Yay!!! 7th chapter!!! And you have Theresa to thank for it! she gave me a kind of kick in the butt to get it typed and posted, so YAY THERESA!!!! And now, the moment you've kind of been waiting for.......................................WHAT HAPPENED TO HERMIONE?!?!?!!? To find out, read on!
Disclaimer: Gah....I hate these!! I don't own Viktor, Hermione, or anything else, yada yada yada..............you get the point.
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For a second, I froze. the scream sounded again, and I dropped my
wand, tore out of the room, and hurtled myself down the stairs as fast as
I could. At the bottom, I ran smack into Hermione, almost knocking her
over, who looked ready to collapse as it was, her eyes wide and her body
trembling. I quickly put my arm around her and held her steady.
Herm-own-ninny, vhat happened? I heard you scream and.........
I didn't know what else to say. She looked so scared. When she finally
spoke, her voice was weak and nervous-sounding.
I-I don't know what it was. T-t-there was something outside my
window, Viktor! It was pounding on the glass.................I-I think.......it
was trying to get in....... Hermione paused, her face chalk-white. I
thought for a moment, then asked her,
Vhat did it look like? I felt a shiver of fright travel through her body,
and my arms instinctively tightened around her. After a moment, she said,
I couldn't see it very well, but I could see...........it had red eyes!
And..........it looked like a-a CORPSE or something! White and horrid! I
heard tapping on the glass, and when I turned around and saw it, it
began pounding on the window and screaming. God, Viktor, it was
so.......horrible! She broke off again, shuddering. I gave her shoulders a
small squeeze, and said,
It vas a vampire, Herm-own-ninny. There are many of them here,
especially in the mountains. Hermione looked up at me, her eyebrows
raised.
A vampire? Goodness......it can't get in, can it? I shook my head.
No, not unless vun of us invites him in. She looked at me, perplexed, for
a second, then a look of realization came over her face.
Of course! Hermione smacked her forehead loudly, making me jump.
She didn't notice. In order to enter a private home, a vampire must be
invited in by one of the inhabitants! I can't believe I forgot that....
Neither could I. When it came to factual matters, Hermione usually
sounded as if she had memorized every textbook ever written. Not that it
was a bad thing...............
Still, even though her voice was matter-of-fact, I could tell by the
colour of her skin and her still wide-open eyes that it had been a rough
experience, and I felt nothing but sympathy for her. I knew all too well
what it was like to be terrorized by vampires. After the scare she had just
had, I could hardly bring myself to make her go back to her room. On the
other side of the house. Alone. I took a deep breath, and for the second
time that hour, threw my modesty to the wind.
You..........you can sleep in my room tonight....if you vant to, that is.
Hermione looked up at me again, and I suddenly became painfully aware
of the fact that I was standing there in nothing but my pajama bottoms.
And not just your plain cotton deals. Oh no, these particular pajamas
happened to be colbalt blue, speckled with large, flaming yellow stars. For
about the hundreth time that night, my face went red. To my suprise,
however, she looked somewhat relieved.
she said softly. If your sure...? I nodded.
It-its fine, it's up to you, really. Now it was Hermione's turn to blush.
she said, her eyes downcast shyly. Feeling slightly jittery, I
removed my arm from her shoulders and led her back up the stairs to my
room, which now felt as if an Arctic wind was blowing through it. I picked
my wand up off the floor and lit the fireplace. As soon as the flames lept
up, I felt the warmth was pleasently over my bare chest and shoulders. I
basked in it for a moment, then turned to Hermione. Immediately I faced a
new dilemma: clothing. Hermione was still in her wedding gown, and
while she looked beautiful, I had the feeling that it wouldn't be very
pleasant to sleep in. After staring at her thoughtfuly for several moments
(which I'm sure unnerved her somewhat), I walked over to my closet and
pulled a out the tightest tee shirt (on me) that i could find. Then, I dug in
my bureau and found the smallest pair of shorts I could (my pants would
have reached at least six inches past her ankles).
Catch, Herm-own-ninny! I said, tossing her the garments. Hermione
caught them, grinning.
I directed her to the bathroom, and when she had gone, I sighed,
and flopped down on the carpet in front of the fireplace. Closing my eyes,
I scooted as near to the flames as I could get without actually my
eyebrows. I was just begining to drift of when I heard Hermione return. I
opened my eyes, and I immediatley had to suppress a laugh. My shirt
reached almost to her knees, as did the shorts. Even though I was thin, I
was several inches taller than she was. Hermione, sensing my amusement,
gave me a mock-dirty look, and went over to my bureau to lay down her
neatly folded wedding dress. I got up and pulled the heavy quilts and
blankets on my bed down, and we both got it. In the dim orange glow
from the fireplace, I could see Hermione just enough to notice how cute
she looked, curled up with the covers bunched just under her chin. It
suddenly struck me that, even though Hermione was a fairly average size,
she looked small and delicate, compared to my long, gangly body.
Hermione looked as though she had fallen asleep as soon as her
head hit the pillow, so I curled up facing her and shut my eyes. Once
more, I began drifting off to sleep, blurred visions of vampires in long
white and black wedding robes dancing in my head, when something
pulled me abruptly back the World of the Awake. For a moment, I laid
perfectly still, and then I realized just what it was that had alerted me. I
propped myself up on one elbow, and whispered,
Hermione didn't move. I tried again.
I said, a bit louder. I felt her stir.
What, Viktor? I could tell from her voice that she had not been asleep as I had thought.
Herm-own-ninny, are you cold? She took a moment to reply.
she said through chattering teeth. I raised an eyebrow.
Hermione shook her head.
I stared at her for a moment, than reached out a hand and touched her arm. Her skin was icy cold, and I could feel her shivering.
She looked at me in surprise, and I grinned.
You know, you can tell me if you are not comfortable. I von't get offended, I told her, begining to laugh at the affronted expression on her face. Hermion just shrugged and averted her eyes. I yawned, and moved over next to her.
Come here, I said sleepily, gently sliding my arms around her shoulders and pulling her close. Vee vill both keep varmer this vay. I felt her pull back a little in surprise, but then, her body relaxed, and she shifted so her head could rest on my chest. My skin tingled pleasantly in the places her cool hands rested, and I laid back against the pillows and closed my eyes again.
Even though I was dead tired, I could not help thinking: if this had been any other time, laying in the same bed with Hermione, with me wearing nothing above my waist, I would have once more been a lovely, brilliant shade of crimson. With that somewhat embarrassing thought in my head, I finally drifted of to sleep, where the dancing robed vampires now had huge red roses clenched between their pointy little teeth.
*********************************************************************************************Ahahahahahaha!! I know what Im going to dream about tonight!! Lol!! Well, there you are, I hope the turn-out of the cliffie wasnt horribly dissappionting. Now, be good readers, and review, or the dancing vampires with their pretty red posies will come and get you!!
