Two dark and mysterious figures steadily walked up the gravel drive of Hogwarts as the bells in the tower tolled a half hour to midnight high above them...

That hit me hard. No more magic?

Granger looked at me and saw the faint smile pulling at my lips and nearly fainted when she realized what was happening. I raised my wand higher and relaxed myself to further unnerve her. I chuckled evilly and I could almost see her keel over, her knees nearly giving out under her.

With a soft chirrup and a whoosh of scarlet and gold wings, Fawkes abandoned his perch behind me and flew over towards Hermione, who tensed a bit as the bird came near her. He slowed and came to a stop, seeming to be suspended in midair, his flapping sluggish and meticulous. All Time stopped in that one moment, where bird and girl stared each other down, one with hardened, penetratingly purple orbs, one with soft, understanding amber gems...

The grille bars of the Atrium elevator were blown aside, blasted from their hinges as forcefully as if a gun had gone off, or a bomb. They flew halfway across the room, sliding the other half leaving long gashes in the floor at least as deep as a child’s thumb, making an awful racket of themselves...

This was too much; this show of compassion and sensitivity. I lost it and began to cry uncontrollably into his shoulder.

“Go to the nearest butcher, and get blood,” I said, my voice strangely low and husky. This had happened once before, so I knew what I wanted. “Pig blood. It has to be pig blood, Brooks!”

Dangerous Criminals On Run, was the headline, flanked by two pictures, one of who I assumed was the Muggle Prime Minister, as indicated by the banner beneath him. Looking to the right of the page, I saw the photograph of a man I had hoped never to see again. It was the man from Pansy’s apartment, Dominic Keaston.

With that he swooped down on me like the vampires that he hunted and yanked up the sleeve on my right arm until it was just past the elbow. There, a tattoo in the shape of a drop of blood resided, no larger than my thumbnail; something I cherished above all else, but also the thing I was frightened of the most in this world. Not even the brand on my left forearm had had such an effect on me.

I gulped as my stomach did a flip flop. I hadn’t noticed, but being around humans had greatly increased my thirst. Perhaps it was my love for Harry and Draco’s respect to his promise not to hurt him that had kept him alive during our encounter. I don’t know what I would do around anyone but Harry, Ron or Ginny right now.