VII

Stormhaven Castle, Present Day

Midnight, (May 1999)

Hermione thanked Betty, reassuring her that she didn't need anything else and bid her goodnight. As soon as the house-elf had apparated out Hermione rushed to the chest at the end of her bed, she had barely manged to hide the ledger she had nicked from Theo's lab in time. Betty had come to fetch her for lunch enquiring after her health.

She had told Theo her stomach hurt terribly before excusing herself from his lab and profusely rejecting any well-meaning requests of his to mix her up a 'brew' as he called it. Something about the unholy light in his eyes when he used those words to describe a drink... just didn't sit right with her. Like he was dying to experiment with a potion, except instead of a guinea-pig he now had her... a captive human subject.

She wondered if they had brought her here to be his test subject, maybe he was developing bioweapons for the Dark Army she thought to herself with a chuckle...not even realizing she wasn't far off.

She unwrapped the ledger she had tied in Teddy's swaddling cloth, thankful that the child had a full belly all the time these days and went to sleep almost immediately. Hermione wasn't ever awake this late these days, she found the eerie silence and the lack of any evidence of life around the castle to be scary, it was terrifying for her to remain awake with just her thoughts.

Now the question was bed or fireplace, if she tried to read it near the fireplace where there was sufficient light, she risked someone coming to check on her and discovering she had stolen it, obviously it was something important. Nobody bothered to hide irrelevant research.

But if she read on the bed, she would have to try to get some more light since there were no extra candles in her room and the wall sconces only threw so much light.

She could attempt a wandless Lumos , she had had some success with wandless magic in her last few years in Hogwarts but hadn't attempted it while on the run for fear of getting caught but she had already been caught, so really was there any harm in trying to see if it was possible for her to use her magic.

She quickly slipped into her plain flannel nightgown and padded to her bed, her heart was thumping with dread and a little bit of fear. She had to put this ledger back as soon as she could, tonight might be the only night she got to read it properly.

She slid into her bed and pulled the covers up over her head, quickly peeking at Teddy before focusing on the little leather-bound book in her hands.

It had been so long since she had done magic, so she had to really concentrate, "Lumos." she whispered, sighing when it didn't work, "Lumos." she tried again, focusing on creating a small ball of light in her hand and a little spark flickered and slowly grew stronger, she experienced a moment of triumph before flipping the ledger open.


4th July 1998

This is my first entry into this journal, perhaps four days after I was contacted by B. When he had written to me, I hadn't believed what he was saying was possible. I normally don't conducted research like this, but I have a feeling studying what is happening right now in Stormhaven castle is perhaps even more defining than my work on isolating biological compounds that create the magical gene in humans, that is why this journal will remain part diary and part research journal. I also find it hard to remain unbiased because I know the victim of this horrible...? (possibly) occurrence. While it is fascinating to be able to study this as a singularly unique and spectacular phenomenon of both biology and magic, I find my usual scientific detachment isn't that well-tuned. I fear D has suffered greatly and even as his body continues to fight now, the question of his survival is shrouded in mist. Even I, with my normally well calibrated ability to be able to measure probability find myself find myself fearful of giving a response that may be perceived with the lightest bit of hope.

T


5th July 1998

I was told they tortured him for a week, the potion that now ravages his mind and body was stuck into him with the hope that it would transform his body and mind into being more pliable but dark magic made him unstable. B only managed to rescue him last week, apparently how he did it was by striking a deal. I have asked him what potion it was, he only shook his head. That, he didn't know. Or that he couldn't tell me? After all it wasn't like he could escape scrutiny if he was suspected of more compassion than just comradery for a fellow batch mate. D fought me while I attempted to take his blood-sample, the one I took yesterday, the very first one was mind boggling.

It's like his blood no longer resembles a human's or even a mammals blood. Most mammals including humans don't have nuclei in their red blood cells, but his red-blood cells seem to be mutating before my eyes. I have studied werewolf blood before, it is similar phenomenon, but the structure of his blood is something I have never seen before.

T


6th July 1998

A breakthrough? Potentially... B overheard that D wasn't the only person they had tested the potion on. Most people they had injected it into had lost their minds and their bodies hadn't been able to handle the raw power... whatever it was, within the potion and had died after a few torturous days or in some cases hours. They have been experimenting with unstable dark magic with the cores of magical beasts rated XXXX or higher by the MOM, an army of magical beasts within human bodies it seems, no one knows where they have received this material from, I fear we don't have enough research to know what cores they have used. TDL has begun to consolidate his territory, after that night at Hogwarts and Potter's disappearance he has been restructuring our world as we know it into something I have never seen before. The weaponizing of dark magic makes me fearful for his plans... I hear rumours of him testing other potions, dangerous ones.

I now understand why D's blood is the way it is, it is not human... it is a strange mix of beast and human. From B's understanding they have used several combinations of magical core from rare and dangerous magical beasts. The chances of D's survival look bleaker by the day.

T


10th July 1998

I have managed to isolate what is keeping D alive, but it is only a theory. In theory if they are intelligent beasts his consciousness can communicate with theirs. The venom from his spit is rare, it's poison. If I could only isolate what kind it would help narrow down what is within him, his body is changing it is like the magical core of the beasts are beginning to meld with his muscle tissue, his blood-cells and even his nerves. Maybe as he continues to change, we can determine the 'sire' so to speak from his physical features. B told me he continues to mention the name of the witch who fought alongside Potter. It is unfortunate she is missing, I'd imagine in a fight for the control of your soul you'd need someone you love at your side. I think he doesn't have many people who love him.

T


Hermione bit her lip to stop herself from screaming, he was talking about Draco! Draco wasn't dead and he hadn't abandoned her like she believed for so long... but what had happened to him? Tortured? She put her hand on her mouth to muffle her soft moan.

So, he must have tried to come to the safehouse to meet her, as they had planned. She had finally convinced him at the end of 6th year after asking him to abandon the Invisible Cabinet idea he had come up with, after his parents had forced him to join the Death Eaters. He had kept pushing her away, scared that they would find out and kill her, but she had finally cornered him in the Room of Requirement and forced him to tell the truth.

...

"Nothing Draco! Nothing. Not a letter, not a hi or a hello when we came back to school. How could you make me believe you and I were something special?" she had yelled, finally sneaking into the ROR after following him one night, "I was falling in love with you, you stupid arsehole!"

There were tears streaming down her face, they had been seeing each other since Christmas last year but after promising to write to her and come visit her since they could just be a normal couple during the summer break and not hide and hold hands or kiss, he had ignored all her letters and seemed to be ignoring her even now in school.

"I don't know what you want from me, Granger?" he said, looking away.

"An explanation? The truth? Anything Draco anything?!"

"It's not my choice okay!" he exploded, "You think I want to stay away from you? Do you think I like watching your smile fade every time I walk past you these days? But I was born in a fucked-up family Hermione and He's holding my parents hostage and He's holding me hostage, you could die if we kept seeing each other. You know He's been getting more and more powerful every day, I see you and Potter having your little discussions. Potter thinks I'm a Death Eater, he isn't far off."

"Don't tell me...?" she said, stricken.

He just rolled his sleeve up, showing her the mark she dreaded.

"How could you, Draco?" she said, her voice pained.

"You think I had a choice." He laughed bitterly, "He'll kill my parents if I don't and they probably wouldn't even care, they're so caught up in his shit."

"Don't what? Has he given you a task?"

"I'm supposed to fix that cabinet, more instructions to follow after." He replied tonelessly, hanging his head in defeat. "You need to leave Granger, get out of Hogwarts, I was mustering the courage to write you a letter, telling you that you need to get the fuck out of here and take Potter with you, if there is any hope left for us."

"No." she said fiercely, "No, do you think I'm going to let this happen to you?!"

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Fuck your parents Draco, I'm sorry but they chose this path. They don't have the right to expect you do to."

"I'm a Malfoy, Granger... of-course they expect it."

"Not your fault you were born in a terribly family. No. We have to leave here go to the Order."

"They'll Avada me on sight Granger, don't be daft."

"No, no I'll protect you. Just promise me, promise me you'll at least think about it."

He sighed bending his head to kiss her, "I'll think about it."

Hermione swallowed reluctantly wanting to say more, but he looked so tired... so haggard that she couldn't bring herself to do more than hug him tight against her trembling body, sending up a silent prayer for their future.

...

Oh, sweet Merlin, they must have found out that he planned to defect. She wanted to scream and rail against an invisible god. Why? Why had this happened? He didn't deserve what they had done to him... she wanted to throw up, her throat was tight with tears and her body trembling with the sweet memories of all those months they had spent together... all gone.

She owed it to Draco and their love to find out what had happened to him, so she continue to read.


13th July 1998

I have isolated the poison, I'm afraid it brings me only more hopelessness. The poison is the Nandu's, a rare African beast. Arguably one of the most dangerous magical beasts to ever live. The only account I have of anyone being able to control it come from the Yoruba people. We would need an Orisha, a shaman from East Africa. B tells me he can get us a potkey but the Orisha haven't been seen in a long time. They are, after all, almost like demi-gods. As folk magic has diminished in Africa so has their influence, to be able to find one would be a stroke of luck so rare, it would be almost impossible if probability is to be trusted.

I often find myself wondering why B is helping D, his almost relentless pursuit of a cure is strange, considering it would just have been easier for him to let D die...

...

A sound startled Hermione out of her intense concentration on the diary, she quickly closed her palm to extinguish the light.

Slow prowling footsteps came closer and closer to her cell door... nothing else moved.

"Hello kitten..." came a voice, both familiar and not from her cell door.

Hermione looked up from under her cover to see the very man she had been reading about.

"Draco...?" she asked haltingly, unable to believe he was before her eyes.

Yet when he turned to look at her, she caught her breath... this wasn't Draco, or fully Draco.

"You asked me that before as well you know." he said conversationally... his voice a gruttal growl, as he tested the bars of her cell casually.

"Who are you? Inside Draco?" she asked boldly, stepping out of her bed and standing in front of the crib.

"Ah..." the creature laughed, "So you have caught on, have you?"

"I... I read that Theo and Blaise were trying to get rid of you from Draco's body."

"Fools." It scoffed, "Like they're fools for thinking these wards can keep us out, yes Leopard?" it laughed to itself softly, "the leopard agrees, the humans are indeed fools."

"The Leopard?" she said, feeling her heart thump painfully as eyes as black as tar studied her from Draco's beloved face.

"The other creature within your lovers body that helped him survive that weak snake's torture." It replied.

"So where is Draco then and who are you?" she said, hypnotised.

"I am nothing little witch." It replied with a wicked smile. "We are the same, little witch. But some nights I become stronger and demand that we feed and some nights the leopard becomes stronger and demands we hunt and some nights the human is strong, fighting to try and stay human but we are the same. Now more than ever."

"So why am I speaking to you?" she whispered.

"Because tonight I will not be denied..."

"Denied what?"

Hermione never got her answer, the creature within Draco's body easily wrenched off the lock on the door of her cell like it was a child's toy and crossed the threshold like the wards didn't even exist.

"D...don't come any closer." she whispered, feeling the temperature in the room drop.

Gone was the handsome yet willowy Seekers body, Hermione now understood what Theo meant about being able to identify the sire of Draco's mutation. Draco's tall form was much muscular now; thick muscles bunched under sleek skin...undeniably strong, his silvery hair gone and, in its place, a deep golden blond mane, almost like the colour of a jaguar. His brawny arms were covered in runes and his eyes... the fathomless black of a creature so intelligent and powerful that she could feel Its magic rolling from Draco's body in waves.

"It's still me, Hermione." he almost sounded pleading. Before letting out in inhuman laugh.

Hermione's heart was breaking into pieces, here was her lover, her love... someone she had shared the deepest secrets of her heart with, but she couldn't trust her eyes. It looked like Draco... sounded like him too but yet it wasn't.

"I don't know..." she whispered to herself, scared, "You're not just Draco anymore. You aren't."

The creature kept its coal eyes on her, "Would it placate you witch for me to let you believe your lover is with you however you should be warned..." it snarled, "I will take what I came here for."

Before she could reply It was beside her bed, It's speed electric despite Draco's large body. He had moved with the silent grace of a lethal leopard, on quite steps. The magical energy around him thrummed with dark magic and power.

Hermione's mouth opened in a silent scream and before she could do anything It had It's hand around her neck, slamming her into the stone wall near Teddy's crib.

The sound startled the little boy awake... Teddy let out a loud wail as Hermione struggled... her weak body held up by Draco's brawny arm alone.

"Yes." It hissed in her ear, skimming Draco's lips... warm and familiar down her neck, "We have waited for this since we felt your magical essence, such a strong... floral...sweet essence, it makes us want to consume you again and again, little witch. We understand why the boy is so obsessed with you, but you have no hold over us."

"Please... please." She whispered fearfully, "please let go. Don't hurt the child."

"Your fear makes your blood even sweeter, little witch. You mustn't excite us so." It continued, rubbing one large hand up her leg, "We promise we'll only steal a little... after all we haven't had a meal in days. And we have no quarrel with the wolfling, but it will not stop us from obtaining what we came for."

Hermione screamed as Draco sunk his teeth into her neck, pushing the venom that made her body soft and plaint into her blood.

As her body began to sag and her mind grew hazy as she felt his hands on her thighs.

Draco licked the two little puncture wounds and the Shroud started to feed on her... much like a Dementor except it was feeding on her magical essence, the source of her power.

To prevent It from killing her, the human half of Draco pulled her body closer. As if he could shield her from himself, It enjoyed her power but he knew It wouldn't kill her. It was torture for Draco, the insatiable need to feed, his lack of control on the beasts and his inability to keep away from her.

"I'm sorry." His human half whispered, "Forgive me my love... forgive me."

The little baby continued to scream as Hermione collapsed on the floor, the creature inside Draco finally satisfied with its feeding.

"Please..." she whispered raising one weak hand towards him... but his eyes remained the tar black of the Shroud, "Will you ever let him go?"

Her last memory before falling completely was those same midnight eyes boring into her own and the creatures rough voice proclaiming without a doubt, "Never."

...

Hermione woke up suddenly, the sunshine was streaming through her window... and the memories from last night come rushing back to her.

The ledger... the discovery that Draco was still alive... the horror of the creature in her room, invading her magic... stealing from her.

"Awake, are we?" came a dry voice from the foot of her bed, "I thought I'd have to bring out a foghorn to wake you up."

"Zabini?" she asked, her voice scratchy and her head pounding.

"So, it finally happened huh?"

"What happened?"

"You met Draco and his beasts."

"Is this some sick joke Zabini, what happened last night, who is that, was that actually Draco?" she asked, throwing questions at him rapidly when all she wanted to do was go searching for Draco.

"What you met last night was a version of Draco, the one that goes hunting humans... the one that's taking over his soul. It was attracted by your magic, I had managed to keep you hidden with my wards, but it senses even the littlest bit of magic and last night It struck gold. It had found the woman It had been hunting for all this time."

"Is this why you brought me here? To be his prey? No wonder it's so silent around the castle at night, everything is cowering in fear."

Zabini shook his head solemnly, "I couldn't tell you what he had become, at least not immediately. I wanted you to get used to the castle first, get better... healthier, but my magic wasn't strong enough to protect you from him. Had I been here I would have protected you better."

"Why did you bring me here?" she screamed, "Why? I loved him and they made him into a monster. You made him into a monster." she accused, tears nearly blinding her, "how could you, he was your friend."

"That's why I found, you daft woman, I didn't know he was planning to defect. I would have gone with him had I known. You're here because you're my last hope of ever seeing Draco human again. I never wanted to be a Death Eater. Never. But what was I supposed to, my best friend was dragged back for defecting, Potter was gone. There was no one. I had to save him. I did what I had to."

"Last hope?" she laughed hysterically, "His beasts hate me Zabini, the malevolence and the violence I felt when It stole from me were violating."

"I think there is a way in which you can bring him back." He said quietly. "But it won't be easy and it's not something I can ask of you lightly, you'll have to agree to it yourself, but it may be the only way to save his humanity."

"What is it?" she asked, wary and fearful... her body still felt violated after the assault last night. She hugged herself, feeling a chill sweep through her at Zabini's look of deep anguish. Her heart thumped painfully in her ribcage... would the horror never end.

"You have to agree to be the beasts slave."

...

A/N- Quarantine day 5 and the only thing keeping me sane is writing this fanfiction lol. Leave a review if you're enjoying the story, I love reading them xx

P.S- Also there's a poll on my profile about this story's name, if y'all could spare a few mins just give it a vote xx