By ch. 13, we all should know that only the plot is my genius.

As the weeks after Marie's introduction to Slytherin went by, she began to be more comfortable with her sourroundings. After a week, she was no longer shocked by the sight of silver and green, and she even got used to Malfoy's constant presence. He was with her night and day, and she barely got a moment alone, but they were together now, so that was all right.

There was one thing about Draco that annoyed her slightly: Crabbe and Goyle's hanging around. The pair of them were big, and stupid and had no idea what manners were. She tried to tell Draco how she felt, but every time she would try and tell Draco to go send them somewhere else, something stopped her. It was like her brain had been split in two. One part was the part she knew, the part that beat up big blond cats and killed psycho killer werewolves and stuck-up lamia bitches. But the other part was completely different. It told her to be demure and passive. Let Draco do as he saw fit and suffer in silence. When she first discovered these two parts, the part she knew as her was really strong and hollering loud and clear. But as the weeks went by, it kept getting quieter and quieter, and Marie wasn't sure how to make it come back.

Ever since Ash had found out about Mare's true purpose here, and what was going on between his soulmate and his enemy, he had been depressed. To be away from the love of his life completely and never see her, that was one thing. But to know that she was so close to him, to know that he could touch her, hold her, and love her but that he wasn't able to because of a god damn technicality, that was too much.

He had let himself go. He barely fed anymore, and the feeling of bloodlust raced through his veins day and night. He drank instead. Before he had left home, he had grabbed several packs of beer and was now downing a six-pack a night. After this had gone on for about a week, Hermione told him he needed to get out and see the outside world. They set a date for that evening, and when Hermione met Ash in the common room, he couldn't help but notice the extremely attractive blood-red, off-the-shoulder gown that she was wearing. She had such a pretty throat. He looked around. They were alone. But someone was bound to hear her scream if he bit her right here. There were too many doors and too many minds. He looked deep into her eyes.

"Would you come outside and look at the stars with me? It's a beautiful evening." Ash didn't know where that came from. Normally, he just found a room with a bed somewhere and got what he wanted. But this seemed different.

Hermione looked at him and smiled. She took his hand and squeezed it. "Of course Ash, I would love to go stargazing with you." Ash's eyes lit up and, holding hands, they left the common room and went out into the night.

Marie couldn't sleep. She hadn't been able to for several nights now. Every time she closed her eyes, she'd have nightmares. The nightmares made no sense to her. They would begin in an empty room. The room would be dark as well. Then, lights would flash bright, and she would see two animals on the floor: a rat and a snake. But the snake wouldn't eat the rat, it would just slither around while the rat scuttled in its wake. Then, the room would darken again, flash bright again, and this time, there would be nothing in the room but a chair, and draped over the chair would be a beautiful white wedding dress. But when Marie came forward to touch the dress, it would turn red, she would pull her fingers away, and to her horror, find fresh, warm blood on her fingers. Then, the room would erupt into flames. She would throw herself against the wall, and just before the flames would reach her, she would see the comforting visage of a tall, handsome blond boy. He'd hold out his hand and she would take it. Then, dropping to the ground, they would manage to find a window and pull themselves out. Then she'd see that she hadn't been alone with the boy after all. There had been several others in the room with her, and now she could hear their shrieks and screams of anguish as the beautiful church burned before her eyes, green light streaming out of the broken windows. Then, thankfully, mercifully, everything would fade to black and she would wake up and find herself alone in her room.

Hermione could never remember feeling so happy. Or so beautiful. Ash was acting a little bit strange tonight, but that was all right. He wouldn't let go of her hand or stop gazing into her eyes. When he talked, all he said was complimentary. When he kissed her, she felt pain at her neck. Then she felt dizzy and drowsy. As she looked up at the sky, the stars seemed to move and dance. It was a beautiful sight. Then, it faded away as she fell asleep. After he was finished, Ash lifted his head away from Hermione's sleeping form triumphantly, her blood dripping down his chin. Then, he cut his wrist and let the blood trickle into her mouth. After she fell asleep, he put her down, and left her to wake up alone in the courtyard.

She still didn't know what it meant, and she didn't really want to find out. After telling Snape and the Headmaster about it, it was agreed that Marie should take some time off from her studies and have a little vacation. She and Draco took off for the Manor following a particularly bad night. They didn't talk at all on the ride up, and when they arrived, Narcissa greeted them at the door looking worried and wanting to get Marie inside as soon as possible.

"I don't think that it would be wise for her to be alone," she told Draco in nervous voice. "I think the two of you should share a room.

Draco nodded, trying not to let his happiness show too much. That day was one of the most relaxing days Marie had had in a long time. But what she didn't know was that Draco's plans for that night would make it even better.

Hermione had gone out on several dates with Ash, and now something weird was going on. She no longer felt like eating normal food. That was weird. Then there was the thing about light. She had always been an early riser, but now she couldn't handle light. It hurt her eyes.

Finally, she decided to ask him if he had any idea what was wrong with her. He took one look at her, and she couldn't believe his face. He looked scared. He looked shocked.

"Hermione, I can't believe this. I am so sorry! I do know what's wrong with you. You're a vampire."

She looked at him in disbelief. "How can I be a vampire? In order for that to happen, I'd have to know a vampire, then get bitten by them."

He cast his eyes downward, away from her. "I'm a vampire, Hermione. I haven't been feeding lately, and I guess I used you to help quench my bloodlust."

"What?"

"Ever since you told me about Malfoy and Mare, I've been really depressed. I haven't been feeding. So I guess when we went out, I fed on you and that's why you're a vampire now."

"Why would you do that?"

"You know about the soulmate principle."

Hermione nodded.

"Well, there's a little side-effect to it called 'soumate withdrawl.' If you're away from your soulmate when you're physically close to each other, you become attached to the first member of the opposite sex you see, often with horrible results. I know Mare's got it too, and I don't want to know how it's affecting her."

Marie woke up to another bright and sunny day. She smiled at the sight of Draco's sleeping form in the bed beside her. She had been sleeping with Draco for awhile now, and felt comforted when his warm body pressed up against hers for long, passionate hours in the night. The first few times, she had seen the same blond boy from her dream in her mind looking at her with sad eyes. Now she didn't even see him anymore, nor did she ever want to. She was content with her life and never wanted it to change.

dogs die in hot cars- Like the Ash and Hermione? What will they do now? Thanks for the review!

Mental Twitch- Sorry for creeping you out. I'm not sure when Ash will kick Malfoy's butt exactly, but he will.

sexyirishBeep- Full-frontal vampireness just for you. Thanks for the review!

Angel- Thanks. Don't worry, I scared a lot of people last chapter.

Piscean Wisdom- They aren't serious, they are very ill mentally. Marie and Malfoy started earlier though. Thanks so much for the review!