I don't own any part of HP or Sookie, all rights to JK Rowling, Charlaine Harris, Scholastic, WB, etc. I make no money off this fic.

AN: Chapter two was bumping about my hard-drive as well, but that's it for now. Enjoy!

"I was on my way anyhow when you phoned," a smooth tenor said and there was a clink of something as a bag was set down. "A negative?"

"Your memory astounds me." That was Snape's rustling, nasal baritone.

"Well, what's the trouble?" The tenor changed slightly, concern entering it. "Is that blood?"

"I'm still cleaning."

"What the hell happened, Severus?"

"See for yourself. And before you ask, of course I didn't. You know me better."

"I do, don't I…you old marshmallow. Well, well. This…isn't good. Can you glamour her?"

"What's the point?" Snape sounded almost resigned.

"What's the point? What's the point of any of this?" the tenor demanded. "Do you honestly want all our efforts to come to nothing now?"

"I thought perhaps we might simply try talking to her about it."

There was an edge to both men's voices, now, and Hermione struggled to open her eyes, to see what the problem was. That was when she felt hands prodding her side, pulling away sticky, sodden rags and poking at her. She whimpered and the tenor spoke again, this time to incant a spell.

"Vulnera Sanentur."

She felt the ache in her side ease and the voice repeated the spell. Her breath came easier now and despite feeling tired and very weak, she knew she would live. She hadn't been certain of that until this moment. In fact, she was astonished she was conscious at all. But perhaps that was the effect of whatever Snape had poured in her mouth. It had been thick and unpleasant to taste, at first. Of course, many healing potions were, so that was no surprise.

"Merlin," the tenor said softly. "How'd you keep her alive?"

There was silence and then the other man spoke again, his voice harsh.

"How stupid are you?"

The sound of a sudden scuffle filled the space and then the baritone spoke.

"I'm still your elder, no matter what you do for me. It was all I could do for her, you understand me? She would have died. And then truly, where would I be?"

"Alright," the other murmured. "Alright. I agree. I apologize." His tone was soothing and Hermione finally found the strength to open her eyes.

Her vision was blurry and her tongue felt thick and all she could do was see the dim outline of Snape- she assumed it was still him, anyway- and another man. A blonde, whose back was to her. Her heart sped up some. What was going on? What was happening?

As if he could sense her eyes on him, Snape turned his head and saw her watching him, confusion plain on her face. He frowned as her eyes opened wider, her vision cleared some, and he turned back to the other man.

"She's awake."

The blonde spun about after wrenching the front of his shirt free of Severus' hands and Hermione choked as she gasped, her breath dissolving into a coughing fit, the pain in her side sharp.

Draco Malfoy swore and held her head up, murmuring another gentle healing spell and then producing water from the tip of his wand into her mouth. She choked and gurgled a minute more, then managed to swallow some and Draco turned from her again.

"She needs to be moved," he said and a second later she felt herself being lifted smoothly and carried out into what appeared to be a sparse living area and deposited on the sofa. She could tell she was barely dressed, but she didn't feel any shame. She was too curious about the situation and too happy at simply being alive to care. She looked up to see Severus Snape carefully arranging a pillow behind her head and back, lifting a glass with some sort of liquid in it to her lips.

She swallowed, because there was nothing else for her to do, she was too weak to protest, and his black eyes bore into hers in an intimidating, yet comforting manner. Draco walked into view as well and her eyes flicked from his face to Snape's. They watched her silently until she finally felt she could speak.

"How?" was the only question worth asking just then and Snape gave her a long, level look before turning away. She sought out Draco's eyes instead and he- so cool and poised now- merely shrugged.

"It's his story," he said. "I've only ever been along for the ride."

"Stop telling lies," Severus practically snarled and Hermione's eyes flew to his face again.

"How?" she asked again and he brought his eyes to her face. His expression softened microscopically.

"Draco…" he began and the other man moved from Hermione's line of vision. She heard the clink of bottles again and a second later one flew through the air and Snape reached up a hand and caught it. His eyes never left hers. She felt herself flush again.

"You saved me," she murmured when it became clear he wasn't going to answer her question.

Severus didn't respond, just tore the cap from the bottle and took a long drink. In another minute the bottle was empty and another one came flying through the air again. Severus caught that one too, but held up a hand to signal it was enough. Draco came back out and settled on the other chair. Hermione could see that Snape's fangs were out from his hurried drink and she shivered, unable to help herself.

Finally, when she thought neither of the men would ever say another word, her former professor opened his mouth again.

"I did save you, though I'm sure I'll regret it," he told her.

"That line is old," she retorted softly and was rewarded with another scowl from him and a laugh from Draco.

"That doesn't make it any less-"

"She has your number, Sev," Draco broke in. "I told you-"

"So I care about humanity," Severus snapped back. "That doesn't make me a philanthropist, merely a terrible vampire. If I were any one of my hundreds of kindred she would be dead right now, drained, by me and you-" He turned on Draco, who regarded him with a mild expression on his face, stealing all the wind from his sails.

"Yes, you've said this all before, Severus," Draco replied. He looked at Hermione, who only had stunned eyes for the brooding, miserable vampire of a wizard.

"After his death in the Shack," Draco explained when it became clear Severus wasn't speaking again, "he was found and turned by some rogue vampire- he wasn't quite all the way dead, apparently. I have no idea who it was turned him, or why. But while clean up and accounting was going on in the Great Hall, my parents were the only ones who cared to ask about him. You lot had left him there and Potter told us about it. So, I went with my dad and we found that bloodsucker hovering over him…we killed him, but that was when we realized what he'd been doing. Neither of us felt right leaving him there- he'd be helpless for days, we knew- so we took his body, cleared it with the right people, and took him back to the Manor with us, shammed a funeral. Once it was clear that we were going to be spared, we knew we'd be able to help establish him-"

"For Merlin's sake, I'm in the room, boy," Severus growled and met Hermione's eyes again as Draco fell silent. But the blonde man didn't seem upset by any of it.

"So you've known about him for the last decade and not said anything? Especially once he could come out of hiding…what were you thinking?"

Hermione was feeling better by the minute, though she knew she was still too weak to leave, yet. And while she was physically stronger, she was rather emotionally done in. Snape had been alive those last painful minutes in the Shrieking Shack? They could have saved him from this fate?

Severus sneered at her as if he knew what she was thinking.

"My situation is not, nor has it ever been, your fault, witch. So stop playing the martyr. What would you recommend I do about my existence now, Miss Granger? Turn myself in? Make nice with a community that hated me when I was alive and would hate me even more now? Continued secrecy seemed the best option at the time of the Revelation and Draco has been my go-between ever since. He volunteered for the position."

Draco snorted and Hermione tried to sit up, but found she couldn't, much to her distress. She settled for getting pissy, instead. After all, she was the one who'd come away injured, had almost died; was still wet and miserable and cold, since apparently Snape didn't care about being warm ever again; and the clock was ticking ever on, meaning by the time she got home tonight- if she got home- Ron would likely already be asleep. Bloody hell.

"What do you mean, volunteered? And for your information, Professor, you were always an extremely unpleasant man," she managed to snap. "If I have any feelings of guilt over what happened to you then, trust me, they'll be gone in another minute. I'm not the one who killed you or put you in that position. You were a rude, unfriendly, arrogant, embittered and excessively…oily man. And you haven't changed. Much."

If she felt any remorse over her verbal attack, she didn't show it and Severus raised a brow and looked very much like he wanted to snarl at her. In fact, when his lips parted she could see his fangs were partly out again, but she met his cold glare inch for inch. Draco alternated between wanting to clap for her temerity and put himself between the pair. He settled for a cool grin and eyed Hermione after making quite sure Severus wasn't going to take a bite out of her, after all.

"So, Granger, tell me what happened tonight."

She turned her head and shivered as his grey eyes appraised her and he frowned, then stood up and quickly covered her with a blanket and muttered a heating spell over her.

"Sorry about that," he murmured as he sat back down. "I'd try to repair your clothes, but…anyway. What happened?"

Now that she was warmer she felt more human and a little more willing to talk.

"You know about my position in the ministry," she said and Draco nodded. "I'm the main liaison between them and the vampires. I was on my final round of East Enders when that nest living about a block away from the convenience store tipped me onto him," she said with a nod at Snape.

He scowled again- it was getting to be a permanent look for him.

"I assumed that's why you were there, asking about me. But I paid them back in kind," Severus said.

Draco gave him a sharp look. "Severus, what the hell did you do this time? And let me guess, there's a good reason they dislike you enough to tip off the ministry in the first place?"

"There is," Severus responded. Hermione shook her head, trying to stay awake- another side effect of the heating spell, of course. His eyes flicked over her and she shivered. "You're still not out of the woods," he said and stood up. Draco put out a hand.

"I'll go. What are you getting her?"

"Brandy. More potion. It's in the cupboard-"

"I know where everything is," Draco said calmly and walked from the small sitting room. Hermione's eyes watched him go and she looked back at Severus.

"What's the deal with you two?" she asked and her former professor shrugged, choosing to wait for Draco to return before he did any more explaining. She narrowed her eyes and let them roam over him now that she could focus and see properly. Taking mental notes, really, since the odds that her paperwork from earlier had survived weren't good. Not with a vampire and a Malfoy both trying to protect said vampire's secret.

As if he could tell she was using his silence to observe him, he distracted her by speaking again, though he directed his voice towards the doorway whence Draco had disappeared.

"That nest has been coercing- glamouring- unwitting humans into their lair for months. I'm sure if you looked up the number of unsolved murder cases in this area and compared it with reports of humans wandering into that town home you'd find a correlation. So I reported them one night. The police arrived, gave them quite a bit of trouble. They knew about me, knew I liked to keep to myself…and one of them was turned before the war, so they were vaguely aware of who I am, or was. So they thought they would cause some trouble for me in return."

"By tipping me off," Hermione filled in.

"Smartest witch of her age," Severus sneered at her and she rolled her eyes.

"You're the one who pointed out earlier that I'm no longer your student, Snape," she retorted. "And unless you plan on killing me I could make things very difficult for you. So why don't you try being at least civil."

"While you do have a point," Draco responded, wandering back into view, "let me make one as well: we already know there's a rather vicious nest of vamps living down the street. It would be incredibly easy to let Severus drain you and leave you on their doorstep, making it look like they'd done it. No one would be any wiser about his existence, because with Malfoy money backing him, I can have him safely out of the country in no time. So please, keep that in mind when you make empty threats, Granger."

Hermione gave him a startled, almost frightened look and he relented, sitting on the edge of the sofa next to her and holding a glass of brandy and something else to her lips. She drank reluctantly.

"Of course, I'm merely making empty threats as well," he admitted. "Sev really is terrible at being a vampire. Hates every minute of it. If it weren't for his potions work he'd have greeted the sun a long time ago."

"Ten years ago, to be precise," Severus chimed in.

"Don't be morbid," Draco chastened mildly. He looked back to Hermione. "Go on, you were telling me about tonight."

"Someone tried to rob the store," Severus interrupted. "He fired a gun several times, hit Miss Granger, and I barely managed to get us both out of there with our skin. She passed out while we were still at the store, so I did my best to keep her alive."

"Yes, by giving her some of your blood, you already told me that part, Sev," Draco replied.

"He what?" Hermione whispered, the blood leaving her face again.

"Bloody hell, Draco," Severus grumbled and looked away from the scene on the couch. Hermione reached up and grabbed Draco's arm. Draco looked slightly annoyed.

"What in hell do you expect me to say, Severus? She deserves to know. You would have told her yourself in a moment." He directed his gaze back to the witch in question. "He gave you a small amount of his blood to keep you alive before I got here and could heal you," he explained, as if it were the most reasonable thing in the world. Hermione gaped at him and considered passing out again, but it would've been a waste of time. She'd never passed out a day in her life from the shock of anything, even as horrible as this news was, and nothing would be served by her starting now.

"What does that mean?" she asked instead, trying to keep from panicking. Draco snorted and Severus looked as if he wanted to join him.

"You know perfectly well what it means," Severus said. "So spare us the melodramatics."

"Of course I know what it means," Hermione snapped. "I'm just…I'm trying to wrap my head around it, is all. This hasn't been a typical evening for me. Besides, it's different for every pair, isn't it?"

"If you're asking what the exact effects between us might be, I can't begin to tell you. I've never-" Severus stopped short and beside her, Draco stiffened. Hermione looked from one to the other.

"Oh," she mumbled and suddenly a number of things made a great deal of sense. Rather, one thing in particular made so much sense that nothing else mattered. "You've only ever had this happen once before. That's why you're not sure exactly what will happen."

Draco gently detached Hermione's hand from his arm and stood up. "Well, Severus, what do you think? Does she need some more potion?"

"It's likely she will before the night is out," Severus said dryly. He'd locked eyes with Hermione once more, but this time they both knew any attempt at a glamour would fail. She narrowed her eyes.

"I'm sorry, you seem to be under the impression that I'm staying."

"I'm sorry, you seem to be under the impression you're fit to go anywhere- and that you're dressed," Severus replied coolly and Hermione flushed, but didn't look away. Draco cleared his throat.

"This is all very touching, your first teacher-student spat since Hogwarts days, but there's no point in not speaking plainly."

"And what is plain, then," Hermione said softly, finally looking away from Snape and up at Draco, whose grey eyes were regarding her a little sadly, but with a mature authority she hadn't seen there before.

"What's plain is that- through entirely no fault of his or yours- you've the start of a bond with him. What's plain is that you think somehow you're going to go home tonight and report him like the good little ministry official you are and what's also very plain is that you think we'll let you do either of those things. Except I think you also know that we really can't let you do that."

"Then please, tell me what you can allow me to do."

"What I'll allow you to do, dear Hermione, is to recuperate on this couch all night long while you listen to what Severus and I have to say. And then, in the morning, when you're thinking a little more clearly and we have a tad more privacy, we'll discuss your next move. Until then, I suggest you get comfortable and pretend you're in the infirmary. Which shouldn't be too difficult considering you've got Snape in the room."

"Impossible," Hermione murmured. Severus gave a start and a look of cold fury began to descend on Draco's visage. Hermione smiled slightly. "He doesn't look a thing like Madame Pomfrey," she explained.

Draco hesitated, then stood back and laughed some before shaking his head and walking from the room again. Hermione turned and looked at Severus just in time to see the ghost of a smile vanish from his face. A moment later he followed Draco out of the room and Hermione listened to the sounds coming from the small kitchen for a few minutes before her eyelids grew too heavy to keep open any longer.