A/N:

Except for the plot, all credit goes to the real owners: JK Rowling, LJ Smith and the creators of the television sitcom, 'The Vampire Diaries'.

Chapter One

NIGHTMARE

...

She was running through the devastated corridors, panic and fear amplifying within her as fierce as a ferociously swinging rollercoaster, even though the buzzing of curses and spells had culminated. His hand still safely clasped in hers, they both rushed into the entrance hall and out the castle through the huge oak doors within the bustling crowd of terrified teachers, students and Order members. Breathing raggedly, she stopped beside a turret; eyes searching frantically for a glimpse of jet black hair but the view seemed void of any. Then she heard a strangled sob of a horribly familiar voice and her eyes flung to his face.

"Ron!" she begged miserably, now holding his tear-stained face in her hands; eyes yet constantly flicking for any means of threat. It was a scene of absolute destruction: lifeless corpses being fetched inside the withered walls of Hogwarts; its confining frame now tarnished with stains of murky grime and crimson, harassed unevenly by fire.

"It's over." He wept, shaking his head in sheer grief; having recently mourned over the deaths of Remus, Tonks and his own beloved brother.

"Don't you say that!" she said fiercely, gently rubbing some wetness off from his face. "We're almost there! We just need to find where Harry is-" A loud explosion cut her mid-sentenced as they both looked toward the forbidden forest and noticed the silhouette of a figure as voluminous as that of a half-giant approaching through the trees. Meanwhile, she observed people slowly retreating from the castle, all of their faces gaping ahead in that direction. Unconsciously securing Ron's hand in hers, she towed him to the former trail, trying to catch a glance of what had them all mesmerized. The bushes shielding that sight cleared; the scenario acquiring absolute vision, with which ceased her stroll and so did momentarily her heartbeat. An inhuman man, with skin as white as a skull, eyes gleaming red and slits in place of nostrils; striding towards them with an unnerving grin of elation; followed by his team of death eaters, and accompanying whom was Rubeus Hagrid. The look the latter had was heart-wrenching. In his arms rested a limp body too familiar, yet for some seconds, her brain fell short from recognizing who it was. The lightening-shaped scar etched on his forehead, the thick framed glasses, the raven black ruffled hair, all that she knew too well... But it had to be someone else. It just couldn't be him...

As they advanced closer, she could feel something inside her shredding apart bitingly and falling; her heart now in her throat. Several gasped; Ron's hands fell limply to his sides; she herself striving against her faltering balance.

"Who's that Hagrid's carrying? Neville, who is it?" It was Ginny, trying to wrench free from her father's steady grasp.

"Harry Potter is dead!" announced with a bellow; the snake-like man with apparent triumph, causing an abrupt stillness and quiet which was shortly broken by Ginny's screams of denial.

"Silence!" Bellowed the Dark Lord; now nearing solitarily towards them. "Stupid girl. Harry Potter is dead. From this day forth, you put your faith in me." He claimed sneeringly; pointing at his chest. "And now is the time to declare yourself. Come forward and join us. Or die."

She merely stared at his motionless, vulnerable form; glasses askew over his emerald eyes now shut; the words of the Dark Lord growing distant. The ripped fragment inside her wailed with sizzling pain as the reality struggled to settle in; her mind still dazed with trauma. For neither can live while the other survives. Ron was right, it was all over.

"-people die every day." Neville's voice boomed in her dejected mind; eyes averting to the latter's face. "Friends, family. Yeah, we lost Harry tonight. But he's still with us, in here!" he said determinedly, tapping at his heart. "And so is Fred, Remus, Tonks, all of them. They didn't die in vain. But you will," he said fiercely, looking square in the Dark Lord's scarlet eyes, who laughed bemused. "'Cause you're wrong! Harry's heart did beat for us, for all of us!"
At that moment, things turned around with a severe twist. Neville yanked out the Sword of Godric Gryffindor from the sorting hat as Harry sprung back to life, dropping to the ground from Hagrid's arms and wrenched his wand out of his robes, earning cries of shock and relief from the distressed crowd of damsels and teachers; the merriment exchanged with a rare look of horror on you-know-who's face. Dodging the storm of curses, Harry shouted "The snake!" to her and Ron precedent to taking off for the castle.

...

Now she stood alone within the shattered confines of the deserted corridor on the second floor; hand equipped tight with her wand; vigilance guiding her stance. Eyes still wary, she swung around at the sound of an explosion; her heart beating like a hammer. Ron was racing towards her, his hand enclosed tightly around a basilisk fang; wand in the other.
"Run!" he roared with a horrified expression, stealing quick glances behind him. A few moments passed before his desperate command dawned upon her and she staggered her way round, marching before their paces familiarized and her trot hastened. The dark lord's snake was gliding after them with a bone-chilling agility, unabashed by the obstacled path. They ran until reaching the edge surrounded by railings, stranded with no means of escape. Cautiously they whirled around; the snake coming alarmingly closer. "Reducto!" she cried, pointing her wand at the ceiling which showered large pieces of cement debris over the reptile. Then they waited, wide eyed, as the corridor got enveloped in absolute silence.

The enraged snake bolted out through the rubble, snarling. Ron raised the hand with the fang; the only means of destroying the animal horcrux. Stepping back, his foot stumbled upon a large piece of chunk, causing the fang to slip from his grip in the realm of ruins; irretrievable anymore. Time stopped. Her empty hand found his, both slowly surfacing what was left of the following space. The seething snake attacked.

...

Hermione gasped, awakening and abruptly sitting upright as her breath escaped in short bursts and chokes; terror within her at its peak. Fresh sweat rolled off her body as she noticed herself braced on a squishy white bed placed at the heart of an unfamiliar room dimly lit. "Ron." she whispered, still panting; events of the dream barricading her brain. Her heart was thumping in her ears and throat, the cold sweat causing her to shiver slightly. The nightmare was too vivid to be merely a dream; it could've been her living a memory, like penetrating into one's own recollections in a pensieve. Or perhaps it was something exactly like that, for there was no reason not to indulge in the event's possible credibility. Unaware of her current whereabouts, her mind still reeled with every chapter of the battle; seemingly well framed. The fear trembling within her stilled as another reality crashed: her dream and the turn of actual events were undistinguishable. The nightmare could be true…

Yet as her mind struggled through the clouding images of the dream, something constantly badgered and ultimately persuaded it to give in and she made notice of certain ludicrous variations. Her vision was translucent than beyond usual, enabling her to distinguish between every particle hovering in the air, between every fragment of the wall and furniture prior to her bed. Her skin looked too pale; as if void of any blood. And there was a burning sensation of a peculiar thirst, clinging onto her throat...
Dread began pooling in the pit of her stomach as she found it impervious in making sense of anything that was happening: That lifelike nightmare, these sickening changes that'd started getting to her. Most significantly, where in the name of Merlin was she?

Just as Hermione was about to chance a look about the obscure bedroom, she was brashly interrupted by an unknown, deep and feathery voice. "Hello, Ms. Granger." The man had said, causing Hermione's head to whip to her right; obviously shocked by his presence which had seemed so unbelievingly quiet before he'd uttered any word. A sharp intake of breath, which was followed by a quick backward swing of her legs and instead of perching on the edge of the bed, she was steered backwards fluidly toward the wall. Though it'd seemed so slow for her she didn't have a hitch in landing gracefully. That was simply, amazing, which was putting it mildly. Now she could actually feel it; the crude, massive strength thrilling in her veins. Though the look on her face could not have had been more horrified. These changes were inhuman, to set it right, though sufficing to take her mind completely off from the recent encounter with her nightmare and whereabouts.

She looked up into the face of the man who had caused the stir, cautiously pulling out her wand. He was sitting on a couch resting beside her bed; probably the most attractive guy she'd laid eyes on. Perhaps in his mid-twenties, the man smirked cockily at her as his eyes, shining blue as the sea, beneath a sweep of thick black lashes and delicately arched brows, bored into hers. High cheekbones carved hollows above his strong, angular jaw; making him look no less than a Greek God.

She'd probably be swooning over the lopsided grin he flashed at her if the circumstances weren't so inscrutable. "Who are you?" was all Hermione asked; skepticism flaring out in three mere words as she maintained her unfaltering gaze. The apprehension possessing her entrails aggravated to an extent she didn't know it could possibly withstand. Like all her emotions and feelings had being intensely magnified. Everything was so ridiculously out of the ordinary; only except for the man's demeanor which seemed so perfectly calm, he might be having another typical day of his life. "And I need to know how I'm here?" she added with quivering voice, utterly frustrated with the scarcity of answers.

His smirk vanished as he now eyed the wand in her hand, sighing. "I shall explain everything to you, but first I may need to ask you to keep that wand of yours away; for this while at least."

Her brow furrowing, she responded firmly "I wouldn't hurt you."

"And neither do I think that you intend to. Just a mere precaution for both of our good." he marked casually.

Lightly offended by his admission, she stared at him with her mouth slightly agape, internally debating whether or not to abide by his condition. Judging by the looks of him, he wasn't a wizard; she could easily overpower him. But would there be a reason required, that remained to be determined. Plus laying her inconsequential conviction aside to seek what could explain everything eccentric going on seemed more of the essence; eventually causing her to stuff the magic stick inside her robe and ask the dark-haired beauty with poorly concealed annoyance: "Talk."

The flawless smirk returning to his handsome face, the man elegantly stood up from the couch. Shoving both hands in his pockets, he looked up to meet her unceasing gaze. "I beg for your forgiveness, but you see, Newborns are known to be the most wild and vicious of our kind."

She merely stared at him with an unchanging expression before inquiring dumbly. "Newborns?"

His smirk remained intact as he said smoothly. "I assume you'd have observed by now certain changes you've undergone?"

The dread within her deepened; her indifferent expression turning a little anxious, all on discovering the stranger was indeed aware of what she was going through. But his words still seemed preposterous; no sense of it penetrating her mind. An extended moment later; she calmly conceded. "Arrive at the point already. What is it?"

The smirk replaced by a humorless mien, he silently gazed at her before resolving with something at last which had seemed so absurd she concluded it was perhaps another one of her vivid dreams . "A vampire. That's what you are now." He'd said, earning her a loss for any words, or thoughts. She only stared at him; disturbed, feeling the man was off his rocker; yet too terrified of reading into his words.
"There's a lot of explaining to be done, Ms. Granger, so we might as well go for a quick hunt before we get to that part, shall we?" he suggested calmly; completely oblivious to the battle of emotions raging inside her; adjusting his cuffs. She hardly blinked; her stare unceasing. Yet seeming void of any words or thought, she simply nodded.

A/N: Alright, I'll be honest here. I wrote this one down more than a year back. Also, the idea I had in mind was pretty vague. Now I do seem to have a better clue as to where this is going, all I await is your reviews! Please do tell me what you think. I'll update with a new chapter by this week itself.