Predator & Prey

Chapter One

The castle always felt colder at night, but this was the first-chill-of-the-year kind of cold. It almost made Hermione wish she'd pulled on some shoes over her socks. Her fabric-clad feet did make her stealthier, though, she mused, and she shrugged to herself as she turned the corner.

She had been watching his behavior for weeks. Her journal was filled with pages and pages of notes. Spare moments had been tucked away in the recesses of the library completing research that she'd kept hidden from everyone else. There could only be one logical conclusion with all the evidence, but she had to be certain before she could decide what to do. Hermione, after all, always needed her facts. She was quiet, but terrified that he would be able to hear her heart pounding away in her chest.

Hermione Granger wasn't overly fond of sneaking around the castle in the middle of the night. One because it was against the rules, and two, she did not want him to know she was watching. Hermione was silently prayed that he was too focused on his own task to be worried about anyone else.

She had spent time documenting and researching, and tonight, she was prepared with a nighttime visibility spell. Draco moved like a bat with sonar through the castle, and she was struggling to keep up. Despite being disillusioned, she didn't want to be too close. Hermione could not afford to tip him off that she was following, so she hung back just enough to watch the ends of his blonde hair from a distance.

oooo

In the shadows, he weaved briskly through the castle corridors. He was getting close to the Hufflepuff common room, and he decided to wait it out and see if any stupid students would come wandering out into the darkness past curfew. Perhaps, a young Hufflepuff girl would come creeping out of the Common Room. He stood completely still, listening to the night air around him. After the a few moments, seconds even had passed, he swore he heard something moving behind him, but as his eyes pierced through the darkness he saw nothing.

He shook it off and returned his gaze to the row of bricks that he had been mindlessly staring at. He couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching, and he half wondered if Snape was standing behind him, ready to report his every move to whichever master suited him. He was newly turned and his skills were not yet as sharp as they would be when his vampire self settled into his magical core. It was just as he reached to pull out his wand to shine a Lumos behind him that the entrance to the Common Room swung open. Three girls tiptoed out of the doorway; they looked to be fourth, maybe fifth years.

They giggled, while one made the obligatory "shhh"-ing sounds. Draco watched giddily. 'How cliche, a blonde, a brunette, and a redhead.' He rolled his eyes over each of the girls, and let his newly acquired senses wash over him. He studied the girls like a snake watching the field mice. The brunette looked to be the mousiest of the group. She was frailest and would probably put up the least amount of struggle. The redhead was on the plumper side, and Draco questioned whether or not it would be wise to overpower her, after all she might sit on him. He snickered silently at his own tasteless joke. The blonde was by far the best option. She was more developed than the other two; even her lips as she spoke made seductive little "o's". Draco Malfoy knew had found his evening prey.

He slid through the black halls with the greatest of ease, while the girls he watched moved along trying to push the wet velvet darkness away with lit wands. Now, of course, he needed no light. He needed no wand. He had all the power necessary coursing in his veins; the second half of himself was completely in control. The wizard self became quiet and in the background while his vampire took the reins.

He watched; he waited. He hunted. He hunted his prey like a cat stalking a fallen bird; the timing had to be just so.

oooo

Draco's attention was completely absorbed with the three Hufflepuff girls that were flitting about the hallway. Her heartbeat was rattling in her ears, and she was fighting her own moral compass. If her suspicions were right, she was about to let him attack one of these girls. Maybe all of these girls. She didn't know the logistics of it. Would he stun them? Bite them? Walk away?

Her research seemed to indicate that just the bite wouldn't turn them, and her evidence was pointing to the fact that he wasn't a full-blooded vampire, either. These seemed to weigh in the favor of the Hufflepuff girls. She did understand that he was a monster about to force his desires upon unwilling participants. Could she really just stand there and watch?

She had to have the proof, irrefutable memory evidence. Wasn't seeing him stalking them enough? But it wasn't. She knew it wasn't. She needed to see his fangs, to watch him actually draw the blood, and she couldn't reveal her hand to him in the dark corridor in the middle of the night. Once she had her confirmation, Hermione needed to put the other wheels into motion before she confronted Draco.

Forcing herself to stick to the plan, she steeled her nerves and drew a bit closer. He was almost at their heels. She hoped it was almost over.

oooo

"Evening, ladies."

The redhead let out a small shriek at the sound of his voice.

The wand lit up his face in a sinister way. "Just what is it that you are doing out so late? As Head Boy, I should take points."

The girls were looking at one another in the dim glow of the light. The blonde spoke up, "We, we - were just getting a midnight snack." Her voice was trembling.

"Well, my, my - me too girls." He could feel his fangs beginning to descend as his mouth watered. He couldn't afford for them to scream in the hallway.

Without much effort, he felt the his body begin to speed up. Moving faster than the human eye could perceive allowed him to be a much scarier predator than many that lurked in this magical world. Everything appeared frozen in time around him, though in actuality he was just moving at super speeds.

Though his vampire was in control, he needed his magic to fulfill his goal this evening. He quickly stunned the brunette and the redhead. Then, he cast a silencing spell on the blonde. Using the magic in his core through his vampire self meant he could cast both without his wand. These were some of the only spells his vampire had been able to perform and mostly out of the necessity of the hunt in the castle. He could feel the nervous angst of the wizard dreading being caught in such a state. Draco knew he needed to take his prize and finish this quickly.

And yet, the vampire needed a little something more. He returned himself to a normal speed, but now he was behind the blonde instead of in front of her. From her perception, he would have seemed to move from one place to the next instantly. As she realized her friends were unconscious upon the ground, she began to scream, but no sound escaped her lips. She tore off in a run, but he was on her before she could make it more than two steps.

He grabbed her by the wrists, and they tumbled to the ground. Her silent screams egging him on. The fear in her eyes excited him, and he felt himself grow hard. She whimpered, and he stilled to feel her thrashly beneath him. Pressing her face to the side and down onto the cold stone floors, he buried his fangs into her neck and drank the deep red blood that flowed hotly from her veins.

oooo

Hermione's hand was tightly around her mouth so that she wouldn't betray herself and cry out. It was awful to watch. She knew that if he pursued more than just this young girls blood she would have to put a stop to it. She couldn't stand by and watch a bloodthirsty vampire rape someone in the hallway. Watching him drink from her, bite her, was terrible enough. Standing as a witness to this scene violated everything she believed in, and yet, she forced herself to stay put, still, and silent in her horror.

In the chaos of the blonde running, Malfoy had ended up closer to Hermione than she originally intended to be. When she watched the provocative expression that had crossed his face, she had briefly wondered if she'd been wrong about what she suspected. Was Draco Malfoy just a pervert and not actually a vampire?

But that line of thought was instantly demolished as she witnessed his fangs and the bite and the blood.

She wanted to shield her eyes. But now, she forced herself to watch, to study every detail and commit it into her memory as evidence for what he really was. She watched as his free hand trailed lightly across the top of her shirt. The hand dove downward to caress her breasts, but instantly pulled up - almost like he was fighting against himself. The gulps slowed, and Hermione watched as he ran his tongue across the wound he had made. Her night vision spell made it easy for her to see that he didn't let a single drop escape onto the collar of the girl's shirt.

oooo

The vampire's most basic need had been sated, and Draco Malfoy, wizard, began to slide back into full control. It was time to cover his tracks and get away quickly. He stunned the blonde so that her head now lolled to the ground. He pulled out his wand from his place inside his sleeve and quickly cast a healing spell on the bite. Removing a vial from in the innermost pocket of his robes, he opened the blonde girl's mouth and tipped a dose of Blood Replenishing Potion down her throat. He picked her up with ease, cancelled the silencing spell, and moved her back to her previous position with her friends.

Standing behind them he completed a flick and swish of his wand; the stunners were removed and the girls rose from the ground onto their feet. With a practiced hand, he cast a relatively simple obliviate on the three of them, and the three girls be-bopped down the hallway as if nothing, nothing at all had happened.

oooo

Hermione felt like she wanted to throw up, but she couldn't stop. She ran in stocking-clad feet, trying desperately not to slip or be caught as she raced towards the Heads quarters. She closed the door to her bedroom and slunk with her back on it to the floor. Her breathing was labored, and she began to count in a whisper to bring it back into a rhythm.

She was at twenty when she heard the portrait to their shared Head Common Room open and close. Draco Malfoy had returned. His door shut with a small click. She could not go back to not knowing; despite having suspected strongly, it was different to actually know.

AN: This was a plot bunny that demanded that I write it, and while TBH, I'm not normally a fan of the "Heads Common Room" situation, it just works better for where this has to go. Let me know if you think it's worthy of continuing. Much love! Thanks for reading and reviewing.