A/N: Sorry, you guys lost me to my video games again. This time it was Resident Evil REmake, 4, 5, Metroid Prime 3 and FFXIII, and I wholeheartedly recommend all of them. I think I know what I'm gonna write after this and PoV, as well. It'll be an AU of RE2 and 4 in which Leon finds a sample of the experimental "Wesker virus" in one of Birkin's labs and ends up having to use it when the final boss delivers a killing blow, gaining the same strength and speed as Wesker. The story will then skip ahead to Leon in Spain on his mission to save Ashley. Things will obviously be very AU, and, a fair warning, I hate that stupid, manipulative bitch Ada and love Ashley, so it'll most likely end up LeonxAsh. I'll probably continue it on into 5 as well. As for the chapter, I'm using a common mangaka's tool (mangaka is the proper term for a manga author/artist, for those of you who didn't know): the converging story, as in I've gone ahead into Harry's story, but now I'm gonna go a little bit backwards to tell you what's been going on with Mione before they meet up. I apologize to all girls in the audience in advance, I know you hate the "C" word, but I needed something stronger than bitch. You'll know why when you read further. I also apologize for my cruelty in this chapter, but sadism and cruelty are common in Hellsing and I believe both are inherent traits of one Bellatrix Lestrange. I guarantee you that she will get what's coming to her before the first part is over. Also, I know that Hermione get's a little OOC, but you'll forgive the extenuating circumstances. Voldemort does know that Harry's not dead, by the way, his vampires weren't able to confirm the kill, so Voldemort is taking no chances.
Harry Potter and the Bird of Hermes
Chapter 5: Tragedy and Reunions
Two weeks before the attack on Hellsing:
*KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK*
Hermione looked up as someone pounded on the front door of her house. Putting down her book, she looked out the window and saw Ron. What the hell is he doing here? She thought to herself; she'd gotten no notice of a visit and he wasn't accompanied by any Order members. She walked toward the door and braced her arm against the frame, her wand in her hand and out of sight. She opened it just a crack and called out, "What was your last move in the chess match our first year?"
There was a slight pause that she wrote off as Ron's slight tendency to be a little slow, "Sacrificing myself and telling Harry to checkmate the king."
"How did you and Harry find out about the basilisk in second year?"
"You had a book page clutched in your hand that Harry found."
"What did Harry do when you and he first saw the troll in first year?"
"Jumped on its back and shoved his wand up its nose," came the reply, accompanied by a snort.
Hermione opened the door fully, but still looked at Ron quizzically, "No offense, but what are you doing here?"
"Dumbledore said Snape reported that Voldemort was coming after you to try and flush out Harry. Remus and Tonks are covering the yard, now go get your stuff and we'll leave," Ron replied, his face displaying the urgency in his voice.
"Alright," Hermione said, turning towards the stairs. After she'd completely turned, she heard 'Stupefy' and all went black.
---
"Wakey, wakey, bitch," Hermione heard as she woke, desperately trying to clear the fog from her vision. What she saw surprised her. Draco Malfoy was sitting on her living room couch, absentmindedly twirling his wand between two fingers, and she was bound at the ankles and wrists. "Surprised to see me? I'm an official Death Eater now, and my Lord let me pick my first target. Naturally, I picked the stupid, stuck-up mudblood bitch who'd humiliated me on more than one occasion. It's only a bonus that killing you will bring Potter running."
"So you've moved on from school bully to callous murderer, I take it. Somehow, I doubt that; deep down, you're still the same chicken-hearted, arrogant, little prick," Hermione shot back, glaring.
"Shut it," Draco responded, throwing himself forward before delivering a vicious backhand.
"Very eloquent," she growled, spitting out some blood as she pulled her head back up and smirked at him.
"Calm down, boy. If you kill her now, you'll miss out on that sweet, pained expression as we torture her parents," a calm, albeit fucking insane, voice said from behind Hermione. She looked and saw Bellatrix Lestrange, a large, sadistic smile on her face as she imagined the very scene she'd described. She shuddered with pleasure for a second before grinning madly and reaching forward to grab a handful of Hermione's hair, "You and your parents are going to suffer and die. It'll be a nice prelude to presenting your body to that Potter brat before our Master kills him."
Great, she actually seems to get off on this. I need to find some way out of here, Hermione thought. "How in the hell did you manage to pull off the Ron disguise?" she asked Draco, trying to keep them talking while her brain continued to work overtime. She felt something digging into her calf and remembered her backup wand, a little something she'd picked up on the way home from King's Cross. Yes! The morons forgot to search me.
"It was ingenious, actually. We waited for that Weasley idiot to leave his house for a visit to that crazy Luna girl, and snatched him. Voldemort dug every secret possible from his mind, and then used a variant of the Imperius Curse on me that allowed him to speak into my mind without directly controlling me and causing the telltale symptoms. Polyjuice took care of the rest, and, may I say, Weasley tastes like shit."
"Really? I expected Quaffle. I'd always assumed you were the shit-flavored one," she quipped, and when Draco smacked her again, she kept her head down so they couldn't see her face contorted in concentration. She touched the wand's handle and focused on both a message and the happiest memory she could muster. 'Expecto Patronum', she said in her mind, a barely noticeable flash accompanying her otter's appearance under the floorboards before it raced away towards her parents' practice. Remus had called Tonks and said he'd apprehended a suspicious character there and sent the Grangers home. She now knew that it was probably just a ruse to draw her guards away and get her parents home sooner; apparently it had worked, because she heard her parents' car pull into the driveway.
"Showtime, mudblood," Draco said, his voice dripping with malevolent intent. Bellatrix magically shut off the lights, the light outside was only just getting dim but the inside of her house was dark due to the curtains, before hiding near the door so that it would conceal her when opened.
"Hermione, dear, did you go to bed early?" Hermione's mother, Jane, called as she walked in, her husband, Alex, just behind her. As soon as they cleared the door, Bellatrix pressed both her own wand and Hermione's to the backs of their necks.
"Don't move," she hissed before kicking the door shut. "Draco, the lights, please."
Draco did as he was told and the elder Grangers saw their daughter tied-up, with a few large bruises blossoming on her face and blood leaking from the corner of her mouth. "HERMIONE!" her father shouted and made to move towards her, but Bellatrix just jabbed the wand into his neck harder.
"Don't move," she repeated, more forcefully. She jabbed their necks at a downward angle, "On your knees." The Grangers reluctantly complied as Bellatrix quickly used her wand to seal the door. "Now comes the fun part," she let out a cackle, "Crucio"
"Mum, Dad!" Hermione called out as her parents began to scream and writhe on the floor. She wasn't sure what was worse, the looks on her parents faces, the feelings of helplessness, or the look of sadistic glee on Bellatrix's face as she enjoyed herself a little too much.
"How does it feel, you filthy mudblood? Knowing that there is no way to avoid their deaths, that your own will lead your precious Harry to slaughter," Draco whispered in her ear, rage coloring his voice as he remembered all her perceived slights against him.
"Come along, Draco, enjoy yourself," Bellatrix invited, and moved her wand to cover the daughter as Draco moved onto the parents.
Dammit, dammit, dammit, there's no way I can cut these bonds and take out both of them before they get me. Mum...Dad... Hermione thought as she silently pleaded for Remus and Tonks to show up soon.
Draco, it turned out, was fast developing a sadistic streak of his own, alternating between Cutting Curses and the Cruciatus. Hermione was trying to work her wand out of the thin holster under her sock, ignoring her earlier conclusion that she'd get killed before being able to do anything. She nearly keeled over with relief when the door suddenly began to bend inwards, a sign that the two Order members were currently trying their best to breach Bellatrix's seal.
"Damn, how'd they know? You must be far more clever than I give you credit for, little one," Bellatrix growled, leaving the parents to Draco as she stalked towards Hermione. "Managed to call in the cavalry. Well, I'll have to punish you for that. Draco, move." Draco complied and Bellatrix leveled her wand at Alex, "Avada Kedavra."
"NO!" Hermione roared as the jet of green light hit her father and he slumped to the ground. Jane let out a sob and weakly tried to reach him.
"Did I say you could move?" Draco snarled, letting fly a Cutting Curse that severed her right arm just below the elbow before casting Cruciatus again. Amid her mother's screams, Hermione finally got her wand free and sliced the rope around her feet before freeing her hands. Just then, the door was blasted off its hinges and Draco, all confidence lost when he saw a former DADA Professor and an Auror charging in the door, bolted through the kitchen and into the backyard. Tonks, ignoring her instincts to chase him down, immediately dropped to Mrs. Granger's side and began to render aid.
Bellatrix didn't fare so well. She'd been distracted and didn't see Hermione free herself, but she certainly felt it when Hermione tackled her, grabbed her wand, tossed it away, and then began to beat the ever loving shit out of the woman who'd taken so much from Neville, Harry, and, now, her.
"YOU CRAZY BITCH! I'LL KILL YOU, YOU STUPID CUNT!" Hermione screamed, primal rage and grief overriding her logical mind. Hermione ignored Remus when he said to calm down, and, in a burst of anger-fueled accidental magic, summoned Bellatrix's wand and shoved it through her eye and into her brain. She died instantly, but Hermione continued to pound her corpse, images of her dead father and screaming mother coming to her mind as the anger began to ebb and she began to sob.
"Hermione, HERMIONE!" Remus called, dropping to his knees and wrapping his arms around her. "She's dead, she'll never hurt anyone again, calm down." Hermione stopped and then just seemed to shut down, sobbing and unmoving. Remus picked her up and carried her towards her parents. Tonks had manged to stop most of Jane's bleeding and the injured woman promptly embraced her daughter and broke down crying.
---
Hermione awoke to a sterile smell and a bright, white ceiling. Oh, God, please tell me it was just a nightmare. My Dad's fine and Mum isn't missing an arm, Hermione thought frantically, only to have that fantasy shattered as she felt the pain in her face and her split lip. She looked around, in the process noting that she was in the Hospital Wing, and saw her mum lying on the bed next to her with a body covered by a sheet on the bed beyond her. Dad...
"You cannot allow grief to consume you, Ms. Granger. All that does is let Bellatrix torment you from beyond the grave and make you weaker," the voice of Albus Dumbledore said from beside her.
"Headmaster, where's Harry?" she asked, trying desperately to think of something other than the two beds beside her. A detail she caught last night seemed a good topic to latch onto. "They said they attacked me to flush him out."
"I sent him somewhere to get some much needed training."
"Then please, don't tell him what's happened. He'll go charging right for Voldemort and with that training unfinished. Please...I can't lose him, too," she begged, tears coming to her eyes.
Dumbledore leaned over and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, "He'll be angry when he comes back, but I agree. He...loves you far to much to ignore this. I guarantee that, while it may be a little dangerous, there is no safer place than where he is right now."
"What do you mean, he loves me?" Hermione asked, unwilling to believe that the feelings she'd harbored since third year might be returned.
"It's not my place to say, ask Harry when you see him."
"Professor..."
"Yes, Ms. Granger?"
"Train me, too. Bellatrix may be gone, but there are still plenty of Death Eaters out there who will take away more peoples' fathers, mothers, siblings, kids. I want to help stop them."
"Very well. I'll have Remus and Tonks start as soon as you're recovered."
With that out of the way and her mind calming a little, the memories of last night became more lucid, and one long-winded explanation by Draco stood out, "RON! Professor, they have Ron!"
"Mr. Weasley?"
"Yes, that's how they caught me off guard, Draco Malfoy showed up disguised as Ron and answered all my questions about him with Voldemort's help. He said Snape had reported that Voldemort was coming after me and he was there to evacuate me. He stunned me when I turned to go upstairs. Did you catch him?"
"I'm afraid not, he escaped out the back when Tonks stopped to help your mother."
"Oh, well remind me to thank her."
"You're welcome," the clumsy, pink-haired Auror said as she and Remus walked in. Both walked over and took turns hugging her and apologizing for getting there too late. "How did you manage that Patronus message?"
"Backup wand. I cast the charm silently after Draco hit me the second time. I had my Patronus materialize under the floorboards so they couldn't see it."
"You conjured a silent, corporeal Patronus while bound after getting smacked? We may not have to train you very much."
"Indeed, Ms. Granger seems to have the skills to match her immense intellect," Dumbledore said, a bright smile on his face.
Hermione blushed a bit, but all mirth was banished from the room by the anguished cry of Jane Granger as she woke up, calling for her husband and daughter. Hermione, nothing damaged but her face, immediately rushed to her, gripping her remaining hand. This will never happen to another family if I can help it.
---
Two days after the attack on Hellsing:
"Hermione, dear, Albus wants to see you in his office," Jane Granger, looking much better than she had two weeks ago, though not without sadness in her eyes, told her daughter, who'd been at a table in the library doing what she'd been doing for those same two weeks. She was looking up every single spell she could find that would be remotely useful, and she only stopped to eat, sleep, and train with Remus and Tonks.
"Thanks, Mum," Hermione replied, getting up from her chair and stretching. "How you doing?"
"I'm fine, I still miss your father...but, I'm surviving."
"Good to hear. You still adjusting to being a leftie?"
"I've had no problems lately, and, to tell you the truth, I've had more trouble adjusting to not having most of my right arm."
"There are ways of taking care of that magically."
"So you've told me, quite a few times since I first woke up, but those are all made of inanimate objects and I really don't want a silver or wooden limb."
"So you've told me. Anyways, see you later, Mum," Hermione said, giving her mother a quick hug before leaving the library. As she headed towards the Headmaster's office, she reflected on the past two weeks. Her mother had been hysterical while they planned a small funeral, and she still cried herself to sleep when she thought Hermione wouldn't notice. She, on the other hand, had thrown herself into her training, absorbing all of the knowledge Remus and Tonks had presented in record time. After that, she'd all but ordered them to start training her reflexes, still bothered by the fact that Draco had practically shouted the spell and she'd still been hit. She'd gotten to the point that the world seemed to run a little slower in combat now, improving her aim and dodging capability. She wasn't exactly sure what had enabled her to learn a skill like that so fast, but it probably had something to do with her magic, it was reacting to her frenzied emotions somehow. She walked right past the gargoyle, it not being active during the summer, and up the stairs to Dumbledore's office. As she opened the door, she saw someone standing in the middle of the room. As her eyes met his, she instantly knew who it was, despite his appearance change, "HARRY!"
"Hey, Mione," he greeted, lopsided grin splitting his face. Hermione ran forward to embrace him, but, just as she got her arms around him, she let out an 'ow!' and drew back. "Mione, what's wr-" Harry was cut off as he saw her inner arm...and the gash she'd gotten because he'd forgotten to take off Rebellion. The blood seemed to run from it in slow motion and Harry's eyes became red as he slowly followed a drop across her flesh.
"Harry?" Hermione asked, her voice shaky as she watched his eyes change. Ignoring her, Harry gently grabbed her arm and guided it towards his face, then let his tongue loll out of his mouth before running it along her arm, savoring the sweet taste of 100% pure, virgin blood. The fact that it was Hermione's seemed to make it all the sweeter. "Harry, what are you-" It was Hermione's turn to get cut off, as Harry, any uncertainty stripped away by the bloodlust, kissed her. Hermione stiffened at first, not willing to believe that Harry was actually kissing her, but very soon relaxed and reciprocated. They stayed like that for awhile, their kiss progressively deepening, their tongues dueling, their bodies pressed tightly together as Harry wrapped his arms around her waist and Hermione threw hers around his neck, carefully avoiding anymore nicks on his sword. It was only need for air that separated them. They pulled back just enough to look at each other, but, at that moment, several things connected in Hermione's mind: red eyes, drinking blood, and elongated canines. They all pointed to one thing and that conclusion made her jerk away from Harry. "You're a vampire."
"Yes, does this mean that was the last kiss we share and I'm supposed to go mope in a castle somewhere in Romania?"
She chuckled at that, "No, but you owe me one hell of an explanation."
Harry recounted his story from that fateful night, three weeks ago. She just stared at him for most of it, the knowledge that there was a group of non-magicals who not only knew about, but hunted, vampires and other supernatural creatures fascinated her, and the attack on said organization made her shudder a bit, reminding her too much of the sneak attack on her family. Integra, Alucard, Seras, and Walter all seemed like people she wanted to meet and Harry promised that she would. The fact that Harry had killed Dolohov didn't go unnoticed to her, either, and she thought it only appropriate, considering she'd killed a Death Eater who'd caused him pain as well.
It was Hermione's turn next, telling Harry about the attack on her house, Ron's abduction, her father's death, her mother's injuries, Bellatrix's death, Draco's escape, and her training. "That's about it, I'm sorry you didn't get a shot at that bitch yourself, but I guess we're even."
"Seems so," Harry replied, grinning. "Listen, Hermione, I'm sorry I just forced myself on you like that, but you cut yourself and, well...the bloodlust can make us vampires do crazy things...and well, maybe I should tell you what I was going to tell you before that happened," he said, his voice getting a little nervous, despite the fact that everything was already out in the open. Voicing his love for his best friend just seemed so much harder. She looked at Harry and nodded to indicate he should continue. "Look, I've been thinking about a lot of things over the past three weeks, but one thing has stuck in my head, a thought I had before I made my decision to let my master turn me. When I considered what would happen should I die, the first thing that came to mind is that I'd be leaving you, that you'd die. Even dead, I wouldn't be comfortable with that. Truth is, you've been the one constant in my life since I arrived at Hogwarts, you've always been there for me, even when you had every right to call me an ass and leave. I don't know when it happened, but somewhere along the line I seem to have fallen in love with you."
Hermione, for her part, didn't say anything. She felt a few tears of joy leak out, and then leapt at Harry, kissing him for all she was worth once again. When they pulled back, she smiled, "I love you, too."
"Ah, young love, is there anything on Earth sweeter?" the voice of Albus Dumbledore echoed from behind them. Harry reacted in an instant, pushing Hermione behind him and pointing Ivory in the old man's direction. "Nice reflexes, I see Alucard has taught you well."
"My master was more help than that walking fountain of sarcastic commentary."
"He does take some getting used to. Now, Harry, I assume you have some questions for me?"
"Now that you mention it, old man..."
---
A/N: I feel kinda bad about what I did to Hermione, it makes me want to find Emma Watson, give her a big hug and say sorry, but I don't feel like getting attacked by security, so I'll let that thought go. Sorry if the end seemed a little rushed and the HHr sucked, romance is not my forte, though for those of you who comment, Harry's confession at the end was supposed to sound kinda nervous and rambling. Hermione's "heightened reflexes" are a reference to Bayonetta, a few elements of which I'm using. This particular ability is based on the concept of Witch Time. See you next chapter...
-Sypher Kyaeon