A/N: For the Hermione As A Vampire challenge (writing challenges).
What had happened to me? First there was searing pain, the kind that made me want to die. And now this – opening my eyes and seeing nothing but darkness. There had better be quite an explanation for this, I thought.
Soon I realized that I didn't need an explanation after all. I stumbled out of blackness and found that I was in a small house. Moonlight streamed through a window, lighting the hallway with a silvery glow. I caught sight of a mirror and came face-to-face with the awful truth – I was a vampire, or at least something that wasn't human.
I heard footsteps coming up the spiral stairs behind me. I turned my head and saw the person causing them – a young man with the same pale skin I now had. "Who – what – are you?" I gasped. More likely than not, he was responsible for this person that I had now become.
"Calm down," he told me, gently placing his hand on my shoulder. It was cool, although not the icicle I had expected. "You're all right, just a little, erm, unnerved by the transformation. I've heard it's normal, although there's no proof of that." His voice melted any feeling of dislike I'd felt towards him – it was calming, healing me unintentionally.
"But still, who are you?" What my friends would say if they knew I'd been alone, at night, with someone I'd never met! Then again, that was the least of my worries. Now that I knew he wouldn't hurt me, my biggest problem was how I'd explain to my friends that I wasn't, well, human.
"My name is Gabriel," he replied. "And you are?"
"Hermione." I was still gasping, still not at ease with my new situation. I felt a flicker of love for Gabriel, but no more than that. He was, after all, responsible for this new person that I had become.
"It's all right, I won't hurt you." How did he know what I had been thinking? It was unearthly, but then again, this entire night was unearthly.
"Promise?" If he were true to his word, then maybe – just maybe – I would stay near him. If he weren't, however, he'd be lucky to survive five more minutes. I didn't quite know what I'd do, but the vampire movies I'd seen when I was younger definitely gave me some ideas.
"I promise that, so long as I exist, I won't hurt you or do anything that alarms you. If I'd known that you'd seem so beautiful in the moonlight, I'd either have changed you so much sooner or let you live in peace. This wasn't quite what I intended, and I'm dreadfully sorry for it."
Our hands met. We kissed. I had no chance of living a normal life now, and I didn't want it.