Becoming Who We Weren't
Chapter 4
Hermione was sitting in her recliner, staring up at the ceiling of the Heads' Compartment. She was deep in thought, going over all the things that had occurred during the past summer that had brought her to where she was now. She could barely remember the night that her whole life had changed, but the events leading up to it were still crystal clear…
~ Flashback to Two Months Earlier ~
Hermione was out for a girls' night on-the-town, in Muggle London, with some of her muggle friends. They had just stopped to get some ice cream, hoping that the cold dessert would help cool their bodies from the stifling heat of the summer night. With their ice cream cones in hand, all five of them set off again, down the streets that were packed with Europe's lively night life.
They laughed at the top of their lungs, without a care in the world. Their colorful summer dresses swayed in the humid breeze that softly blew past them as they walked arm-in-arm with one another. The breeze caressed their sun kissed faces, as well as the walls and windows of the tiny shops that lined the streets of the city that they grew up in. They were talking about the old days when they all used to go to school together, before Hermione was sent off to that "Boarding School" and Angela moved away to France. Now, the only time they ever got to see each other was during the summer months, when they all came home from their respective schools, to spend every possible moment with each other.
"Hermione! Do you remember that kid! Oh what was his name?" asked Angela, making Hermione giggle at the absurdly open-ended question, "Oh yea! The one with the missing front teeth!"
"We were seven Angela! We all had missing front teeth!" they all erupted in laughter again, stumbling down the street, trying to hold onto their ice cream cones.
"Oy! But that one that said you had really pretty hair..." Angela tried to look Hermione innocently in the eyes, but then doubled over laughing, tears streaming down her cheeks as she gasped out, "then he walked up behind you with a pair of scissors…. AND CUT OFF HALF YOUR HAIR!"
"OY! I forgot about that!" shrieked Hermione. "That bloody git! He cut it right down to my scull!"
"You looked horrible for weeks!" they all nodded their heads in laughter, agreeing completely that Hermione had looked like a disaster.
"Oh yea! And then your mum finally got so sick of seeing that bald patch that she -"
"Cut off all your hair!" Marybeth chimed in, cutting off Angela, and finishing her sentence for her.
"YOU LOOKED LIKE A BOY FOR MONTHS!" finished Angela, rolling with laughter as she playfully tugged on a strand of Hermione's hair.
"I remember that hair cut! Oh goodness! My hair was never the same after that! It turned into that bushy rat-nest thing!"
"At least it's tamed now!" said Marybeth.
"And thank goodness for that! Or I'd be embarrassed to walk down the street with her right now!" laughed Angela, and Hermione gave her a playful glare and elbowed her softly in the arm.
"What a coincidence Angela!" chimed Hermione, throwing an arm around her shoulder and bringing her in close so that their heads rested against each other's, "I felt the same way about you and your acne!" she teased, laughingly pushing Angela away as she ruffled Hermione's hair playfully.
~End Flashback~
And that's how the night went: all the friends who had known each other since before they could walk, reminiscing about their childhood adventures together as they strolled down some of London's most famous streets.
Merlin how she missed Angela! She'd always been one of her best friends, no matter how many months they spent apart from each other every year. She was the only person that it truly pained Hermione not to be able to tell that she was a witch. She couldn't even begin to count the numerous times she had almost accidentally spilled the beans to her. And then there were the times that she had actually convinced herself to come clean to her, and then lost the nerve just as she was about to do it.
Hermione was now not only keeping the fact that she was a witch from Angela and the rest of her friends, but now she had a much bigger and more dangerous secret! One that she couldn't really tell anyone about… she was a vampire.
Hermione had tried her hardest to remember the events that had occurred later on that fateful night, but she just couldn't; all the details were so muddled together and blurry that she couldn't make sense of her memories. All she really knew for certain was that they ended their night at one of the pubs near their vacation homes, one that they had been going to for years and knew everyone that worked there, as well as all the other regulars.
Two weeks later, the police had found her frantically running through the streets hundreds of miles away from where she was supposed to be in London. Once she was home, Angela came over and explained to her that they had been at the pub for about an hour when Hermione announced that she needed to use the lou and would be right back… After 10 minutes, they had gone to check on her, but Hermione had disappeared; they filed a police report within half an hour.
Hermione didn't remember any of this, but she did remember what had happened after that night...
~ Flashback ~
Hermione woke up in an old shack, with some hag hanging over her, pressing a cool damp cloth to her forehead and holding a little vial of purple potion to her lips, coaxing her to drink it. As Hermione's mind slowly unfogged and registered what was going on, she realized she had no idea where she was, how she got there, how long she'd been there and that someone she didn't know was forcing a potion that she'd never seen before, down her throat; she freaked out.
Hermione started screaming and pushing the smelly, old, crippled hag away; she jumped up, kicking the old crone in the stomach, knocking her to the floor and then made a break for the open window on the other side of the room. But just before she was able to fully push herself through and escape, the hag yanked out her wand and immobilized her, and brought her crashing back to the ground with a thud, knocking her out.
When she came to again, a great amount of time later however, her limbs were in restraints and were tied to all four corners of the bed. The hag was hovering above her again, her maniac eyes boring into Hermione's frightened ones. Her mouth was spread in a wide smile, exposing the few teeth she still had, which were cracked and rotting.
The smell that drifted through the inside of the small shack was so thick and horrendous that Hermione could practically see clouds of stench rolling around in the air, layering everything with its constant gag-inducing vapors. And if it were possible, the smell coming off the hag herself was even worse. Enough to make Hermione's eyes water, threatening to roll back in her head as she chocked on her own bile.
Hermione fought as hard as she could to break free of the restraints; she fought to get away from the horrific smell, away from the hag, and back to her friends and family.
"Oh stop floppin' 'round like a fish." croaked the hag; Hermione fought harder. "I'm trying to help you, you stupid girl!"
Hermione roared in frustration, but chocked on the sound as it vibrated through her throat – 'what the bloody hell was that?' she cried frantically in her head. There was no way that she was the one that had just made that… that… noise.
Hermione shot a frightened glance at the hag, half hoping that it had come from her. But the hag was still standing there with the same expression she had been wearing before...
"You was bitten by a vampire." the hag said with crazed eyes.
Hermione stared at her, the words not sinking into her brain. 'Is this woman barking mad?' she thought. 'Bloody hell! Am I at St. Mungo's?'
Then the hag went on to explain to her that she had found her just as the beast had discarded her in an empty alley, leaving her for the rodents to have their fill of. She went into detail about how she had been drained of every single drop of muggle blood she had in her body. The only thing she'd had left was the very little magic blood that she had been born with. At this, Hermione spoke up for the first time.
"How could you possibly know that that's all that was left in me?" the hag eyed her with distaste.
"Because, stupid girl! You isn't the first I've dealt with! And you isn't gonna be the last!"
The hag explained that when she found Hermione, her body was glowing softly, but it was flickering in and out. That meant that she was on the verge of death, but her magical blood was trying as hard as it could, and as fast as it could, to regenerate itself, before the light left from your eyes forever.
"That's some powerful magic right there, stupid girl. Not many have that kind of power in them." sighed the hag. "Normally, I would'a left anyone else there to die; lost cause, you know, waste of my time" She lowered herself into a rickety chair next to Hermione. "But when I saw how much power you was throwing off, and survivin'? I reckoned you deserved a second chance. So I helped ya…. Didn't know you was gonna be so stupid though!"
Hermione growled at her again.
"Anyways, don't know why the beast left you…. Probably a newling, couldn't stomach the taste of wizard blood... potent, ya know."
Hermione's mind raced as she took all this in.
"If what you're saying is true... Then I don't have any muggle blood left in me?" asked Hermione.
"Of course it's true! I ain't lyin' to ya!" hissed the hag, offended.
'Oh yeaaaa of course you wouldn't lie to me! She has no reason to!' thought Hermione.
"And no, no more muggle blood. That half of you is as pure as fallen snow… cleaner than most wizards try to claim they are... the other half of you is pure too of course… just tainted though." She grumbled.
"'Tainted'? What do you mean 'tainted'?"
"Bloody hell stupid girl! You're a pureblood now, but you're still tainted with vampire blood!"
Hermione's mind reeled as she worked it out in her mind.
"Half pureblood… half vampire…" Hermione whispered softly.
"Exactly..." said the hag "Very rare… known? Only about five in da world exist."
Hermione's eyes widened, "only five?"
"Like I said, most can't survive the change, not enough power. And most vampires who are stupid enough to go after witches and wizards aren't newlings, and can stomach the magical blood, so they just drain 'em completely, leavin' no chance for the change. As it is, vampires are rare cus they aren't out tryin' to make more; they're bitin' to fill their bellies, which usually ends up drainin' their victim completely.
"But there's something that can be done…" the hag added on softly, with an evil smirk.
"What do you mean?"
"I can stop you from becomin' a vampire…" said the hag, holding up a tiny vial of the purple potion that she had been forcing down Hermione's throat earlier.
~ End Flashback ~
Hermione was still sitting in the recliner of her Head's Compartment, staring off blankly, deep in thought. Draco, head boy, was sitting next to her, and he'd been silently gazing at her for the better part of an hour now, watching as her eyes flickered back and forth, with unspoken emotions flashing across her face. He knew she was deep in thought, and it bugged him that he was still staring at her in amazement, because Malfoy's didn't stare dammit! But he couldn't pry his eyes away from her.
He watched as she shifted in her recliner, the first movement she'd made in quite a while. She leaned down and pulled up her purse that she had placed on the floor. She searched through all its compartments, practically tearing it stitch from stitch in her frantic attempt to find something. All of its contents were shaken out into her lap as she turned it upside down and shook everything out of it.
"It's gotta be here…." whispered Hermione, half crazed. She couldn't find the list of ingredients and instructions for the purple potion! They had to be here! She kept it on her at all times!
'What the bloody hell is she looking for?' thought Draco.
"Yes!" she whispered triumphantly, as she unzipped a secret zipper on the inside of the lining of her purse and pulled out a tattered piece of parchment, and unfolded it, revealing what was written on it in cramped, messy hand writing.
Draco's eyes bulged from his head and his stomach dropped to the floor once he recognized what Hermione had in her hands. His face went dead white and he couldn't breathe; his eyes just kept jumping from familiar potion ingredient, to familiar potion ingredient.
"Who gave you that?" He whispered, suddenly becoming very nauseous.
Hermione jumped about a foot in the air; she'd forgotten Malfoy had been there the whole time. She tried to shove the parchment back into her purse, but it was too late, he had already seen it. And before she knew what was happening, Draco sprang out of his recliner and ripped the parchment out of her hands, and stared down at it.
"Give it back!" screamed Hermione, but Draco ignored her, pushing her back into her recliner and pinning her there with his body.
He continued to stare down at the writing on the parchment, but not truly reading anything on it. He didn't need to read it to know what was on it... the ingredients, its detailed instructions, the smells it emitted while it was being brewed… it was all ingrained in his mind… practically seeped from every pore of his body. How many nights had he stayed up until the wee hours of the morning, concocting this potion until it was just right? At least hundreds! He didn't need to look at the list in front of him, he could recite every single step and instruction straight from memory, could brew it in his sleep...
"Do you have any idea what this does?" Draco whispered dangerously.
"Yes! I've been taking it for months!"
Draco's body shook with fury as her answer echoed in his mind over and over; he felt something in him snap.
"It stops the transformation into vampirism from happening." answered Hermione indignantly.
"And how's that going for you?" he growled at her, glaring at the fangs that were sliding down from her gums at that very moment; Hermione got nervous… He was right... the potion really hadn't been working all that well lately... but she was too afraid of what would happen if she didn't take it…
"Not working too well huh?" Draco's eyes were blaring into her, and she was getting really scared of his reaction now. "Did you ever stop to think then, if the potion wasn't doing what it was supposedly meant to do, then WHAT THE BLOODY HELL WAS IT DOING!" he screamed, and all Herminie could do was stare at him, her eyes filling with tears.
He had a right to react like this, she had no idea what she unknowingly got herself into a few months ago, because nobody knew the inner workings, or the chemical complexities of this deadly potion better than Draco did…
"It doesn't stop the transformation from happening Granger!"
"How do you even know about it?" screamed Hermione.
"WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK CREATED IT?" he roared in her face.
AUTHOR'S NOTE –
So what did you think about? =D let me know! REVIEW! and maybe ill add some lemony goodness reallyyyy soon =]
And what do you think the potion does? =] muahahahahaha!
And just btw, Draco isnt really being mean.. he's just being well.. Malfoy. I didnt want to take him completely out of character too soon, its gotta be gradual... but trust, hes starting to get nicer ;) AND PLUS! in this chapter he only sat on her.. lol fuck, id LOVE to have Malfoy sit on me! even if he was yelling! loll