Chapter Twenty
(Thank you so much for your support
everyone! I've been going through a rough time lately cos
of my mock GCSEs and stuff… not to mention writer's block with 2 stories! I'm
so glad you have been so patient and are still reviewing and waiting for me to
update without any threats… yet! Anyway, I love you all for it! Just for that
I'll work extra hard to find some time to write… history mock or not! Bloody
Nazis and communists ruin everything… and I want to know who invited me to some
fic thingy for valentines… It will annoy me till I
know!
Just to say, if you want to read my ori story (please
do! It seems to be crashing and burning already and it hasn't even started
practically… only one major char has been introduced for crying out loud!) the addy is at the bottom of this chappie… thank you so much again *hugs* and enjoy!... now…
can I remember the plot myself… . D'OH!)
"ARGH! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!"
Heads jerked up as the sudden shriek reached them from thin air. They saw Dario dancing around like a madman, his arms flailing wildly around the air as he screamed in agony.
"What is it Dari?" Donato raised an eyebrow, fighting the urge to laugh at the sight of his friend.
"GET IT OFF!" Dario repeated, louder and more urgent.
Donato rolled his eyes to the group of girls surrounding him and mouthed 'be right back' with a wink before walking slowly up to his friend. "What's wrong with you now?" he sighed breathlessly.
"CROSS! CROSS!" Dario flung his right hand up. It was blackened badly, burnt to the colour of charcoal by the cross that was tangled in his fingers by a shinny silver chain. The black was spreading across his hand rapidly as he grew weaker to it.
"ARGH! For God's sake Dari don't put it near me!" Donato half hissed, half shrieked as he turned away on reflex, throwing his arms up to shield him.
"Will you at least help me?! Get it off!" Dario glared, tears of blood beginning to form in his dark eyes.
"Hell no, I'm not touching it!" Donato backed off.
"DON!" Dario whined in pain and disbelief at his friend.
"OK, OK! Chill!" Donato still had his eyes closed but he turned around, waving at Dario to calm him. "Just… hold still…" he cringed, thinking he must be mad to do this. He reached out to grab it but drew his hand back several times with his eyes half closed and his teeth gritted.
"DON! JUST GET IT OFF! I DON'T CARE IF YOU HAVE TO TAKE MY FINGERS OFF WITH IT!"
Donato then wrapped his hand around the deadly cross and with a yell of pain, he tugged at it. It must've been a strange sight, two teenage boys screaming and dancing around in the middle of the forest. The girls were giggling uncontrollably at the sight and the cross wouldn't budge.
"How do you do it Dari? You're an idiot!" Donato snapped, his teeth still gritted in pain, the cross now burning his hand coal-black. Without warning, the chain suddenly snapped with a small click, it flew out of Donato's hand and landed in the centre of the group of giggling girls. Shrieking like a pack of banshees, they leapt up and ran down the tunnel, their screams fading away as they ran deeper down away from the demon object.
Dario and Donato sat in silence for quite a while, each watching their injuries fade from black back to the pure white their skin was, each in pain.
"Owe…" Dario winced as he cringed at his wound. The cross had burnt him so badly, part of his hand didn't heal and it remained black and flaky like ash. He touched it and small flakes of ash fell to the forest floor.
"It's your own fault! You are such an idiot Dari, honestly!" Donato snapped with venom as he rubbed his healing hand. Resentful that Dario had gotten into this and dragged him into it, causing him such agony.
Dario glared but didn't reply. He was beating himself up inside for retreating from Draco in the fight. He was so close to winning, to being praised for killing him…
"Where did you get it anyway?" Donato asked the key question.
"I…Well, I went to visit Malfoy… see how he was…" he replied, leaving the sentence unfinished and not looking up from the blackened dip in his hand.
"And?" Donato prompted, not looking at Dario either.
"He's done it again Don! He has escaped us again!"
Donato sighed, "So what? Leave him! We'll just kill him like the others when the time comes… Stop changing the subject Dari, where'd you get it?" Donato now looked up, the anger and hurt in his bright eyes noticeable, which was strange for a vampire.
"He had it around his neck and we can't wait to let him die…Antonio told him everything!" Dario snapped.
All this strange information made Donato sit and think for a while, looking at his friend the whole time. It took a while for all the information and there significance to set in. "Everything?" he laughed softly, "You're joking right?"
Dario shook his head and edged away, knowing that this would make his friend more enraged.
"Did you not kill him?!" Donato's face showed disbelief but he had that insane smile on his face.
"I would've killed him if it wasn't for that… that… thing!" Dario pointed to the cross.
Donato threw his arms up in the air as he jumped up with a cry of anger. "WHY?! WHY… MUST… HE… DO THIS?!" he kicked up dust and stones in pure rage. "AND YOU!" he rounded on his friend, "YOU LET HIM GET AWAY!"
"We'll tell the master, he'll know-" Dario backed off a little more.
"NO!" Donato turned and pointed a long, white finger at his friend before he could finish. "We won't tell him this time. We will take this into our own hands, we're going to sort this out ourselves… if it kills us!"
"Nearly killed me…" Dario hissed under his breath before speaking out loud, "And what do we do? I've tried to fight! They'll expect us to come back now!"
"Well, whose fault is that then?" Donato spat with a childish edge to his voice.
With a glare, Dario replied, "We could just kill him in his sleep. No one will be around him then!"
"Yeah… we could do that…" Donato looked thoughtful.
"Really?" Dario was taken aback by this.
"Yeah… why don't you go and try that. Tell me what the sunlight is like I've forgotten… oh yes that's right, you'll just be a pile of ash carried off by the wind!" his face changed from thoughtful to sarcastic to irritated. "Honestly! Do you even think before you speak or act?"
"AT LEAST I'M TRYING!"
"NOT HARD ENOUGH!"
The two turned away from each other, fury surging through them. Silence was around them but all each could hear was a ringing in their ears from anger and the shouting.
"Cross…" Dario half whispered, his eyes narrowed in thought.
"UNDERSTATMENT!" Donato yelled.
"Not angry cross, I meant the cross… he was wearing it… but he's a vampire…how?"
This made Donato think hard for the first time in years. It confused him too but he decided to have a go at trying to explain it. "Well, let's look at why we hate crosses huh?" his anger that was so recent was soon put aside as he concentrated on this.
"Religious symbol… we are dark, evil creatures… only those can over power us…" Dario said as if he had a book right in front of him.
Donato shook his head and didn't comment. "But he's not a full vampire… he mustn't be repelled…"
"No, he doesn't have a spirit re-" Dario's eyes widened.
"What?" Donato raised an eyebrow.
Dario always had been the smarter of the two, the one who always worked things out. He had more brains for the logical things… even if he lacked common sense. "I know why he has it… and I know how we can get rid of him without it being linked to us! We just have to turn his friends against him…" an evil grin crawled up his face. It looked so out of place on his young features, it was that of an older, evil genius who had just cornered his victim, like a cat and a helpless mouse. Even Donato took a step away from his psychotic friend; normally he would be the one to grin that way and seeing it on his shyer, quieter friend was disturbing. Things were changing.
Dario laughed an evil laugh that was so unlike him and told Donato his plan. All the time, with that same look of triumph and iniquity.
*~*~*~*~*
"Nice decorating you did in the Hall Draco I must say…" Dumbledore smiled at the vampire, who was cleaning up the last of the dried blood from his face. "At least you were only unconscious for a few hours this time."
"Hmph. I didn't mean to wreck the hall…I was fighting for my life you know, well, so to speak. Anyway… glad you like the blood stains, they'll be there for a while! Lucky Filch hasn't found me yet…"
Dumbledore chuckled, "Yes. Vampires trying to get revenge will be the least of your worries then. Who was it again?"
"Another vampire called Dario… he disappeared before you walked in. I can't believe that they're still out to kill me, I mean, what did I ever do to them… really?" Draco turned round to look at Dumbledore.
"You're safe here Draco… don't worry," Dumbledore got up and walked out of Draco's room.
"Just like I was safe last night? I could've been decorating the hall with my body in ash form," Draco whispered to himself with a sigh.
He put a hand to his neck, feeling for his cross as if it would suddenly come back if he did, it hurt at the back where it had snapped off. Now he couldn't tell them about the vampire blood, he had no cross to prove he wasn't possessed by the evil spirit. How come it wasn't trying to come back?
He looked up around his room. The mirror in the corner had been turned away… Draco had gotten fed up with his reflection taunting him. The last straw was the 'stop hitting yourself joke' when Draco had lashed out at the image in a fit of rage one day. Although the image could no longer be seen his voice, unfortunately, remained, "Hello? Draco, you there? All I can see is wall… hello? You hate me! No one loves me…"
All of Draco's injuries had healed themselves with Draco's powers but the phantom pain was still there. He would cringe when he leaned on his right leg and lifted his left arm.
Go look at the book… it might tell you how the cross works… a voice in his head ordered him. It was all Draco had as an answer, so he obeyed.
The book was in Lupin's classroom, which always had its shutters wide open. He could've waited for night fall but curiousity got the better of him. Curiosity was always something he could never take control over, if he wanted to know something, nothing would stop him from finding out.
"Hey! I can hear you leaving! Don't pretend you can't hear me! You shall not leave until you turn me back around! Hello?" Silence. "OK fine…"
*~*~*~*
"So I suppose it would be best I teach you how to defend yourself against them in case something like this happens again. Any questions?"
Lupin stared round the classroom. Each student was sitting eagerly, wanting to see the new magic and desperate to try it. Lupin almost laughed, he had never seen a class of seventh years so enthusiastic about something. No one had their hands up, each itching to see these curses.
"Great!" Lupin stood up straighter and smiled. "First of all, you never know when a vampire will attack so the likelihood of you having crosses and Holy water with you is very slim but you should have your wand, if not, my only advice is to run as fast as you can but that doesn't always work, unless you are lucky and find yourself a thick one… they are fast little buggers at the best of times! So your wand should be with you at all times. This first curse is harmless to humans but it will torture a vampire, hopefully driving it away. Zumbido!"
Harry cringed, waiting on something to explode or for something horrible to appear from the end of Lupin's wand… but nothing came. He opened his eyes and cast a glance at everyone else, who were all looking as confused as he was. Some were rubbing their eyes, other were trying to clean out their ears. Ron was looking at Lupin with a raised eye-brow, as if he was totally mad. "Something supposed to happen?"
Lupin just smiled, "I told you, it won't hurt us because we can't hear it. I bet the owls in the owlery and the cats and rats in your dorms are going insane right now because of this… wonder if Draco can hear it?"
Hermione smiled and almost jumped out of her seat, "Frequency! Vampires are more sensitive to sound than us aren't they?"
"Well done Hermione, five points to Gryffindor! Yes, Vampires have a higher sense of hearing than us. This is above our hearing frequency but to them it would be torture!"
Right on queue, there was a wave of silver mist and a familiar figure appeared right beside Lupin. "Hey, have…ARGH! TURN IT OFF! TURN IT OFF!" Draco had just appeared and had barley started to talk before he was covering his ears and falling to his knees yelling. It was a weird sight to them, they could hear nothing… some (namely Ron) were even laughing.
Lupin quickly ended the spell but Draco was still screaming. "The shutters! Close the shutters!" with a wave of his wand, the room was plunged into semi darkness.
"Bloody hell Wolf man, you trying to kill me?" Draco glared as he rubbed his delicate pointed ears.
"Hey, did I ask you to come in here?" Lupin then grinned, "What is it? Not like you to come out in the day time."
"I need that book. The one you got the spell out of for to use my cross…" he hissed so only Lupin could hear.
"Why's that?"
"Curious… and pretty much bored out of my mind!" Draco lied.
"Sure, just do one thing for me first."
"What?"
"Stand over there," Lupin gestured to the wall casually.
"O-K…" Draco replied cautiously as he turned slowly and walked silently over to the wall, keeping a suspicious eye on the teacher. There was something about that smile on his face… it was too cheery…
"Right, good boy Draco! OK, now another way to stop an attack is to stall them. This way is friendlier towards any poor little creature who happens to be nearby… but not the vampire," Lupin grinned at Draco. "I promise I won't hurt you."
"Oh hell no!" Draco shook his head before turning and heading for the door.
"Coriz" he shouted before Draco could get out.
Draco felt a strange, horrible sensation in his chest. It was painful but it made him feel warm for that split second before he fell unconscious. Hermione cried out and hid her face in her hands when she saw Draco's face flush red for a second before he blacked out to the floor. She seemed to be the only one concerned for him as her nails dug into the side of her face… Ron on the other hand was loving it.
"Brilliant! I gotta learn that! He'll never come near me again!" his face was full of childish enjoyment as he saw Draco lying on the floor as if in death. Hermione was sickened by it and she felt like hitting him… but Harry had caught onto their continuous fights and had strategically sat himself between them.
"What did you do? Is he alright?" Hermione panicked. Parvatti and Lavender, who were sitting behind them, both started giggling and whispering as they looked from her to Draco.
Lupin waved his hand to calm her, "Nothing to worry about Hermione, he'll come round in a minute or to once the blood settles." He cast a look round the class to see if any had caught onto how it worked… blank faces stared back. Like talking to a shelf full of dummies… He thought and sighed, "OK. We all know that of our hearts stop for the slightest of seconds, we don't have enough blood to our heads and we can faint. Well, a vampire's heart doesn't work anymore, it's completely dead, so the body has adapted to not needing any blood to flow around it and so any blood that does make it to the head will have the same effect on him as no blood does on us. All I did was give him a little shock to the heart to make it beat for a second and that was enough to pump blood to his head… causing him to faint… hopefully giving the victim time to run."
"Better start running wolf man because I am about ready to kill for that one… and I'm hungry…" Draco spoke but he didn't move. All colour was once again drained from his face.
"See… he's fine!" Lupin smiled, but he took several steps away nevertheless. Ron looked slightly disappointed but Hermione was smiling, which only provoked Parvatti and Lavender into more giggles.
"OK Draco. The book you wanted was it?" Lupin walked over to his desk, as if Draco had only just walked in.
Draco jumped up and glared, "This a new rule is it? Try to kill students when they ask for favours? Oh charming, very nice indeed!" the irritation in his voice was obvious as he dusted down his long black coat, not even looking at the teacher.
Lupin reappeared from under his desk, an old leather bound book in hand. "Firstly, it's hard to show students how to defend themselves if I have nothing to cast it on now isn't it? Secondly, I'm sorry but you are not technically a student anymore… more like a haunt." He held out the book to Draco.
Draco cast a look of anger up at the teacher, "Did you take nasty pills this morning or are you always like this first thing? Or maybe it's the full moon tonight…" he snatched the book from his hand and glared before disappearing.
*~*~*~*
"You're out of your damn mind… I mean, it is intelligent for you but… it's insane… you wanting us to-"
"Oh come on! If we pull it off victory is certain! They will never trust him again and won't believe what he has told them… and I'm certain that he has sung like a canary to the Ministry!"
Donato rolled his eyes, "The word if is appropriate…"
"But they won't believe a word he tells them! The school will be easy to take over and the Order will be doomed if they ignore his advice!"
"I for one don't want to get caught… it's a delicate time at the minute Dari, we can't go doing extreme things right now!"
Dario nearly laughed, "You do know that this is a complete role reversal. You lecturing me about it being too dangerous and me wanting to cause havoc?" he eventually did laugh at the thought, it was ludicrous. "What's happened to you Don? I thought you wouldn't miss a chance like this…"
Donato seemed to go quiet for a minute, staring into the dark unknown of their forest home. Dario's plan was good… brilliant in fact, but Donato stood by his original thoughts that it was too risky at this point to mess with little problems like rogue vampires…
"Remember back in Piccadilly when we were chased by the vampire hunter?" Donato suddenly asked.
Dario, after his confusion of the sudden reference to the event, laughed with memory. "The one we hung up-side down from the flag pole after stealing his trousers? HA! A rookie if I've never saw one… you actually call him a vampire hunter! Wonder if he still has the squashed nose from when we generously let him down?" Dario looked up to the dark sky in a thoughtful way, his grin showed pure enjoyment.
Donato tried hard not to laugh but his mouth continually twitched into an evil grin. "That is besides the point… he had us on our toes for a while and very nearly had you if I remember correctly…" he raised his eyebrow at his friend.
"Ah, that's what I wanted him to think!" Dario pointed. Donato just nodded unconvincingly, not believing him for a second.
"Anyway, we nearly got ourselves wiped off the face of the earth all because we were stupid enough to go pick a fight with him. I don't want it to happen again and it feels like it's going to if we do this! It will be even worse in fact…because the rest of the clan will be found out and the plan will be blown to pieces!"
Dario's thoughtful look remained but the grin of childish enjoyment disappeared to be replaced by concern. He sighed as he looked away from the sky and back at his friend, "If we don't do something the plan will be blown to pieces anyway… they will believe every word he tells them and we will be cornered. Dumbledore will stay at the school and the Order will cut off the Death Eaters at the Ministry headquarters… we need to stop this!"
Donato remained silent for a little while longer before rolling his eyes, "If I agree to go along with this and we both die painful, horrible deaths… so to speak… then can I torture you for the rest of eternity in Hell?"
"If you agree to praise me to the highest degree if it works… the yes," he smiled. "And we tell no one about it… at least if it does go wrong, then it can't be traced back to us!"
"And the fact that we are suspiciously missing has no affect what-so-ever does it?"
"At least we are already extinct so the master can't hurt us! We can keep our dignity to an extent! But it will work… I'll make sure of it…" he reached into his pocket and ran his fingers over a thick wrap of wolf fur that covered Draco's cross.
*~*~*~*
"HAPPY CHRISTMAS!" a chorus of voices rose up round the hall as people pulled crackers with their friends and stuffed themselves with mounds of turkey and rivers of gravy.
Harry, Ron and Hermione sat and laughed with happiness as they played with their cracker prizes like children. Harry put on his crown-like hat and began to order Ron around as Hermione laughed, wearing a bright red Santa hat with a bobble at the end that flashed neon colours and sang 'We wish you a merry Christmas' over and over. Eventually it drove Ron insane and he threw it at the Slytherin table.
"RON!" Hermione snapped, but she was in a too good of mood to stay mad for long, especially when Harry had charmed his sprouts to dance along the table and settle themselves on Seamus' plate without him noticing.
"What? Like I'm going to eat them!" he replied when Ginny raised an eyebrow at him.
"You child!" she exclaimed with a laugh.
Hermione shook her head with a smile as she turned back to her own Christmas dinner but seeing the sprouts on her plate made her laugh and nearly choke on her turkey. She was listening to Harry and Ron argue over who's cracker hat was better when a voice in her head drowned out all the others around her. Hermione, I've got something for you… meet me on the roof again, OK?
She blinked at the suddenness of the voice, even though she knew who it was almost straight away. She looked over at Ron and Harry, about to tell them where she was going but she thought better when she saw that they were preoccupied hitting each other with the over-sized crackers…
"Where are you going?" Ginny noticed Hermione leaving. She stood up as if to stop her. "Come on! It's too early isn't it?"
Hermione turned her head, "I'm going to see someone, I'll be back… just you make sure none of these two knocks the other out ok?"
Ginny grinned, "Oh, I see… going to 'talk' to the little Dracula aren't you?" she clicked her tongue and raised her eyebrows swiftly. "I see the way you look at him in the common room!" she put on a very exaggerated love-dazed look and heaved a huge fake sigh.
Hermione laughed and gave Ginny a small, friendly shove, "Hey, I didn't make fun of you when you had that crush on Harry did I? And I don't look like that!" she added this but still blushed deeply.
"Yes, in fact you did poke fun! And It's so obvious you like him Hermione, just admit it! Maybe you need convincing yourself though first… don't you?"
Hermione blushed further and looked away from her friend. "I'll be back soon ok?" with that, she turned and left. Ginny stared after her and shook her head… she was only lying to herself.
*~*~*~* ((Romance coming up! Late Valentines day treat! Normally I hate doing the damn stuff but hey, I need a calm before the BIG storm… hehehehe!!!))
Draco walked along the thin railings, jumping slowly and gracefully from one point to another, coat billowing out behind him in the light but bitter December breeze. He didn't feel the cold, he felt nothing as he stood out there. His senses were tingling, something felt so wrong lately and he knew it was more than the fact that he was now a full vampire… something was up, he could almost smell it in the air.
He stopped and balanced on one of the points of the railing, looking out over the snow covered grounds. It didn't feel like Christmas to him, there were so many other things on his mind and things had taken such a twist that Christmas seemed like a petty human thing that he wasn't invited to celebrate. He felt more disconnected from everyone else now more than ever, he had gotten used to the idea of being that little bit different but now, he felt on his own in his mental struggle to get through this tough time. Wait…suddenly he didn't feel so alone… something was watching him, something was there with him. He could sense it, but he didn't smell the blood and warmth of a human…
He cast a look behind him and just saw the empty roof top as it had been, instead he turned his attention to the white grounds below which had been churned up by vicious snow fights from the students earlier that day. A flash caught his eyes, a very tiny flash from the forest following slow movement of what looked like a shadow. Draco's eyesight was very sharp, it didn't take long for Draco to see what it was.
It was another vampire standing on the edge of the forest, leaning against the tree with his arms folded. His bright eyes were flashing with menace as he grinned. Draco didn't see him grin… he felt it. He felt the look of the other vampire on him, he felt their gazes lock. A pair of bright, icy eyes were watching his every movement… why? Draco glared and thought, What do you want with me?
He heard the other vampire chuckle evilly in his head. Draco continued to glare, until a hand on his shoulder snapped him out of it and nearly fall off the railing. The hand which had touched his shoulder grabbed him by the coat so he wouldn't fall.
"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you!" Hermione half smiled.
"Don't flatter yourself, takes more than that to scare the undead," Draco jumped down beside her and gave her a cheeky grin. The hairs on the back of his neck were still standing on end, he could still feel the gaze of the vampire on him, on Hermione.
Hermione gave him her 'yeah, sure' look. "Alright then, whatever you say. What is it you wanted anyway?"
Draco ignored the feeling of the gaze as best he could and continued as normal. "Yes, I wanted to give you your Christmas present… by the way, thanks for the book and blood pops. I could learn a lot from that book… what is it vampires are allergic to again? Onions?" he pretended to look thoughtful but laughed shortly when Hermione did.
"No problem… you know how hard it is to shop for a vampire? A male vampire at that! Guys are hard enough as humans!"
"I know… we aim to torture!" he grinned, "Anyway… present. Hope you like it…" he took out something wrapped in black cloth with a silver and red ribbon around it.
Hermione took it and found it quite heavy. She frowned at Draco who nodded to urge her on to open it. She took the bow and cloth off and gasped with a smile. It was a silver picture frame with small crosses and hearts engraved and embossed around it. It had small red jewels spotted all over it and they made her eyes shine with amazement. It was beautiful, but the picture in the middle had attracted her attention and she found it near impossible to look away. Waving back up to her, hand in hand was herself and Draco, but he looked different, he looked so human. It was then she remembered where the picture was from. She remembered Ginny taking a picture of them together after the whole episode with Voldemort, before Draco was a vampire. His silvery eyes shone brightly and his hair was a brighter blonde, not white and his face showed more colour yet more stress and strain than now. She laughed at seeing it, the lake in the background, the clear sky and seeing her picture self throw her arms around Draco and kiss him. She took her eyes off it and looked at the vampiric Draco in front of her, smiling but not showing his teeth.
"Thank you!" she breathed before doing just what her picture self had done to the picture Draco.
Draco seemed a little shocked at her sudden decision but he soon put his own arms around her. Even the feeling of the other vampire's eyes on his back didn't annoy him or worry him; the heat from Hermione's body calmed him.
After a short while, Hermione drew back for air, he might not have needed it but she did. She still stayed in his arms, holding his cold body to her in a weak attempt to warm him. Her head rested on his chest and it felt strange to hear no heartbeat or feel his heart pounding against her like it used to sooth her, but now it just reminded her that sooner or later, they will have to say goodbye. He will stay young forever, never age, she will grow old and die… she held onto him tighter as if this would stop it from ever happening. She remembered the last time she clung to him like this, it was before he was going to leave her to go on that mission. For some reason, when they were like this now, she felt as though she was about to nearly lose him again.
"I take it you like it then?" Draco whispered, he felt the need to whisper, as if he was breaking some sacred law if he was to raise his voice any higher.
"I love it…" she said but thought, Just like I think I love you…
Draco smiled but he didn't listen to her thoughts, instead he cast his eyes round to where the vampire was once standing… he was gone. He still worried now, that to get revenge on Draco for what he had done to Dario… they would take it out on his closest friends… now they knew how close Hermione was to him. He began to worry but showed none of it as he continued to stand with Hermione cuddled up to him in her soft fluffy coat.
*~*~*~*
"Well, did you see him?" Ginny asked when Hermione came back in, shivering and heading straight for the warm fire of the common room.
"Yeah… he just wanted to give me a present," she took off her gloves and rubbed her hands together.
"OOH! Can I see?" Ginny leaned over as Hermione took out the picture frame and handed it over to her. Ginny's eyes widened, "Wow, he must really like you! This is so pretty, look at the little red things and… hey, is that the picture I took of you two? I was wondering why he asked me for it!"
Hermione just laughed to herself as Ginny handed it back.
"It would've been so cute if you two got together… you know… if he wasn't a vampire," Ginny chose her words carefully but they still seemed to sound quite harsh, looking at what could've been.
Hermione sighed. She still felt as though it was her fault; if she'd stayed to talk with him that night then maybe it all could've been avoided… she shook her head to get rid of those ideas, before she cried at the guilt.
Ginny sensed Hermione's mood and gave her a friendly hug, "I'm sorry…" she said sadly before walking up to her dormitory.
At the same time, Draco was sitting on the edge of his bed, torn between thoughts of Hermione and thoughts of the vampire he'd seen.
What are they up to?
Do I actually love her?
Why was he staring at me like that?
Does she love me?
They're planning something to do to me… he looked too happy
I think I do…
He got up and paced the room, he looked into the mirror (he had turned back round for company) and smiled grimly at his reflection. "What do I do?"
The image cocked his head to one side, "Well, this is your soul talking here boy and believe me… you love her! In there somewhere, you do. As for the vamp… just let him go. If they're planning something there is nothing you can do about it, just forget about them… now, back to the girl… I think you should-… hey, where are you going?"
Draco was heading for the door, "I'm going for a walk… at night… that's what vampires do! We stalk the darkness…not listen to ranting reflections with a mind of their own!" he smiled and closed the door.
Also at that time, the two vampires were planning everything out, step by step just to be sure.
"When are we going then?" Dario asked excitedly.
"As soon as we know we won't screw it up! Be patient little one!" Donato lay on a low branch, legs swinging down over either side. His handsome, flawless, death like face was blank with thought yet the odd flash of menace crossed it.
"How come you've gotten in control again… how the hell did that happen?" Dario asked, obviously miffed at the idea.
"Because, I am the natural born leader whilst you, my dear little friend, is a natural born crawler… minion… slave…"
"Ok, ok! Jeez... rub it in like... "
Donato grinned a sharp tooth filled grin, "I think this plan could very well work you know... except for one thing... the girl will believe him, she trusts him... loves him," he spat the word as if it was a nasty swear word. Vampires don't normally tend to love, they see it as weakness and only ever leads to heartbreak. Donato himself knows the feeling of a heart breaking, he remembers it all well but never mentions it to anyone. Love was not high on his favourite things since he became a vampire and lost Romané...
"Don?!" Dario repeated louder.
"Hmm? Yeah... I know when to go... there's going to be a huge party for new year... everyone will be distracted... we go then," he blinked and stuttered, coming out of thoughts.
Dario raised his eyebrows but nodded, "We'll make sure he doesn't give any more away..."
((Phew! Did it eventually! Took AGES but was it worth it? Tell me in ur reviews what you think and if u have any suggestions feel free to say because I've forgotten a lot of what I was going to write! I can't wait to write the next chappie because it's when Don and Dari frame Draco and cause havoc... saying nothing more except... poor Draco! Anyways, I have some ads to put in here ;)
'The Darkest Night' by Loki- If ya haven't read it already u r missing out big time! It follows Draco and his struggle to adjust to the life of a werewolf. A lot of action mixed with humour, a great read if ya need cheering up ;) believe me it works!
'The Chorus' by Nicky- A great story based in the future where children have the power (or think they do) to someday have what was once kept hidden from them – power, responsibility, the real world... but there are lessons to learn along the way... better summary, I just suck! Tis a good story, read it!
'Ascension of Shadow' By Dark metal place (ME!!!)- There is more out there than what we can see, humans don't believe it's real, they don't want to. This is a fantasy story where three races of 'human' go to war over an event a thousand years ago. 'Each side blame each other. There is no good or evil, just separate view points...' – Squall Final Fantasy VIII. Has action, romance and very gory... lots of strong language! Has magic, vampires, werewolves and basically things like that!
Better summary in the prologue, I just suck at explaining my own stories XD!
Give these stories a chance, you may find them interesting ;) Thank you all soooo much again! *big hug* and look out for my next chappie of both my stories!))
