Hermione's head was ringing. Vaguely, she could feel a heat lancing up her legs. She glanced left, then right, trying to blink away the blurry spots that was hindering her vision. Everything was dark and the tiny sliver of light was too far to illuminate much. The ringing wasn't stopping.

She grunted… or maybe she didn't? Everything was drowned out by that blasted ringing.

Something warm dripped into her eye, stinging and blinding. She tried to wipe it away. Even if her vision was blurry… she didn't need anything else making it worse.

Oh Merlin… Oh God…

Her hand came away drenched in warmth.

Was it blood? It had to be. And that ringing… she hit her head.

What had happened? Everything had been fine.

Harry had…

No. no. no. nonononononono…

"H-harry," she whimpered. "Harry? Ron?"

Everything was settling now; the dust, the pain, her thoughts. It was crashing down on her shoulders, constricting her lungs, burning her legs.

The witch grimaced. Trying to move with her equilibrium messed up was difficult. Her hands wouldn't go where she wanted and her legs just wouldn't move at all. Her heart was jack rabbiting in her chest feeling only a moment away from bursting. Now that she was more aware, the pain was becoming unbearable; her adrenaline was settling. The pounding in her head was distorting the -finally- fading ringing but also making it hard to focus. All she wanted to do was curl up in a ball.

Everything was wrong. What had happened?

She needed to find Ron. To find Harry.

She shifted, her arms shaking under only her upper body weight. Her legs still weren't responding.

"Ron? Harry?" Her voice was painfully raspy. Probably the fault of the dust.

Something shifted to her right followed by a muffled moan.

"Ron! Harry!"

She dug her nails into the carpet pushing herself up straight. Her back brushed something behind her. She glanced back cautiously, still trying to blink back her focus.

Oh no. No wonder her leg wouldn't move.

She gagged and looked away, unable to stand the gory sight. And that was with barely any visibility too. She most certainly didn't want to see what it looked like with light.

"M-mione?"

It was weak but it was the best thing she'd heard since she woke up.

"Ron," the witch cried in relief. "Ron, are you okay? C-can you move? Are you hurt?"

"I think… I'm okay. Just a walking bruise, is all."

There was more shifting to her right and suddenly a beam of light from outside shined directly onto her boyfriend's face. He winced, squinting at the source for a moment before he continued over to Hermione.

"Where are you, babe?"

"About a yard in front of you… I can't move. M-my legs…"

"Shit. Bloody fuck. I can't really see and -Ouch!"

Ron's form, backlit now, paused and hunched over. There was a frustrated grunt before he was moving again.

"Are you okay?"

"Yea. Just walked into something sharp. There's a lot of rubbish over here and it all seems to want my blood or something."

Hermione flinched at the groping hands on her face. She smacked them away before they could scratch her eyes.

"Sorry, sorry. I'd cast Lumos but-"

Hermione sighed. If they didn't do magic her legs were absolutely unsalvageable without the hospital. She was just going to have to… Well, if it was only one of them it should be fine, right? Then there would only be her magical signature to lock onto. If they could even find it through the cloud of Harry's own.

"It's fine, Ron. I-I'll cast it. We just need to hurry, okay? Someone should be coming soon after-after…."

"Yea, can you stand?"

The slightly calloused hands moved to her shoulder and Hermione had to stop him from helping her up.

"I can't. Not right... Just…"

"Hermione, are you okay," Ron said slowly making sure to enunciate.

She giggled uncomfortable. "I will be. Just, help me out okay?"

"You know I will."

She sighed in relief. One problem down, only a million more to worry about.

Her wand was thankfully still tucked away in the mokeskin pouch and with Ron helping to keep her balanced upright she was able to grab it with only a little difficulty; that being her head not cooperating with her limbs.

The familiar warmth of the wood felt good, soothing some of the minor aches she'd barely noticed.

"Lumos Adfigo."

A light gathered on the tip of her vine wood wand. Tapping it against the half crumbled wall, it stuck in place leaving her free for other spells.

Now that there was a light it was easier to see the absolute mess that was the hallway. Walls were half crumbled, letting light in from the outside or showcasing plaster and wood. The brown door was crumpled in and splintered half a yard behind her with a large section of ceiling laying across it. Ron had come from the direction of the living room, the entryway only half there.

In front of her, the youngest Weasley son crouched, pale and wide eyed as he stared at Hermione's legs. His freckles stood out unflatteringly against the pasty pallor of his skin. There were scratches here and there, his shirt a little torn, but otherwise he seemed mostly unharmed which was a blessing.

"M-Mione… y-y-you're legs," he choked. His hands trembled on her arms, fingers clutching desperately as if it would save her from the wounds.

"I know," she huffed despairingly. "This is why I need your help. Ron? Ron, I need you to listen, okay? Can you pull my ankle out from under the beam?"

He stared at her almost uncomprehendingly before biting his lip. His blue eyes were red rimmed, looking almost moments away from shedding tears.

He breathed out softly, "I can. Merlin, I have to."

He helped her straighten out a bit, shifting her hips carefully as to not agitate anything. Now on her side with one arm keeping her steady she watched her boyfriend shuffle closer to the thick ceiling beam that had crashed down, pinning her, along with the wall that sat on the crumpled front door.

"Okay, okay. You're a man, Weasley. This is your girl. Time to be the hero for once," he muttered, scrutinizing the beam.

"I can cast the featherweight charm but it will only affect the beam. I-I don't think I'll be able to levitate it and move at the same time," Hermione said biting her lip.

"That's… that's okay babe. Let me… let me test this, okay?"

He crouched grabbing the underside and lifting just a bit. Hot agony lanced through her leg, up her spine, and straight into the nerve center in her brain. She didn't even realize she was screaming until a few seconds later.

"Shit! Fuck! Bloody cunt piece of wood! Mione you have to move your leg! Hermione!"

She sobbed, harshly. Oxygen could not cure her of the pain and she knew, she knew she had to move but dammit her body wasn't responding. Her head was ringing again and Ron's words were fading. Why wouldn't it end?

"Fuck! Babe I have you! Come on, breathe. Breathe!"

She was trying, God, was she trying. It never seemed enough. She briefly wondered if this was anything like what Harry felt. The physical aspect anyway.

There were arms around her, yanking backwards and she cried again, the movement jostling the wooden shards embedded in her calves and thighs. She could actually feel something in her ankle give way, cracking and grinding, as it popped out from under its confinement.

Hermione heaved another sob, her nose clogging and making breathing harder. Her stomach roiled and she was barely able to swallow down the bile.

"Hey, hey. It's okay. You're out. I've got you. It's okay," Ron whispered as he smoothed her hair away from her face, rocking her gently.

Hermione sucked in a sharp breath and held it. She needed to focus. They needed to leave and they couldn't yet. Not without Harry.

The witch hiccupped on a half sob. "You need…. To find… Harry."

"I can't leave you like this!"

"We have to go," she moaned in response. She loved him but sometimes he was a moron. No matter what pain she was in, things would only get worse if they were caught. "S-trategi-cally… we're in a-a bad posi-tion. Find. Harry."

"Right. Right."

He tilted her head back, laying a clammy kiss on her forehead before setting her down gently. With swift but stiff movements he swiped the sticky light onto his fingers and turned deeper into the house.

Ron Weasley was having a terrible night. First escaping from the Order (not so terrible actually), then worrying over his girlfriend and Harry (pretty terrible), and then Harry blowing up the goddamn house after licking some blood off the wall. What kind of berk does that anyway?

His girlfriend was practically mutilated by debris from the waist down and had a pretty nasty gash on her hairline and Ron was pretty banged up too. Being flung into the living room and smashed through a table and the telly would do that to someone. It was a miracle he was as uninjured as he was. Now he just had to find his twat of a best friend so they could get out of here before the Ministry or the Order swarmed the place.

Tromping through the kitchen as he'd had to go around the giant blockade of the second floor having fallen in, he held the light higher trying to illuminate as much as he could. There was the cupboard under the stairs looking absolutely demolished, which in turn had destroyed half of the stairwell. Harry had been standing right next to it but now there was no signs of him.

"Fuck. Bloody bastard and the things I fucking do for him. Shit!"

The wizard clutched his foot and cursed at the small nail that was now embedded in his shoe and consequently buried in his foot.

This was really not a good day for him.

"Harry," he called. "Harry if you can hear me we need to go! Harry!"

"Ron?"

"Shit!"

The red head jumped forward in fright, landing on his newly injured foot. He stumbled, failed to right himself, and landed arse first on the ground almost knocking his head against the wall.

The lumos illuminated the the ghastly image of his friend staring down at him with hungry flickering eyes. One moment they would be green, the next they glinted an ominous orange that would fade before Ron could actually see any details. What the bloody hell was that?

"Ron," Harry rasped.

Oh Merlin, that was Harry that had spoken before. The growling hiss sounded absolutely inhuman and it sent shivers down his spine to be addressed by something so obviously beastly.

"Harry, mate. I-it's okay. It's me! Your best friend… you are Harry right?"

Oh Merlin. Oh Merlin. Oh Merlin.

Something was seriously wrong now that he had scrambled to a standing position and the light was able to catch on the brunette's face better. His lips were a pale shade of bluish white and the skin around his eyes was red and inflamed. His eyes themselves, other than changing color, were bloodshot the white sclera almost completely red. And his skin, Merlin, it was so thin and white his veins stood out starkly.

He looked half dead and his magic was just gone.

"Ron."

"Yea, mate. It's me. We- we have to go before people come."

Harry's eyes drifted slightly to the side, his nose raising in the air. Slowly and silently he made his way towards where Hermione had been left to bleed all over the floor.

"Harry?"

He went ignored.

"Harry! Dammit. We need to go before the Order arrives! Or even worse, the Ministry."

Harry turned quicker than a flash, a hissing screech tumbling from his mouth as well as a splatter of blood that hit the ground right in front of Ron. The ginger froze, free hand outstretched, terror on his face.

His best friend looked absolutely feral. Snarling, with his flat teeth bared, the wizard had dropped into a half crouch, hands curled as if they had claws. Blood was dripping down his chin.

Shit.

Hadn't Fred and George mentioned something about Vampires? Had the blood been vampiric instead of human? Was Harry turning? Was that even enough blood to turn someone? Wasn't it dried and old?

Fuck.

Hermione bleeding would just set him off.

"The Ooooordeeeeer," Harry drawled in a rumble. "I'll kill them."

Ron gulped, slowly drawing his arm back making sure his movements were seen. Harry watched with a gimlet eye, his nose twitching.

"Yea mate. The Order. We can't, uh, k-kill them." Harry hissed violently. Ron yelped, "Not yet! Later! First we have to help Hermione. You remember her right? Your other best friend?"

"M-Mione?"

"That's right. We have to help her. She's hurt right now. It's…" He paused, eyeing the other with pursed lips. "It's gonna smell good to you. You have to swear not to hurt her."

"Smell…. Blooood."

Shitty fucking cuntrag.

"Yea. She's bleeding, Harry. Promise not to hurt her."

The brunette's fingers twitched, his eyes practically rolling in his indecision before he loosened his stance. His face fell into the placid neutrality he'd first seen and Ron tried to swallow with a dry throat. It wasn't very effective, almost sending him into a coughing fit. He swallowed that down, painfully, and focused on getting closer to the thing wearing Harry's skin at the moment. "C'mon, Harry. Let's go get Mione."

The feeling of unease strengthened, his limbs struggling to move under his own power. It felt as if there was a squirming serpent in his head biting it's way up and down his spine trying to drag him down with it's poison. With its cowardice and anger and jealousy. With its worry and fear.

He clenched his teeth so hard he was half concerned they would actually crack or his muscles would lock him into that position. He started forward past Harry, hoping that turning his back wouldn't be the last thing he did.

Why was everything so wrong today?

The teen followed, nose still twitching.

"Mione, I found Harry."

"Oh thank Merlin," she mumbled fervently.

There was another Lumos stuck beside her on the wall and a few of the smaller wood pieces had been removed and healed. The largest one was still stuck in her right inner thigh, her knee was still twisted the wrong way, and her ankle was mangled but there was a clarity in her brown eyes that hadn't been before.

Ron was thankful for that at least.

"Yea, small problem-"

"Mione!"

"Harry," she yelped trying to dodge the grasping hands now aimed at her face. Ron successfully snatched his friend round the middle before he could jump her. He hefted, his legs protesting the extra weight, until Harry was hanging over his shoulder alternating between growling and whining. "Oh my god what happened to him?"

The ginger turned, definitely not savoring having blunt fingers trying to dig their way into his back along with a squirming bundle to hold onto.

"I'm thinking Vampire blood. We need to leave now."

"V-Vampir- ohno!"

There were voices outside now. Harry snarled louder, thrashing his feet and trying to flex his torso. Ron grunted, throwing one arm over his feet while tightening the other so the corrupted wizard couldn't get too far.

"Ron! Come here I can apparate us!"

"What? In the condition you're in?"

Obviously, he was skeptical. Ron could barely apparate on a good day and she wanted to do it grievously injured?

"Harry's in no state and you're too busy holding onto him so get over here," she demanded. Well, at least she sounded like her old self even if she barely looked it.

He crouched next to her making sure to keep Harry's scrabbling hands away as she grabbed his leg tightly.

"Ready?"

He nodded.

Ginny frowned, staring critically at herself in the mirror. She had the most terrible feeling that something was going wrong but she couldn't tell what. Bugger, she really wished she could down some Firewhiskey to calm her nerves.

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. She stepped out of the bathroom, checking on the twins who were watching the door warily from the bed.

An attendant was standing there with an apologetic expression on her face. "I apologize for disturbing you ma'am. You have someone asking for you at the front desk. He's claiming to be your brother. We can't let anyone that isn't a guest further into the hotel. You'll have to come get them."

She blinked, her shoulders sagging in relief. They were okay.

"That's fine. I'll come now."

With a sigh she followed after the woman, her steps quickening the closer they got to the front desk. Ron was standing there, arms crossed, his muscles tightened and jaws clenched.

"Ron," she called as she practically sprinted across the lobby.

"Let's go."

"Wait, what? Where are Harry and Hermione? What happened?"

"Nothing good," he muttered as he spun on his heel to go back out the front doors.

"Ronald, tell me whats going on this instant," Ginny demanded.

She didn't like surprises. She never had. And this was shaping up to be a nasty surprise. She tried to grab him arm to stop him but he burst through the front door and started a fast limping jog down the sidewalk. Ginny stumbled after him her earlier relief being washed away by her returning nerves.

"Look Gin. The faster we get there the better. It's… it's pretty bad. Harry is knocked out and needs to stay that way. If he wakes still all…" he flung his arm out, hand twisting in circular motion near his temple, "Hermione is going to be in a lot of trouble. She's... can't defend herself right now. She-" he choked off, his voice rough and trembling.

Ginny felt her stomach drop to her toes right alongside her heart. She was not going to like this.

AN: Minor bit of gore but not too bad, ne? Just wait till the vampires swoop in!

Tell me what you think?