Village of the Doomed
The first thing she was going to do the next time she saw Madam Plott was strangle her. Hermione had been walking-jogging behind Ogg for the past half-hour, the yellowing building that they had emerged from a mere dot in the distance.
It took what seemed to be ages before they reached what appeared to be a magically confined area. The magic was so thick that Hermione could see the red glow as they approached the confines, and felt a powerful lurch and shiver when she passed the threshold, and then... suddenly bare. It was most unnerving, but, making sure she was still dressed and not physically bare, Hermione continued walking-jogging, although more cautiously. The surroundings were immediately drowned in darkness, and the light was no more as the general milieu took on a more grave ambiance.
Village of the Doomed, the sign warned, barely readable past the chipped and worn wood. Hermione let out an involununtary shiver; the name of the coop certainly didn't do much in reassuring her already nervous (and rather insane) thoughts.
It was a relief though, that the coop was not really a cage, Hermione noted, panting as she tried keep up with Ogg's long legged strides. It had more of the appearance of a perpetually dark and abandoned old-fashioned village, with lofty victorian mansions that evoked strange almost animal sensations in the depths of her stomach that was sinister and (although she was rather reluctant in admitting it to herself)... sexy. Indeed, amidst the exquisite eighteenth century decor aged with ill-treatment, dimly lit streets, frightening shadows flickering along the tall walls, towering hollow trees and spooky, twisted, nightmarish music trickling out of some of the tall homes introduced a sensation alike the vampire horror movies she used to watch as a child that made Hermione feel positively sinful.
Feeling slightly uncomfortable at this revelation, Hermione quickened her pace behind Ogg, who proved to be the worst company possible. All he seemed to be able to do was point and grunt. She was beginning to strongly suspect that he was part troll (a distant relative of Crabbe and Goyle no doubt), as he lumbered along stupidly. Although, Hermione noticed, he seemed to be able to navigate around the village perfectly well with a general idea where he was headed. That was a relief.
There were many beasts lurking in alleys and terrifying whispers everywhere she turned, causing the hair on her arms and back of her neck to stand on end. Shrieking pixies, restrained hellhounds, winged horses tramping about, veiled hags, giggling wood nymphs...
She desperatley wished there was sunlight, though Hermione had long past figured out that if vampires and other shadow-loving beasts were going to be staying there it was going to be dark for a very long time. It took all her willpower not to run screaming like a lunatic in the opposite direction everytime a vampire stared at her exposed neck hungrily, or when hooded, bent figures brushed past her, or when that ragged breathing in the darkened alleyway snarled menacingly, the only visible thing its bright crimson eyes staring... It was quite unnerving. Sadly, this only managed to make Hermione feel angry that these things could make her loose her usual cool.
Ogg had led her to the outskirts of the village bordering a formidable forest that suggested even worse mosters within its depths than the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He pointed to the last crumbling manor (Number 9 Elm Street) in the long row of mansions, grunted ominously, and roughly ushered her towards the tall, peeling double doors before turning around and going on his own way.
Taking this as a crude signal that this was her living quarters, Hermione practically ran past the unkempt hedges, down the stone pathway, up the tottering front steps and into the falling apart mansion in fear that if she was left unaccompanied for much longer she'd most certainly be eaten alive by something or another.
Wrenching the double doors open without bothering to knock and see if there was anyone inside, Hermione stumbled in and slammed the doors behind her before turning round, panting, and taking in the dimly lit main entrance. It resembled a ballroom with its vast space, high cieling, spider-webbed chandelier and dirtied marble floors that she was sure had once been kept and magnificent. There were high, grimy cathedral windows that stretched to the cieling with heavy velvet curtains, and Hermione vaguely wondered why they needed windows if there was no light outside in the first place. At the end of the ballroom was a wide staircase that led to a landing and then spread into two seperate winding stairs.
It was haunting almost, although very beautiful, Hermione decided, taking a few steps and displacing a layer of dust which became airborne and tickled her nose, sending a thick cloud of it into the air.
"Erm- Hello?" Hermione called uncertainly into the hollow room, unsure whether the other inhabitants that Madam Plott had mentioned were there.
Her croaky voice merely echoed.
She began to cautiously make her way to the rickety stairwell, unsure what to do, but was immediately stopped by a low, vaugely familiar growl snarling menacingly, "Don' move another step. Turn 'round and identify who yeh are."
Hermione paused in horror, sure her worst fear of being murdered by some frightening monster would be fully realized on her first night there. Heart catching in her throat, Hermione turned slowly on her heel to face the owner of the threatening voice.
There was a gigantic man silhouetted in the doorway, his wild near-black hair and full beard giving him a slightly crazed look, and he was brandishing a tattered and very familiar pink umbrella- it was a most dramatic vision.
Hermione screamed, and immediately ran up to the half-giant before he could react, flinging her arms around his middle. "Hagrid!" She shrieked. "I'm so glad you're here- I've never been so terrified in my life, I thought for sure I was going to die-"
He looked absolutely bewildered. "'ermione, is tha' you?"
"Of course it's me, Hagrid!" Hermione sobbed maniacally into his moleskin coat.
"What'er yeh doin' ere?" Hagrid demanded, pulling Hermione off him for a moment, looking at her confusedly. "This is no place fer a sixteen year ol' girl!"
Hermione sniffled. "One moment I'm doing my summer's potions homework, and the next moment I'm sitting in this awful office that smelled of goats, tagged as part Sphinx and given housing arrangements by this absolutely horrid woman-"
Hagrid positively choked on his own tongue. "Sphinx?"
Nodding grimly, Hermione wiped her eyes on the back of her hands. "Can you believe it, Hagrid?"
"There's some sorta mistake!" he said firmly. "Bu', I'm sure tha' Remus'll be glad ter see yeh..."
"Professor Lupin's here, too?" Hermione asked hopefully, hiccuping slightly.
"I believe he is," replied a different, most aristocratic voice from the wide staircase. Hermione spun around at the sound of her previous professor's voice. "But please, no need for formalities, Hermione, I thought we had gotten past that already..." he grinned at her, although slightly tiredly.
Remus Lupin was looking positively exhausted as usual, with his thin, pale face, wispy graying hair, and faintly mischievous smile. Her stomach lurched in happiness at his recognizable slim frame, and ran to greet him with a hug.
"Pr- Remus, it's so good to see you!" Hermione looked utterly relieved at seeing that she would be under the protection of two Order members. "You have no idea how relieved I am to see you..."
Chuckling, Remus said, "And you have no idea how confused I am to see you, Hermione."
"An' outrage, it is," Hagrid roared. "Sendin' 'ogwarts students ter this place..."
Furrowing his eyebrows, Remus said, "Indeed. I believe this calls for a sort of house meeting, I'm afriad. There are certain things that-"
"Can't- Lee ain't back yet," Hagrid grunted.
"Lee Jordan, you mean?" Hermione asked. Hagrid nodded. "Why on earth is he here?"
Remus laughed. "I should be asking the same of you, Hermione."
"It's not a very long story," Hermione said. "Although rather confusing."
"Alright then," He placed a hand on her shoulder and led her towards the stairs. "Come- we'll have a cup of tea and you can tell me all about it..." he looked at Hagrid with a raised eyebrow. "Are you coming, Hagrid?"
Grunting tiredly, Hagrid said, "Naw, still gotta fin' Lee. He's still ou' at those parties them vampires are always 'aving..."
Remus shook his head. "Good luck, Hagrid- you know that he'll only show himself to you when he feels like it... bloody vampires."
Hagrid scowled distractedly, and lumbered out of the door. "Still- got ter try..."
Shaking his head, Remus said. "Come back in half-an-hour if he still doesn't reveal himself to you. I think being invisible is his favorite power..."
Stumbling along after Remus up the staircase, Hermione asked confusedly, "Lee is a vampire?"
Pulling her past the landing, up the spiraling staircase to the right and down a hallway, he opened a scratched door with peeling paint, ushered her in all the while saying, "I'll tell you all about that later. But first, Hermione, tell me how exactly did you end up in the magical beasts co-op- as far as I was aware, you are not a magical beast..."
"Please, sir," Hermione said, "I really don't understand- why is the Ministry grouping all the magical beasts together? Madam Plott said it was because Dark Creatures are traditionally allies of the Dark side, but not all beasts- like the Unicorn and the Centaur-"
"Yes, I quite agree, but there are sadly Unicorns and Centaurs living in the neighboring forest at this point. The merepeople have it worse; they've been caught and put in tanks at the Ministry..."
"That's disgusting!" Hermione gasped. "But they're not even allies with-"
"It is not so much that we're known to be allies of Voldemort," Remus said, "Rather than old wizarding prejudices. Beast have always been regarded with general disdain, and Octavio Starr, the new minister, is no different. This course of action... will gain him much needed popularity, I'm afraid," he sighed. "But there are certain... aspects that confuse me as well. But we'll get to that tomorrow morning when Lee arrives."
Hermione stared at him. "How can you tell between night and day?"
"You can't really," Remus agreed. "Mostly guesswork, actually. In fact, it could be mid-afternoon right now and I wouldn't know..." he shook his head in disgust. "The amount of magic surrounding this place! Magic to create darkness, magic to keep magical creatures within its borders, magic to strip us of our powers once we cross..."
"It strips us of our powers?" Hermione asked, alarmed.
Remus shook his head. "Not all of them. Just the powers we, as witch and wizard, harness with a wand- afriad we'll try to undo the charms surrounding the village."
"That's odd," Hermione said, confusedly. "Madam Plott told me I'd be able to continue with my magical education here..."
Barking out a short laugh, Remus said, "She forgot to mention that you'll only be doing the theoretical side of magic, did she?"
Hermione scowled. "Fantastic- it'll be like fifth year DADA all over again..."
"Don't worry," he said amusedly. "Defense against the Dark Arts and Care of Magical Creatures will be very interesting this year if we don't manage to find a way to get out of here beforehand."
"Not entirely sure, actually," Remus sighed. "The confines are ridiculously powerful. One poor fellow werewolf attempted just walking out of the confines, and he was sent catapulting all the way across the village. He's still unconscious, poor fellow, with tentacles growing out all over his body. The Ministry refuses to do anything, so he's at a neighbor's house, and needs to be drenched in water every half-hour to keep him from suffocating..."
Hermione could only stare at him in horror.
"Now, please, have a seat..."Hermione sat down in one of the chairs in the large study, and Remus poured her a cup of tea, took out several biscuits and pushed them across the desk towards her.
"Thank you, Remus," she croaked.
"Sugar or milk?" he asked.
"No thank you," Hermione said, taking the cup and saucer into her hands.
He smiled kindly at her and said, "I'm terribly sorry if the tea's a bit cold- anyway, Hermione, you have yet to tell me of your misadventures of how you come to be here."
She immediately launched into her rather short tale of confusion and obvious misunderstanding, and Remus proved to be a good audience, tittering and commenting in all the right places. "And next thing I knew," Hermione said miserably. "I was being shoved out of the room into a dark hallway with a man who resembled a troll."
Remus sighed. "What an awful way to find out of your condition. Perhaps, if the Ministry comes to their senses, you may be allowed to be let on a little reprieve..."
She laughed dryly at this. "I doubt it. I've already asked Madam Plott, but she merely said something about all beasts being treated equally. Meaning no reprieve for me, unfortunately."
"Shame," Remus said. "You'd think conditions would have gotten better with Fudge out of office."
Hermione nodded. "What on Earth does he have against beasts for him to do something so drastic?"
"A question we are all asking," he said. "And one that has yet to be answered. In time, though..."
There was silence as they sipped their tea thoughtfully, eyeing eachother over their cups.
"Are there... giants here?" Hermione asked nervously. "I mean, obviously Hagrid, but-"
He shook his head sadly. "Voldemort has already a hold of them, unfortunately, and they're very well hidden."
"But if they can make me appear from my room to half-way across the country-"
"Voldemort's magic," Remus said, "is much to advanced for such a spell to break through his much more powerful brand of magic."
"And Dementors... has V-Voldemort gotten a hold of them as well?"
He nodded.
"We have a lot of things that we must tell you, Hermione," he sighed. "Knowledge about the Underworld that is magically barred to those who are not beasts. But that will have to wait until tomorrow, Miss Granger."
"Hermione, please," she said, smiling slightly as she mimicked his favorite line. "No need for such formalities, Remus..."
"Right you are," Remus agreed, sipping some of his tea. "Now, any more questions before we retire?"
Nodding, Hermione asked, "Now, what is all this about Lee being a Vampire? I'm quite certain he isn't- standing in the sunlight commentating all those quidditch matches is hardly vampiric tendencies..."
Shaking his head sadly, Remus said, "No, Lee was bitten just after his graduation, I'm afraid- an unfortunate bar incident."
"Oh, poor Lee," Hermione said sadly. "He must be a wreck."
Remus laughed loudly. "Hardly, Hermione. He's too busy attending those lavish parties vampires have than to bother wallowing in self-pity. Although I'm unsure if it has quite sunk in yet that he will have to spend the rest of his life wandering Earth for all eternity, not quite living, but never dying. It's a horrid way to live..."
"Mm," Hermione hummed in agreement, looking down at her cup of tea idly.
"You must be exhausted from the excitement of the day," Remus said, standing up from his chair. "I'll show you to a room- come on..."
He beckoned Hermione to follow him, and walked out of the study and down the narrow hallway. "This is a very nice place," Hermione said thoughtfully, looking around at the hanging chandeliers sinister paintings that didn't move. "It is a bit spooky, though."
"Yes," Remus said. "It used to be a vampire dominated village in the eighteenth century- they're are right at home, I tell you..."
"Are there many?" Hermione yawned.
They had come to the end of a hallway, and turned down another passage. "About two hundred have been grouped already," he said. "And fourty-three werewolves."
"And they all live here?" she asked in wonder. "That's an absurd amount!"
He laughed. "You wouldn't believe how many vampires can live in one of these mansion; they're sepereated into three clans."
"Is Lee in one?" Hermione asked.
"Naturally," Remus said. "He's automatically initiated into the clan of the vampire that made him who he is."
"Are there vampire brawls, then?" she asked worriedly.
"No, they get along relatively well. It's usually vampires and werewolves that traditionally don't get along."
"Oh. Then why is Lee living here? Shouldn't he live with his own clan?"
"He can't until he's completely initiated into the clan; some secret ceremony or another..."
Hermione nodded.
Remus pushed open a door, and said, "This will do, I believe."
Stepping past the door, Hermione's eyes widened at the giagantic bedroom. It had a black and crimson velvet canopy bed in one corner, a long vanity table with intricate designs etched onto it and littered with bottles and pots of beauty supplements that must have been centuries old. There were tall windows obscured with the heavy velvet drapes she had seen in the ballroom earlier, a long leather sofa and a full-length mirror covered in dust and spiderwebs in one corner of the room. The room positively exploded with Victorian allure and Hermione felt the same shiver of sexiness she had experienced earlier that was so unfamiliar to her.
"Vampires always prided themselves in style," Remus said, grinning.
"I can tell," Hermione said, walking in.
Backing out of the room, Remus said softly, "Good night, Hermione."
"Goodnight, Prof- Remus," she yawned, falling back onto the bed. Hermione didn't even have time to crawl under the sheets, as she fell into a dreamless slumber as soon as she shut her eyes, unawares of the click of the closing door as Remus exited, or of the shrieks of Banshees on the street below, or the growls of unseen creatures in the narrow alleyways...
A/N: Crap, I know I focused a lot on the Vampires, but... whatever, it's my story. :p Thanks to my lovely reviewers (I had no idea this was going to be so popular- now I'm terrified of disappointing)- Luna-Tunafish, Lady Cantara, mac1, lady-anna-bee, Rose101, Remusgrl01, fuzzfurry, freespirit65, Brigd13, Niyuluna, Little Witch, Lee Davies, Dracula5555, Ed, the Giant Racoon, jeangray666, Dragon Blade5, MORE!, Luna-Lovegood200, voldie's girl, Joots, Tooki, angelus cado and Time and Fate. Thanks, everyone! Review if you'd like to see more...