A/N: I wrote two versions of this chapter, then decided that this one was much, much better. I hope you like it. Please leave me a review. Many thanks to everyone who already has.

Warning: This is AU, and I did kill off Ron and Lucius, so I thought I could resurrect a couple characters who might help with the plot. The first of these returns in this chapter. In all his snarky, bastardy, insensitive goodness (yes, I love Severus Snape. And I keep him dead in most of my x-over stories, so I thought I could bring him back here.)

He had no idea what to do.

So much of his life he had relied on instinct, that gut feeling to drive him to do the right thing. But sitting on the information that his best friend, the person who had been by his side through everything since they were eleven years old, was dead was so easy he felt guilty. There was no body, no evidence beyond the bloodstain on the floor. But he knew she was gone, and he knew he wouldn't see her again.

Ginny had been all for going public. A big memorial service, the whole nine yards. She wanted to contact the vampire hunters to hunt down the one who killed Hermione and force him to tell them where she was buried. He had to spend hours talking her out of it, culminating in a promise to tell McGonagall what happened and let her take the reigns.

He dragged his feet getting to Hogwarts, and it was only when Ginny threatened to do it herself that he finally Apparated to Hogsmede after his Auror training one night. Hoping that the Headmistress had already gone to bed he made his way slowly up towards the castle. He wanted to stop by Hagrid's, but he didn't want to be the one to break the news to the good-hearted giant.

Not wanting to be seen he skirted through some hidden corridors until he came to the stone gargoyle outside the Headmistress' office. Sighing he reached up and touched the claw of the statue.

"H..Harry Potter to see P... P... Professor McGonagall," he tried to keep the tears behind his eyes from falling.

A moment later the stone opened it's mouth. "Come up, Mr. Potter," it said in McGonagall's shrill voice before the spiral staircase was revealed.

He stepped on and rode up to the door, but his heart seemed to stay where he had been standing. He could barely force himself to knock on the door at the top of the staircase.

"Come in," she called, and he opened the door with his head hanging.

"Mr. Potter?" McGonagall swiftly moved by his side, putting a hand supportively on his shoulder. "Come, come, sit down." He felt a chair hitting the back of his knees, and suddenly he was sitting in front of the large desk. "What's going on?" she asked, sitting in the chair next to him.

"Hermione..." his cracked lips formed the word as his insides turned to iron. "She had a bit of vampire problem. He was hunting her for weeks, and she was able to keep him away. But she had... a rough night the other night, and I think she let the vampire get to her."

She gasped, her eyes wide as saucers. "And what makes you think that, Mr. Potter?"

He reached a shaking hand into his pocket and produced the note Hermione had sent to him via Crookshanks. "When I went to go get her I found blood. It looked like it was burning the carpet away. Vampire venom would do that. She had shown up one night a while back after running into this vampire for the first time. She said he called her his 'singer'. That he vowed to stop at nothing to kill her and taste her blood."

Her jaw was slack, a hand covering her mouth, her eyes wet. "Did you find a body?"

"No. Her body was gone. All I found was the blood and the will she had written out."

"When was this?"

"Seven days ago," he grumbled.

"Seven days! Why did it take you so long to come to me?"

"Hermione chose to let him get her, thought that death was more preferable than the life she was leading. I... felt guilty. I felt like I pushed her to go out and get over Ron and her parents too quickly. That I supported her, but not enough. Hermione was the strong one. The one who could handle everything that was thrown at us with a rational mind. And she let herself get killed. There was no sign of a struggle. And it's my fault."

Abandoning all proprieties she wrapped her arms around him. "It is not your fault, Mr. Potter. Hermione..."

She was cut off by the door flying open and Snape rushing in, Draco a couple steps behind, looking conflicted. She let go of Harry and stood up, looking irritated, the tears that had been threatening to fall now gone.

"Have you heard of knocking, Severus?" she snapped.

"I'm sorry, Headmistress," Snape replied, with no air of telling the truth. "Draco came to me tonight with some rather interesting news."

"Get on with it, then, Mr. Malfoy," she said, crossing her arms.

His eyes shot to Harry, who was staring at the fire, not caring about what Draco had to say. "My father is dead," he announced. "Mother found him at the Manor a couple hours ago. It was quite obvious he had been bitten by vampire. When Magical Law Enforcement went through the property, making sure the vampire was gone, they found another body. A young woman had been buried in the yard. She, too, had signs of vampire attack."

"Seems to be somewhat of an epidemic," McGonagall said, summoning a bottle of Madam Rosmerta's Finest and pouring them all glasses. "Mr. Potter just informed me that he has reason to believe that Hermione Granger has also been killed by a vampire."

"What!?!" Draco shouted, eyes wide, staring at Harry. "Hermione's dead?"

Harry looked up at him, a tear escaping his face, and turned back.

"No," Draco muttered, shaking his head. He turned and stormed out of the office, but no one followed.

"And are your ample ties to the media the reason we are just now learning of Miss Granger's death?" Snape drawled. "You have now used your famous name to keep a body..."

"There was no body!" Harry shouted, standing up and holding out his wand.

"Easy, Mr. Potter," McGonagall put a hand on his shoulder.

He dropped his hand, nostrils flaring. "There was no body," he repeated through clenched teeth. "There was some blood and some vampire venom, that's it."

"No body?" Snape repeated softly.

"What are you thinking, Severus?" McGonagall asked in a low whisper.

"Seems somewhat coincidental. A vampire working its way through the magical community. Going straight from Miss Granger's house to Malfoy Manor, not stopping a the couple dozen or so magical houses between the two. Seems like someone might have a grudge against the two of them. Mr. Potter," he snapped, causing Harry to jump slightly. "I heard as I was coming up the stairs that Hermione had a bit of a vampire problem before...

"Is this really necessary, Severus?" McGonagall asked, keeping close by Harry's side.

"We may have somewhat of a problem. Answer the question, if you would, Potter."

"Yes," Harry mumbled. "She said one called her 'la mia cantante'."

Snape and McGonagall locked eyes for a moment. "She did have a reason to hate Lucius," Snape said.

"I can't believe you would stoop to think..." she hissed.

"Even you must admit that the situation fits."

"What fits?" Harry demanded.

"A bright boy such as yourself must have thought of the possibility, with no body at the scene."

"You are being an arse, Severus," McGonagall snapped.

"Childish name calling, Minerva?" he smirked.

"I forbid you from saying it!"

"What, that he thinks Hermione is a newborn vampire?" Harry cut in. They both looked back at him. "Ginny thought of it. When I... er... told her that some of Hermione's things were gone. Her clothes. Some books. The comforter off her bed. She thought that maybe the other vampire took her things because she would need them later. I told her not to think that."

"And why should she not think it?" Snape asked.

"Hermione wouldn't want to be a vampire. She'd rather be dead."

"She wouldn't have much choice in the matter."

"She would find a way to have the choice!" he shouted.

"Harry..." McGonagall muttered, shooting him a sad look.

"No. She can't be," he shook his head vigorously.

"We should accept that it at least looks like she might be."

He shook his head even more vigorously. "No. I refuse to believe it," he growled before stalking from the room.

"And so the Golden Duo lives on," Snape murmured.

He had Apparated to her house directly from the gates of Hogwarts. Without worrying about whether a neighbor had seen him appear out of nowhere he ran, as fast as his legs would carry him, to her door and rushed inside.

"Hermione!" he screamed, over and over, running through each room. Someone had been through recently. Her books had been sorted into piles, with very few left behind. Pictures had been taken off the wall, albums rifled through, a safe left open and emptied. In her room he stopped screaming. He found a large scorch mark on the carpet where the bloodstain must have been, the venom having completely destroyed where the blood had fallen. Her knick-knacks from school were gone, there were spots on the wall where it was obvious things had hung for years but had been taken down. But many valuables, like the televisions, were all left behind. Someone had cleared out everything that might have been valuable to Hermione.

She was gone. And her death stung him more than his own father's. Lucius had been asking for it for years. Hermione didn't deserve... whatever was happening to her right now.

He Disapparated to his flat and threw the first thing he could get his hand on into the wall- smashing his mother's favorite glass candlestick. Swearing he repaired it, then headed up to bed. Only sleep could provide the comfort he needed right now.

But sleep would be difficult. He tossed and turned, with visions of Hermione standing over his father's body plaguing his every dream. He awoke twice to snatch his wand and cast light around his room, making sure he was alone.

The third time he did this, he wasn't alone. As the beam of light from his Lumos charm fell on the window by his dresser he saw a pair of unblinking red eyes reflecting back at him.

"Shit!" he shouted, sitting bolt upright, the room suddenly filled with light. Crouched there was a woman who looked awfully like Hermione. Her skin was pale, her hair was sleeker and shinier, her lips fuller, everything about her more inviting. Her crimson eyes were fixed on his, she was obviously holding her breath.

"H..H..Hermione?" he stammered.

"Yes," she answered in a quick, silken voice as she stood up straight.

"It's true, then," he gasped, sinking back into the bed.

"I'm not on a Malfoy hunting spree," she said with a sad smile.

"Can I?" he asked, reaching a hand out. She reached her fingers slowly, deliberately towards his, and let him carefully touch the back of her hand.

"Hermione, I'm so sorry," he muttered, throwing himself into her arms. She held him, leaning backwards, head turned away from him.

"There is nothing you could have done," she muttered, disentangling himself and pushing him back on the bed.

"My father..."

"I'm sorry if that's not what you wanted. It was idealistic of me, thinking I could only kill the guilty. I..."

"I don't want to know about you killing," he growled, covering his ears. "What now, Hermione?" he demanded.

"Volterra," she said, looking out the window.

"Volterra? Are you really thinking...?"

"I think it's a good place for me, right now. Being around others like me. Ones who have been around for a while. So I can..."

"What?" he raged. "Learn from the masters? Offer your gifts as a sacrifice for camaraderie and free meals? You don't know the stories that come out of that place!"

"I don't need to know!" she snapped back. "I am not the Hermione you know anymore!"

"You are Hermione! Just a different version!"

"No, I'm not! I'm a killer, and will be for however many days, years, centuries I walk this earth!"

"That's not like you, Hermione! That's not the woman I love!" he said, launching himself forward to press his lips to hers, but she pushed him back so hard he made a hole in the wall.

"You love the human me," she growled. "I will never be that again."

"Then why did you come here?" he asked, rubbing the back of his head.

"I don't know. I guess because I didn't want to leave without someone knowing where I am," she shook her head and inhaled deeply. Almost immediately there was another figure in the room, holding her back, whispering so quickly into her ear it was nothing more than a low hum.

"You!" Draco shouted, pointing his wand, but it was snapped out of his hand before a spell could cross his thoughts. Hermione's wand was halfway back to her pocket when he realized what happened. "You did this to her!" he snarled at Jasper.

"Don't, Draco," she warned, closing her eyes, the muscles in her arms clenching and unclenching as she held onto Jasper's arm. "I really want to leave here with you alive."

"It might be best if we leave, then..." Jasper muttered, face close to hers.

She nodded. "I'm sorry, Draco. I overreacted."

"I'm sorry, Hermione," Draco muttered. "If I hadn't said no..."

"In the past," she interrupted. "Take care of yourself."

"You, too," he muttered, but she had already jumped out of the window. The two men exchanged possessive glares. "She was mine first," Draco hissed under his breath.

"She's mine now," Jasper snapped back before following Hermione into the night.