Author's Note: A nice little one shot that demanded to be written. Originally this was going to be another story but I decided to leave it like this. There's a lot of unanswered question, feel free to fill in your own blanks. Also this takes place on the night Harry defeats Voldemort. That's about as accurate as it gets. At first I titled it 'Devils in the Dark' but this name makes a lot more sense, you'll see. I tried to be a bit poetic too. Enjoy, I don't absolutely love it but it's not too bad. Read and review my loves. Rated M only for some good uses of the f-bomb ;)

I was burning. On fire. A thousand senses alit with the feeling now burning inside me. Impossible. My blood was singing a melody only I could understand. Swimming. Swimming for her. The girl who's eyes had never caught mine. The single solitary human being who I had never given a shit about. The one who was dirt. Who was nothing. Yet here she was, an angel in the moonlight, her eyes scared. She stood. Brave, unwavering. My mouth salivated. I couldn't be here....I couldn't do this. How had I gotten here? The forest was dark, but I could see every leaf on the tree. I could smell the grass. Taste the air. I was more alive than any living creature here. I was god. And yet I was flawed. So very, very flawed. I understood that now. No matter how many ounces of sweet nectar had passed through my lips nothing compared to this. Because now there was a face to the kill.....this wasn't an order. This was my control slipping like sand in an hourglass. And she just kept staring...maybe mesmerized...maybe just curious. Either way I had one instinct in my brain, one pounding heartbeat that sounded like a demon's drum in my ears. It wasn't my own, that was gone forever. "You need to leave." Was all I managed to say before the monster began to creep into my soul and devour all that was left of Draco Malfoy.

**************

"My plan is one that will help ensure our place on top in this war. You have been personally chosen to be transformed, but I am certain you all are willing to make sacrifices for you Lord Voldemort." The smirk on the Dark Lords lips chilled me to the very core, like the grinning smile of a murderer before the kill. Yes...I'd been chosen. He called it that, I called it being punished. Beside me stood other Death Eaters, young ones, new and shaking, all who swore their alliance to a war that this mad wizard believed we would win. Fool...We all stood in a line waiting for fate, bare-chested and cold as the day we were forced into the world. I was shaking then, terrified, but trying with all my being to hide it from view. I had to be strong. I had to keep up the Malfoy name. What venomous trash I used to think....

"Have no fear my willing children! For this is truly a gift from your most caring lord!" The Dark Lord let out a laugh that echoed in the emptiness in the forest around us, shattering my thoughts, "I offer you immortal life...in return for your loyalty. You will receive this gift and use it to bring my world, our world into the future. There will be no more Potter...no more tainted wizarding race...with your new strength you will help bring an end to this foolish resistance!" His voice rang out, a devil's song, and the other Death Eaters whom he had called all cried out in cheer. They didn't understand. They didn't stand where I stood. And I would be dying for them. A child victim to a war I didn't start nor care anything for. I wanted to run. Into the mountains. Into the forest. To the desert. To the sea. I didn't want to exist anymore.

"Vilinius has made a smart agreement with me...His Coven will assist in my master plan and in return I will grant his kind pardon and a place in the New World." As the Dark Lord spoke I heard them beginning to descend on us. The rush of air, the dark hiss resounding in the night. And without any warning they had appeared, wolves in sheep's clothing. My eyes widened at the sight, knowing my fate. The leader, Vilinius, swift and beautiful, stood at Voldemort's side. He wasn't real...nothing so divinely perfect could exist for such a dark purpose, but he did. His dark silver eyes looked down the line of Death Eaters, stopping at me. Our eyes met, a dark smirk forming on his pale lips, his skin aglow light a light under the darkened sky. And I knew he had chosen me. A female hissed in the background, a whine. She too was angelic, save for the white canines that protruded dangerously far from her gums. Vilinius silenced her with a low growl.

"And it is a deal which we intend to keep..." Vilinius spoke in a low, sensual voice, his immortal eyes still trapped on mine. I wanted to fight the pull, the horrid longing beginning to fill my chest from the look in his eyes. Tricks...all tricks of their kind. But I was weak....so weak....Draco...he whispered without a sound, the voice was in my head. Calling, calling. I could feel other eyes on me...mother and father...but they were distant now. The world was distant. My life belonged in his eyes now, a pull I was powerless to fight. So strong...so needful....

"Well I wish not to deny our guests any further waiting. Let the siring begin shall we?" The Dark Lord spoke but I barely heard him. Vilinius spoke something and the demons began to move towards their chosen prey. Silence suddenly washed over the forest, all life had held it's breath. I was captivated, infatuated with the man before me as he ebbed closer, eyes unblinking. Do not be afraid...I offer you the greatest gift...He whispered in my head. My poor senseless head. And I believed him. I wanted this now, he made me want it, more than I had wanted anything before. My grey eyes shut as I felt the two strong hands touch my cheeks, nails scratching against flesh. "DRACO!" My mother. Screaming for me, calling for me. Again and again, a piercing cry but I was gone. She was muffled, I understood this but I couldn't see, I couldn't care. Vilinius whispered calming words in my eager ears, his voice a melody to behold. Trust in me Draco.....I will make you a god...I nodded as he spoke. Yes...give me this, give me this gift. Eternity. Forever and always. He understood. I felt the icy lips against my neck and then the impossible bite into my goose bumped flesh. My lips let out a soft cry as I felt him suck at my crimson innocence, knees giving way and we fell like rain to the Earth. His hands moved to my arms, gripping me against him. I was limp, in ecstasy, crying. I was in heaven. I had reached salvation. Let me feel it. Let it never end. The warm of life was leaving, I felt my chest tighten, my mind blanking. A tremendous pause of a beat before to fade within me...no....don't go. Don't let the feeling leave....but it was. Vilinius began to slow...and I was slipping farther and farther into nothingness, embracing the dark. The war, the pain, the suffering would be over. He had failed...I was going to die....

Fire. On my lips, in my mouth, caressing my tongue. This wasn't death. This was sweet, intoxicating life. My eyes shot open as I realized my lips were latched to his open wrist, my own blood had spilled like a cloak down my pale chest. But that meant nothing, only the delicacy before me. I grabbed his wrist, sucking all of the sweet crimson nectar I could. Beautiful. Reborn. I watched my own nails lengthen and point, the whole world around me come alive. He had succeeded. Enough Draco...enough for now. He spoke into me and forced me back as I fell with my back to the ground, gasping at the air, a growl in my throat. I looked up at the moon, incomprehensively beautiful in the sky. I looked at the trees.....so perfectly made...at the others around me experiencing this anew as myself. I smelled it then....such life...such delicious life. I jumped to my feet and turned. The face of Death Eaters watched me, wide and fearful as I saw each one of them like never before....my mother sobbing. Part of my wanted to comfort her, but another part, a part thrashing and burning within me wanted something more. Something much more precious. Calling to me...blood...No...."Draco!" Vilinius hissed and I growled lowly, turning back to him. I understood then. I understood it all. My bloody lips parted as I looked down at my hands....I was gone. Draco was gone. My tongue rubbed against the fangs I didn't want, enhancing the life I hadn't chosen. He had made me want it....lies. I wanted blood...such terrible truths all vivid in my head. And I fell once more, sobbing agony spilling from me. Because I knew my fate. I understood what I was. Vampire.....

*************

"I'm not leaving Malfoy," She responded...what a foolish little girl. Didn't she see what I was? I couldn't control what now burned within my chest, I couldn't hold onto whatever part of me was still human, "I can't let you go back out there and help Voldemort," She drew her wand...bravery echoing in her soft face but I could smell her fear. Taste it. And every fiber of me wanted to take her, right there. Clamp onto her sweet skin and see heaven for what glorious few seconds I could. And I knew she would taste so purely in my mouth, "Draw your wand."

"I have no wand Granger..." I hissed in a low voice, my fists clenched. Every breath I took smelled of her, agony. I couldn't kill her....could I? Could I watched the light drain from her brown eyes? Brown innocent eyes. Could I listen to my unskilled hands break into her collarbone, her ribs, her arms? Could I destroy her? I stepped closer, the pound of her heartbeat quickening, my mouth watering. This was a test. Some horrible test. Designed to make me suffer. I should've been the one to run but I couldn't now. I was drawn to her, so captivated by a person whom I'd only ever bred hatred for. Did being a vampire now open my eyes to her beauty?

"What's happened to you?" Her eyes widened, her voice a whisper, sending waves of pleasure down my spine. She knew. I stepped closer and she remained frozen to the spot, her hand shaking now. Had I trapped her with my mind? Maybe...dark design it was.

"You're a smart girl Granger....guess."

"No...No this can't have happened..." She replied and there was something there I never would have expected, something that for one moment quieted the beast trying to claw it's way from me. She was crying. Tears falling like crystal down her cheeks. But why? Why for me? I stepped closer then, my face changed, I could feel it. She inhaled sharply and lowered her wand as our eyes met, pale silver and brown, "It wasn't supposed to be like this...." An enigma, she had me puzzled alright.

"Then how was it supposed to be?" I asked softly, we were only feet apart. I didn't want that space, but I knew it protected her. The human part in which she fascinated wasn't in control here, the darker part of me was. Waiting for her move, waiting to rip open her neck.

"Harry had seen visions of you through Voldemort's eyes....your suffering...." She said these words and I couldn't bare to look at her, she had seen my weakness. No one was allowed to see my weakness, "I thought maybe if I reasoned with you, tried to help you, I could stop you before you made a huge mistake." Another flow of silent tears came and her statement cut into me like knives. She had come to redeem my soul. But it had vanished.

"You're too late..." I said softly, "The darkness has me." Now she moved closer and I froze. I was shaking, my whole being ready to explode and take her down with me. Sweet, sweet flesh. The want was agony, the mental strain she had put on me was torture. Her blood was the antidote...no...I couldn't think that. I didn't want to kill her, Draco didn't want to.

"I'm so sorry...." She whispered and her eyes closed as tears cascaded down her cheeks. I stepped another step closer, a foot between us. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't think. Her blood was humming for me, her heartbeat drumming an awful rhythm. Damn her....and damn her for caring. No one ever cares, no one has ever dared.

"Don't move." I said firmly and her eyes opened, curious. She nodded slightly, eyes glossy with salt water. What in Merlin's name was I doing? Was I determined to throw myself into the most miserable place I thought possible? Her eyes widened as I reached my hand out, she was still scared, I sensed that pounding within her. My cold hand touched warm flesh and she gasped as I touched her soft cheek, my own eyes closing to grasp hold of some sort of control. God what oblivion I had cast myself into...I could feel her blood swimming underneath her skin, still calling to me. Her cheeks had flushed pink at my icy touch and that alone gave me a sick satisfaction. Draco Malfoy making Hermione Granger blush. Not out of fury I had raised from within her, but passion, emotion, feeling...I wanted more of that. I wanted to invoke the world within her. My eyes opened and found hers again, confused, scared, thrilled...they knocked me down and I was lost within them.

"Is it hard?" She asked softly, still so frightened, her eyes betraying what she wanted so desperately to hide. I found my hand stroking her soft cheek, the sensation wondrous and torturous enough to drive me mad. But I learned a long time again I enjoyed causing myself pain...pushing my own limits.

"It's impossible..." I responded and she nodded slightly, sympathetically. Trying to understand but never being able to. She should have ran there...she should have pushed me back. Because it was hard, much harder than I could ever fight off alone.

*************

Night. Exquisite. Sleek. I had loved it when I was human. Immortality bittered me towards it. I would never see the sun again...never feel the warmth of the sky flood me. Becoming a vampire had made me realize my greed....I had taken the world for grant it. And now it had vanished from under me. Everything about me had changed. No longer was I scared and worried about my own fate, part of me would have welcomed death. Death being better than a slave to my own skin. Skin like a shell. In the beginning I fought what I had become...inflicting pain whenever I had the chance. Trying to destroy myself. Failing. Always failing. I never wanted to die, I only thought I wanted to disappear.

Vilinius was always there. My mentor, my murderer. He tried to teach me what I didn't want to learn. How to kill, how to hunt, how to exist. And I hated him, all of him. But I hated Voldemort more. He had the real control over us all and I never could see my family. The want to tear them to pieces was still vivid in my mind. I couldn't see my mother without wanting to rip out her throat. And that let me feel like the worst kind of beast imaginable. And so I fought the thirst. Vilinius would laugh, a madman in angel's clothing. He would watch me tear into animals and make them my meal, but their blood was like ash in mouth, merely sustenance. The true calling was human and I denied that as long as possible. But the Dark Lord was adamant in his grand idea for this war and soon my powers would be tested. We would be an army to stand against the resistance. We would make the earth bleed with the blood of traitors.

I ran. Like the wind. Into darkness. Every night I escaped my new home in the forest dwelling near my family's Manor and hunted animals. I wanted to be alone in my thoughts. But I was never alone. Vilinius always followed me, whispering dark things in my head, enough to drive me insane. Enough to ignite the ferocious animal within me. And every night I was terrified I would come across some poor lost soul who would be at the wrong place and time. Victim to the newborns first kill. Standing in the way of the ravenous vampire fledgling. With Vilinius poisoning my mind I knew it would only make any such situation tragic. And that one particular night, my fears had corporealized.

The smell....sweet and inviting. My mouth watered, my eyes turned coal black in the lust for the scent. Blood. Human blood. Tormenting my being. Vilinius let out a laugh. I heard him move swiftly through the forest by my side, he knew my feet were instinctively bringing me to where this human was, he knew the game. What my body wanted it was going to get, whether I wanted it or not. I didn't want to be a killer. I didn't want to give into the monster. But it was strong, stronger than me, and I had no will to put it at bay. Because some dark part of my own being wanted the blood too, I wanted the sensation it brought. I wanted to drown in heaven again, only to remain in hell. 'Find her Draco.....her blood calls to you....' Fuck you Vilinius....fuck you. I didn't want my mind to leave me, I wanted to stop running and turn back. But I was too far gone. And so I did the one awful thing I could have ever done, my dive into monstrosity....I let go. And the blood calling was mine.

It didn't take long to find the human. Human. So warm, so soft, so filled with light and life. That was me. I was alive too. How did I become such a devil? Her eyes widened as I descended upon her, lost so helplessly in the woods. She was a Muggle....she had no wand to draw, no clue of what I was, what I would take from her. Vilinius watched so pleased, so happy, I felt it, all of his pride and it sickened me. "Do you know the way out of here? I wandered in looking for my dog before sunset and I've gotten myself terribly lost...." Her words meant nothing. Blood was the key. Her blood would be her only freedom. I step closer, slowly like an animal stalking its prey.

"Are you frightened?" I asked softly as I moved closer, but she didn't move back, her immaculate green eyes boring into mine, captivated with me as I was with her. Such beauty...why did I never understand as a mortal? She nodded slightly at my question, forgetting herself. I had already chosen her, and she knew this, for she had chosen me as well. She too had let herself go. And now I had her trapped because of it, "Would you like me to help you?" Somewhere deep inside my mind cursed, playing with her...toying with her....what had I become? Vilinius laughed, he loved this, every minute.

"Yes..." She whispered softly, taking a clumsy step closer to me, drawn to me like a moth is to light. I stepped closer, my hands reached out to grasp her warm shoulders, sliding my palms down to pull her into me. My eyes shut, such sweet touches. She gasped softly, a noise that suddenly put me over the edge. I couldn't simply touch her, feel her without something inside of me snapping into focus. In an instant any bit of Draco was gone as I bared my fangs and buried them deep into her neck, crushing her warm body into my cold one. She let out a cry of agony as I heard my impossibly strong, unskilled arms crack her ribs, her collarbones. But I didn't care, not in the least. I had found the fire. Greedily I drank deep her life, her blood as it flowed into me, warmth spreading to every inch of my frame. The dreadful sound of her heart was a deafening sound in my sensitive ears but it was fading fast. The beast within was satisfied, ecstatic. Why had I denied myself such wonder before? if Vilinus's blood was perfect than this was beyond perfect. This was life, burning hot within me. And I kept drinking, kept taking all of her until the beat slowed. Her great green eyes had gone blank, vacant. Her face still twisted in the ghost of a scream. And I dropped her to the ground. I stared...confused. My eyes turned back to silver, the lust gone. The want gone. My stomach was filled but my still heart was empty.

"You have done good my son, very good..." Vilinius spoke to me as he moved from the trees, his lips stained with the blood of his kill. The blood on my own became cold as my flesh, dripping to the grass in silence, in misery. I looked down at the girl, she was broken, dead, lost. I had destroyed her. Ruin. I knew she wouldn't be the last. This would never end. I would bleed through the centuries in carnage. I realized all these things, these dark things. And fell to the ground, my bloody hands shaking. What had I sacrificed? I was a murderer, a killer, a true monster. And with my first kill I knew I was forever changed. Because soon Voldemort would send us all after his enemies, and the taste of blood would be forever on my lips, haunting me.

***********

"Did you want this?"

"Who could ever want this Granger?" I hissed back at her...foolish. So foolish, "It was the Dark Lord's plan...not mine. Do you think I want to be a killer?" I raised my voice to her, nails scraping against her cheek and she winced. Careful...I was being reckless. If I spilled her blood it would be over. And she would be dead, just like the first. I couldn't do that...something about her had utterly changed. Was it this circumstance? Us, both children, fighting in a war we had no place in....or had immortality cleared my mind of all the prejudice I once held? Either way she sensed a change too, she didn't understand. I wanted her to understand everything. I wanted more of her for myself, without death. Was such a thing ever possible?

"If this is so hard then why haven't you killed me yet Malfoy?" She spoke so bravely, despite her fear. Did she had a death wish? How could she ask the question I didn't want to hear? And some part of me wanted to scare her, and part of me wanted to seduce her into submission. Because suddenly there was a clarity in all of this. I wanted Hermione Granger. I wanted her innocence to be my innocence. I wanted life through her. I wanted to disappear with her. I wanted to make her feel for me. And I wanted to suck her dry, I wanted her beautiful, rich blood. Fuck me, just fuck me. And so I chose to torment myself further. Silently I leaned in, wrapping my left arm around her waist, pulling her closer to me, barely touching, so teasing. Her breath caught in her throat but still she didn't move, so obediently perfect. It put a ghastly smile to my lips. I leaned my head in toward her neck, my lips barely touching her hot skin. Care....so much care. I was nearly trembling trying not to tear into her.

"Because Granger.....I can see you now. Not through you. I see you. And I like what I see." I whispered against her flesh, a tremble echoing through her body as my lips found her neck, kissing desperately at her skin. She let out a gasp as she pressed into me, my lips caressing her. Warm sensation triggering false life in my lips. What a feeling...to be kissing Hermione Granger's untainted neck. I wanted to taint her, leave me mark. But I knew I couldn't kill her now. I needed her. I let out a soft, seductive growl as her hands very slowly came up around my waist, she was being careful. Smart girl....Merlin....her blood. Her wondrous blood right there for the taking. I grazed my fangs against her neck, testing her and myself but she didn't flinch back, she only gasped again, enough to drive me into madness.

"Then come with me...I can help you...." She pleaded softly, still breathing heavily after my surprise caress. I didn't want my lips to leave her but I pulled back, our bodies still connected and looked at her. So full of hope she was, hope I had lost months ago. There was no hope in the world left for me.

"You can't help me...No one can. I only want one thing now, and even though I want you, part of me wants your blood more," I couldn't believe my own words, confessing my thoughts to her, "Even as we stand here I want to rip open your neck and take every last drop of blood that's keeping you alive. And you want to help me? Aren't you scared Granger?" I leaned in close to her, my eyes boring into hers but she didn't move, her heartbeat was wild.

"I'm not afraid of you Malfoy...I never was. Not even now," As she said this I was shattered into a thousand pieces. Not scared....part of me believed it. This war scared her, this night of light and darkness, not me, "But if you won't let me help you, what can I do? You don't want this destruction, even if you have....changed...." What a question, so simple yet so complicated. And in an instant my mind drummed up an answer and before I could stop myself I spat it out.

"Run away with me." We both froze in that instant, utterly stunned by response. She seemed speechless, taken aback, I couldn't blame her in the least. What I said may in fact be an impossible. But as I thought quickly on the idea I realized how much I wanted it. She could help me then, help me fight back whatever roared inside of me and maybe find some peace again. And I knew now that if there was anyone whom I'd want to have with me it would be her.

"What..." She said softly and moved to step back but I held her firmly, still careful not to overuse my strength and hurt her, "I can't just go with you....do you know how mental this all sounds? You hate me...or have you forgotten everything?" Those words stung, more then I would have liked and she saw that in my mercurial gaze, "I can't just leave now...Harry and Ron...they need me. This war needs me. I can't just run."

"Don't think Granger, just do. I may've hated you, I may have despised you, but I want you. Can't you understand that?" I was getting angry and she saw this, "Fuck them...fuck all of this. Just come with me. Help me. Please Granger....I won't hurt you." Having to say the last sentence terrified me, why did I have to assure her of that and myself? Because I knew I would hurt her if she came, it was inevitable. Either physically or emotionally. And she knew it too.

"Draco..." She said my name, whispered it, and I could have died in that moment. My name on her lips, so impossible, so grand. Now I knew I needed her with me, needed her so terribly it hurt. I couldn't live forever knowing she was gone in this world. Because she had said my name. She had cemented this.

"Hermione...." I whispered hers back and her eyes widened, infatuated as I was by the loving way I spoke it, "Stay still for me..." I whispered and she nodded slightly as I leaned back in, closer and closer, two archangels in the moonlight. And I did the one thing that would truly send me into torture. I touched my stone lips to hers. She didn't move at first, simply letting my lips touch hers, a curious gesture, testing the waters, but she didn't force me back. Part of her wanted this too, as much of our past that was darkened by memory. But I began to move me lips slowly against hers and she matched me, drove me wild inside as she did. I moved my hand to cup her cheek, so warm, so close to the one thing I was fated to destroy. And her mouth tasted as sweet as her, and I was drowning in her warm embrace, her most perfect alive touch. My control was magnificent. And I wanted nothing more then to stand here with her, kissing her soft lips forever. But forever wouldn't come.

"We can't do this..." She muttered and forced herself back, but I pressed my forehead to hers, my lips lightly grazing hers again but she turned her head slightly and I growled in protest, "This doesn't make any sense..."

"You want this, I'm not willing this on you. It doesn't have to make sense. It's just you and me. I'm not the same boy you used to know." I stroked her cheek but she shook her head and pulled back with all her strength out of my arms, quickly, without caution. The movement, the emptiness had made something snap slightly within me, my eyes growing black. I could feel myself slipping...and I had tried so hard. So very, very hard.

"Look at you Draco...you can't even control yourself yet...this is dangerous...and stupid! I can't leave with you! I can help you some other way but not like that, not when they all need me..." She pleaded with me and I was trying to listen but her voice was fading, her heartbeat was beating in my head. No...I couldn't lose myself, I couldn't hurt her.

"Look me in the eyes and tell me you don't want to run from this...that you don't want me to protect you. That you don't want to help me gain control. There's nothing else I want. We don't have to be gone forever...just long enough. Just so when we come back I won't want to tear open my mother's throat. So I can be around people again." I was bearing more of my soul, dam her for bringing out what I never dare show. And she saw the sincerity as she looked into my eyes, she stepped back to me, tears in her eyes once more.

"I do want to go with you...but it's impossible."

"Stop thinking just for once. Let go. Just let go and trust me." I held my hand out for her, praying she would take it. I was gaining control of myself again, talking to her helped. She helped. She would fix me, she would heal my wounds. And I hoped she would understand. Hesitantly, as if I had waited an eternity, she reached out her hand and took my own. I closed my fingers over her small warm hand, encased it with my cold one. She had chosen me...me....the demon. Maybe fate hadn't doomed me. Maybe I could be reborn.

"SECTEMSEMPRA!" It all happened very fast then. I heard the familiar male's voice shout the curse, watched it as it shot through the trees, but even magic was faster than me. It hit my Hermione, my sweet innocent mortal girl. And her eyes widened in shock as she fell into my arms. And then....horror....sheer pain. Her blood began to spill, soak through her clothes, spilling hot out of her body. Soon she would be cold. Cold and lost. I was ready to jump and destroy whoever had cast the spell, make them suffer. But I was lost. Draco had been forgotten again. I was only a demon in the darkness, a vampire. The scent of the blood, the warm feel of it on my hands was too much. I was stronger than I had thought but not that strong. Without thought, without care, everything I had felt for this girl vanishing, I sank my fangs into the neck with I had so lovingly kissed before. And I was gone. Succumbed. Engulfed once more in sheer heaven that was her blood, as perfect as her. Lost. Damned.

**********

Maybe I had entered hell. True hell. This blood was immaculate life yet somewhere in the back of mind I knew what I was doing and I wept. I was killing her. She cried out softly for me to stop, to do something, but her pulse was fading....I was doing the one thing I swore I wouldn't do. I was murdering Hermione Granger. I had forgotten everything important to me, I had fallen away. I needed to claw back through. I needed to stop and save her before it was too late. War was still happening, even though within this forest it seemed miles away from Hogwarts. I couldn't let this happen. And before her pulse had vanished I pulled back. Shaking, tears now in my eyes, my body feeling more alive then it ever had. I had seen everything....I had seen her....her memories, her struggle. Now she burned in my veins. I had to preserve this. I had to keep her alive.

But first I knew what I had to do. I leapt to me feet and over Hermione who lie on the ground. Whoever had hit her with the curse had watched me drain her and I would make them pay. I let out a roar of fury as I ran with unnatural speed into the thicket of trees. There...I lunged, hands out as I wrapped them around the throat of the Death Eater before me. Dolohov...he gasped for air as I choked him. Now I would exact vengeance. I had to be quick, Hermione would die if I didn't have her. But I needed him to suffer, he needed to pay, "The Dark Lord knew you'd betray us....But he didn't expect it would be with a Mudblood whore....did her blood taste filthy?" He gasped out and I let out a growl and bared my fangs.

"Wrong question..." I hissed at him as I grabbed his head and twisted with all of my strength. He didn't even have time to scream. The sickening snap sounded and he was gone. Murder in the name of passion. I wasted no time lingering on the thought of his death. Instead I shot impossibly fast back to Hermione, falling to her side. Her pulse was nearly gone, and more than anything I wanted it sounding like madness in my head. I picked her up into my arms, brushing her soft hair from her face, so lovely in the moonlight. But she had grown cold, cold as death, cold as me. I knew what I wanted to do, what made sense...but I couldn't just destroy her, not like me. I wanted to taint her innocence but not this way....I wanted her but not like this. I couldn't ruin her body and soul. And I knew that she would die because of me. I felt tears in my eyes, so foreign, so human. And her eyes opened slightly, looking at me weakly, almost lost.

"Draco...." Her voice, so weak, frail. In a matter of moments my earth had been shattered again, "Save me..." The look in her eyes betrayed the truth. No...not that. I couldn't do that. My hand went to her cheek, her soft cheek, and I wanted it that way.

"I can't destroy you Hermione...you need to hold on." I said this but I knew she couldn't, she knew it too. Her hand weakly came up to hold my hand to her cheek. What a strange place we had found ourselves. I wanted Hermione Granger, and she wanted me to turn her. What had happened to our world? And then she uttered the words the tore me to pieces.

"Run away with me...." She had chosen. And she had chosen me, "I'm not scared anymore..." And I would run, I'd run forever. And as her eyes closed in finalement, I did what Vilinius had done to me. I bit into my wrist and offered it to her pink lips. The fire entered her mouth, my blood, my promise. And I restored her life. As her new eyes opened she looked at me in awe, beautiful silvery gaze. And our lips met in eternity. A never-ending kiss. I brought her to her feet, hand in hand, as we ran into the night, away from war, away from pain, away from it all. And Draco had returned. I had wanted Hermione Granger, and now she was mine, forever and always.

AN: I was going to kill her, but I couldn't. They needed to end up together....they had to run away.