Important Author's Note: If you've been following this story (which I doubt anyone is anymore), I need you to go back and look at Chapter 12. I changed the title, and some of its content. I've been going through the plot, and etc. and I have decided to make a change regarding the last scene in that chapter. I've also worked on improving my writing style, so I hope you see some improvements. And things will start to happen in this story, I promise.

Chapter 13

A Knock at the Door

"Harry, you've got to make a decision." Ron was starring him down, waiting for an answer. They were sitting in the Qudditch Locker Room. They sat on a lone bench, and between them lay a single piece of paper. They'd just had tryouts for the team, and it was time to choose who would fill the empty positions. But Harry couldn't even bring himself to think about it.

"Well, let's at least narrow it down," started Ron. He picked up the piece of paper. "We know you're the seeker. I'm the keeper...that is, If you really want me?"

"Of course," said Harry, trying to focus his attention. "Don't be ridiculous."

"Right," Ron replied, with a smile. "And we decided to make Ginny a chaser. With the way her tryouts went, she'll be the best in years. And those two idiots are going to be our beaters. So that leaves us with two positions."

"Two chasers," sais Harry. He took the list from Ron, and scanned its content. "I'd feel guilty if I did put that second year in."

"Who?" Ron leaned into the list. "Oh, yeah. That boy is mental. He wouldn't stay still for a second. He kept jumping up and down. I thought he was having a seizure."

"But he was the best," replied Harry, laughing at Ron's interpretation. "So?"

"You're the one who is captain," he said.

Harry put a check next to the boys name. "Who else?"

"Seamus?" Ron looked up at Harry.

"We can't just make him a player just because he is a friend," said Harry, looking at him sternly.

"But he was good, too," said Ron, again, taking the list from Harry. "No one else on the list is decent."

"Fine," Harry said. Taking the list back, he put a check next to Seamus' name. "I'll go give this to McGonagal."

"I guess I'll go try and find Hermione," said Ron, standing up from the bench.

"It's no use," said Harry, standing up as well. "I can assure you, she is locked up, again, in the library with a book in her hand."

"Do you think she..." Ron looked around the empty locker room. He lowered his voice to a whisper. "Do you think she knows something about the paper?"

"I have no idea," said Harry. "What I do know is, there is only one day left till the 23rd, and if she has found anything out, she should tell Mr. Winfred."

"You really don't think we should keep this secret?" asked Ron.

"Do you remember what the paper said?" Harry questioned him. "Someone will die that night. We are the only people who have that information, and we need to do something to prevent anything from happening."

"If something happens at all," Ron added. "For all we know, this could be a joke."

Harry returned from McGonagal's office to an almost empty common room. It seemed everyone had gone to bed early in preparation for the Monday that would follow. There were a few students who still remained, one of them being Hermione.

Harry found it amazing that she had actually left the library. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, she was never there or anywhere for that matter. Harry and Ron had tried to seek her out, but even when they did find her, she only shooed them away.

"Hey," said Harry, sitting down in the vacant chair next to her.

"Hello," she uttered silently, not tearing her eyes away from the parchment in front of her. Harry had definitely had enough of this silence.

"Look, Hermione," he began. "This needs to end. You haven't said a word to me and Ron in almost two weeks. You haven't been eating-"

"For your information," Hermione interrupted him. "There are other ways to get food in this school. I have been eating, just not in front of people."

"That still doesn't help the fact that you've become completely obsessed with this," said Harry. "Hermione, I don't know what you are finding out, but whatever it is, we need to inform Mr. Winfred about it."

"What's this?" Hermione finally looked up from the parchment. The circles underneath her eyes were glaring in the light of the common room fire. "Switching side's? There were so many times when I tried to get you to tell a teacher, but you wouldn't."

"Hermione, this is different," Harry tried to keep his voice in its normal volume, but it was rising. "Someone is going to die. You need to tell us what you've found. The 22nd is tomorrow!"

"My research is almost complete," she said, getting up from her seat, grabbing the books around her. "I'll inform you tomorrow."

And with that, she stormed away to the girls dormitory. Behind her, she left Harry more furious than ever.

Just like the last two weeks, Hermione wasn't at breakfast that Monday morning. Neither Harry or Ron were surprised anymore, it had become routine. Harry was hoping, however, that maybe in this absence she was telling Mr. Winfred the information. That hope disappeared when the temporary headmaster walked through the door.

When breakfast ended, Harry and Ron headed to their first class of the day. Of course, to their dismay, it just happened to be Dark Arts that was first on the list.

"I won't be surprised if she skips," said Ron, as they entered the classroom.

"Neither will I," Harry replied. With dread in their steps, they took their usual seats, and the class began to fill in around them.

"Do you smell that?" Ron asked, turning in his seat, looking around. Harry looked at him, confused for a moment, and then the scent found its way to his nose. It was the very distinct smell of garlic, and it was growing stronger as every second passed.

"Where do you think it's coming from?" asked Harry. He could tell his classmates began noticing the scent as well. The answer to that question was presented as the last student walked into the classroom to take her seat.

"Hermione," Ron stared at her as she sat down next to them. "Please explain to me, why you are wearing garlic around your neck?"

"I need to tell both of you something," she looked at Ron and Harry with a serious stare.

"Well?" asked Harry, who was just as curious as Ron.

"I can't do it here," she said, turning in her seat towards the front of the classroom. "It's not safe."

"But Hermione-"

Whatever Ron was about to say was cut off by a pair of loud boots making their way down the aisle. Apparently, Signora Aradia had entered while the three of them had been talking. She turned at the end of the isle and walked straight in front of the desk at which they sat. She looked down at Hermione.

"Is dees some type of es-periment?" she asked, slowing down on the hard pronunciation of the last word.

Hermione sat calmly at her desk, which was very odd. In the past she had forgotten all reasoning and simply took charge at the teacher. This time, however, she didn't. Harry sensed there was something she knew, possibly.

"It doesn't bother you," Hermione spoke with much patience. "Does it?"

"Do you seriously think dat it doesn't bother anyone in dees room?" Signora Aradia looked around at the students, and then rested her gaze on Hermione again.

Hermione turned to Ron. "Does it bother you?"

Ron didn't move his head an inch, he just sat there. Harry could tell he was pondering on what to say.

"Ron," Hermione repeated. 'Does it bother you?"

"No," Ron uttered lowly from his mouth. "Not at all."

"Well then," Signora Aradia's full lips curved at the end as she smiled a wicked smile. She turned and walked to her desk. "Today class, s'you will learn a very useful tec-nic. It is dee sheild spell. So my suggestion to s'you all, is dat you pay attention." She walked away from her desk, and taped a pale knuckle on Neville's shoulder. "Especially s'you."

" 'Dis spell is called," she raised a finger to the air and used it to spell out a word. In glowing gold letters, it hung in the air as if suspended. Harry was always amazed that such a young witch could perform such advanced tricks. "Empêcher. It was first used to stop dee rain from getting on workers while d'ey built houses. It was later used in battle, so dat soldiers could protect d'em selves. Now repeat it with me; Empêcher."

The class repeated the word, quite unsuccessfully. Signora Aradia cringed at the mispronunciation of the word. She turned towards the nearest person, whom just happened to be Harry.

"Would s'you mind repeating dee word for me?" she asked him. Harry didn't appreciate the spotlight very much. He looked at the golden words hanging in the air, and tried his best.

"Empe-chair." He knew he had said it wrong. Signora Aradia walked directly in front of his desk, propping herself on it with both hands. She looked down at Harry, as if he were the only student in the classroom. Her black eyes were like dark pools staring at him. It sent a shiver down his spine.

"S'you can pronounce dees word right," she told him. "Empêcher. S'you do not pronounce dee 'r', it is silent. Dee 'ch' is pronounced like 'sh'. Now repeat it again."

"Empecher," the word flowed from his mouth quietly, but with better ease. Signora Aradia turned her head as if to listen in.

"A little louder?"

"Empêcher," Harry spoke the word again. Signora Aradia looked at him for a moment, before turning to the rest of the class. Harry could have sworn she winked at him.

"Does everyone understand now?" she asked the class, not waiting for an anser. "So repeat it together; Empêcher."

The class repeated the word several more times until Signora Aradia was completely satisfied. She then paired them off into two pairs, and let them practice the spell on each other. For the first time in the history of their six years at Hogwarts, Ron willingly partnered with Neville. Harry later learned his motivation to do so, because he got pared with Hermione and her garlic.

"Please, tell me why you are wearing those?" Harry asked, hoping for an answer this time. She looked at him warily and Harry realized that this was no laughing matter.

"This is not the place," she said. "Now go stand over there and cast locumortus on me."

Harry did as he was told. He stepped a few feet away, aiming his wand at Hermione. As he cast the spell Hermione yelled back "Empêcher".

A pale, almost non-visible, blue shield expanded itself over Hermione. As the spell hit the shield, it looked as if it vibrated for a moment, and then it disappeared. As Hermione put her wand down, the shield disappeared. She stepped backwards a few steps, almost as if she was dizzy. She stopped right in front Signora Aradia, who had been walking around the classroom observing the students. Signora Aradia bent down as if to say something into Hermione's ear. Harry watched the expression on Hermione's face go from dizzy to frightened, as she noticed Signora Aradia was so close behind her.

"S'you need-"

"BACK OFF!" Hermione screamed, cutting off whatever Aradia was about to say. She grabbed the garlic around her neck and pushed it towards the professor in a threatening manner. Signora Aradia stood there with a perplexed look on her face. The class around them stared in silence at the scene in front of them.

"I was only going to tell s'you what to do to fix-"

Signora Aradia was cut off again by Hermione. "No need to tell me what you are going to do! I know perfectly well what you are capable of. It's obvious."

"Hermione," Harry took a step towards her. "What are you talking about?"

She then took out her wand and held both her arms parallel to each other as she held the two objects in her hands pointed at Aradia. "What I am talking about is, this person standing in front of me is no ordinary..."Hermione paused for a moment. "..being. It somehow even makes since as to why Dumbledore would hire you. He's hired a werewolf before, this doesn't seem much different."

Signora Aradia stood with much poise as she listened to these words. Hermione continued, "Never once have I seen you go outside of this castle. Although that doesn't seem to odd, it was something that helped my search. I've also never seen you eat anything, not even at diner in the Great Hall. I at first passed this off, thinking that maybe you ate at different times during the day. And then I thought of your appearance. If you were any paler you'd be a ghost. You're accent tells me you are from another country. I've seen the scars on your hands." Hermione stopped after this last sentence. Signora Aradia picked up her left hand and faced it's palm to the crowd around her. A deep wound was embedded in the surface of her skin. It looked old, like it was healed a long time ago.

"Yes, that's what I'm talking about. The same thing is on your other hand as well. They are such odd wounds to have."

Harry watched Hermione talk, trying to figure out what exactly she was trying to accuse Aradia of. He racked his brain for all possibilities, only coming up with the newspaper they had received that was dated the 23rd. He still couldn't see how all this tied in with it.

"All of this was evidence of nothing," Hermione continued. "And then I thought about...your age." Hermione looked at her more intently now. Aradia did noting except continue to listen. "I have to admit that you are very intelligent for your age. I guessed that you looked to be about 23 or 24. Two weeks ago, a certain concept dawned on me, that made perfect sense of everything. All the clues began to fall into place. It was becoming more and more evident. I know what you are!"

"What?" Harry asked, breaking the silence of the crowd.

Hermione turned her head and looked at him. "She's a Vampire."

Harry's eyes widened in complete shock. Did Hermione just say that Signora Aradia was a Vampire? A ton of thoughts came rushing in all at once. Her idea that Aradia was a vampire was actually quite believable. Hermione continued talking.

"Immortality," Hermione turned back to Aradia, whose face remained the same. What Hermione just accused her of didn't seem to have shaken her at all. "It is one of the curses of being a vampire. It explains many things, and supports the fact more than anything." Hermione finished her sentence, and took a step closer to Aradia. She lowered her wand, but kept the garlic suspended in the air. "Well?"

Signora Aradia had a waxen look on her face, almost as if she was a statue. Her black eyes were fixed on Hermione. It seemed like time had slowed as the class waited for a response. That response, was something quite unexpected.

The tips of Aradia's lips began to curl, and she began to slightly shake. She threw her head back, and opened her mouth to let out a hollow, cold laugh. She dropped her chin back down, and still laughing, she took a few steps closer to Hermione. She walked around the garlic and then stopped.

"Clever little witch," she spoke. And as if the timing couldn't have been more perfect, the bell for the end of class rang. Even with the ringing, no one in the room moved. If Harry was not mistaken, Signora Aradia had just confirmed that she indeed is a vampire. He was sure the same thoughts were running through everyone's mind.

"What's going on here?" a voice said. Everyone's attention snapped towards the figure at the door. In it's frame stood Mr. Winfred. He walked into the classroom towards Signora Aradia.

"Is someone going to answer me?" he asked.

"Everyone knows, Mr. Winfred," said Hermione. "She is a vampire."

Mr. Winfred looked as if he was in total disbelief. He looked at the garlic in Hermione's hand and then at Signora Aradia. Letting out a small chuckle, he spoke. "Ms. Granger, surely you don't believe that. How could you go accusing someone-"

"I know it's true," Hermione cut him off.

Mr. Winfred paused for a moment before he said anything. "I want Ms. Granger to stay, but as for the rest of you, go to class."

Harry sat through the entire potions class in deep thought. He was completely oblivious to what Snape was trying to teach them. All he could think about was what had just happened in the previous class. It certainly did seem plausible, Aradia being a vampire. With all the research Hermione went through, she couldn't be wrong. There was what Dobby had said, and so many other things. They all supported the idea. It still, somehow, seemed a bit unbelievable. Dumbledore had taken risk before, but a vampire? Harry hadn't heard of any relationships between Vampire's and the Dark Lord, but he was eager to find out if there were any.

Harry and Ron didn't talk through lunch. They had decided they would wait until they were in private. Hermione hadn't come back from talking with Mr. Winfred yet. He began to worry if she ever would.

"What about the paper?" asked Ron.

"We shouldn't talk about that here," said Harry.

"Im starting to think we really need to tell someone," Ron continued to talk about it anyway.

"For all we know Hermione could be telling Mr. Winfred right now," said Harry. "Maybe that's why she is taking so long."

The classes afterwards seemed to drag on for ages. Harry had gone to the library and taken out a few books to see if there were any references to the dark lord and vampire's. He flipped the pages underneath his charms desk, but never found anything remotely helpful. Having finished them, he was forced to sit there and pay attention to that days lesson, which seemed completely impossible.

Finally, dinner came, but there was still no sign of Hermione. Also missing, was Signora Aradia. Sitting at the table, Harry could clearly see that Ron was starting to panic. He kept looking over his shoulder, and up at the staff table.

"If we tell someone," Harry began. "What are we going to say?"

"Exactly what happened," said Ron, a sign of reluctance came across his face.

"Which-"

Harry didn't finish what he was about to ask. Hermione had just walked up and taken a seat next to him. Her eyes were puffy as though she had been crying for a very long time.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked, wondering if something bad had happened.

"They were going to expel me," she said, turning to look at him. She looked completely drained of all emotion except for sadness. "They sent an owl to my parents and everything."

"Why?"asked Ron. "And what changed their minds?"

"I don't know," she said. "They said they could have expelled me for threatening the life of another and a teacher." A tear strolled down her cheek. "I was honestly trying to do the right thing. It was in the best of intentions."

"We know," said Ron.

Harry saw Ron's hand slowly reach across the table and clutch the top of Hermione's hand. She looked up at him in surprise. Harry felt a bit of an awkward moment.

"Did you tell them about the paper?" Harry asked.

"They wouldn't let me say anything," she replied, still looking at Ron.

Harry didn't get a chance to ask his next question. The whole conversation of the Great Hall was interrupted by a loud knock on the door. It silenced everyone. No one had ever knocked at the door like that. After a few seconds, another knock came. Same as the last. It was loud, and deep, it sounded far away, but there was no doubt it was coming from the door. He heard a few chairs behind him move and people began walking. He turned to see Mr. Winfred, McGonagal, Snape, and a few other teachers walking between the house tables towards the doors.

The three of them weren't sitting right next to the door, but they were fairly close. Close enough to see and hear what was going on.

Professor McGonagal was the first to arrive at the door. Harry saw her place a hand on the handle as if she were to open it, but she immediately backed off. She held her hand gently in the other, and turned to Mr. Winfred.

"It's hot," Harry heard her tell him. He saw Mr. Winfred grasp the handle as well, and then immediately, he took his hand off.

"Where is Dominique?" Mr. Winfred's voice was muffled as he turned his back to the students.

Out of nowhere, Harry heard those infamous footsteps coming towards the door. He turned to see Signora Aradia walking at a fast pace towards the crowd of teachers. She stopped as Mr. Winfred whispered something in her ear. Another knock erupted at the door, startling the students, causing a few to jump in their seats.

Harry kept his eyes fixed on Signora Aradia. She whispered something back into Mr. Winfred's ear, and then walked up to the door. She stood directly in front of its part for a few moments, and then she turned her head as if to listen for someone on the other side. She walked very close to the door, but she never touched it. She remained there for a number of seconds, and then she made an odd movement. She remained the way she was, but her body swayed on the spot a little. She slowly backed away from the door, and turned to Mr. Winfred.

"Whatever s'you do," she said, turning slowly towards him. She was holding her hand up to her stomach. "Don't open the door."

Before the entire school, she collapsed to the floor. Mr. Winfred and Prof. McGonagal bent down immediately to give her aid. Harry wasn't sure what had happened, but he had become fixated on a certain image that was before him now. Signora Aradia's hand was no longer holding her stomach, it was on the floor, covered in blood.