

I start moving backwards, until my knees meet the bed and I pull him down there with me. Our tongues are slowly exploring each other's mouths, I do my best to stay away from his teeth though. Running my hands through his locks of hair, I sigh when he trails kisses along my neck, shuddering as I think it would be so easy for him now to bite me and turn me into a vampire too…the mere thought sends thrills down my spine, and I let a small moan out.

“Eager, aren't we?” he teases me, before going back to kiss me on my lips, his hands roaming on my sides, and slipping under my shirt. I feel goosebumps forming on my skin at the contact with his cold hands, but he doesn't stop, going further up, until he cups my breasts through the bra.

I can feel my nipples hardening, and I moan again. “Not fair” I mumble, and he chuckles. “All is fair in love and war” he says, before kissing me again.

Merlin, if this is only the start of this holiday, I can't wait to see the rest!

Eventually, we stop fooling around. As much as we wanted to go further, we both felt it was still too early. It was especially hard for him to stop, because as he had told me one day while we were chatting, vampires are intensely sexual creatures. Put it in simple words, one could say they are always horny.

He says it's the smell of the blood that arouses them, and the more they like the smell, the more they become aroused. Considering what he told me about how my smell was like a drug for him, you can easily understand how aroused he gets during our little encounters, and believe me I've felt proof of that more than once. But I know he won't force me to do something I don't want to, so I'm not worried.

As we lay on my bed, snuggling together, Harry runs his hands through my hair, soothingly caressing my head.

“I love to do this. Your hair is so beautiful, and soft to touch” he admits, and I look up at him smiling. “I love when you do it” I say, making him grin. “So, do you like this bed we conjured for you, or do you prefer we get you a coffin instead?” he teases me about my previous comments, and I swat lightly at him.

“Prat” I pout. “It's not my fault every book or movie about vampires I know about has you lot sleeping in coffins all day and living in pretty dark castles. Not even the wizard ones tell the truth about you”

“That's because humans are too afraid of us to research properly. But hey, you could write a book on the truths about vampires, after all you love books, isn't that true?”

I blush, and nod. “But I don't think it would have a great success, being the only one to contradict the popular belief” I reason. “Plus, I'd have to say I learned it from a real vampire, and everyone would bug me to know who this vamp is so they could probably kill him…too much trouble. I'm just happy to know the truth myself, and let the others believe what they want”

“Well, if you put it that way, then you should know that according to the legend, vamps sleep in a coffin because we are thought to be the living dead. The legend also states that we have to bring a coffin with us when we travel, and not any coffin but our own, with some of our native country soil in it, to boot” he says, and I can see the mirth in his eyes, and hear it in his silky voice. Thinking of it, it is a bit ridiculous.

“Of course, you can see that this causes a bit of a problem, both when packing for a trip” he chuckles, “and when the coffin, being wood, deteriorates over time” he continues, still running his hand through my brown curls. “Also, have you ever wondered how come vamps supposedly sleep in a coffin, with dirt in it, and they always exit with clothes completely straight, no wrinkles, no smudges of dirt whatsoever?” he asks me.

I can't help but laugh. That's preposterous!

“Ok, I get it. So the legends about the coffins are bollocks” I say. “What about the black cloaks?”

“Do you see me wearing one?” he asks back, and I get the hint. “I prefer you in Muggle clothes and wizard robes anyway” I admit, blushing the tiniest bit.

He smirks. “Handsome, uh?” he jokes, but I can feel it's not just that. Vampires are known to be vain, and while I can see this wasn't a trait of Harry's character per se, being a vamp brings it out anyway, albeit decidedly less in people who weren't vain as humans.

“You don't know how much” I say, looking him directly in the eye as challenging him to mock me for this admission. He laughs, and stands up.

“Come on, I still have to show you my room” he says, pulling me up with him. It is only a few steps away, and as he opens the door I notice there's no bed. Of course, since he doesn't sleep.

I walk in, and notice the walls are lined with music disks, both Muggle and Wizarding.

“You love music?” I ask, surprised. He nods, stuffing his hands into his pockets. He's so cute when he acts like that. “So, what were you listening to?” I ask, turning the Wireless on. The latest versions have a function that through a spell allows the playing of music disks, it's a pretty interesting charm in fact. I think it was invented by a German witch a few years ago, and since then it has been perfected. Only recently it has been applied to the Wireless.

I close my eyes as I listen to the slow song playing. I can't recognize it, but I know I've heard it before, only I don't remember where.

“It's ” he says, as I feel his hands taking mine. I look at him, questioning his intentions when he turns me for a twirl.

“What?” he asks, seeing my dubious face.

“I don't dance” I say. I've never liked it, to tell the truth, even if my mother tried making me do it when I was only a little girl.

“I could make you” he confidently says, and I roll my eyes. “I'm not afraid of you” I retort.

“Shouldn't have said that” he says with a mischievous grin and a glint in his eye that promise nothing good, and the next thing I know is that I'm on his back and we are in the air out of the window, before Harry lands graciously on the ground and sets off for the nearby woods.

There, he climbs up one of the tallest trees, and I have to admit I am a bit afraid of falling, but I know he won't let me get hurt. Once we reach the top, I look around and gasp at the beautiful scenery. The landscape is all covered by snow, like a white blanket set over the grass and the trees. I can spot a frozen pond if I look in the distance, and on my right I can see a village not far away.

“Ottery St. Catchpole, Muggle village” Harry explains, seeing I'm watching that way.

“This is unbelievable” I whisper, a smile on my lips. “It's absolutely crazy, and I thought nothing could amaze me this way anymore after 6 years in the Wizarding World”

He chuckles, and pulls me closer as we sit on a branch.

It's weird to be chatting while sitting so high up on such an unsafe thing like a tree branch that could snap any moment under our weight, but I don't feel scared, despite my usual fear of heights. I'm with Harry, and that's enough for me to feel safe.

That night, at dinner, I have some of that pasta Molly has been preparing all afternoon. It smells delicious, and I can't help wondering how she became such a good cook if she doesn't do that on a regular basis.

Anyway, I compliment her. Taking a small second helping, I feel Harry's hand on my thigh, and glare at him. He looks at me innocently, and doesn't lose a beat in the conversation going on as I eat. I feel a bit self-conscious about being the only human in a family of vampires, but everyone is so kind that I can't feel bad about that. Well, everyone apart Ginny who keeps glaring at me.

It's annoying, to say the least. The way she hates me one would think shagging Bill is not enough for her and she wants to bed Harry too but she can't because I stole him from her…bitch.

After my dinner, Luna and Ron excuse themselves to go hunting, while Bill and Ginny retreat to their room, to shag I'm sure. The twins say they are going to experiment a bit on the pranks they are preparing for when they will open their shop, and I see Molly sigh. I guess she doesn't approve of her sons' choice of future career.

Harry and I stay for some time in the living room chatting with Arthur and Molly, before I head to bed. It has been a long day. Harry walks me to my room, and once there he kisses me goodnight.

“I will see you tomorrow” he says, but I see he doesn't want to leave me just yet. So I decide to be bold, for once, and invite him in.

“We can chat a bit before I actually fall asleep” I explain, and he nods. We both know it probably won't be the only thing we will be doing, and I'm very aware of that because I still need to change into my nightwear. Which is why my invitation was pretty bold, since I plan to change in front of him.

I am a bit self-conscious about my body, especially when compared with the vamp beauty of Luna and Ginny, but as I strip to my underwear I can see Harry gulp, his eyes glued to my body like he has never seen anything more beautiful. It's an empowering feeling, although I am a bit embarrassed at showing myself to him this way, which is why I put my pyjamas on pretty quickly.

“So…”I start, sitting on the bed near him, a bit nervous. He pushes a strand of hair behind my ear, gazing directly into my eyes. “You're beautiful” he says, and the intensity of his voice tells me he truly means it.

“Thanks” I say, so softly that I almost don't hear myself. But I know that his vamp hearing won't let him miss it. He kisses me with such a passion, and I of course kiss him back, plunging my tongue into his mouth. I slip my hands under his shirt, running them over his abdomen, the well defined muscles of his chest. He's not hulking as some other blokes in Hogwarts, but he's far stronger than they will ever be, even if his muscles don't give much indication of it.

I can feel his hands on my back, under my pyjama top, and then slipping past the waistband of my bottoms, caressing my bum through my panties. I feel a shot of warmth pooling between my legs, and right now I wouldn't mind at all if he had his wicked way with me.

He, instead, brings his hands back out of my PJ bottoms, but never stops kissing me. I can see the sheer willpower he has to use over himself to not shag me senseless, and I love him much more for that. He respects me so much, like I'm some sort of goddess, and I can't understand why. He's far more special than I'll ever be.

After a while, we finally manage to get a grip over our emotions. Still breathing hard, I rest my head on his shoulder.

“Don't go just yet” I plead, and he nods. “I'll stay here all night, if that's what you want” he whispers, and I know he means it, because he can do it.

“That would be nice, but I won't force you to” I say. “For now, let's just chat a bit, ok?”

“You want to know something about vampires, don't you?” he smirks at me and I blush. He can't read my mind, or he says he can't, but he has learned to read everything else about me, it seems.

“I was wondering if the belief about you lot fearing crosses and holy water is bollocks too. As of now, nothing I knew of vampires is true…”

“Well, that is partly true, you know. We don't really fear those things, but we are, after all, undead, and thus religion doesn't sit very well with us. According to it, we are freaks and creatures of the devil, so to avoid any possible trouble we steer away from churches and such. But not out of real fear, no” he says. “And if you're wondering, no, we don't fear garlic either. Of course, it makes for really bad breath so please if you eat it don't kiss me or brush your teeth first” he jokes, and I punch him in the shoulder.

“Ouch” he says, feigning to be hurt. “You're pretty violent you know” he frowns, but I know he's just teasing me.

“Big baby” I stuck my tongue out at him. He laughs, and pulls me closer.

“Get to sleep, babe” he gently says. He has a point, it's way past three in the morning. Time flies when I'm with him, but I am knackered. Sighing, I close my eyes and promptly fall asleep.

As I walk down the stairs to get to the kitchen and have some breakfast, I hear Harry and Luna talking in her room, or at least I think it is.

Curious, I stop and try to listen.

“I've seen it, Harry” Luna says. “I've seen her as one of us”

“But your visions aren't sure, Luna” Harry says, with a pained voice. “They can change, we know that, so it's not for sure”

“No, it isn't” Luna agrees. “But it's a possibility, and you should start to come to terms with it” she advices him. I hear steps coming toward the door, so I quickly make my way downstairs to avoid getting caught eavesdropping.

So Luna has seen me as a vampire? I know I should feel scared, and shocked, but I'm not. It's something I've been thinking about since Harry and I got together, and I don't think it would be so bad, especially because he's dismantling all the worse points of being a vampire one by one with his explanations. I really don't see why he thinks me being turned is such an anguishing prospect.

Anyway, I decide not to mention what I've heard. Not for now at least.

“Hey, Hermione” Ron greets me. “We are about to play a pick-up Quidditch match outside, you up for it?”

“You lot play Quidditch?” I ask.

He shrugs, grabbing his broom. “It's the typical wizarding sport, isn't it? And we are wizards too” he winks at me.

“Ok then, I'm in but I warn you, I'm a disaster” I say, following him outside. Everyone else is already there, minus Harry and Luna who are following me now.

“You can be the referee” Luna suggests with a smile. “Just say what you see”. I nod. Refereeing is much better.

“Good morning” Harry says softly, coming to greet me with a kiss. I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him back, losing myself in the sensation.

“Oi, love birds, we have a match to play!” Ron shouts, and we part, blushing. I see Ginny still glaring at me.

I'm growing more and more certain that she wants to shag Harry in my place.

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8. Spring Term

A/N: Chapter 8 is here. Things are going well for our beloved couple, but you'll see hints that it may not last…

The relationship between werewolves and vampires has been taken from “Forever Knight” by DeliverMeFromEve, a wonderful story you can find here on PK. I recommend it to you, because it's amazing. I also would like to thank my wonderful beta Gingercat for her help.

The Cold Ones

Chapter Eight: Spring Term

As all good things do, the Christmas holidays came to an end. While it was a really different Christmas from those I am used to experiencing, it was interesting. No trip to the church to hear the sermon, no huge lunch with my parents, but the tradition of exchanging gifts remained.

Harry got me a book, a very rare one at that, Numerology Through the Centuries, First Edition. I don't even want to think about how much it may have cost him, really. It's supposed to be one of the rarest books of the Wizarding world in this edition and I can't fathom who would be selling it.

But I'm glad they did, so Harry could buy it for me. I feel bad about my gift to him though. Had I known what he was getting me, I might have tried a bit harder than just buying him the new Firebolt 2008. Sure, it's the latest racing broom out, and it did cost me a small fortune, but it's just a broom. Not really comparable with such a rare book.

He seemed pretty content with it though, and even convinced me to have a trip on it in the afternoon. Of course, the chance to hug him tightly to avoid falling was nice, and I knew he wouldn't let anything bad happen to me so after the first few minutes I truly enjoyed the flight. But this won't help change my fear of brooms much, I'll just use my Gryffindor courage to go flying with him now and then, that's all.

So, all in all it was a rather unconventional Christmas day but I loved it all the same.

Now, we are back to school after the Easter hols, that we once again spent at the Burrow. I guess I'm getting used to spend time with his family, and it is nice. I plan to invite him over to my parent's during the summer, so he can meet them too. I'd really like that.

Ginny is still cold to me, but everyone else is pretty welcoming, even her boyfriend Bill. I've caught snippets of conversations about them, unintentionally of course, where he would try to sway her from her beliefs about me being a danger to the family, but without much success.

Conceited brat.

Anyway, focusing on more important matters, things are going wonderfully between me and Harry. We spend lots of time together, every moment we are not studying to tell the truth, and even when we are studying, we do it together in the library or in the common room. To be honest, it's more along the lines of me studying and him watching me, an open book in front of him but without him reading a single line.

I guess he doesn't have to. He has lived long enough to have memorized all that is in the Hogwarts course books, down to every single word. After all, this is the tenth time he attends seventh year here at Hogwarts.

He explained to me some time ago that Dumbledore knows of his situation, and of that of his brothers, so he has placed a permanent Confounding Charm on the school so that staff, board of governors and students wouldn't notice how many times the Weasleys and Harry are taking their exams. It hasn't been easy to do, but if Dumbledore, the most powerful wizard alive probably, can't, then no one can.

“Don't you get bored always being in school?” I had asked. He chuckled.

“This coming from the girl who spends most of her free time studying and revising?” he teased me, and I had the decency to blush. Then he turned serious again.

“It is pretty depressing at times, but it's not like I can have a Ministry career looking like a seventeen year old for all my life, can I?” he had said, somewhat dejectedly. “Eventually, we will have to go and find something else to do, but for now, this works”

I nodded.

I guess being with him helped me loosen up a bit. When I came to Hogwarts, studying and having high marks was all that mattered to me, but with the help of Seamus, Dean, and the others first, then Harry, I learned the real pleasures of having friends, and a boyfriend.

Harry's invisibility cloak, a gift from his real father that Dumbledore had given him when he had grown up enough to be responsible about it, came really handy all the nights we sneaked out to snog in the Room of Requirements, which is our favourite “relaxing spot” as Harry has come to call it.

Gives you the safety of not being caught, since it doesn't allow anyone in when you're there if you don't want it to, and provides a pretty cosy atmosphere, or whatever you are inclined to when you get there.

It's also very handy for training.

See, Voldemort has been picking up power and it is rumoured that he's recruited an huge army for himself. Nobody knows this for sure, of course, or at least, not the general public. But Harry and I, and the Weasleys, do.

The Weasleys are part of the Order of the Phoenix, a group founded and led by Dumbledore who has been opposing Voldemort's Death Eaters since the first war when Harry's parents were killed. Everyone in the Order knows of the Weasleys conditions and they don't care. There's also a werewolf amongst them, Remus Lupin, former best friend of Harry's real parents. He had been a werewolf for as long as everyone in the Order knew him, and he was when he attended Hogwarts too. So Harry and the Weasleys' situation is not the first time Dumbledore has had to go to special lengths to protect a secret of his students, you see.

If you're wondering how do vampires and werewolves interact with each other, it is an interesting situation. Many think that they hate each other, but this is completely untrue. They have a servant-boss relationship, instead. Werewolves are naturally inclined to serve the vampires, and they particularly choose themselves a vampire to serve and stick to him/her all of their life. Werewolves aren't immortal, but they do live longer than normal wizards. So, Remus, as much as the Weasleys loathe this, is naturally inclined to serve Arthur and his family, including Harry. None of them gives him orders though, it's usually him who volunteers to do things for them. It's strange to see, but there's nothing to do about that.

Anyway, the Order has a spy, the awful Potions teacher Severus Snape. He was a Death Eater once, but then he changed his ways. He's acting as an agent within Voldemort's ranks for the Order, providing useful information about where the attacks will be and what Voldemort's plans are.

He's not always able to find this info because Voldemort informs only those who need to know of his plans, but Snape often does. He's highly accomplished with Legilimency and Occlumency, that's how he managed to survive this long being a spy.

I, to tell the truth, wouldn't be so eager to trust him, and neither is Harry, but we guess Dumbledore knows what he's doing.

So, Snape relayed the info that Voldemort has a huge army at his command now, and thus his strikes are going to be harder and more symbolic too. That means, he will want to scare the Wizarding World into submission taking the supposed beacons of the light. The Ministry, which is not a beacon of the light at all if the corruption going on in it is any gauge, but it is perceived as so by the masses, thanks to a newspaper, the Daily Prophet, which always praises the Minister, first Fudge and now Scrimgeour, and of course Hogwarts, where Dumbledore is.

Harry says that Dumbledore is the only wizard Voldemort fears, so conquering Hogwarts will be a huge blow. That's why we all know a battle for the school will most likely happen soon.

And thus, we train. Harry has made it a personal quest to bring me to the point of being able to handle myself against vampires as well as Death Eaters.

“He has them on his side, and while usually vampires attack other vampires in a battle, we can't be so naÃ¯ve to think his ones are going to play fair. So you need to be prepared. The other Order members are, many of them being Aurors and consequently prepared to face dark creatures as part of their job. Others are, as you know, vampires themselves, like me and my family, so we are naturally ready to face other vamps. Remus is a werewolf and so he is similar to us, huge strength and speed when he's into his wolf form, and he can change at will, not only with the full moon, although the full moon makes it much easier for him to morph. Actually, he has to change on a full moon, he has not choice then. Dumbledore and the non-Auror members had been fighting in the first war when Voldemort used the same tricks so they know what they are up against. This leaves you and the other students as the ones unable to face vamps, and werewolves for that matter” he told me when we started the training.

I could see that he was worried sick that he wouldn't have enough time to prepare me. He finally sighed, and looked at me.

“The rest of the students will be locked in here, to prevent casualties. The staff has a plan ready to do that quickly and the school will help. It always does in situations like this. I'd prefer it if you went with them and stayed out of the fight” he said, but I refused. He smirked, knowing I would.

“Then I'll have to train you” he had said, and he kept his promise. In the last month I've made huge improvements.

First thing, he explained to me how to kill a vampire.

“There are only a few ways to accomplish this. You can cut his head off, bury a stake in his heart, and burn him. Always burn him even after you cut his head off or plant a stake in his heart. Always”

He taught me a fire spell to do that, Flamis Eruptere, which produces a big shot of fire from the tip of the wand. The first time I managed it I burnt half the training room in the Room of Requirement down. He grinned.

“You do that to a vamp, you reduce him to ashes even before he can think about biting you” he complimented me. I blushed, pleased.

Today, we are going over physical one on one combat with a vampire. One should think that a human has no chance to win, right?

“That's wrong” Harry tells me. “You can win, but you won't because you won't be able to see the attack start, so you'll find the vamp hitting or biting you even before you realize what is happening. However, there is a potion that can bring your senses up to par with those of vampires if you want to. Snape invented it during the time between the wars. He had been working on it for years, but it is finally ready. You should always have a vial of it on you from now on. It lasts for about 24 hours, and it is called “Vamping Draught”. Thank Snape for the original name” he says with a smirk, giving me a vial of reddish liquid.

“I-It's not blood, right?” I ask, eyeing the vial now in my hand suspiciously. Harry chuckles.

“It is, but not human. It is vampire blood, courtesy of me and the Weasleys so that Snape could make this potion. We will give him more to prepare other cauldrons for when the battle comes. For now, we have two full cauldrons to use for the training, not only yours though. Anyway, blood is part of the ingredients, thus the colour, but it's not the only component. Not by a long shot” he tells me. Nodding, I down the liquid, and immediately feel the coppery taste of blood. I'm surprised to see that vamp blood tastes just like human one. Not that I've drank much of that, but you know, anyone has had a split lip in his life. I almost feel like gagging, but I swallow.

I can see Harry watching me curiously, and then I feel it. A surge of strength going through my veins, I can feel my blood pumping madly through my body. I look up at Harry, and I can see my vision is different now.

“Let's try this out then” he grins at me, and starts dashing at mad speed around the room.

“I've got to see where he's going” I think. I concentrate, and suddenly I can see him, like he's walking around me instead of running at vamp speed.

I grin, start running toward him, and try to land a solid punch on his face.

He's surprised by my move, and barely manages to deflect my fist, sending it crashing on the wall. I feel no pain at all.

“Merlin, Hermione, were you trying to kill me?” he scowls, but then he realizes something. “Hey! You did it! You did it! You could follow my movements, and move as fast as me, so much that you almost surprised me!” he grins.

I nod, smiling at him.

“Let's try that again, babe. No nasty punches this time round though, ok?” he winks at me, before taking a mad dash again. I roll my eyes and start to run at his same speed.

-->

9. Battle

A/N: Chapter 9 is here. This is the climax…will they manage to defend the castle? Read down to know! :P Thanks to my beta gingercat!

The Cold Ones

Chapter Nine: Battle

It's only a week before the end of the year, graduation, the N.E.W.T.s, and then we will be going on with our lives, finding a job, creating families, and possible living happily. But right now we have to worry about bigger problems, because an army of Death Eaters, werewolves and vampires is marching upon Hogwarts, led by the darkest wizard of our times, Lord Voldemort.

We are ready for this, we have been ready for weeks thanks to Snape telling us the dark lord's plans, and I don't feel nervous at all. We have been tipped by Snape that the attack was going to be tonight, and since then the staff has been in a frenzy to evacuate all the students.

Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick personally escorted them to the Room of Requirements, and then cast complicated charms and transfigurations to avoid the Death Eaters from finding the room, ever. The Head Boy and Girl, Ernie McMillan and Padma Patil, Parvati's sister, were instructed on how to lead the escape through the Floo the room would provide when they would request it. It was set that if after twenty four hours nobody had come to fetch them, they should leave through it. It was arranged for the elves to bring enough food for all the students to live there comfortably for that amount of time without any hardships or going without their needed refreshments, and then the little creatures were evacuated too. Dobby, the one most loyal to Harry had asked to stay back and fight with his friend, and so had done many other elves. We knew they had special magic, and that they could easily Apparate inside Hogwarts so they would be a valuable asset in the battle. But we decided not to risk them.

This was a battle of wizards, vampires and werewolves, and so it should remain.

Now that the most urgent preparations had been made, we are waiting for the show to begin. I look sideways to Harry, and he squeezes my hand. “Nervous?” he whispers.

“Nope” I reply. “We can do it” I say, determined. He looks at me warmly.

“Did you drink the potion already?” he asks me then, and I know which potion he is referring to.

“Of course” I say, willing myself to go vamp for a moment, just to prove it to him. Not that I need to, he trusts me completely.

He chuckles. “You're damn sexy when you go all vamp on me, you know” he teases me, and I blush. I can vividly remember how hot I was feeling when we finished the first training session with the potion still in my body and my senses still vamped.

I think it's a miracle we managed to stop before we went all the way, really, the way we were fondling each other I seriously didn't think we could pull that off. I understood then why vampires are thought to be very sexual creatures.

Every stimulation was amplified ten times, and that means the pleasure was particularly intense. One could get used to that. Also, while I felt no bloodlust during the encounter, Harry told me real vamps do. That's why when cumming, biting your partner becomes almost irresistible if you're a vampire.

My naughty, distracting thoughts were broken by the castle shaking from its foundation.

Harry groaned. “Not giants too!” he muttered, tightening the grip on his wand. “This is going to be a real pain in the arse” he growled.

I could see that his opinion was mimicked by the Weasleys with us just looking into their eyes. The defence of the castle had been planned dividing the Order of the Phoenix members into four groups. There were Aurors from the Ministry though, as much as Kingsley Shacklebolt had managed to get without raising suspicions in the Ministry as to why he was leading them if no attack had been issued yet. The Minister has always been paranoid about Dumbledore and his supposed desire to overtake him and get the power for himself, so the Order of the Phoenix has always had to remain undercover, and those members who worked in the Ministry had often found themselves the target of suspicions of treachery and such.

I roll my eyes as I think of it. Everyone knows Dumbledore has refused many times to be elected Minister, claiming he prefers to care for his school, so how could anyone believe he had turned into a power-hungry wizard is beyond me. Anyway, Kingsley had assured us that once the attack started, more Aurors would arrive, because then the Minister wouldn't be able to object to it.

The vampires have been spread through the four groups, Harry, Ron and Luna are with me, Tonks, Professor McGonagall and other Order members I don't know in the front-west group.

Ginny, Bill and Fred are with another group on the front-east of the castle, and Dumbledore and Shacklebolt are with them amongst the others.

George, Arthur and Molly are on the third group, on the rear-west of the castle, Mad-Eye Moody leading the group.

Charlie, another of the Weasley clan who usually works in Romania with dragons, is with the fourth group, the rear-east one, with Remus Lupin, Hagrid, Dedalus Diggle and Sirius Black, Harry's godfather who escaped from the prison of Azkaban, the prison where he unfairly spent twelve years, some years ago. Given his escapee status, he couldn't get Harry's custody like his best friends Lily and James Potter had planned, and this is why Harry still stays with the Weasleys. Not to mention that he is a vampire, albeit a well-educated one, so it's better for him to actually live with those like him, even if he's more than capable of living amongst humans, after all he spends nine months in a school filled with them…

So, this is basically how we are going to defend the school.

We keep hearing the giants approaching. We have Hagrid's brother Grawp that can help us with them, but he's only one and we don't know how many Voldemort has.

“I think it's time to go give them a welcoming party” Harry growls, and starts to move toward the main gates of the castle. Dumbledore nods, and we head outside.

Placing ourselves in our designated spots, we watch Voldemort's army approaching. The trees from the forest are sent flying by the advancing giants, but I'm not scared. We can do this, I have faith in my companions.

Finally, the Death Eaters come out of the forest too, in their billowing black cloaks and white masks. They must be surprised to see us ready, because they stop for a moment, before charging toward us at full speed.

And so it starts. The biggest and possibly the decisive battle of this war is finally upon us.

I launch myself into the battle attacking a Death Eater with a stunner, he easily dodges and counters with a Killing Curse. I launch myself on the ground at vamp speed and before he knows what's hit him he's on the ground with his neck broken by the impact. Serves him right for completely skipping foreplay.

Looking around I spot Professor McGonagall in a tight spot, with three Death Eaters attacking her. She is defending herself just fine but she has no openings to attack.

“Petrificus Totalus” I quickly cast thrice, incapacitating her opponents. She nods at me before binding them and sending them to the dungeons where we have decided to base the “prison” for the captured Death Eaters.

I barely have time to think about this when another Death Eater is upon me. “Sectumsempra” he cries, and I deflect the curse with a well placed shield. “Expelliarmus” I cry, but he dodges.

“This the best you can do, child?” he snickers before sending a Cruciatus curse my way. I roll on the ground sending a rock flying his way in the meantime so he can't curse me again while I'm rolling, and then I get back on my feet.

“Mmh, you're better than I thought, this shall prove interesting” the man says, before attacking again with a silent purple curse that I don't recognize. Better not take chances though, so I vamp my way out of its path before stunning him as he's still gaping at the spot I was in. Smirking, I bind him and send him away, not before removing his mask. I gasp as I recognize him as Antonin Dolohov, one of the most vicious Death Eaters.

Turning around I see Harry brawling with another vampire, kicks and punches flying between them. I fight the urge to go help him, he's more than capable of taking care of himself, besides this is exactly what we talked about last night.

No silly heroic acts to help someone else and thus distracting yourself from your own part of the battle.

I spot Grawp beating the crap out of one of the Voldemort's giants, and I can't help but smile.

I search for some other Death Eater to engage, and as I do so I notice Dumbledore graciously duelling with four Death Eaters at the same time, and he's not only defending himself either. I'm amazed at the old man.

But this is no time to watch as a fascinated fan-girl. I turn again, and see a Death Eater going toward the school.

“Where the hell do you think you're going” I think, before stunning him from a distance. Satisfied with myself, I move to go bind him and send him to the dungeons, but I'm suddenly kicked with extraordinary violence to the ground. Grimacing, I go vamp, and feel my broken bones mending immediately. Turning, I see the diabolic, red, ringed eyes of a vamp staring at me. He's cockily making his way toward me.

“You will be a very tasty snack” he sneers, stretching his arm to pick me up, but I suddenly kick him in the stomach with all the vamp strength I now have.

“Oof” he groans standing up. “That was a nice blow, girl. You have some unexpected resources, after all” he compliments me, but I don't get distracted by it. Suddenly, I feel a burst of pheromones coming from him, and I chuckle.

“Trying to charm me into submission? Not going to work, dude” I smirk, before lunging at him at full speed. Surprised, he doesn't manage to dodge my “nasty right hook” as Harry has called it after I landed five of them on him during our training together, and before he can move from the ground, I've got my wand out.

“Sectumsempra” I cry, aiming at his neck. The next thing I know, his head is rolling on the ground. “Flamis Eruptere” I shout next, burning his remains to ashes. Only then I let myself come down from my high and I realize I've killed a vampire.

I feel my legs go a bit weak from the realization of how much I've risked because of not being attentive. If he hadn't kicked me but directly bitten me…

Shaking my head as to rid myself of the gory images the idea brought up, I grab my wand tightly searching for another opponent. This allows me to gauge the situation.

The two rear groups have come to help in the front since nobody was attacking from their sides. I see Remus morphed into a wolf, trying to take down a giant.

“Remus! Get down!!” I shout, and he looks at me surprised. He lets go, and the moment he does, before the giant realizes he can strike him, I cast my spell.

“Incarcerous Maximum” I cry, and steel ropes erupt from my wand, tying the giant's legs tight and making him topple over on the ground with a resounding crash that vibrates through the hill. I'm sure they felt it in the Room of Requirements and are wondering what the hell is happening out here.

With the giant unable to lift himself up from the ground, I cast more steel ropes on him, completely binding him. He's not going to get out of them soon.

The idea is successful because I can see others doing the same, and more crashes vibrate through the ground. I pay them no attention, searching for more opponents.

However, the sight of Lord Voldemort coming out of the forest captivates me. He is walking straight toward Dumbledore, saying something that I can't ear. Dumbledore serenely talks back, reading himself for the duel that everyone knows will probably decide this war.

From what Harry had told me, Voldemort always escaped confrontations with Dumbledore if he could, so if he is actually seeking one now, he must be confident about his chances, and thus have something up his sleeve. Or, he could just be tired of this impasse the war is at, and wants to try and resolve it once and for all.

As the duel starts, most of the other fighters stop their own battles to watch it, mesmerized. I do too, lowering my wand, captivated by the light shows coming out of their wands. I'm sure none of us knows even one of the spells they are using, so far advanced is their magical knowledge, that no one can rival it.

The duel goes on for several minutes, but adding it to the fatigue of the battle, I can see Dumbledore growing tired and losing focus. Voldemort must have noticed this too, because he's firing his spells more rapidly now, and Dumbledore is barely managing to fend them off, completely forced on the defensive, without means of attacking.

It's only a matter of time before his defences crumble, and then it will be the end. Everything we have done to protect the school will be useless.

I want to cry at the unfairness of it all, and I fall to my knees the same moment Dumbledore's wand gets knocked out of his hand, out of his reach.

I can feel, if not hear, Voldemort gloating, before he causally flicks his wand and lets loose the Killing Curse. It strikes Dumbledore, leaving him a limp form on the ground, but before Voldemort can shout his victory to the skies, a bullet-like form lunges at him, and topples him down on the floor. I realize then that it's Harry.

I can't believe what I'm seeing, but Harry has Voldemort pinned to the ground and he's sucking his blood from his neck.

I've never seen him bite someone, or something as he usually hunts animals, but he's draining Voldemort of his life blood with a vengeance. I can understand him, because Dumbledore to him was everything, was the reason he was able to attend Hogwarts and not feel like a monster.

I spot from the corner of my eye a vampire lunging at him and with vamp speed I spring into action, running toward the creature to stop his attack on Harry. Right now, it's the best chance we have of killing Voldemort and with Dumbledore gone we won't have many others either.

So I launch myself at the vampire, pushing him on the ground, and starting to punch him in the face, anything to keep him away from Harry long enough for my boyfriend to kill the Dark Lord.

However, this one is much stronger than the one I killed before, and so he easily turns the tables on me, pinning me on the ground under him, my leg broken where he stepped on it while turning us upside down.

“My, what a beautiful face” he whispers. I can see that he doesn't really care about what is going on with Voldemort, otherwise he would have left me there and gone to help him. So if he wants to play, I'll let him, anything to buy Harry time. “I can easily see that you're not really a vamp, even if you have the same speed. You must have drank the potion Snape concocted, isn't that right?”

I say nothing, so he slaps me hard. “Answer me!”

“Yes, I did” I say, defiantly looking him in the eye. He grins maniacally.

“I knew it. So you're human, and pretty. It will take me nothing to turn you into a vampire and make you my bitch” he sneers at me, grabbing my arm. I try resisting him, thinking of Harry, but he's far stronger than me, and I shriek as I feel his teeth sinking into my flesh.

Suddenly, he's lifted off of me, but I don't care, as my whole body is feeling as if I'm on a million needles, piercing me everywhere. My head is pounding hard, and I fear it's going to explode any moment now.

“Don't worry Hermione, it's going to be alright” I hear Luna whispering to me. She's using an extreme effort not to drink my blood, I can see it, because it's still pouring freely from the bite.

Before I know anything else, my vision blurs, I see more forms around me but I can't recognize them, and then everything goes black.

-->

10. Recover an a Ball

A/N: Chapter 10 is here guys. Hope the cliffie didn't upset you too much, lol. I know it's mean to use them but they are useful for authors, you know ;) The process of turning one into a vampire is a slight variation of that used in “Forever Knight” by DeliverMeFromEve, I asked her for permission to use it, so all of you who have read that story will recognize it, probably. And of course, thanks to my wonderful beta Gingercat, she truly is a great help.

The Cold Ones

Chapter Ten: Recover and a Ball

I slowly open my eyes, and then shut them again. The light is too strong and I can't stand it.

“Hermione” I hear Harry whispering, his hand squeezing mine. Only now I realize he has been holding it in his own since I woke up, and who knows for how long. “You're awake”

“Yeah” I croak out. My throat's dry.

“Here” he says, giving me a glass of water. He helps me drink it, and for that I'm immensely grateful, because I wouldn't have been able to lift myself up enough to do so.

“What happened?” I ask, settling once more against my pillow.

“You gave me a nasty scare, babe, that's what happened” he jokes before telling me.

Harry heard what the vampire said about turning Hermione and making her his bitch, and he wanted nothing more than to rip him into a million pieces. But he also knew that his family would be looking out for her, so he concentrated on keeping his teeth sunk into Voldemort's throat, although the awful taste of the Dark Lord's blood disgusted him.

Finally, the Dark Lord's body slumped on the ground, and Harry let him go. Spitting a mouthful of blood, he hastily looked around searching for Hermione, and expelled a long breath as he saw Luna tending to her, while Bill and Ron had taken care of the other vampire, cutting his head off and burning the remains.

He shuddered at the thought of what could have happened to Hermione if his family hadn't been around. As much as he loved Hermione, and he did more than anything, he couldn't let Voldemort rise again, and so he would have had to let the other vampire have her.

“What did he want to do to me?” I ask, confused.

“Hermione, you know that to turn a human into a vampire, the vamp needs to bite and then not drain his victim's blood, otherwise he would kill the human” he starts, running a hand through his hair. It's adorable when he does that.

I know, I know, I'm not in any condition to be thinking these things, but he really is.

Focusing again on what he's saying, I hear the rest of his explanation.

“If he had made you drink his blood, had you been willing to or not would have made no difference. You would have become a vampire, but you'd also be subject to his will”

“Is that what he meant by making me his bitch?” I ask, a shiver of fear passing through my body.

“Yes. Basically, you would have become his slave, so of course had he asked you to have sex with him, or anything along those lines, you would have had to comply, because of the bond between you and him that would have formed had you drank his blood. Luckily, Luna and Bill were nearby so they knocked him off of you, and then Bill and Ron killed him while Luna tended to your injuries”

I feel a tad of disappointment knowing he wasn't the one to save me. But then I remember what he had been doing, and want to hit myself. Of course he couldn't come, he couldn't let go of Voldemort just to save me!

I look up at him, unsettled by the sudden silence, and see his pained face as he looks down at the pavement. I feel even worse than I did a moment ago for thinking he didn't care enough to come and save me.

Trying to break the tension, I ask the other question going through my mind. “Am I a vampire now?”

He looks up, and gives me a lopsided smile, before shaking his head. “No” he says.

“How come? He bit me, I know this for sure!”

“Yeah, but being bit doesn't always equal being infected. There's a way to avoid the infection spreading”

Harry ran to Hermione's side as soon as he had effectively drained Voldemort of his life.

“How is she?” he asked Luna, the best in the family when it came to healing and medical treatment in general.

“She's lost a lot of blood from the site of the bite, and this is making the infection spread quicker. She only has a few minutes before she turns” the blonde told him.

“What can I do?”

“You can let her turn, or suck the venom out of her” Luna told him, looking him straight in the eyes. Both knew what sucking the venom out entailed, and Harry felt suddenly tired, and unable to do anything.

He didn't want Hermione to become a vampire like him, most people considered them monsters, but at the same time he didn't know if he was strong enough to save her from it. He could make things worse.

“I won't be able to stop” he whispered. Luna patted his shoulder. “You're the most strong-willed person, or vampire, I've ever met, Harry. You can do it. But remember, I saw her as one of us”

“You visions change though, Luna” Harry reminded her. Finally, he took a deep breath and raised Hermione's wounded arm to his mouth. With a last look to Luna, who nodded encouragingly at him, he steeled his resolve.

“If I don't stop, knock me off her” he told his adopted sister, then put his mouth to the wound and started sucking.

The sensation of Hermione's blood filling his mouth was incredible, better than anything he had ever tasted before, and he felt he could easily get addicted to it. He sucked in a big mouthful, and then another, and another, and every one made him crave more of her living essence, more of her unique taste, the one he could only smell till now, and found so enticing. The smell, though, was only a vague impression of it, and so he couldn't stop himself from sucking her blood.

“Stop, Harry. The venom's gone, you're gonna kill her” he heard a distant voice, but he kept sucking.

“Find the will, Harry. I know you can” the voice insisted, a voice he recognized, a voice he knew he should listen to.

“Find the will, Harry” he heard again. It was Luna.

Suddenly, he stopped sucking, and let Hermione's arm fall limply near her body. He was ashamed of how he lost control, almost sucking her dry.

“Did I kill her?” he fearfully asked. Luna smiled at him, shaking her head.

“No, you didn't. She just passed out because of the loss of blood. Let's get her to Poppy”

I listen to his voice, snuggling into the pillow. I'm still very tired, but I guess it is to be expected with the amount of blood I lost. Not even the Blood Replenishing potion can fill me again so quickly.

I want to ask him why he didn't let me turn, but I feel my eyelids growing heavy. I guess it will have to wait. He must have sensed my tiredness, because I hear him chuckle.

“You're still pretty weak, uh?” he says, squeezing my hand again. I nod, smiling sheepishly at him.

“Will you stay with me?” I ask.

He moves from his chair, and sits on the edge of the bed, caressing my forehead and brushing a lone lock of hair out of my face.

“Where else could I go?” he whispers, and I can feel in the intensity of his words that he truly means it. Then he kisses my forehead, and leans on the bed near me.

“I don't think Poppy will approve” I joke, but it is ruined by a yawn. I'm really sleepy now.

“I'll deal with it then” he says. “Now sleep. You need to regain your strength”

I still have a question though.

“What about Voldemort?”

“I dealt with him” he says. That I already knew, of course. “He's dead now” he adds then, seeing I was not satisfied with his answer.

Reassured by his answer, I finally follow his advice and let sleep take me again.

***

It's been a few days since I left the hospital wing. I've now regained most of my strength, I'm still a tiny bit pale but Poppy reassures me that it will pass in a week or so.

As I walk down the steps to the common room I can't believe I'm actually going to the Graduation Ball with a date. I would have never dreamt it only a few months ago.

Taking a deep breath, I will myself to go down the stairs to find Harry waiting for me. It takes him a moment to realize I'm there, as he sees Ron look my way and grin, and then he turns.

I can actually see his eyes darken as they roam over my body, and it sends shivers down my spine to be able to elicit such responses from him.

In a few strides he's in front of me. “You're gorgeous” he whispers, making me blush.

“Thanks” I reply. “The dress is actually Luna's, she leant it to me…” I start to explain, but I stop and take a long breath as he cups my cheek. I can see the devotion in his eyes.

“I'll buy you one just like this one then, because you look absolutely drop dead sexy in it” he whispers into my ear, and then gives me a mischievous smile. I weakly smile back.

“So, are we ready to go now?” Ron asks, his hands around Luna's waist as they are waiting for us near the portrait hole.

We both nod and make our way to them, and together we walk to the Great Hall where the Ball is taking place. I hope everything goes well because I know how hard Dean worked for it, being on the committee to organise the entire evening.

As we enter the Hall, I take a look around, and can't help grinning. Everyone is having fun it seems, and the news of Voldemort's death must have raised their spirits even more.

I spot my friends dancing already. I'm glad things seem to be working out for Dean and Parvati. She has fancied him for a long time, according to her since fourth year, but he never noticed her till recently.

Lavender wears a pink dress we went to buy yesterday, and I can see she was right about it enhancing her chest. Seamus is blatantly staring at it, after all.

Boys! What is it with them and boobs anyway?

Still, I think they make a cute couple.

“Hey, Sunshine” Seamus greets me with my by now familiar nickname. I roll my eyes good-naturedly at him.

“Hi Seamus” I say as we near them. “Having fun?” I say, raising my eyebrows. He blushes as he understands what I mean by it, and nods. I actually laugh.

We finally find a good spot for dancing, not too crowded.

“You really want me to dance? I don't think I'm strong enough for it yet” I say, trying to worm my way out of it.

“I can make you” Harry smirks, and then lifts me slightly off the floor, starting to move with the rhythm of the music.

“See? You're dancing!” he says, smirking.

“At the Graduation Ball” I add with a smile.

“At the Graduation Ball” he agrees.

“I still can't believe it” I softly add.

We “dance” some more, but he must have sensed that I'm not completely at ease.

“Want to go get some fresh air?” he asks, and I nod. We slowly make our way through the crows, and out of the Hall. We are walking hand in hand as we leave the castle and set for a stroll around the grounds.

“Are you ok?” he asks me after some minutes of silence.

“Yeah, I am” I smile warmly at him. “I was just wondering…”

“Wondering about what?” he asks, and I shrug.

“Harry, why did you save me? Had you let the venom spread, now I'd be like you” I say.

He chuckles bitterly. “Believe me, you wouldn't want it. You don't know what you're talking about”

“But why? We could be together forever!” I object. He stops.

I do too after a couple steps, and turn to look at him, almost gasping at the deadly serious expression on his face.

“I'll never, never, put an end to your life” he says, and I can see he means it.

“But I'm already dying! Every second I get older, and closer to my death! Sure, wizards and witches live longer, but they still die of old age!” I protest, trying to make him see my point.

“And that's how it should be” he replies, as we start walking again.

“Luna said she saw me like you” I say. Time to lay all the cards on the table, so I reveal that I've heard their conversation. He looks taken aback for a moment, but then he regains his serious expression.

“Her visions change, Hermione”

“Yeah, they change following people's decisions. I've set my mind, Harry. I want to be like you”

“So is this what you want? To be a monster?” he spats, still trying to change my mind.

“You're not a monster” I softly say, cupping his cheeks and stepping closer. “And I want to be with you forever, this is what I want”

“Forever” he repeats, licking his lips as he gazes at mine. Then he bents down. “Wouldn't you be happy enough with a very long life with me?” he whispers, only an inch away from my lips.

I finally sigh. “Yes. Yes, I would” I say, admitting defeat. “For now” I add then, letting him know this is not over. We are both stubborn, but I'm not easily swayed from my views, and I know what I want.

For now though, I let him kiss me and put an end to our argument, kissing him back with all my might, letting all my love for him into this smoldering kiss that is almost making my toes curl, and a shot of warmth pool into my core.

“H-Harry” I gasp as he kisses my neck, my hands buried into his hair, playing with his unruly locks. “Harry” I say again.

“Yes?” he whispers amongst his kisses.

“Let's go to my room” I huskily say. I can feel my arousal start to dampen my panties, and I want him, now!

“Are you sure?” he chivalrously asks. Damn him and his manners, I just want him to shag me senseless.

“Yes!” I say, and he smirks at my impatience. I feel a tug on my hand and a moment later, we are on my bed. I don't even want to know how we got there, all I care about right now is that I want to make love with him.

I pull his shirt out of his trousers and slip my hands under it, feeling his hard muscles under my fingers. He hisses as I brush over his nipple, and I feel a surge of excitement pooling down into my core at the thought that I can make him react this way.

His hands slip behind me, finding the zipper of my dress, and bringing it down. He then slowly pushes the straps down my shoulders, while I work on the buttons of his shirt, our mouths never coming apart as our tongues continue their mad dance together, twirling, battling for dominance.

I've never felt like this, completely on fire, every nerve in my body standing at alert to catch every single sensation. Finally he breaks the kiss but I have not even the time to protest before feeling his lips close down on my exposed neck. It would be so easy for him to bite me now…and I moan loudly as the thought peaks my arousal even more.

I don't know why but there is something really sexual in being completely at his mercy, knowing that he could change my whole life in a moment if he so wanted. I feel his hands grasping the straps of the dress and leading them further down my arms, uncovering my chest to his view for the first time.

He stops kissing me, and I blush under his scrutiny as he takes in the view of my breasts fully.

“I know they're not big…” I self-consciously whisper, and he turns to look at me. I can see his eyes are almost completely golden now, only a hint of their normal emerald green has remained in them.

“They're perfect. You are perfect” he whispers against my lips before kissing me again as he cups my mounds of flesh with his hands, kneading my hardening nipples.

The contact with his cold skin makes me shiver, and my nipples standing to full attention much quicker. He rolls one between his fingers as he's still kissing me, and I find myself gently biting onto his lower lip, pushing myself more into him, and in doing so I feel once more the proof of his arousal.

I push his shirt off his shoulders, taking a long look at his hard, sculptured chest, before he bends down to engulf my other nipple in his mouth, sucking on it and circling it with his tongue.

“Harry!” I cry, burying my hands into his hair and almost pushing him more into my fleshy orb. He chuckles and I feel the vibrations of it against my sensitive skin. For some time, I have no idea how long, he plays with my boobs, switching his attention and his mouth from one to the other, making me more and more hot. Finally, he proceeds down, kissing his way through my belly to the waistband of my knickers.

He looks at me, silently asking for permission, and I simply nod, watching with some kind of fascination as he hooks his fingers on both sides and easily slides the cloth down my legs, leaving me completely exposed. The chill, or at least chillier than my skin, air hits my soaked centre and I shiver as Harry tosses my underwear on the floor, before settling between my legs.

“You're beautiful” he whispers, awed, and I blush.

“Don't stare” I bashfully mutter, and he smirks at me. “Embarrassed?”

I try to glare at him, but then he runs a finger along my slit and I arch my back at the sudden sensation. He stops then, and I pout.

“You're mean” I cry, and he chuckles again. “I take it you want me to keep doing that?” he cheekily asks, and I nod.

“Yes, please”

And he does. He runs his finger along my slit again, up, and down, before slipping it inside making me cry out his name in ecstasy. As I'm just coming down from my mini-orgasm, he finds my clit and pinches it, making me shudder in pleasure. But it's not over yet, because then he keeps playing with my clit, while he places his mouth on my pussy, licking up the juices flowing out of it. I don't know what I expected but the feeling of his tongue probing inside my core is absolutely glorious, and I don't want him to stop, ever.

Eventually, though, his ministrations bring me to the brink of orgasm, and I shout his name to the night over and over as he sucks on my clit once more, while driving his middle finger inside me.

When I finally calm down a bit, and my breathing returns to a semblance of normalcy, I look at him hungrily. “Your turn now, Harry” I huskily say, moving toward him. I kneel in front of him, unbuckling his pants, and slowly bringing them down to his ankles. Next I push down his boxers and finally reveal him in all his glory.

As I close my hand around his erection I hear him hiss, and smirk to myself. I pump him a few more times, loving to hear him growl that way, before tentatively slipping the head of his member into my mouth, and swirling my tongue around it.

“Her-mion-eeee!” he moans as I cup his balls with my free hand and start fondling them, while at the same time sucking hard on him. I try slipping all his length into my mouth, but he's too big and I end up gagging.

“You ok?” he concernedly asks me, and I nod, coughing. So much for not revealing how new to this I am…

“You don't have to do that if you don't want to, you know” he reassures me as he runs his hand through my brown curls, but I am not Hermione Granger for nothing. I always learn what I don't already know, and so I give it another try.

This time, I manage to get it right, and keep licking and sucking him until he stiffens, holding my head in place.

“I'm cumming!” he growls, and before I can grasp what he's saying his load hits my throat. I reflexively swallow it all.

“Whoa” he whispers once he's spent himself into my mouth. I wipe my lips with my hand, and give him an impish smile.

“You're not already too tired, are you?” I wink at him, settling back on the bed. He smirks at me before joining me and kissing me hard, our tongues once more finding each other in a mad dance. Eventually, our kissing slows down and becomes sweeter, gentler. He pushes a strand of my ear behind my ear, cupping my cheek with his hand.

“I love you so much, Hermione” he whispers against my lips, and I can see in his eyes that he means it.

“I love you too, Harry” I say, initiating another kiss. I slip my hand between our bodies, and guide his shaft to my entrance.

“Please” I say to him, and he understands. Slowly, incredibly slowly, he slips inside me, always watching me for signs that I want to stop. I feel him stretching me wide, but it is not an unpleasant sensation, just a new one. I feel then his hardness hitting my womanhood, and I prepare myself for the pain that is going to follow. With a small nod, I urge him to go further, and when he does, I feel a sharp sting. He kisses me hard to distract me from the pain, and I willingly let him.

After a moment or two, the stinging starts to subside. “You can move now” I whisper.

“You sure?”

I just nod, and so he starts to slowly move, careful not to hurt me further. The pain starts to change into pleasure, and so I start meeting his thrusts with my own.

“Faster! Go faster, Harry!” I urge him, and he complies, eager to please. I wrap my arms around his neck as he keeps pushing in and out of me, bringing me up and up toward another mind-blowing climax.

Finally, I come just as he does too, stars clouding my vision once more as I slowly relax on the bed. He lays down next to me, pulling my body to him.

“It was amazing” he whispers, and I laugh.

“It was even better than that” I admit, and can feel him grinning. With a flick of his fingers he moves the sheets to cover us, and I snuggle into his chest as I feel myself getting sleepy.

“Rest, now. I'll stay here” he whispers, kissing my ear, and I smile contentedly.

I am definitely glad I accepted the invitation to come to Hogwarts.

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