Disclaimer: I don't own it! Except the vamps!
Ch. 10 The First of Two
"Up you get, kiddos!" The voice of an extremely happy Julian Remington made Hermione want to hurl. At that moment, all she wanted to do was curl up with her husband and sleep.
She had known that this was coming, it was just being presented with it that cared her. She wanted to run home to her parents, slam her door, lock it, and cry into her pillow. She had a feeling that that wasn't going to happen…ever.
No, instead, she was laying in a bed-naked- with Draco Malfoy, her husband, immediately after having sex for the first time together.
Well, at least there won't be any awkward after sex moments. For example: is it rude to fall asleep right away? Is it acceptable to run to the bathroom and go pee? Should we talk now? Maybe becoming a vampire had its upsides…doubtful.
Fenrir Grayback had also walked in with Julian. His appearance was, well, scruffy, to say the least. His eyes were blacker than Snape's had ever been, his hair was short and black with spatters of gray showing his age. He seemed to have the nervous habit, or perhaps just a habit, to pace throughout any room he was in. The rest of his appearance, though, was impeccable. His robes were custom fit, his dragon hide boots of the highest quality, and, at the moment; he looked to have just gotten a manicure.
If it weren't for the manic look in his eyes, his posture while pacing, and her knowledge that he was a cannibal, he would have looked like an aging father. But the fact was, he just might decide he wanted a snack and at that moment Hermione might look like a tasty treat.
Julian looked devastatingly handsome, as usual, and so very pleased with his timing. She really wouldn't ever sleep again. For some reason that scared her. Sleep had never held nightmares for her, but a pleasant escape. She'd always had trouble understanding Harry's dreams; they were just so different from her own, that at first she didn't know what to do to comfort him. She soon learned that Harry was a sucker for hot chocolate and catching up on work when it came to the aftermath of waking up sweating and yelling.
She was also curious as to how this was going to work. Did a vampire just walk up to his victim and take a nice big bite? Or what about Draco? It wasn't a full moon for another two days…
Draco seemed to have been talking to Julian, but as she had been caught up in her own thoughts, she couldn't be sure. Her brain seemed to be going on overload, and there was nothing she could do to stop it from crashing.
Someone cleared their throat, and Hermione's head snapped up to see Julian Remington looking at her with a positively feral look.
Uh-oh…that doesn't look good. Maybe I should cry or try and get sympathy!
No, you twit, you have to do this! Think of the Order, the lives you could be saving, and if you back out now what will Draco do?
I hate it when you're right.
Her husband Accio'd robes for the two of them. She was constantly forgetting that she could use it now. After all those years with Harry it seemed odd to just pick up a piece of wood, wave it, say an incantation, and then expect said piece of wood to do something.
Being thrown into the world she used to consider more of a home then her own again was going to take some getting used to.
Hermione slipped on the robe, but stayed under the covers.
"I expect you know why we're here?"
"We probably both expected it sooner or later." Her husband's clipped reply surprised her. No pretences were being drawn up here; they had been forced into this and even though they would go through with it, they may not do so quietly.
"Mr. Malfoy, would you rather leave with me now, or watch her?" It was the first time she had heard Grayback speak, and his voice wasn't what she had expected it to be like. It was alluring, enticing.
"I think I'd rather stay and make sure nothing goes wrong." Hermione felt like an outside observer. She couldn't really be sitting in a bathrobe with her husband and two nemesis' discussing her death or whatever you wished to call it. She just couldn't accept this. It made her head hurt less if she just thought of it as a third party observer.
She looked up to meet the eyes of Grayback, and immediately looked away. He was licking his lips and obviously restraining himself from making her his midnight treat. But in turning she glanced Draco. He looked scared for her, but tried to muster a smile for her; it came out as more of a pained scowl.
Julian took two steps closer to her, and she felt the world get infinitely colder. An extreme drowsiness also plagued her. So, this is what the Great Vampire Leader could do. Make you shiver to the bone and go to sleep.
He seemed to be crouching into the pose a cat would make upon readying into a pounce. She was sleepy now, but she decided to resist the lull it would bring. She needed to pay attention.
Since she was concentrating on keeping her eyelids from drifting shut; she missed him pouncing. His cold fingers traced her lips. She shivered again and scowled through her drowsiness. He did not have permission to touch her.
Even more unwelcome were his frigid lips on hers. They weren't gentle or softly probing; his kiss was harsh; trying to coax her into something.
Maybe he was going for relaxation, but he soon realized that whatever it was that he wanted wasn't happening and pulled away. He buried his nose in her hair, taking deep breaths, and then he let out a bloodthirsty growl, his dangerous canines sliding softly into her flesh.
The lethargy that he seemed to control soon disappeared as he sucked the crimson life from her. Then she realized that the bite didn't hurt- actually it felt amazing. Like all the tension in her body had suddenly left, leaving her floating on a cloud. He started to pull away from her, and to her surprise she protested. She grabbed the back of his head and tried to get him to return.
She wanted that feeling forever. All the troubles of her life gone. Thoughts of Harry not plaguing her, the guilt of having slept with other men besides him, the weariness that had drug her down since his death, the loneliness she felt without him by her side, and then more guilt after she realized that maybe Draco could keep her company.
She may have even thought she needed it; the cloud that had drifted under her, carrying her through euphoria.
But she would never feel that again. It was gone, and in it's place ice seemed to have come. Her blood was freezing as the venom was pumped through her veins. As it had first started in her toes, it was just an annoyance; but it was quickly making her stiffen.
She felt like a small iceberg had been placed inside of her, no warmth could ever reside in there again. Then, to make matters worse, she started to feel an excruciating pain. She was dying from hypothermia and a painful poisoning, but she would awaken.
When or how she didn't know. But she soon felt the presence of her husband next to her, saying a Kaddish over her. It crossed her mind that neither of them were Jewish, but she didn't care at that moment.
Remington came back into her view, after having pushed himself from her, and licked his lips.
Glad I made a yummy meal, bastard.
The ice in her veins was causing her pain, and then coupled with the poison, she knew she wouldn't last long. She would die soon, and not painlessly either.
The pain seemed to have come to a peak and her whole body had been consumed by the artic hypothermia of her death.
And then she was dead.
$&&#&$!#&$&#&(#&!&$&(
Draco was inconsolable.
What kind of husband watches their own wife die? Or allow it?
He did, and it made him feel like his father. His father, who had beaten his own wife and watched her used and abused by those he called his friends.
But the voice in the back of his head reminded him of something. His father never regretted what he let happen to Narcissa, and on some sick level he may have even enjoyed the abuse on his wife. Draco hadn't, though.
He had no idea why he'd given into the temptation to say the Kaddish. He wasn't a religious wizard, his family was Pureblood, after all. But he couldn't say that he hadn't searched around after the war.
Something had been missing and he couldn't think of anything to fill the emptiness inside himself. And then Harry and Hermione had disappeared. Clearing out Hermione's room they'd found an extremely worn Bible that had the misfortune of being left behind in their haste to leave without detection.
It sparked his interest. Was this what he was looking for? A God to protect and watch over him?
That was the start of his Religion research. Christianity, Catholicism, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and even Scientology got in-depth analysis.
The Kaddish had just seemed so fitting for the occasion. For whatever period of time Hermione was dead to the world, he would say the Mourner's Kaddish. She truly wasn't dead and it seemed fitting to praise God for his greatness.
He decided he'd probably be some variation of Christian, and now it seemed that he and Hermione had the same idea.
At the moment, he was sitting in an empty hotel room; waiting to be fetched by Greyback.
Draco almost hated his 'Uncle.' He saw the way Fenrir had looked at his wife; it was that of a piece of medium rare prime steak.
He heard a knock on the door and rose to answer it. Fenrir stepped through the door with a fierce smile on his face and took a seat in the leather desk chair. He gave Draco an appraising look.
"So, how much do you think you know about werewolves?"
Draco didn't appreciate the way he was spoken to, like he was stupid.
"Every night of the full moon you change into a wolf-like form and are no longer in control of one's mind, unless Wolfsbane is taken. A few days prior to the full moon, you feel side effects of the curse. Such as heightened senses, raw meat, and other… 'dog-like' behaviors." He smiled smugly; he thought he'd given a very thorough definition of Lycanthropy.
"Very good, Draco. I must say that was a near perfect spellbook definition. One can only know some things from first-hand experience." He seemed to pause for dramatic purposes, and then continued.
"Did you know that we can change into wolf form whenever we choose, and keep our mind as long as it wasn't a full moon. And it isn't that typical werewolf form, but the typical wolf. Species vary, of course. It is quite an amazing sight to see and not painful. It's like an animagus form."
Well, this was surprising news to Draco. How did the curse work, then? Could he be bitten by a mere wolf and still contract the curse? Would he not wait the remaining days until the full moon, and instead be changed right now?
A/N: Sorry, school started and it really slowed my writing down. Then my beta couldn't seem to get my chapter to e-mail. It was all very frustrating! Thanks for reading, and I hope and pray that you give me some feedback!