Ugh… I hate 2020 and cannot wait for 2021. Meh, what can you do? On to the next chapter; Draco, Cedric, and Valerie talk as the school is locked down and Snape's DADA Class, possibly the Quidditch match too. Let's do this. (waves wand and makes the Disclaimers appear in a red light)

Disclaimers: You know the drill: I don't own these book franchises.

In the Great Hall, Valerie had gotten a sleeping bag and found a secluded area near the lit pillars and sat down on it, writing in her journal about her latest encounters.

"To say I'd want to burst with fear and nervousness is a major understatement because I had run into a man who everyone believes is guilty, but he is innocent like I had thought. My intuition has proven me right about this stuff, and I wish I could tell the Headmaster and the other teachers about it, but… I need the full story from this guy first. I can't be certain until I know everything."

She snapped her journal shut and put it away quickly as she heard footsteps, looking up to see Draco and the curly haired brunette Hufflepuff boy from the Sorting setting their bags by her as they sat down. "Hey, Draco. Who's the other one?"

Draco motioned to the other boy. "Valerie, meet Cedric Diggory."

Cedric held his hand out to her. "Nice to finally meet you, Val."

She shook his hand and smiled. "Oh yeah, Madam Pomfrey said you helped Draco get me to the Hospital Wing. Thanks for that, by the way."

Cedric nodded a little and smiled at her, causing her to blush a bit.

Draco adjusted himself and looked at her. "Anyways, I had a few questions about your flashing eyes and the speed you had when rescuing me."

She cleared her throat. "Uh… that's… kind of a really long story." She rubbed her markings again, shifting uncomfortably.

Draco raised an eyebrow. "Personally, I think you're a vampire because my family has worked with vampires in the past."

Val paled more than her usual and looked up at him before looking at Cedric, who was looking at Draco with a confused expression.

Draco shrugged. "Oi, I'm not the first Wizard to have contact with vampires."

Val sighed a bit and facepalmed, starting to explain her story once again.

She stopped upon hearing Percy's voice as he shouted, "Lights out, everyone!" and became relieved before she looked at the two boys. "I'll tell you guys more in the morning. Let's get some sleep." She crawled into her bag and laid her head down on the puffy cushion inside the bag, slowly falling asleep as exhaustion from the day overcame her and led her to move slightly as she started dreaming.

Valerie was walking around a graveyard with Cedric, both of them looking around before looking at each other.

Suddenly a bright flash of green light flew over their heads as she tackled him out of the way, the dream changing to show Cedric holding Val in a corridor as a wooden spike stuck out of her chest, removing the spike before moving Val's head to his neck as he whispered to her: "Take my blood, Val. You'll need it."

Val looked at Cedric weakly before her fangs elongated and she slowly bit into his neck.

Valerie's eyes snapped open in surprise, her mind becoming aware of the Headmaster speaking as he stood above her. "... for now, let them sleep. For in dreams, we enter a world that's entirely our own. Let them swim in the deepest ocean, or glide over the highest cloud."

Her eyes flickered to Draco as he was looking at her with curiosity in his eyes.

The next day after breakfast and Divination, Valerie was heading into the Defense Against the Dark Arts class with Draco, him having had accompanied her to Care of Magical Creatures and lunch among understanding her predicament and the circumstances behind her birth and, as had Cedric, he had promised to keep her secret under wraps.

Snape came into the room as the kids were chatting away, shutting them up as he closed the blinds and set up a projector before turning to the class. "Turn to page 394."

Val blinked in confusion but turned to the page she needed, wrinkling her nose as she read the title of the page. "Werewolves? We just started Red Caps and Hinkypunks though." She received a start as she heard Hermione voice the same concerns to Snape. "Holy Helsing, how the hell does she keep doing that? She's like a freaking vampire herself with those jumpscares."

Draco shrugged, not having an answer for her.

Snape suddenly spoke: "Now, which one of you can tell me the difference between an Animagus and a werewolf?"

Val's hand instantly shot up faster than Hermione's, as she had been another who had studied the difference and knew firsthand.

Snape turned to Valerie and nodded with a smile. "Miss Tod?"

Valerie nodded as she set her hand down. "Of course, sir. An Animagus is someone who chooses to become an animal. But a werewolf has no choice. During each full moon, the three days when he transforms, he no longer remembers who he is and he'd attack anyone who crosses him, friend or foe. Another distinction is that the werewolf responds to the call of its own kind."

Draco howled as a demonstration, smiling at Val.

"Thank you, Mr. Malfoy." Snape was amused by the call as well before looking at Val. "That was an exceptional explanation, Miss Tod. I can see you're well versed in nocturnal beings."

Valerie nodded a little. "I've had a bit of experience myself, sir."

Snape nodded to her. "Five points to Gryffindor." He walked around, talking to the other students and assigning a bit of homework.

Draco made a picture fly over to Harry with a soft breath, nudging Val afterwards. "Quidditch tomorrow, Hufflepuff vs Gryffindor. You going?"

She nodded. "My aunt's gonna be on the field to help with any injuries and she asked me to help too."

He nodded to her in understanding, smiling a bit.

The match that next day saw umbrellas flying in the wind that accompanied the massive storm that blew around.

Valerie was sitting on her Nimbus 2001, watching the match nervously as she looked around the area, her waterproof goggles helping her vision out as she dodged a girl rocketing to the ground from a lightning bolt hitting her broom.

She looked up and saw Harry and Cedric fly into the air, spotting the shimmering gold speck that was the Snitch that the boys were chasing before she waited and frowned upon feeling more of a chill than usual.

Nelly left Val's side to go catch Cedric from a fall, leaving the Dhampir to her resources as she rocketed up and flew through the clouds, trying to find Harry before anything bad happened.

She slowly came to a stop when she saw Dementors surrounding Harry not a few meters above, paling as she saw one suck on his spirit before she immediately went into a nosedive to catch him, stopping a few feet from the ground and holding her arms out as she caught the raven haired boy in her arms. "GOTCHA!" She maneuvered him so she could hold on to him and sit him in front of her before she caught the Snitch as it passed her and rocketed to Madam Hooch, sliding to a stop in front of her as she shouted over the wind: "CALL OFF THE MATCH! BOTH SEEKERS ARE DOWN!"

Nelly raced Cedric to the Hospital Wing as Draco, Ron, and Hermione ran on to the pitch to help Val with Harry while the whistle sounded off to stop the game.

Uh-oh... this doesn't bode well. Next chapter: The promise of Patronus lessons and Val's talk with Sirius plus the revelation of the connection between Harry and Sirius.