"Fuck you."

Laughter filled the chamber. Evil laughter, the kind that chilled you to the bone, making you shiver in fear. Her stomach churned, threatening to expel the acid all over the stone ground, but she fought against her gag reflexes, not wanting to show these lunatics any weakness. A foot came out of nowhere and connected with her face, splitting her bottom lip with her own teeth.

"As much fun as that sounds, I don't want to get filth on me," Lucius Malfoy sneered as he kicked her in the side. She looked up at him with pure hatred and spat at his face. The blood and saliva missed it's maid target, but landed on his clothing.

"These are brand new robes, you filthy mud blood!" he shouted, thoroughly pissed. He drew his wand, aiming it at the beaten and bloody girl.

"That's enough, Lucius. I can't use her if she's already dead. And my friend would be thoroughly… disappointed if he can't have a taste. He's been boring me on how delectable she smells," a hissing voice said as the person it belonged to stepped out of the shadows. Lucius lowered his wand immediately and knelt before his Lord. The person ignored him, walking past him and circled the battered girl on the stone flooring. He knelt down next to her head, cocking his own to the side.

"Hermione Granger. You were particularly hard to find. I'm glad that you're here. That was a good idea, hiding your parents in Australia, but I took care of them myself. A gift, for you," he said to her his snake-like voice. Hermione glared up at him, her eyes shining with tears, her only sign of weakness that she had shown in the last forty-eight hours.

"You, Voldemort, will die. And when you do," she coughed, blood splattering on the ground, "I will be there to celebrate." Voldemort smiled down at her and stood.

"I believe that it's time that my friend meets our… guest," he hissed. Lucius stood and walked to the cell door, kicking Hermione in the head, knocking her out in the process, and left the room.

Hermione woke in agonizing pain. She had been under the Cruciatus curse before, but nothing was compared to this. Her whole body felt as if she had swallowed liquid magma and it was coursing through her veins. She opened her eyes and her vision was filled with greenery. She squinted her eyes at the onslaught of light, her pupils screaming in protest, though it paled in comparison to the fire pumping through her. She held back her screams, only allowing them to let loose inside her head, as she sat up and looked around. She was in a forest, that much she could tell, but she could be sure exactly where she was.

'This place looks familiar…' she thought. She stood onto her feet, feeling surprisingly strong, yet weak at the same time. She did a check over her body and she was astounded at what she found. Her hands ran up and down her neck, it felt like something had bitten her over and over again, ripping out chunks of flesh, but the wounds were now nothing but scars.

'How long was I out for?' she wondered. She was surprised that her hands felt cold against her neck and the pain was gone from them. But that didn't mean that the pain in other places decreased.

No.

The pain worsened, settling mostly in her erratically beating heart. She looked down at her hands and gasped. They were pale, paler than she had ever been in her entire life. She glanced around her surroundings again and headed in the direction that she knew was the tree line. The moment she broke through, she could see Hogwarts castle in the distance.

"I shouldn't be able to see it so clearly from here-" she whispered to herself and it suddenly all clicked. Her skin was paling, her senses were enhanced, pain threatened to engulf her, and she had been bitten savagely.

By a vampire.

Hermione's body began to shake, realizing, now, why they had let her live. Why they didn't just kill her, but dumped her so close to a castle full of people.

"Those BASTARDS!!!" she screamed, letting out all of the frustration and pain that she had been holding in ever since she had been captured and tortured. Her breathing labored and she turned around, heading back into the forest and away from the castle. She tried to run despite the burning pain flowing through her body. She had to get far away from there before her heart stopped beating. There was no other option. She remembered reading about vampires, the thirst of a newborn would be all consuming and she wouldn't be able to stop herself. There was no reasoning with that kind of monster. So she ran, ran as fast as she could with the hindering pain, but it gave her a very rough time frame. The pain subsided from her legs and arms, moving to intensify in her heart, but she, insanely, didn't mind. She was now able to move a hell of a lot faster than she would have with her normal, human legs. But she wasn't unaffected by it. Her heart labored under the hardship that she was putting on her body, only adding to the fire if it were possible. But her mind didn't let it incase her. She was a brilliant witch, with a mind rivaled by no one. She wouldn't let this… dare she say 'inconvenienced' slow her down.

Another break in the surrounding trees revealed a clearing, one filled with beautiful wildflowers and tall, swaying grass. She sat down in the middle of it, her breathing coming in and out at a rapid pace. She had ran for almost a full hour straight! She knew that she didn't have much time left, the pain was almost gone from her entire body, only encasing her central organs that surrounded her erratically beating heart. So she sat there, far away from the castle and from the living. With the remaining however long she had, she closed her eyes and thought of everything that she could remember from her life. About her earliest memories of a child up to the hunt for the horicruxes with Harry and Ron. She concentrated on the details of… well, everything. She wanted it all to be fresh in her mind so when her heart beat it's last beat, she would have the chance to retain them better.

Hermione sat there, attempting to control her breathing as she counted her hearts thudding, appreciating and missing each one that passed.

'294...296...298...29-' her counting faltered when her heart missed its last beat. She sighed.

'299' she counted in her head and then opened her eyes. The sun shone in the clearing that she had exiled herself and it danced across her skin, making it glitter and sparkle like tiny diamonds. She could see every detail of it alone with each individual blade of grass that was right below her arm. She marveled at the sight, wanting to laugh with mirth, but she didn't. She remembered.

All of it.

'I wonder what Voldemort tastes like…' she thought to herself as she stood and ran, gliding through the trees and steering clear of anywhere humans may inhabit. The burning thirst raging through her body, concentrating in her throat. She knew, in her cold dead heart, that she didn't want to kill humans. But she didn't know what else to do. While she ran, she came across a scent that made both her mouth seem to water and her body to cringe. She had found a heard of elk and pounced instinctively. Once she had drained four bucks, she realized that the burning had subsided to a bare minimum. Though, she still didn't trust herself to try and be around humans, this helped. Now she wouldn't be ravenous with thirst as she moved across the country. She smiled at her discovery and ran, not knowing where she was headed, but she had a feeling that she would soon find out…