DISCLAIMER: I do not own the characters, unfortunately, that privelage belongs to J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. I do however own the story line and any ideas going with it. Please don't sue because I am only a poor girl whose imagination cannot come up with any original ideas for a world she could write in.

Love and Other Passions - Chapter Nine - Two Deaths and No Weddings.

"Hermione, you're up early." she heard from somewhere behind her as she left the bathroom ensuite.

"Good morning Draco. I'm surprised to see that you are still around." Hermione mused emotionlessly.

"Well of course I'm still around." Draco smiled, his eyes hungry and cold.

"Why are you in my room?" Hermione asked.

She could feel his breath starting to touch the skin on her back, he was breathing heavily. A hand touched her waist, the cold starting to spread up her side and over her lower back as he pulled her backwards.

"Because I was the one who made you, and now I'm the one who will destroy you." Draco slowly said, smiling as he brought a bright silver dagger to her throat.

"You don't have to do this Draco." Hermione begged.

"Yes I do. I made you completely by accident. I had no intentions of making you a vampire, none whatsoever, and I do by accident, you decide to go off and not only complete the process with my father, you fuck his brains out. Then, five years later, when I come back thinking maybe I might have had a chance, I find you fucking another vampire, one that I despise almost as much as I do my own father." Draco paused, "I didn't mean to make you a vampire, but I did love you, or atleast some part of me did. I meant for us to live together and enjoy each others company, not for you to run off and screw up my life."

"Draco, I'm sorry. Never did I intend to hurt you and neither was I intending on doing what I have. If I had my way, I would take it all back to the moment you bit me, I would drink your blood and we would have had that life that you wanted." Hermione replied, trying to buy herself some time.

"No you wouldn't you little mudblood." Draco sneered, pushing her back to the wall, keeping the dagger trained on her throat, "You never wanted me. You used me to get to my father, like all the other women I have ever known, they use me to get to Severus."

Hermione looked confused, "Other women?"

"You didn't... oh my... you didn't know?!" Draco cried, "Severus has a pack of women, he has for quite a few years now. They all think he is the best thing since the wand, and every time he finds his pants a little tighter than usual, he calls one of them to release the tension. You thought you had him all to yourself did you? Oh no. Severus is a dirty pimp, that is all, no more. And you let him crush you like he does most other women who care about him."

Hermione thought for a minute, it would explain a lot of things, "I never wanted Severus, I used him to get the serum. Why do you think we have never fucked since that night? If I wanted him that badly, then I would have asked for it, or taken it." she tried to work her way around the situation, "And the only reason I'm with Oliver now, is because I thought that you didn't want me anymore."

"No... you're lying... you have to be lying." Draco stammered, the dagger lowering slightly, "You're trying to get one over on me."

"Have I ever lied to you Draco?" Hermione asked, knowing the answer already.

"No, you haven't." Draco said, his head hanging shamefully.

The dagger had dropped from her body, and Draco was moving away from her.

~~~~

Remus stopped at Hermione's door, and was about to knock when he heard the voices. There was no other way to describe the conversation he heard, but he didn't want to interupt. Severus joined him soon, and with their ears pressed to the door, they could vaguely hear what was being said.

'Why do you think we have never fucked since that night? If I wanted him that badly, then I would have asked for it, or taken it.' there was a pause, 'And the only reason I'm with Oliver now, is because I thought that you didn't want me anymore.'

Muffled sounds of feet or walking ran over the next few lines that were said, and then they heard a snap like bone. Severus had heard enough, he burst through the door and wand at the ready, pointed to where he thought the voices were coming from.

"Don't worry Severus, I have it all under control." Hermione said as she ripped her fist from Draco's chest and revealed his blackened heart, "The bastard tried to kill me, and it's all your fault."

"What do you mean?" Remus asked her.

"Draco tried to kill me, with that knife he's holding. I lied a bit, convinced him that I still loved him and then, as he was walking away confused, I put my fist through the ribs in his upper back and ripped out his heart, just like he always thought I had." Hermione explained.

"What do you mean, just like he always thought you had?" Severus asked.

"Draco thought that figuratively speaking, of course, I had ripped out his heart and presented it to you on a silver platter. Well, I don't have a silver platter, but here's the bastard's heart." Hermione smiled forced at him before throwing the heart at him and walking out of the room.

Hermione poked her head in a few seconds later, Remus and Severus still stunned, and added, "Oh, and he killed Oliver before he came to see me.

~~~~

It was going to be another of those emotionless times for Hermione, she could feel it coming. Severus had just lost his son, although with her new abilities, Hermione wasn't too impartial on making him another. She wouldn't tell him that though, it was too soon. Hermione knew exactly how she felt about the world now, and she knew she still loved Severus, no matter what she had told Draco. She also knew that what Draco had told her about Severus having a pack of women was a load of bullshit, because she knew his thoughts, she knew everything he did, and there was nothing that she couldn't see in his mind's eye.

Hermione sat in the Great Hall, the day before the students returned, playing chess with Sirius, who was staying on again as Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher that year. As usual, she was winning, opening a can of whoop-ass on him when he least expected it.

"Sirius, I'm going home for a few weeks. Mum's not well, and I don't really want her to be alone." Remus smiled sadly, a hand on his shoulder.

"That's ok Remus, I understand. I'll come visit her next weekend, after the students have settled in." Sirius smiled to him, kissing Remus' hand as it lay on his shoulder.

"Don't I get a proper kiss goodbye?" Remus asked.

Sirius chuckled, standing and turning to face him. They hugged at first, holding each other close, and then kissed, Hermione turning away to allow them their moment of privacy. When she went to look again, they had broken apart and were smiling at her.

"What did I do?" Hermione asked.

Remus just laughed, hugging her quickly in a goodbye fashion and turned to leave. Severus stood at the other end of the hall his arms out wide and a huge grin on his face, "Don't I get a hug goodbye?"

Hermione tried to keep a straight face, she still wasn't sure where Severus wanted to take their relationship, since, neither did he. It didn't work. As Remus lept stupidly into Severus' arms for a hug, Hermione couldn't help but grin. When Remus had gone, Severus joined them at the table.

"Can't say this year hasn't been interesting." Severus mumbled.

"Mmmm." Hermione agreed, "Queen to G3, Checkmate."

She watched as her Queen moved towards Sirius' King and deftly sliced off it's head. The look of utter disbelief that she had won so fast showed well on Sirius' face.

*We need to get ourselves sorted out before the students come back for another year Severus.* Hermione thought, pushing it to him.

Severus nodded, acknowledging her thought, "Well played game, well, what I saw of it."

"Oh yeah, the last two moves. Great game." Sirius laughed.

"I thought it was." Hermione added, "Well, better go get ready for another year of fighting with my students." she laughed, knowing that this was purely not the case.

"Me too. Have to go see Hagrid, ask him if he knows where I can pick up some vampire blood." Sirius muttered.

Severus looked wide-eyed at him, as in shock.

"I was kidding Severus, but I do need to see Hagrid." Sirius smiled wickedly.

Hermione giggled, packing away the chess set and standing. She left the room with the two men following her. Sirius went out the front door and Severus followed her up to her rooms, where she locked the door and put away the chess board before turning to him.

"Yes Hermione, I still love you, after all of this. As I said when I found you asleep on my bed, I love you and I always will." Severus started.

"Are you sure you want to be dating a teacher? Are you certain that you want to make some sort of relationship out of what we've been through together?" Hermione asked, moving to her desk.

"Definately. I have never been more sure that I wanted something in all my life." Severus smiled, moving to join her.

"That's always good to know." Hermione smiled to him, pressing her lips to his.

~~~~

Hermione sat in her chair at the teacher's table, watching all the other students talking and whispering at their house tables. For the first time in five years, everything in her life was either good, or looking up. She could deal with it being this way forever, although, she wasn't certain on how long it would last, she hoped forever. Beside her sat Severus, their hands linked beneath the table, and for the first time that most of the students would ever see, he was almost smiling, the edges of his lips turned upward in about as much of a smile as he wished to show them. Sirius sat next to him, looking towards Hermione with amusement on his face.

She just knew everything was going to be good for a long time to come.

"So why is Severus smiling like that?" Sirius asked her, unable to keep in the question any longer.

Hermione paused, considering how to phrase her answer, "Let us just say that he got more than some last night."

end.