Chapter I
Where am I? How did I get here? Feverish images padded in front of her as she saw what was happening.
The medieval crypt was cold and damp. Sputtering torches threw writhing shadows upon the moldering stonewalls. Rats scurried in the corners, alarmed by the sudden activity in the cavernous chamber. High above the floor, tucked away in a dark, umbrageous recess, a tinted black window admitted rays of filtered starlight into the fetid dungeon.
This is…a dungeon? How did she know she was in one? She turned and saw a figure above and felt somewhat connected as she knew his name but didn't know how.
Viktor and his fellow Council members perched on craggy stone pillars like a flock of evil gargoyles looking down in judgment upon the floor of the crypt. Their luxurious velvet robes contrasted sharply with the dismal surroundings. They muttered darkly among themselves as a trio of Death Dealers dragged a dark haired man into the center of the crypt.
Death Dealers, I've never heard of those before, only Death Eaters but not Death Dealers.
And the man being dragged, she knew he was Lucian, wait how did she know his name? She was becoming more and more confused as she watched in awe of the scene. This was so weird.
A horrified gasp caught his ears; he looked up to see Sonja only a few feet away, suspended above him in some diabolical torture device. Her once-pristine gown hung in tatters on her slender frame. Iron and leather restraints held her fast, stretched cruelly against her flesh. Her snowy vampiric eyes were rimmed with red, and crimson tears ran in torrents down her smooth white cheeks. Lucian could not bear to see her mistreated so. Snarling like a mad dog, he tugged uselessly against his heavy chains.
Yet he and his princess were not the only prisoners in this forsaken place. To his dismay, he saw his fellow lycanthropes being herded into an iron cell by a superior force of sword-wielding Death Dealers. The confused servants yelped and whined piteously as the vampire soldiers locked them behind a swinging metal door. The iron bars of the cage were laced with silver alloy, the better to trap the distraught lycans inside.
Lucian's heart broke for his people. It was not just that they should be punished for his crime, if crime it was. His anger rose, supplanting any lingering fears for his own safety.
Soren, Viktor's brutal overseer, stepped forward and uncoiled a long silver whip, its gleaming links exquisitely crafted in the semblance of human vertebrae.
Lucian braced himself for the blow he knew was coming, yet no preparation could steer him against the searing pain as the silver whip viciously lashed his naked back again and again. The sculpted vertebrae made ribbons of his hide, burning his skin even as they sliced through his defenseless flesh, parting it to the bone. The pain was unendurable…
In her iron prison, Sonja flailed against her bonds but the lashes kept coming. Behind Lucian, over the thunderous cracks of the whip, his lycan brothers and sisters went berserk, enraged to see one of their own kinds tortured as well. Though caged, they threw themselves against the silver-tainted bars, growling like the untamed beasts within them. Without the moon's liberating glow, they could not shed their human guises, yet they raged like creatures of the wild, rending their crude woolen garments and gnashing their teeth. Angry curses gave way to lupine howls and roars as the pack voiced their primeval wrath against their one-time masters.
We will never forget this night, Lucian vowed, even as the merciless whip shredded his flesh anew…
Their vicarious blood lust satisfied at last, Viktor and the Council members exited silently from the crypt.
Bloodied and exhausted, he collapsed onto the floor which was now wet and sticky with his blood. Was this the end? Was his torture over? The screams of protesting metal reverberated nearby, echoing throughout the cavernous chamber. Lifting his head, Lucian spied two grim-faced Death Dealers wrestling with a heavy iron wheel mounted against the wall. The corroded wheel did not want to move at first, but the combined strength of the two vampires finally proved enough to crank the wheel in a clockwise direction.
As a result, timeworn metal gears began to squeak and grind against each other. Panic flooded Lucian's ashen face as he realized what the guards intended. Sonja also grasped what was transpiring. Her frightened eyes stared into his, terror-stricken.
Directly above her ahead, a massive wooden hatch slowly creaked open. No not the sun! Not on her! Lucian lunged forward desperately and the mighty chains snapped taut, holding him back. The iron shackles cut savagely into his flesh, yet he barely noticed the pain. He strained with all his might, working himself into a lather of blood and sweat, but there was not a damned thing he could do to save the woman he loved. He could do nothing but watch as the first blood-red lesions appeared, popping and snapping across Sonja's delicate white skin. The unforgiving sunlight shined down upon his princess's vulnerable flesh, which began to melt and liquefy as though she were being bathed into acid.
"NOOOO!" He screamed hoarsely, his raspy cry of despair joining hers in one final, excruciating moment of communion…
He cried out her name one last time, watching his dying love before him. "Sonja!"
Hermione screamed and jolted awake from the nightmare she was having at the same time her alarm blared out. Croonshank her cat, jump when she sat up turn to give his mistress's a glare before leaving the room and heading down for his morning breakfast.
"It was just a dream…just a bad dream." She whispered to herself as she plopped back on the bed hitting her pillow. But why did she keep having these bad nightmares and why did they feel so real to her. She was beginning to wonder if her dreams were anyway connect to her just like Harry's was to Voldemort's.
Could it been that somehow that she, at some time was connected to one of those people, that man who cried the woman's name, Sonja or she who screamed, dying as she was being burned by the sun…
"Hermione dear, are you up yet?" Her mother called from downstairs, "Breakfast is ready and there's an owl waiting for you."
"I'm coming!" She yelled as she got up and head to her closet, grabbing a set of clothes and rush to the bathroom to freshen up. After she did, dressed in a pair of khakis and a rolling stones t-shirt her folks got her as she headed down the stairs to where her father was reading the paper and her mom flipping another set of pancakes. "Good morning mom and dad!" Her father looked up from the paper and smiled as she came walking into the kitchen. "Morning sweetheart, pleasant dreams last night?"
Pleasant, she wouldn't exactly call it pleasant more like strange and somehow it felt she didn't know the exact word to call it but it gave her a bad feeling inside. "Did you sleep all right?"
"Yeah sure...I guess" She said quickly, hoping to change the subject. But her mother seemed concerned. "Are you sure because I heard you talking in your sleep, most of it sounded gibberish." Hermione recalled the memory of seeing the pain as Lucian felt the whip of those sliver whips or how Sonja was burning right in front of her eyes. Yeah that would be something to be scare of.
"You ok honey; you look a little pale now?" Hermione broke her thoughts away from the memory and saw her parents looking at her. "Um yeah I'm fine just a weird dream I had that's all. No big deal, they're not real ok."
Her father snorted. "Weird dreams, true plenty of people get them sweetheart. Like remember that time when you were really little, you used to love to read all the time—"
"I still do dad!"
She said but her mother added, "Yes and used to dream that fantasy
was real. I remembered how one time you told me, like around when
you were five or six that you had a friend, a little girl, an
imaginary one I believe. You described her to us once. Do you
remember Arthur?"
"I think so?" He placed his paper down
and turned to Hermione. "You said that she was around your age and
that she wasn't like all the other kids or something, also about
her eyes, you said they matched yours but turn blue sometimes."
"I
did?" Her parents nodded. She didn't remember that and she
wondered why. Maybe studying and being with the Order made her
forget some of the childhood memories she once had. Hermione then
saw the owl standing with the Daily Prophet sitting along with a
letter with her name next to her plate. She picked up her paper as
she set to eat her breakfast.
Another report on Voldemort's Death Eaters attack, innocent muggles getting killed, etc…
Things were not going well in the wizardry world. She wondered how Harry and Ron were doing. Hopefully Harry was doing better besides having to spend the summer at the Dursley's. She shuddered to think of those horrible people. After breakfast, she picked up the letter and went upstairs to read it in private.
It was addressed to her from Harry. She ripped it open and read the contents.
Dear Hermione,
How are things with you this summer? Guess what, I get to spend my summer with the Weasley instead of the Dursley this year! Isn't that great! No uncle Veron breathing down my neck, no aunt Petunia nagging and most important no Dudley. Ron and I have been practicing our Quidditch for our last year and the twins come by to sometimes practice or give free samples of their latest creation. Ginny sends her love along with Ron though he won't admit. He's gotten together with Luna. You know the one from Ravenclaw, the one who came with us to the Ministry…
She saw his handwriting become a little shaky at the word Ministry.
Poor Harry, ever since two years ago when Sirius fell through that veil in the department of Mystery, Harry felt himself to blame for his demise. Sometimes it was either her, Ron or in this case Ginny's job to cheer him up whenever he felt reminisce over his late Godfather.
First his parents, then his godfather, who else did he believe was going to end up dead? She continue to read his letter until things got better and saw that he gotten himself in better control of his writing hand.
Anyways things are kind of quiet without you, so are you going to be heading to Diagon Alley soon to fetch your school supplies. We can meet at Madam…at around 9 on Saturday on August 23 if that's no trouble. Send your letter by owl and let us know.
HarryHermione went to her desk and picked up a parchment and quill and wrote down that she would and to send her regards to the Weasley family. She fold the letter and headed back downstairs to where the owl waiting and handed it to him.
"Take this to the Burrows." She said and watched it fly away through the window. She then looked towards the calendar to see that it was only a week away before she got to see Harry or Ron. She decided that she would take her time by going to go out for a bit.
"I'll be going out for a while."
"Ok sweetheart, don't be too long and don't forget your cell."
"No worries there!" She yelled from upstairs, grabbing a denim jacket and her purse and just in case of emergency, her wand, stuffing it into her khakis and set down the stairs to say goodbye to her folks.
"Bye mom, dad. Love ya!" She yelled as she went out the door and to her car.
She headed to one of her favorite bookstores in London, Keeper Books. She walked inside, passing the front desk and to the back where most of her favorites were. She scanned the titles of some, a few peaking her curiosity, other not of mild interest. Finally deciding on one, she grabbed it and headed to the area with its chairs and tables. She saw a couple people were there as not many were into books and took an empty seat near the back. She looked at the book in her hand, though thick in layer, it had a worn leather cover with no title to the front but had some weird symbol there but something about it had grabbed her attention.
She opened and flipped through the thick dry pages. Her eyes seeing pictures of faded etchings with columns of intricate calligraphy. She saw to her disgust people being tortured and burned at the stake by armored men. Had these people been witches or wizards, she had doubt it as their features seem less human than beast.
Beast-like creature, they couldn't have been what she thought could be? Could it?
Could it be Werewolves? Turning more pages she saw some chained and being branded like cattle with emblems. What were these? She thought recoiling from the grimsly images. Ancient myths…or Medieval propaganda? She skimmed it as she found that some of the words were written in a different language than what she was able to understand. Perhaps Dumbledore could translate it…
Finally she was able to find a paragraph written in old English. Seeing as she was getting somewhere she flipped to the next page and came across a mutilated portrait and seeing a brand on his right arm. An elaborated cattle brand incorporating a large capital V.
V for who? Then the answer came to her unexpectedly as if someone had been standing next to her the whole time and whispered it to her ear.
Viktor…
Hermione startled, turn to see if anyone was there next to her but saw no one as half of the people were either too engrossed in their own world or chatting with their own neighbor to even bother her. Had it been her imagination that did that? She turned back to the book, staring once again at the ruined picture then to the charred caption beneath the portrait.
It read: Lucian, scourge of immortals, master of lycan horde.
Lucian? That name rang a bell and then she remembered the dream!
…Forced him to his knees. His body already
bruised and aching from the guards' rough treatment was chained to
the floor. The cold stones sent a chill through his bones, and he
trembled despite himself.
…No preparation could steer him against the searing pain as the silver whip viciously lashed his naked back again and again. The sculpted vertebrae made ribbons of his hide, burning his skin even as they sliced through his defenseless flesh, parting it to the bone. The pain was unendurable…
Lucian…lycan…lycanthropes…werewolves! He had been leader of a clan for werewolves. She saw there was another picture underneath his and saw it depicted somewhat a battle going on. A heated battle between werewolves and what, mortals, but as she closer she saw that the people had fanged teeth. Vampires! A battle between vampires and werewolves! The background held smoke and fire going up to the sky somewhere from the mouth of mountain caves and a moon overhanging the battlefield with the features of an outraged werewolf looking down on the bloody scene with murder in its bloodlust eyes.
The Battle of the Alps… There was that voice again and Hermione couldn't help but think that there was somebody in here beside her and muggles that was just as powerful as any wizard or witch. Perhaps maybe even more? She read to where the story told of the battle.
"…Of the scores of brave souls who ventured into Lucian's infernal fortress, only a single vampire survived: Kraven of Leichester, who was richly rewarded not only for setting the great blaze but for retuning with tangible proof of the lycan master's demise: the branded skin, cut from Lucian's arm."
Lies…Lies. The voice sounded angry and it was starting to make Hermione's head hurt as she heard it grow louder and louder, sounding less human until it sound like a feral growl.
LIESSSSSSSSSSSS!
Hermione thought her head was going to explode and tried to make the ringing sound go away but it only grew stronger and soon the room seemed to be spinning before her eyes and got dark and darker until she saw or heard no more thankfully.
Where, where am I? She, at first, saw nothing and then a bright white light cleared her vision and then she was able to see again after it died down. She saw she was in the book shop still, sitting in the same chair but no one was around her. Everyone was gone.
Was the shop closing? Why didn't someone wake her up and told her it was?
"What happened?"
"I believe I can answer that." Hermione spun around and found herself face to face with someone leaning against the bookcase, half the figure including the face in the shadow. Hermione jumped back, her chair falling and making a grab for her wand and pointed to the stranger. This was no muggle she thought as she could feel something strange of this person's presence or aura that was giving off.
"Who are you and what did you do?" She tried to get a better look at the figure in front of her but had no chance with the shadows all around. She decided to find someway to coat the person to come out. "I demand to know who you are and what you are up to!"
The person chuckled, the voice obviously belonging to a female no doubt. "Oh Mione Mione Mione, it's been so long since we last met and yet you seem you don't remember me."
Mione? When had anyone beside her own parents and friends called her that? "I'll ask again who are you exactly!"
The girl could've given her a grin but it was still to hard to tell. "Remember when you were around five, you were all alone sitting by that swing in your backyard, crying because some kids refuse to play with you, and how you wanted to cry to your mom but instead went to your room and brought outside one of your books to read."
It couldn't be…Hermione's eyes widen as she kept her wand steady but then spoke in a stuttering voice to see if that person was really who she thought it was. "And what book was I reading may I ask?"
"The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, your favorite."
Hermione couldn't believe it, slowly memories of her childhood came rushing back to her, sitting by the swing alone, reading while drying away her tears after the mean kids she ran away from and then a voice calling out to her, from no where, talking to her.
"Lumos…" She whispered and instantly she saw her face.
"It's been twelve years huh?" A pale face spoke while hazel-brown eyes stared into hers. The long black hair was held in a low ponytail but still some escape and fell into her face. "Do you remember me now then…cousin…"
"Cousin…yes…I…I think so…" She remembered how she talked to her as if from behind and then when she turned from behind the swing set, there she was...
Small and pale with dark black hair and soft
hazel eyes. She had been so shocked and scared she was unable to
move as the other little girl looked to her.
'Hi. What's that you're reading?' Hermione was too afraid to speak but then words slowly came to her. 'Ch-chronicles of Narnia.'
'Is it good?' She asked, tilting her head, her black hair falling to the side. Hermione nodded. 'My favorite. It's about a world where there's magic and talking animals and adventure.' At first she thought the girl was going to say what the other mean kids had said, that magic was not real but she didn't. She smiled and said, 'Neat, that sounds cool, can you tell me more?'
Hermione was surprised but obliged as she went back to the first chapter and read to her all the way to the end. They shared their laughs and their tears and when the story finished the girl clapped. 'That was wonderful, is there more?'
Hermione nodded. 'I have more; do you want to hear some?' The girl was about to say something but then looked to the sky where the sun was already fading and that the night was coming. 'I can't, I have to go back and wake up. Mommy and Daddy will worry if I don't.' Hermione looked sad when she heard this but perked up as she said, 'But I can come back whenever you want, and I promise whenever I sleep I'll come.'
'Really?' She nodded. 'Great, I'm Hermione Granger.' The girl smiled. 'Pleasure to meet you Hermione, Mione…my name's Keller Corvin.' She looked to the sky once more and then waved as to say goodbye, 'I'll see you again soon.' And then she faded away as if she disappeared.
Hermione stared at Keller, shocked and more than happy to see her one time friend but still couldn't believe it. "I thought you were just an imaginary friend I made up!" She said and Keller chuckled.
"I suppose you would but I guess it would have to take some time to explain and since I guess we could start with saying it runs in our blood cousin."
"What do you mean 'in our blood'?" Keller crossed the room and took the opposite chair from Hermione. Hermione noticed she was wearing black leather pants, a black halter top with a trench coat. A black choker with matching wristbands she wore, contrasting the whiteness of her pale skin. She had always thought when as a kid she had been a ghost but there seem to have been more than meets the eyes she thought.
Keller saw the book lying on the table and said, "You ever wondered why you've been having these strange dreams for the last few months ever since your seventeenth birthday." Now that she mentions it, those dreams did start after her seventeenth birthday. She nodded slowly as Keller continued. "And why I appeared to you when you were young then disappeared completely from your mind not recalling anything about me until just now." Again she nodded. Keller then went to grab something from her pocket and pulled it out. "Perhaps this will look familiar to you."
She pushed it out in front of her and Hermione stared in wide-open shock.
The sight of that crest-shaped pendant, centered on a polished turquoise gemstone, the same pendant that the vampire princess, Sonja, then Lucian wore was sitting right in front of her.
A look of realization hit her as each of the pieces seemed to start to slowly into place. Although what Keller could be saying was impossible beyond belief, she looked to her to confirm her notions.
"This can't be…"
"Mione, I'm afraid it is. Those dreams you are having are the memories of your parent's past. Sonja and Lucian were your real mother and father."
"But-but!"
"Hermione, I know that this seems all vague but you have to listen to me, last night I had a dream in which a tragedy the same as mine was to befall you and that would cause you to accept your destiny. I'm here to help you."
"What do you mean in a tragedy? You don't a mean certain someone-someone I know is going to die is there?" She saw Keller's eyes looked down to the table. "Well who?" Keller didn't look but Hermione slammed her fist down on the table, hard to rattle it with unknown strength.
"Tell me who!" Her voice rose with great concern as she snarled and grabbed the flap of her coat and held it up to her face. She looked this time in her eyes and saw the worst fear she could see.
No…
She let go and Keller looked at her defeated. "I'm sorry…" But Hermione didn't hear as the world started to spin once more but this time didn't feel unconscious but more awake
Hermione woke with a start and saw that some people were already gone and that the place was about ready to close.
I have to hurry, I have to get home, and I have to save them! Hermione dashed out of there quicker than anyone would expect and hurried to her car and jammed the petal to the metal, not caring if she was breaking the law.
A tragedy the same as mine was to befall you and that would cause you to accept your destiny.
Please don't let it happen. Please let me make it in time. She saw that the sky was dark and that the full moon was rising and she knew she was fighting against time as she made it to the Granger residents. She rushed into the house, wand in her hand as she went through the kitchen, dark with no lights on. She decided to play it safe until she knew it was clear. She walked quietly through the kitchen, making her way to the living room then upstairs. She thought she heard footsteps down stairs but kept both her senses aware in case of an attack behind. She moved carefully as she made it to her parent's room and then stared at the sight before her.
"No…" Her voice choked as she stared into the lifeless eyes of both her parents. Her father was lying on the floor afoot from the bed while her mother looked on with pain and fear. Hermione couldn't believe what she was seeing but while staring at her parents' corpses, she didn't hear the steady movement nor had time to protect as a spell hit her in the back.
"Impedimenta!" She flew backwards, hitting the wall and dropping her hand in the attack. Before she could go and grab it.
"Expelliarmus!" Her wand flew to her captor's hand. The Death Eater look down at her from his half white mask, smirking with a taunt as he held it out to her and waved it out like handing a juicy bone to a starving dog.
"Ah little mudblood missing her stick!" He tossed it behind his back holding out his own wand in front of him, pointing to her chest. "Too bad so sad, not!" He crackled a laugh that sounded too much like all the other Death Eater she had already met. She wanted to shut him up and choke the life out of him. Suddenly he stopped and then said, "Crucio!" Pain, unbelievable pain wash over her, twisting and torturing her, making her want to scream, to cry, to beg for mercy. But she wouldn't dare give him the pleasure of seeing her squirm. She would rather died than let him have what he wanted.
Dad, mom, I'm so sorry. She thought as she could have maybe avoided all this if she had stayed at home. She could have protected them or given them time until maybe the Order arrived but she knew that it would have done no good. I wish there was some way out…
There is a way… A voice whispered inside her head. At first she thought it was Keller again, communicated to her. But this voice sounded different than Keller's. She almost recognized it somehow. Look to the moon and release the beast.
Yes release it and you will become stronger. This other voice was softer and melodic like but she too was telling her to look to the moonlight. Become what you must become and accept it.
Accept it daughter…
Half-lycan and half-vampire but stronger than both… It was Keller's voice now and knew what she had to do. She turned her eyes slowly to the window and saw that the moon rose clear enough through the curtain less window, falling into the room and to her. Hermione turn her gaze to the man and saw his grim smile turn into a scowl as he tried to double the pain against her. She didn't yell but she felt something.
She felt something completely different than the pain. She felt the change begin. Every muscle in her body spasmed beyond control, the pounding in her ears increased and her vision seem to go gray then blur before recoiling back at immense speed. She felt the bones and muscle expand, gaining mass and density at superhuman speed, her hands changing with bare claws then her spine twisted and stretched feeling her entire body morph while her jaws seem to stretch then regress back to normal with long sharp fangs left behind. The howl of the beast was ready to cry as she heard the pounding of her heart inside her head like a war drum banging ready for battle. Yes it was happening she could already smell the tangible fear coming off him as she watched the bizarre and horrifying transformation. The smell was arousing and her mouth hungered for the taste of his flesh and blood.
"What in Merlin's name!" But he lost control over his spell and Hermione was able to break it while staring coldly into his eyes. She smiled coldly at him showing off her new set of teeth that shine sickly white in the pale light.
"You never should have let the moonlight find me!" She said in a voice unimaginably monstrous as her and the voice of her father, Lucian entwines and spoke at once.
The Death Eater paled, his wand dropped to the ground as he tried to make a break for it, not thinking of phasing out of there but because of what he had seen the mudblood turn into and what she became he tried to race his way to safety but it was too late. Hermione reacted with the speed no human or wizard had and the Death Eater fell down the stairs and smacked into a pair of unmoving adamantine legs. He looked up and stared into the unearthly black eyes.
What, he thought flabbergasted. He knew she had been up those stairs seconds ago and now here she was. How did she move so quickly?
Hermione didn't waste time as all she could think about was her dead parent and the one she had in front of her. His blood and flesh was calling out to him and her half vampiric-lycan sides were calling for it. With quick reflex she grabbed the man's throat and squeezed it so tightly that he looked ready to pop.
Death should not come so swift, especially one for his kind but her hunger was too much and she needed to feed. She opened her mouth wide and heard the small cry of horror before she engulfed it down with one crunch of her mighty fangs!
Keller flew down, her body changing back to its' normal guise as she stepped inside the house. She could already smell the stench of death that had already happened around this area and Hermione's was the last one where the smell became stronger with blood spilt in the air. She looked sadly outside the house, knowing what horror waited inside as she went through and witnessed her cousin with the fresh kill.
Just like mine… First transformation, the first taste of blood but not the last, it will never be. She thought as she recalled the grimsly detail of her own parents' death at the hands of the Death Dealers that came to their own home, her dad's body riddled with bullets while her mom was unexpected shot in the head from behind. The pain and horror triggered her transformation along with the undying thirst for blood and kill then the slaughter and ending up like this.
Keller waited for her cousin to notice her as she knew that the first time the beast awakes was always untamable and hated to have to go against her own blood cousin.
Hermione was too deep in her kill to notice the other inside her territory as she feasted on the lifeless flesh and bone of the man she gored on. The savage joy of the kill, rendering him with her claws and fangs to pieces, the beast becoming content with her fill raised her blood-smeared face to see someone standing in the hallway.
Keller.
She stared at her before walking slowly towards her, carefully as Hermione growled but bent down, offering her hand palm up. "Mione…"
She looked at her, blinking her jet-black eyes, hybrid eyes, wondering if she was trying to trick her but then the scent that smelled relatively familiar like her own. She moved cautiously, sniffing the palm then nuzzling it then moved closer to her as Keller moved forward and embraced her tightly. "It's ok Mione, its ok. I'm here." She whispered as Hermione shape-shifted back into her human guise. Hermione squeezed her palm, feeling the warmth and saw the memories of what happened appeared in her mind.
"They're gone…they're dead!" She cried
"I know and I'm sorry." She said deeply, hugging her tightly and patting her hair as Hermione cried in her arms.
How she wished she could have come sooner and kept this from happening but things had been so difficult, trying to lose the Death Dealers and finding a way to meet her cousin at last after twelve years. They had once again been reunited but at a price as they found themselves orphan and hybrids of two different species that would have them hunted down and exterminated by the other races.
"Hermione don't cry. Hermione I'm here for you…don't worry." Hermione gripped her tighter, her hands sprouting claws unintended but still. Fresh blood protruded out but she didn't feel the pain or the blood seeping out as long as she held her as much as she needed for the comfort. "Promise me you won't leave me Keller."
"I promise Hermione I won't ever leave you." By my parents' immortal souls, I'll stay with you until the end of time.
