Every eye was on her.
The Great Hall was silent, captivated by the beauty on the stage.
She gazed defiantly back at her audience, her black eyes filled with a delectable haughtiness, her lips pursed, her long fingers curled into fists.
It was delicious.
He wanted her.
He wasn't alone in his longing.
Every Slytherin worth their salt was entranced by her; the girls already twisting their hair around their fingers to mimic her curls, the boys smoothing down their shirts and straightening their ties.
She was what they liked; darkly beautiful, a malicious gleam in her eyes, arrogance oozing from every pore.
She was an oddity; almost too thin, with willowy limbs and a sharply featured face.
Her eyes were large, her lips plump, her cheekbones high, and her hair; Merlin, her hair.
Her curls were a dark chocolate brown, and yet when the light caught her locks they seemed to gleam with mahoganies, reds, blacks, even the odd golden strand.
He didn't need to hear the Hat's decision – they all knew.
It didn't even touch her head.
"Slytherin!"
The reactions were mixed.
Disgusted groans swept along the Gryffindor table.
From the Hufflepuffs came whispers of apprehension; the last thing they needed was another tormentor, and this girl looked more than capable of creating misery.
Only the Ravenclaw table remained relatively indifferent.
Beside him, Pansy let out a breath of delight.
Along the table, Theo Nott gave a miniature fist pump.
Draco watched as she stepped down from the dais, approaching her housemates with cool superiority, choosing her seat.
She waited as a haste space was made for her between Pansy and Daphne, and the girl sat down, neither acknowledging nor thanking them for their gesture.
She reached into her robes and pulled out a silver flask, emptying the contents into the goblet of pumpkin juice that appeared before her on the table.
She took a sip and sighed, looking up for the first time, tilting her head to the side as her seductive gaze alighted on each and every one of her observers.
She took her time in studying them, almost assessing them for flaws and weaknesses, and, when she was satisfied that they were thoroughly enraptured with her, she smiled.
It was a cold, deadly affair, and Draco went limp with want as he heard her speak for the first time.
"I'm Katherine."
He already loathed her.
It was a bit embarrassing, really, how everyone was fawning over themselves to make her happy.
She didn't even fucking appreciate it, accepting their favours with little more than a curl of her lips and a bat of her eyes.
Fucking hell, her eyes.
He had thought them to be entirely black, more creature-like than human, but he had seen her look up into the sun one day and had been struck by the warmth that suddenly seemed to appear in her irises.
She had smiled into the sunlight, as if basking in a rare moment of solitude.
Draco had watched her for much longer than a moment.
But he'd never tell.
He couldn't understand their fascination with her.
She wasn't even particularly nice.
On the contrary, she was pure evil.
She didn't even have to try.
An approving twitch of her lips was all it took, and some third year was scurrying off to dish out her twisted version of justice.
She even seemed to enjoy it when said third year came back scuffed and bloody, having come off the worst in whatever task she had "asked" them to do.
In this particular instance it was to punish a Gryffindor fifth year for owning the same earrings as her, but most of the time, she didn't even have an agenda for her cruelty.
Draco suspected that she just loved to cause chaos.
He was no stranger to the manic glint in her eyes; he'd been around his Aunt Bella for long enough to know what such a look meant.
Him, he tried his damndest to avoid even being in the same air space as her.
Katherine Pierce.
She made his skin crawl in the most fantastic way, and he despised her for it.
He was Draco fucking Malfoy – Draco Malfoy did not obsess over girls.
Who did she think she was, making him behave this way, driving him away from his friends, leaving him sitting alone at meals just because he couldn't bear to be around her?
They'd been his friends for all of his life, and suddenly they were choosing her company over his, putting her demands above his.
As if he cared, anyway.
He had less than a year to fix a stupid broken cabinet, less than a year to ruin the rest of his fucking life, and for what?
To cater to the whims of a madman?
It made him no better than his classmates, Draco realised, nearly vomiting at the thought.
He didn't want to be her plaything, her toy.
So he resisted.
"Truth or dare, Malfoy?"
He went rigid as she said his name, slowly raising his head. She'd never spoken to him before. "What?"
Katherine narrowed her eyes, a calculating smirk blossoming at the edges of her lips. "Truth or dare?"
"Go and fuck yourself."
Shocked whispers erupted around them, and Draco almost looked around for the fool that had said it.
And then he noticed that she was actually smiling for the first time in the three months that he'd known her, and she was smiling at him.
It didn't make him feel particularly nice, not when his brain caught up with his mouth and reminded him that he had been the one to insult her.
He opened and closed his mouth a few times, shocked at his outburst, but still her little smile remained, and when she licked her lips, Draco knew he was done for.
Younger students began to filter away, eager to get out of the firing line.
The new girl was volatile at best, the last thing they wanted was to get on her shit list.
"That wasn't very nice," she chided, pouting slightly, but he could see beneath the act.
She was half amused and half livid.
The livid part made him nervous.
But only a bit.
When he saw her at the next Death Eater meeting one October weekend, he wasn't entirely surprised.
She wore a short black dress that clung to her figure, and Draco realised that it was the first time he'd ever seen her in anything but her school robes.
He decided then and there that her school robes did nothing for her.
She was thin, it was true, but she definitely had curves in the right places.
The tights on her legs – or were they stockings? He couldn't be sure – showed off her shapely thighs and calves, and the heels on her feet only served to make his mouth water.
Her curls had been straightened, her lips painted red, and her face was carefully emotionless, save for the fire in her eyes that always made him shiver.
She stood with her parents - and this did shock Draco.
He didn't even know that Sanguini could have children, but the way he placed a fatherly hand on Katherine's shoulder said it all.
Her inheritance certainly cleared up a few of his qualms, though.
Like why she seemed to get her own way all the fucking time.
Idly, he wondered if she had fangs.
He hadn't seen them at school, but then, he avoided her like the plague, so he hadn't ever had the opportunity.
Then again, surely if she had fangs it would have been all around the school by now.
And then she looked directly at him, ran her tongue along her teeth, and answered his question.
Draco shivered, and tried to act like her elongated canines hadn't affected him.
But another part of his anatomy jolted to attention and he winced.
She looked knowingly down at his lap, raising an eyebrow at the bulge in his trousers.
It took everything he had not to adjust himself in his seat, not to cover himself or fix his trousers or even Avada her right then and there.
He would not show a weakness in front of her.
But he did choke on his own tongue when she bit her lip and coquettishly looked away, as if the sight of an aroused Draco Malfoy had been too much for her delicate sensibilities to handle.
Fucking cock tease.
Draco flinched for her when the Dark Lord gifted her with the Mark, but her face remained impassive, and that had been impressive.
He'd had the mark, he knew of the pain. But other than the clenching of her jaw, Katherine Pierce didn't move.
...
Later on, after the other Death Eaters had attempted to curse her into oblivion and she had admirably held her own – and shocked many of the people present with her horrifically advanced abilities – Draco approached her, having gulped down several glasses of firewhiskey to pluck up the courage.
She didn't acknowledge his presence, but he spoke all the same.
"I'm impressed," he said, and she shrugged.
"I aim to please."
Draco smirked, handing her a glass of champagne. "Bullshit."
"You're lucky," she commented, and Draco raised an eyebrow.
"I am?" He certainly wasn't expecting her to dig her nails into his Dark Mark, and would've howled in pain if she hadn't glared at him so murderously that it shocked him into silence.
"If you ever embarrass me again, your family will be finding your body for weeks." She shoved his arm away and smiled, as if the whole thing had been a big joke, but the crescent shaped holes in his arm spoke volumes, and Draco shook his head in disgust, both at himself and at her.
He'd had just about enough of this bitch.
Katherine tilted her head, a small challenging smirk on her lips, and when she turned to leave, Draco grabbed her hand, pulling her from the gathering and out into the gardens.
He didn't stop until they were surrounded by trees.
Slamming her against a trunk, he slanted his mouth over hers, relishing in her moan of surprise.
She threaded her fingers into his hair, holding him to her even as he was lifting her, aligning their centres.
His hands delved beneath her dress, holding onto her rear as her legs wrapped around his waist, and he dreamily noted that she had been wearing stockings.
He pulled away, their breath fogging into the air around them, and rested his forehead against hers. "I fucking hate you," he whispered, grinding his erection against her even as she laughed breathlessly at his assault.
"I know," she replied, stroking a finger down his face.
Draco pulled away a little, but just enough to look into her eyes. "Doesn't that bother you?"
"Should it?"
He shrugged, suddenly enraptured by the way her eyes had darkened. "Do you want this?"
Katherine raised an eyebrow, and before she could reply with some scathing retort, Draco captured her lips again.
He was going to leave bruises, she thought, mewling loudly as he ripped her underwear away and thrust himself into her without warning. "Fuck, Draco."
Momentarily overcome by the sensation, Draco groaned, resting his head on her shoulder as he tried to regain some resemblance of control.
But then she squeezed her muscles, and purred "Hard," in his ear, and Draco was done for.
Her back arched against the tree as she tried to pull him closer, the movement pushing her breasts up into his face. He pulled on her hair, forcibly arching her back even further, and she moaned again, digging her nails into his shoulders so hard that he was sure she had drawn blood.
The bowing of her back thrust her chest up into his face, and he took the invitation, burying face between her perfect breasts, kissing and nipping and suckling on any skin he could reach, continuing his relentless rhythm.
He had never really tried the rough thing, but from the way her muscles began to tighten around him he suspected that this had been exactly what she had wanted.
When he glanced up, her fangs were on show and there was a beautiful desperation in her eyes. He knew, just from that look, that she would never have asked, but he sensed what she wanted and fearlessly offered her his neck. She didn't even think about it, plunging her teeth into his neck, knowing that he felt her sadistic hum of approval against his skin when he cried out in pain.
She took a long pull of his blood, almost pulling back in surprise at Draco's sudden moan of pleasure. He was enjoying it, so much so that her moment of hesitation had made him lift a hand to press her mouth more firmly onto his neck. "More," he groaned weakly, sounding almost drunk from pleasure. He was practically begging her to drink from him, and when she did, he increased his pace, rewarding her.
Katherine angled her hips just so, tearing her mouth away and crying out as the shift caused him to hit a new spot inside of her.
In that moment, she wasn't sure who was in control. His blood rolled down her chin and onto her chest, but Draco was merciless, shoving her towards her orgasm, silently insisting that she come first.
He watched with inebriated fascination as she came violently undone around him, her dark eyes rolling back, her now-blunt teeth biting down on her bottom lip to restrain the noise of her climax.
For his part, Draco managed to hold on just long enough to pull her mouth back to the puncture marks on his neck, demanding she resume her attentions, and when he felt her suckle again, he exploded inside of her, crying out her name for all to hear.
He eased her down from the tree and the two collapsed onto the floor, lying on their backs with half a foot between them. Draco tucked himself back into his trousers without looking at her, trying to ignore his shaking hands.
Wordlessly, he reached for her, pulling her against him and absently curling her hair around his fingers. She looked up at him, considering something, and then bit into her wrist, pressing it to his lips.
He glanced at it warily, and she rolled her eyes. "Do you really want to explain to your parents why your neck is bleeding? They know who my father is; they know what I am. Drink – it will heal."
He nodded and pressed his lips to the wound, sucking the liquid into his mouth. His eyes closed at the taste – he'd never imagined that blood could taste good, but her blood certainly did. He didn't miss her shudder of pleasure, filing that reaction away for future consideration, and when she stroked his hair back from his face, he realised that he had fallen asleep.
Draco touched his neck and was startled to find that the wound had completely healed.
He sighed, a little disappointed that the evidence of their tryst had been erased. She sensed his mood and looked around for her underwear, tucking the wisp of black lace into his trouser pocket and settling against him.
After a while, she stood up and fixed her dress, her lips twitching.
"What?" he asked her, and she shook her head.
"You didn't take off my stockings."
Draco smirked, leaning up on his elbows, apparently refreshed after some of her blood and a little nap. "There's always next time."
Katherine shook her head, smirking deliciously as she did so. "There won't be a next time, lover boy."
And then she was gone, and Draco was alone.
