Author's Noteses!!!!: Chapter five! Oh yeah babay. Well, this is where things start to get weird. (As if they weren't before.) If you like weird things, and even if you don't, please review. Cuz... uh... I want you to review. (:

Nope. Don't own Harry Potter or his weird wizarding world. (Hyuck hyuck, I used alliteration!) Sorry, I'm in a random mood. But here we go:

"I'm hungry," Hermione hissed, her stomach grumbling loudly and echoing hollowly through the Shrieking Shack.

"I know," Harry snarled back. "You've only told me a hundred times."

Looking down, she sighed. "I'm sorry. But I can't help it. When are we going to get something to eat? I can't survive much longer like this. If we're going to leave Hogwarts grounds, why not just leave? We can get blood out in the Muggle world. They'll never know what hit them."

"Like your parents? Is that who you really want to bite?"

"I was thinking more about your aunt and uncle, actually," Hermione spat. "There are plenty of muggles who deserve it."

Harry glared back at her. If he could only make her understand that there was more at stake here than her. He needed to be with Rebecca. Since the last time he'd seen her, he'd been yearning for her, wishing that she would come back to him. But she'd ignored his silent pleading like she'd ignored the pleading he'd done to her face those days ago. Now... It seemed years since he'd seen her. All the same, he could still remember every detail of her face, every perfect expression, the perfect line of her neck... Hermione could tide him over, but he knew when he was honest with himself that Rebecca was the only one who could make him truly happy.

"We need to stay here a little longer," he said measuredly, controlling his anger. "There is just one more thing I need to take care of."

She shot a cold, jealous stare at him. "You need to take Rebecca with you, don't you?"

Harry didn't answer. Hermione already knew the answer to that. She always had, and she always would. "We just have to stay here, okay?"

"Why? Why am I not enough for you?" she asked quietly, not facing him.

"It's not something I can explain to you--"

"What do I need to do to make you happy?" Hermione shrieked. "All I want is to make you happy!"

There was a long beat of silence after her outburst as Harry tried not to look into her begging eyes. If he wanted Hermione, he could have her. He could have all of her. But he didn't want what he could have. He wanted the unattainable. He wanted Rebecca. And that was the end of the matter.

"Let's go for a hunt," he murmured.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Let's go. Hogsmeade is filled with people. No one will notice if one just disappears."

Letting out a shrill giggle, she wrapped her arms around his neck, her cares forgotten by the prospect of nourishment. "Thank you, Harry! You're so wonderful!"

He smiled coolly and picked her arms off of his shoulders. "Let's go."

The dark courtyard was silent and empty at this late hour, other than the sound of a few rats scurrying along the cold gray pavement. Harry and Hermione didn't even bother to be quiet; they walked along casually, trying to look as natural as possible, as if they always walked around Hogsmeade at night. Harry glanced around him quickly to see which shops were still open. Only three, the more hard core pubs of Hogsmeade. There was a sallow-faced girl standing outside of one, wobbling a little as she brought an enormous pipe to her lips and took a deep pull. It was perfect. No one else was outside. He doubted if the girl had enough in her to scream, even if she wanted to.

He nudged Hermione towards the girl, and she smiled at him with sly anticipation. Harry couldn't help but give a little grin as well. He would never admit this to Hermione, but he was nearly as hungry as she was. Just... He wanted Rebecca back more than any hunger could ever pain him. But that didn't mean that he didn't need something to tide him over until she finally came to her senses.

He walked towards the girl slowly. She didn't even notice his approach until he was a foot or two in front of her. Her sunken eyes narrowed and she sneered at him bitterly.

"What?" she demanded, a bit louder than he would have liked.

Harry didn't want to scare her so much that she screamed, although he would enjoy it tremendously. It was just too much of a risk. So he reached a hand towards her. "Can I have a try?" he asked, indicating her pipe.

"Whatever." Her limp hand extended the pipe, and he accepted it.

He breathed in deeply, and a strange haze filled his head. Her pulse was so much louder now. Every time she so much as breathed he could hear the thumping sound get a little louder, and the blood rushing through her veins called to him. It took huge amounts of his self-control not to just attack her right there. But he couldn't. It wasn't time. He pulled in closer to her, a bit disgusted at her oily complexion, but too hungry and ready to care. He leaned over her neck, as if smelling her hair. But all he could smell was that fascinating, tantalizing odor that was her blood. He was so hungry...

"What are you doing?" the girl asked.

"Nothing," he murmured. He could see Hermione come up behind him and stand on the other side of the girl. Her eyes burned with impatience.

The girl frowned at him, shaking her dirty brown hair, but not moving away. "I want my pipe back."

"No problem." He handed it back to her and moved in even closer, so that his lips were within an inch of her neck.

She smiled a little. "Where are you from?" she whispered, obviously trying to sound husky.

"Hell," he said. She snorted a laugh.

This was too much to take. He was so close to her; he had to just do it, to bite her... He was going crazy here, pushing the limits of his self-control. Thump, thump, thump. The sound echoed in his head over and over. It was the most horrible, beautiful thing he'd ever heard in his life. He breathed out slowly and counted to three. Okay, now. He moved just an inch forward, and his fangs sliced into her neck. A shocked, wimpering breath escaped the girl's throat, and he enjoyed the fear that radiated off her. Her pulse sped up, helping him to drink more and more. His hunger felt never-ending.He drank and drank,but somehow he knew that he had to pull away. If he didn't, he would have to listen to Hermione's whining for another week or so, and he didn't think he could stand any more of it. So his fangs came out of the girl's neck, and he gave Hermione a nod to show her that it was all right for her to drink now.

Hermione lunged at the girl, and the girl was too weak to resist. Tears streamed down her cheeks as Hermione bit her collarbone, greedily sucking as if she had never eaten in her life. Harry turned away, one part digusted and one part pleased with the savage attack. But he already felt so much stronger. He hadn't realized how shaky and weak he'd been until he could compare it to the power that he now had. A little buzzing sound rang in his ear, calling to him. He wanted to be somewhere, if he only knew where it was...

A thud sounded behind him. The slim shadow of a figure appeared next to him.

"All done," Hermione whispered, licking her bloodred lips with satisfaction.

"Good."

"Can I try the next one first?"

"Go for it."

Harry sighed. It all felt so empty without Rebecca. Or maybe it wasn't just Rebecca. Maybe it was the other things that had stopped communicating with him that he missed so, that he desired so... His breathren. The hunt could never be a joy for him until he found them again; something in his instincts told him. Agh. He was just so frustrated with waiting. He couldn't wait to be complete again.

Loud steps caught up with him. "I saved some for you," Hermione told him.

They had come back for Harry. They hadn't forgotten him after all.

Dark hooded creatures were all around him, forming a circle. They swayed together, their wispy-seeming bodies concealing a greater power. Red eyes glowed at him, making him feel alive with energy. That little buzzing was growing louder by the minute, becoming painful, but beautifully so, and he reveled in the feeling. They were sharing with him. That was what this was. Treating him as one of their own. Harry, who had never truly felt at home with anyone, not even at Hogwarts with his friends, was overcome with this new rush of emotional attachment. He belonged somewhere. And nothing could ever take that away from him. His body vibrated with the buzzing.

He sank to his knees before them, not from weakness but from pure exhilaration. Their circle grew tighter, coming in around him. Harry smiled. Not only was it wonderful for him to feel that he was a part of something, he also felt so... powerful. Not just powerful like he'd first felt at initiation. It was something more, something deeper than that. Complete control. Complete strength. The slight weaknesses that he'd felt, the remainders of his humanity, were fading away. Because the vampires lent their energy to him. They wanted him to achieve a higher purpose, he could feel it. But what was this higher purpose? What did he have to do? He tried to ask, but his vocal chords wouldn't make a sound.

The creatures broke out of their circle and glided to their individual corners. Harry could see now that they were further away from him that there were five of them. All perfect, all beautiful... And five. They were what he wanted to be. He hated his weakness; he hated his human form. He wanted... No, he needed more. More than this disgusting, hypocritical humanity.

A shadow fell over his shoulder, and he whirled around to see what it was behind him. His mouth opened in a gasp and he automatically hated himself for it. But it was something that he couldn't prevent. Rebecca stood there, even in the dream as beautiful and as graceful as she ever had been before. A thin cloak of black covered her trim body, and she jutted out a hip as if striking a pose. Her full lips were deep scarlet, pouting towards him. She smiled at him, and he found himself rising to his feet smoothly. His hand rested on her hip.

"I missed you," she whispered, her voice a mixture of seductiveness and desire.

He didn't speak, but pulled her close to him and kissed her passionately. His hands roamed over her body, finally resting on her cheek as he pulled away. A thin, satisfied smiled crept onto his face as well. This was the moment he'd been waiting for, this was the moment when he made her like him...

His eyes opened, and he quickly closed them again. He had been so close... But no, he reminded himself. It had only been a dream. A dream that fulfilled his fantasies, but a dream nonetheless. He sighed disappointedly. It had all felt so real to him so right... But the other dreams before had made him a vampire. Maybe somehow this one could make Rebecca one. He tried to clear his mind, to go back to the dream, but it was too late. He was back in this world now. And there was nothing he could do to make Rebecca his in this world.

He sat up, shoving the palms of his hands into his eyes. Although he had sealed out all the the light of day through nailed-up boards, he could detect a trail of light coming from the door. As if it had been opened. As if someone was in the Shack right now with him and Hermione. His disoriented green eyes glanced up and stopped in their place. Because... she was here.

Rebecca stood in front of him, her pale face looking forlorn and desperate, but still so gorgeous. She looked down at him weakly, her mouth a quivering line. "Aren't you going to say something? I said I missed you."