Hey everybody! I hope you all had a great Christmas and I hope that 2009 is amazing for you all!

I know female vampires cannot conceive children and so I promise I will answer that question in the next chapter. It really helps if you ask me questions because then I know what you want to know and it makes it a better story

Okay, I'll shut up now! Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far and it would be great if you could review this chapter!

Thank you, I hope you like it! Enjoy!

Chapter Seven: Shock Announcements

It didn't take long for the news to spread that I was going to the Uniting Dance with Matthew Cullen.

We shared most of our classes together, I spent all the free time I could with him -there was no reason for me to not absolutely love my life right now.

We were great friends – nothing more – and that's all I craved.

It's not that I wouldn't go out with him; of course I would. He just technically hasn't officially asked me yet and I didn't want to make the first move. I was his date to the dance. Simple. Maybe if things… developed, over time, we could be something more than just friends. Maybe then people would stop harassing me, wanting the latest gossip about my private life. It was getting quite annoying. There wasn't even anything to tell, because there was no way I would let another soul hear about what happened in the library – that was our special moment, not a gossip opportunity and I was sure Matthew would feel the same way.

The days filtered away, time drawing closer to the highly anticipated dance.

Harry and Matthew seemed to be getting on really well. Matthew frequently told me how good Harry was at Quidditch, even though I knew this already. In turn, Harry told me how quick and agile Matthew was on a broom, thanks to his vampire traits. He made the Beveldown house team; a chaser. At least he was using his inhumane speed for a good reason. It was sort of frightening when he reached the top of the astronomy tower twenty minutes before everyone else. I reckon he's indestructible. I'm sure it takes a lot to kill a vampire. I haven't actually researched that yet.

All in all, the vampires seem to be adjusting to life at Hogwarts really well. There has been no more freak incidents due to lack of self-control on their part. The girl in the hospital wing who had been bitten was removed a few days ago. Rumour has it that 's has a special ward for wizards affected by mythical creatures and that's where she's being…minded.

The animal blood seems to sustain the vampires enough for daily life. Honestly: I'm fascinated! If only I could ask a few more questions without being too rude.

Ron, however, has been completely bitter about the whole thing lately. I really wish he hadn't been there in the library – I know he shouldn't have seen that.

I snapped back to the present quickly, my thoughts diminishing. Professor McGonagall was staring at me wide eyed.

"Dozed off, did we?" she said sourly. I could tell she was unimpressed.

"Yes, Professor, I'm really sorry," I said quickly, taking notes as fast as I could.

She pursed her lips and moved on. She leaned over Matthew's desk, who was seated six tables away from me. I reckon McGonagall placed him there deliberately; it was out of any girl's immediate line of vision.

"Mr. Cullen," she said. "Do you not feel obliged to take notes as well? Or do you need a hand-written invitation to do so?"

Matthew grimaced. "Sorry, professor. I…I just can't concentrate."

"Oh, really? And why would that be?"

"I feel sick. Stomach ache," he muttered.

McGonagall sighed. "Very well. You may go to the hospital wing. Get the notes off Miss Granger later."

Matthew stood up. He didn't look ill at all. Maybe it was a vampire thing.

He strode quickly and quietly out of the classroom.

Huh.

-

After class, I went straight to the hospital wing to see if Matthew had been taken in.

Madam Pomfrey shook her head. "No sign of him here today. Maybe you misunderstood."

"Are you sure?" I pressed. "He said he was ill and McGonagall sent him here."

She was filling a small flask with purple liquid. "Sorry, Hermione, he hasn't been in. Maybe he went to his dorm for a rest."

Great, I thought. He's nowhere to be seen.

Naturally, I had no idea where the entrance to the Beveldown common room was, being a Gryffindor, and I wouldn't have been allowed in anyway, even if I did know.

Well, he can't avoid me forever.

The bell rang. I had a free period now. Harry and Ron should be around…

"Ouch!" I yelled. A Beveldown had just walked into me, hot tea spilling down my front.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" she fretted, moping it off me with her sleeve.

Surprisingly, it was not the tea that was hurting me – it was the impact her body had on mine. It was so hard! I knew Matthew was like a stone slab, most of the time, but I didn't think they all were, especially not the girls. I thought he had a rare muscular malfunction or something. I didn't realise it was a trait.

Her silvery, blonde hair was covering one side of her pale, perfect face, her round, blue eyes surveying the mess she had made.

"Don't worry," I smiled. "It's fine – it was just an accident. Um… what's your name?"

"I'm Alexa. Alexa Hale," she smiled in return. "I was just headed to the Great Hall to meet some friends, with this tea." She stared into her half empty cup dismally.

Didn't all vampires have lightening reflexes? Surely she could have stopped the tea from spilling all over me. Matthew would have. And since when did vampires drink tea anyway? Must be all part of the act, I concluded quickly.

"Oh," I said. "That's nice. I'm terribly sorry about the tea. I'm sure you'll find another cup spare. I'm heading to the hall too. I'm trying to find my friends, Harry and Ron."

Her blue eyes widened. "Ron Weasley?"

"Uh … yes, actually. Do you -"

"He asked me to the dance earlier! And I said yes! That's who I'm headed to see too!" She clapped her hands excitedly.

Ron? A date? With her? He actually asked a vampire? She said yes?! Wow. I didn't think Ron had it in him.

"Really?" I asked, obviously shocked. "That's…that's great. I didn't know Ron was even looking for a date…"

"You're not disappointed, are you?" she said, her brow creasing.

"Wha- oh - no – no!" I almost shouted. "No – of course not – I didn't mean that – no. It's just we're best friends and I thought he might have mentioned it. That's all."

"Oh," she said, her face flicking back to its beaming beauty. "Well, let's go find him together then."

She smiled encouragingly and I returned a wary one. Things just keep getting weirder around here.

She walked a few paces in front of me, craning her neck above the taller students.

"There they are," she muttered, inclining her head to the corner or the Great Hall.

We approached them together, when I noticed something else.

Matthew was sat next to Harry, the two of them laughing loudly.

"Something funny?" I asked, raising an eyebrow sceptically.

"Oh, no," Ron said, throwing daggers at Matthew. "He has just told us a joke about some flamingo's dancing. Again."

"Oh, come on, mate," Harry laughed. "It is funny."

Ron's eyes flickered from my face to the person on my right.

"Alexa," he beamed, staring at her longingly.

He stood up and placed his hands on her hips. She entwined her fingers in his hair, gently. They stood a few feet apart, probably due to Alexa's self control issues. I could see very clearly in Ron's eyes that all he wanted to do was kiss her. She gazed sadly back into his eyes; she must have felt the same way. She obviously didn't have that much self-control.

At that point, I felt quite sorry for Ron. It was clear that they really liked each other. If only she was human…

"Did you hear?" Harry said, oblivious to the heart-wrenching scene that was taking place right beside him.

"Hear what?" I asked.

"Ron and Alexa are a couple now. Both going to the dance together."

I put a hand on Ron's shoulder. "You look great together."

"Thanks," he said in a daze, still visually engrossed in Alexa.

I turned my attention back to Harry and my apparently ill love interest. "I'm very happy for them. I'm glad Ron's found someone. And yes, Alexa mentioned it."

"You've met my cousin?" Matthew asked.

"Your cousin?" I repeated, sitting down next to him.

"Yeah, Alexa is my cousin. And Renesmee's as well, obviously. In fact, she should be along in a few minutes. Back home, they live quite close to our place. They're from my dad's side of the family."

"Oh, shoot!" Harry said, standing. "I was supposed to meet Ginny. I'll have to go."

He got up and hurried away. I noticed Ginny standing in the hall doorway, looking angry.

I decided to think about these matters later and concentrated on the reason why I was here in the first place.

"I thought you were sick," I stated, an obvious touch of worry yet angst in my tone.

"Oh, yeah. That," Matthew said, his eyes suddenly filling with uncertainty. He lowered his velvety voice. "Can I talk to you? In private? Now?"

"I'm no doctor," I warned, all sorts of thoughts running through my brain.

"It's about the dance," he whispered casually in my ear.

I looked over my shoulder at Ron and Alexa. They wouldn't notice if we left.

He rose fluidly, holding out a hand, and lead me to a vacant classroom down the hallway.

"Okay," he said, pacing the classroom floor. "Where do I start?"

I was starting to worry. I'm sure he noticed. I fidgeted with my sleeve. What was this all about?

"Um, well, you could start with why you were sick," I suggested, my voice noticeably uneasy.

"Right. Okay," he said, rubbing his temples. "It's just how to explain this…without – without -"

He got cut off. The booming voice of Dumbledore was echoing through every room and doorway in the building.

"All Beveldown students must report to their common room immediately," he said. "All other students must gather in the Great Hall, at once."

I looked at Matthew. Why did I have a bad feeling about this?

"Listen," he said, cupping my face in his hands. "I love you, Hermione. So if this is the last time I ever see you, I want…no… I need you to know that. Please don't hate me and my family for what we are."

He kissed me gently on the cheek, and disappeared. I spun round, trying to see where he had gone.

He loves me.

Matthew Cullen loves me.

I didn't have time to fully absorb this now. I was being ushered into the Great Hall by some seventh year.

I caught sight of Harry, Ron, Luna, Seamus, Neville and Ginny sitting in a tight group in the same corner as they were last time.

The hall was filling up, people worrying and panicking for no apparent reason. I fought my way over towards them.

"Any idea what's going on?" Ron asked me.

I was very flushed. "Umm… no."

I had no intention of telling them what had just happened here, not with everyone else listening.

Dumbledore stepped up to the podium, accompanied by a wary looking professor McGonagall.

"Silence," he ordered. People stopped scurrying around instantly.

Everyone stared at Dumbledore, wide eyed and wondering.

"I will not lie to my students," Dumbledore began. He seemed stressed. "A serious incident has just occurred."

Ron shuffled uneasily and gulped.

Dumbledore took a deep breath. "A fifth year student has died."

Shocked and stunned conversation broke out across the hall. I turned to Harry and Ron in disbelief.

"You don't think -"

"SILENCE!" Dumbledore ordered. "Now, obviously this matter has to be dealt with extremely severely. We have reason to believe that a Beveldown student is responsible for this most appalling and horrible event. Therefore, all Beveldown students will hereby be removed from the castle. The Uniting Dance will also be cancelled."

Oh. My. God. This was not happening. It surely couldn't have been Matthew who –

Dumbledore continued gravely. "We have removed Tanya Orm's body and her family have been informed. They have chosen to have a private funeral, but welcome any Hogwart's student who were close to Tanya or would like to pay their respects. It was a most tragic and unfortunate event.

"However, I can fully assure all of you and your families that nothing, nothing, like this will ever happen again at Hogwarts. Your safety is our number one priority and that is the reason why we are taking no chances – the Beveldown students must be removed because the guilty one has not confessed.

"I will ask your minds not to ponder on why or how Tanya was killed. It is unnecessary and disrespectful to the rest of the Beveldown students who played no part in this awful affair. I know some of you have developed close friendships with some of the removed students, and I still encourage friendship and unity between everyone outside school hours, via owl and what not. Do not punish the other students for another fool's mistake.

"And now, all classes are cancelled for the afternoon, as I am sure you all need to come to terms with this unfortunate scenario. That is all."

He stepped down and exited the hall, McGonagall following closely behind him.

Silence rang throughout the hall. No one knew what to think of what they had just been told.

After a few minutes of deep thought, some students got up and left the hall, their faces tear-stained. Others continued to wallow in silence.

I saw Draco Malfoy laughing viciously at the end of the Slytherin table. Evil little ferret.

"Hermione," Harry whispered. "I think we need to talk."

Harry, Ron and I removed ourselves from our small group and headed for the Gryffindor common room.

This couldn't be happening – Matthew couldn't be removed! I loved him! We needed to spend time together, like a normal couple. I wanted to get to know him even better, to understand his life…

My heart sobbed behind my rib cage.

Matthew. Matthew. I couldn't lose him now. No way.

The common room was empty, luckily, the fire crackling in the grate.

"One of the vampires must have killed her!" Ron blurted, loudly.

We slumped down into the dilapidated armchairs by the fire.

"Maybe we shouldn't jump to conclusions," Harry thought. "The obvious explanation is that one of the vampires lost control and killed the girl, but couldn't it be possible that it wasn't one of the Beveldown's?"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"It could have been … someone else."

"Look, Harry, I think it's pretty obvious it was one of them. Dumbledore's cover up attempt wasn't actually very good, especially not to us seeing as we already know what they are. Other students are bound to guess, eventually. It was definitely one of them." I shuddered. "Listen to this…"

I recounted my story of Matthew and me in the classroom before the abrupt assembly.

"He…he told me he loved me," I blushed.

Harry and Ron gaped at me.

Harry was the first one to recover somewhat. "You… you don't think it was… him, do you?"

"No," I said firmly. "Don't you remember? That day in the library?"

Ron grimaced.

I continued. "Matthew has a gift; it's easier for him to be around humans than everyone else. That's how he could…he could kiss me."

Harry rubbed his temples. "Oh, yeah, I forgot about that. It wasn't him then."

"He… he loves you?" Ron struggled. "He… he loves… loves you?"

"Yes, Ronald," I snapped. "Why is that so hard to comprehend? Surely you've noticed how close we've gotten. Honestly, a blind man could sense it! Just – just because he loves me Ronald- "

"Stop calling me that!" He retorted. "It's bad enough when my mother does it! And, yes, I've noticed. In fact, I think it's extremely sick and typical Hermione – falling in love with something from a completely different species -"

"You're going out with Alexa -"

"We don't love each other though!" he mimicked. "We can't even kiss each other! I just wanted a date for the dance and someone actually happened to accept my offer! I'm not the stupid git that you think I am -"

"I never -"

"SHUT UP!" Harry yelled, towering above us. "Just stop it – someone will hear us! I swear, I'm so sick of this – I keep ending up being the peacekeeper between you two! It's ridiculous! You used to be great friends and now all you're doing is snapping at each other's throats! Constantly! Don't you think we should focus on the issue at hand – where have all of the Beveldown students been taken? Hermione, I know Matthew loves you, and that's great. It really is. We've established he didn't bite the girl so who did? Could you guys just quit it for one second?"

I pursed my lips. Maybe I was a bit harsh. My conscience gave in. "Sorry, Ron. I didn't mean to yell at you like that."

He didn't answer. His eyed the flames intensely, his back facing Harry and me.

I stood up. This obviously wasn't going to happen.

"Look," I said, tears filling my eyes. "I don't know the answers to any of the questions. When I do, I'll let you know. I now have to deal with the fact that the person I love might be in danger. That's something I need to comprehend in my own time and -"

I broke off. My voice gave way and I found myself sobbing aloud. I needed Matthew.

"I'm going to my room," I muttered, tears blurring my vision.

I threw myself on to my bed. I needed to be alone.

I reached for my tissues on my bedside table when I noticed something: There was a purple envelope beside my lamp.

I recognised the writing on the front immediately: It was Matthew's.

I ripped it open, the envelope shredding as a result of my fury.

A few words in neat script were written in the middle of the parchment:

Gryffindor Common Room, Tonight, Midnight.

Meet you there.

Bring Ron and Harry if you want, although I'd rather see you alone.

I'll also understand if you don't show.

All my love, Matthew.

I stared at the parchment. How does he keep performing these miracles?

At least this was comforting: he had been thinking of me.

He had something to say, something to tell me.

I brushed through my hair and dabbed my tears away.

Roll on midnight.