House: Slytherin
Category: Short
Prompts: [Word] Delude
Word count: 1882 (Excluding Author's Note, but including entire Entry and Title)
Warning: This is an AU (Alternate Universe) piece, where Severus Snape and Draco Malfoy are Vampires; Hermione Granger is a Vampire Hunter. Placed in the 1800's because I thought it would be an interesting take.
Characters: Hermione Granger; Severus Snape; Draco Malfoy; Lucius Malfoy
Summary: Hermione Granger is a Vampire Hunter, and her only goal in life is to rid the world of its dangerous inhabitants. When she is engaged to Draco Malfoy, a member of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, she must decide where her loyalties lie and if the the stone in her possession is worth protecting.
Author's Note: I must say, this isn't my typical work. My fingers had a mind of their own, and when it turned me in this direction, I couldn't resist. Thanks to my amazing friend Mari, I may have to continue this lovely work :) Let me know!
As always, enjoy
-Carolare Scarletus
Society of the White Rose
November 12th, 1817
Nothing could have prepared me for this pivotal moment in my short history. It saddens me to say, but this was not the happiest day of my life. Though, in some aspects, it should be. I was to be married to the most respectable bachelor of our era, Sir Draco Malfoy, the son of the Potions tycoon, Lucius Malfoy. His family has been members of the Sacred Twenty-Eight for centuries, and it would behoove me to involve myself with their kind. In some ways, we are very much alike; yet, I find myself challenging that statement more often than not. The idea of marrying him sickens me; words still fail to express the disbelief that befell me when he stood in front of his audience and proposed me with one of his family's rarest diamonds. It should have shocked me or ruined me. My bleak future is ruined, and so is my marriage hand...
Hermione pulled away from her diary entry, staring at the words as her fist tightened around her quill. She'd been cooped up in her chambers all evening following the dramatic announcement of her engagement to Sir Draco. It was nothing short of a relief for her when she was taken away to be pampered and primed; marriage with him would be a nightmare, given the fact that she owed her very life to the Malfoys, but she couldn't help but think what she was trying to run away from. Better yet, what he was running away from. They knew this charade couldn't be upheld; she knew of his exploits and conquests. Draco wasn't the one to settle, but it bothered her greatly that he'd downright chosen to free her from an existence of suffering and prowling the night with vengeance and accept the role that was truly unbecoming of him, even in his standing. She didn't entertain the idea that she was truly free. There were darker forces playing this night, and she was determined to capture it, even if she wasn't meant to find it.
She looked to the massively decadent chambers and all its grandeur. Although she'd recently been engaged, she needed to keep face. Oh, how she wished to end this misery; marriage was not her calling, and it took a great amount of reassurance on her part to remind herself that love was the ultimate death. Nothing good ever came out of love, and she couldn't help wonder what Draco was playing at. Though, curiosity was the strongest and most dangerous of emotions, she feared it could lead her to certain destruction.
"You do not seem happy at all," said a concerned voice, disrupting her thoughts.
"Of course I am," she told it stubbornly. Hermione threw her agitation toward the fireplace where the voice had come from. There, her unwanted guest appeared in the embers, temporarily soothing her woes. With a small smile, she stood from her desk, wrapped her silk robe tightly against her body, and walked over to the small nook in front of the fire. She sat in front of the fireplace to interact with her lonesome supporter. "Appearing unannounced is unbecoming of you, Severus."
The misshapen image in the fire stirred, and she knew a daring smirk was playing on his lips. It was moments like this that made their time unforgettable. Her peers had convinced her that the only way to obtain freedom was through Draco, someone she knew with her heart couldn't provide everything that she wanted. Marrying him would have been living unhappy and deluded, while the only thing she asked for was true happiness and nothing more. Severus was more than enough, even as a loyal acquaintance. Hermione's heart soared to the heavens at the sight of him, his image becoming clearer in the embers. But, those embers died down at the macabre secret that she kept.
"I did make my announcement," he told her in a strong, unyielding voice. His body appeared out of the flames and his full, statuesque form was there for all her taking. "What has gotten you so worked up?" he asked, walking around and taking in her chambers.
Hermione didn't say a word as she watched him prowl the room like the dark creature of the night her superiors warned her about. It was moments like these that she had to remind herself which side she belonged to, and that was the light. Severus had done nothing wrong; it was the unfortunate circumstances of their lives that caused such a painful separation. She knew she couldn't deceive him any longer, or delude herself when she looked at his perfectly hollowed form and seemingly transparent skin. Severus was a vampire, and she was a Hunter; a relationship could never prevail given the horrible reality of their lives.
"Absolutely nothing," she finally quipped as she stared into the embers. She knew she'd forgotten herself in her absence. Silence prevailed when words failed them. There was much to discuss, but Hermione couldn't bring herself to talk about them. She let the crackle of the fire speak for her soul; she wished the circumstances of her engagement wasn't so, and that the damnable omission of it could end her years of deluding the ones she loved.
"Fear is only a being without hope," Severus kindly reminded her. This was the side of him that a selected few got to see, the loving and respectable face that truly represented everything she ever wished. How was it possible for one man to affect her so? No other man, or person for that matter, had been such a profound influence on her. It would greatly destroy her if she were to lose what they had, a genuine relationship the likes of which no one had ever seen.
It was quite difficult to be bonded together by magic; it wasn't something that she readily sought out, yet she hadn't been able to help the smile that formed on her lips when she accidentally bumped into Severus during one of her missions. He'd been so reclusive, almost untouchable; someone of his standing wouldn't have given her a second thought, especially if they'd known what she did for a living. They would've turned their noses up and steered clear of her. She'd been assigned to watch Diagon Alley, one of the locations within the Magical Community where they first discovered the strange phenomenon. Never in her life did she believe magic could react as it did. The world was an enchanting, yet disturbingly sweet place to live, and it wasn't ready to give up all its secrets, including Hermione. Severus couldn't know that she was the hunter and not the prey; he'd be devastated if he ever found out her loathsome profession, which was to kill all non-living things and protect the innocent.
Hermione touched her breast. There, the stone she'd rescued in Diagon Alley rested peacefully against her skin. While Severus wasn't fully unaware of what she'd discovered, she was glad she was able to delude him for so long, even if it hurt them both in the end.
"Tell me, my dear, how did that dreadful marriage proposal go?" Severus asked.
"I am sure that you were able to deduce by tonight's entry that it went was pleasant enough" Hermione huffed. "I don't understand the undesirable oaf's intentions. It is not like I want to marry him, but at the very least, he could have went about the proposal in a more civilized manner."
"How did the fool act?"
"As if he was saving me from something," Hermione said, narrowing her eyes and focusing her gaze on the flickering light. "He believes he is saving me from something, though I'm more inclined to believe he's saving himself. Marriage is nothing to him. Surely, one with me would be no exception."
"This is a Malfoy we're talking about, Hermione. They are never ones to pass up an opportunity to outdo the other. It is in their nature." He tilted his head in consideration as he leafed through her diary, to which she immediately reprimanded him by sending a flare of violent magic in his direction. The diary snapped shut and locked; Severus turned and looked at her with all the adoration that he was able to forfeit. "You never cease to amaze me."
"You were about to read something that I would rather leave private." Hermione smiled.
"Is it about me?" he chuckled, forgetting about the diary and daring a languid stroll toward where she sat.
Hermione watched him carefully. Her wand was tucked away in her robe, but she knew that he wouldn't harm her. He couldn't.
"Aren't all my entries about you, Severus?"
"I cannot say," he teased, coming to sit next to her. "If you won't allow me to read any of them… how am I to conclude that they are?"
"Trust my judgement, then." Hermione smiled at him, her eyes lighting up. The embers of the hearth were warm against her skin. "I would never lie to you, Severus."
"Nor I," he breathed. Noise sounded outside her chamber doors, causing her to jump. Within seconds, Severus was gone. In his wake, he left a single white rose, a token of his appreciation. Hermione scrambled to retrieve it before it wilted; although a gift, Severus was doomed to destroy everything that he touched, including flowers. She'd managed to save a few of them. Unfortunately, most met their early demise;she was determined not to have this wilt and die.
The door opened just as she placed the rose into her desk, locking it securely with a key she kept on her at all times. Her guest, the least of her worries, waltzed in with an air of arrogance. Draco Malfoy was the last person she wanted to see, but that didn't stop her from inquiring about his attendance.
"What great pleasure it is to see you again," she told him scathingly. "State your business, or promptly leave."
Draco turned abruptly and looked at her. A sneer formed on his face at the sight of her standing there in nothing but her robes, her hair loose and drawn over her left shoulder. Initially, she would've been appalled by his lingering gaze and would've demanded he'd leave, but she didn't. Hermione was interested as to why he came, especially after the quick dismissal at their engagement party. He'd been very secretive all evening, and Hermione could sense there was trouble.
"I must speak with you," he told her gruffly. Draco began to pace around her chambers, a nervous admission she'd picked up on quickly in their earlier introductions. She watched him for a short time, before all the stars all aligned into place.
Hermione clenched her breast, feeling the stone quiver beneath her touch. Her darkest fears were coming to light. She frowned, she wasn't able to delude Malfoy, and she knew that it was only a matter of time before he realized what was in her possession. Carefully protecting herself, Hermione touched the wand in her robe, prepared to fight when the fatal words slipped from his lips. Nothing could have prepared her for what he said.
"The Council, they asked to speak with you."
Her fate was sealed.