Chapter 5

Draco looked up at the full moon above them and counted to ten. He wished the two of them could just stay up there, away from everything else. Away from the hunger. Away from the war.

"Listen, Hermione. You can't just survive on animals. I'm telling you right now, if you don't feed off of a human before they come, you'll attack them."

Hermione gritted her teeth. "But that doesn't make any sense! If you've eaten, you're full! You have something in your stomach! You're not hungry!"

Draco clenched his jaw. They'd already been through this several times since their return to Earth. The repetitiveness of the argument was driving him up the wall. He couldn't believe how stubborn she was being.

"There is a difference between being full and being sated. When you are sated, you can control yourself to some extent. When you are full, you digest what is in your stomach when something better comes along. Why do you think I attacked you that night you were brought to me?"

She looked out across the field, frustrated beyond belief.

Draco turned her so that she was facing him again. "And that is exactly what will happen to you if you don't feed. Trust me, I've been there."

Hermione shrugged out of his grip angrily, and her voice rose. "I'm not going to kill an innocent person every time I want to meet with someone! And I can't believe you just did!"

Draco spread his arms out in front of him. "This is what you chose, Hermione! If you're not going to be realistic, then I have to be. We can't count on binding spells; I've never tried them before! Who's to say that we won't just free ourselves and continue attacking? Who do you think will stop you when—"

The two tensed upon hearing the unmistakable sound of Apparition on the other side of the field. They could hear Harry and Ron talking to each other.

"I'm going to kill him, Harry."

"He's already dead," Harry quipped.

"Not dead enough."

Draco smirked down at her. "You're right; I shouldn't have fed off of that human."

Hermione huffed and stalked towards the voices. Draco followed her with long strides.

They heard Harry admonish Ron. "Let's hear what she has to say. She wasn't able to explain everything in her letter."

"They're late." Ron's voice sounded extremely agitated. "There's no way that she would be in love or turn into a vampire on her own. He must have done something to her."

"Oh, if only they knew," Draco purred in her ear.

"Shut it."

Ron's angry mumbling continued. "-completely out of character. How could she possibly tolerate his ferrety, inbred presence? Maybe this whole thing is -"

Harry's voice didn't sound any calmer. "Ron, stop. I don't like it any more than you. Look, they're here already. We'll get answers now."

Two male forms approached in the moonlight. Hermione saw one of the figures jump and wave.

"Hermione!" Harry called out across the field.

"Not one for subtlety, is he?" Draco drawled.

She wasn't listening. A huge grin spread across her face and she started to sprint towards Harry and Ron. She missed them! But before she could gain much ground, Draco caught her arm and jerked her back.

He whispered to her furiously. "Hermione, please. I know you don't agree with me, but isn't it better to err on the side of caution?" When it appeared that she was just going to shrug him off in anger again, he continued, "Listen. If you don't attack them, you would have proved me wrong. I'll never feed off another human again. Ever."

She drew in a breath. The look in his eyes was so caring. When it came down to it, he was just worried about her.

"Okay," she agreed. She would listen to him. And she would prove him wrong.

"We'll go together, slowly. It's better that you creep up on their smell rather than let it overwhelm you."

"Bugger him," she heard Ron curse under his breath. He must have seen Draco pull her back. "Where does he get off? Just because he's a murdering animal doesn't mean she is."

Hermione called out across the field, "It's okay, Ron. Just stay there. We're coming."

They saw Ron turn to Harry in surprise and heard him whisper, "Can she hear me from all the way over there?"

At this, a smug grin spread on Draco's face. "Ye-es," he answered, his voice ringing out over the field in a sing-song voice.

They heard Ron swear again as Draco and Hermione approached them slowly. She could smell them now, and to her chagrin, was not unaffected. Their features became illuminated in the moonlight and she could see Harry's glasses reflecting back at her. He shifted the weight on his feet and shoved his hands in his pockets, waiting. She wanted to run out and hug them, kiss them, and… and…

She sucked in a breath. She could literally taste their scents on her tongue, and she heard the pace of their heartbeats increase as they approached. She felt an urge to feed almost instantaneously. Draco was right; drinking from that deer wasn't helping her at all. But, that was all right. It was a matter of willpower. She could summon the control. There was no way she would feed from her best friends. It was a case of mind over matter. If she could beat the Horcrux, she could control her hunger.

Harry and Ron were studying the two. They glanced at Draco with hostile expressions on their faces, and back at her with tender, worried, and… wary expressions. At a distance of roughly ten feet, Draco pulled her back to a stop.

She looked up, and he gave an imperceptible shake of his head. Feeling resigned, she kept the distance that Draco had deemed safe. It was upsetting, but she supposed she should be cautious for now.

"Let her come, Malfoy," Ron barked.

Hermione looked up to see him seething after eyeing the exchange between her and Draco. "You don't have to talk as if I'm not here," Hermione answered. "And he's keeping me away for your safety."

"We trust you, Hermione," Ron tried to persuade her. "We know you'd never hurt us."

"It's not a matter of trust, Ron," she answered. "It's better to be cautious."

Ron's jaw clenched. Harry's face was expressionless. She found that Ron's uncontrolled bursts of emotion were exciting her. Sexually. And she was horrified.

Draco flashed a set of white teeth in a humorless smile. "Amusing as it would be to let her have a go at you two, there's a war to win, isn't there?" Hermione glared at him and he cleared his throat. "Apropos the war…" He flung a sack at Harry, who caught it in mid-air without blinking.

The sudden movement made her blood race, and she watched the muscles of Harry's arm contract under his skin while he untied the bag. Draco began to rub tiny soothing circles on the back of her neck.

"Sorry about that…" he whispered into her ear.

Ron eyed the sack and looked mutinously at Draco's offending hand, resting on the back of her neck. "What did he do to you, Hermione? You can tell us."

She sighed. "It was my decision, Ron. And quite frankly, I forced him to do it."

She saw Draco wince at her choice of words and his fingers tensed on the back of her neck.

Ron snorted and cursed under his breath. "Right."

Draco resumed his massaging circles. She could hear Ron's blood pumping furiously through his veins; his anger was rising along with his pulse. Wanting to avoid a fight, verbal or otherwise, she said, "Look inside the bag, will you?"

Ron's scent was overpowering. She closed her eyes and took a breath. Control. It was all about control.

Harry wasn't paying attention to their squabbling. He was looking at the crumpled, blackened Hufflepuff cup.

"Fuck me," he said dumbly. "When did you break into Gringotts?"

Ron looked curiously inside the bag.

"A few hours ago," she answered, trying not to think about how warm and inviting their flesh looked.

"A few hours ago?" Ron said incredulously. "But it was daylight! How—?"

She couldn't help it, she glanced furtively at Ron's throat. "We Apparated."

Harry's eyebrows rose, clearly impressed. "You Apparated into Gringotts? That's supposed to be impossible."

"It is. But we could go directly into the Malfoy vault," Draco spoke, clearly enjoying their dumbstruck expressions.

"Blo-o-dy hell!" Ron exclaimed, and looked at the cup. "But then—bugger me! Hermione! It took the three of us fifteen hours of non-stop chanting to destroy the last one." She couldn't take her eyes off of Ron. The sound of the flow of his blood was filling her ears. His excitement was arousing her. She felt herself being pulled to him. Both Harry and Draco were watching her. Embarrassed, she leaned into Draco and closed her eyes briefly, trying to inhale his scent and clear her senses of Ron's and Harry's. She felt Draco's arm circle protectively around her.

"Steady…" His breath caressed her ear.

"That's," Ron continued, "that's impossible!"

"This is what I wanted to explain to you," she said, bringing her gaze back to his eyes. She could feel saliva pooling in her mouth and she swallowed. "We're more powerful than human wizards. Much more. With Draco and I leading off an attack, we can penetrate the wards—"

"You can take down the wards?" Ron exclaimed, flabbergasted.

She saw Harry grab Ron's arm and squeeze it. Squeeze his flesh. Flesh. "Calm down," Harry whispered to him quietly.

"—and take them by surprise," she continued, forcing herself to avert her eyes from the muscles and tendons in Ron's arm. "We could finish this war within the week. That's why I did it. We'll go in, kill Nagini, and then kill Voldemort."

Malfoy flinched at the mention of Voldemort's name, and Harry smirked, but she continued, "They won't be expecting it. So long as they don't realize they're being attacked by vampires, we'll have an advantage."

"What does that repulsive snake have to do with it?" Draco asked.

Harry glanced at Malfoy, who was looking disgusted.

Ignoring him, Harry turned back to Hermione who he noticed was visibly struggling not to not look at his throat, and asked, "He doesn't know?"

Draco answered, "She can't tell me. You all made that Unbreakable Vow." He paused; she could feel Draco's eyes boring into her, but all she could hear was Ron's heart and the thrum of his blood. All she could smell was his blood. She was mesmerized by it. She turned her head away from them and took a deep breath of the night air. It didn't help.

Draco was watching her and then spoke again, "Have you tried that binding spell, Potter?"

Even though both Harry and Draco were staring at her, she brought her eyes back to Ron. He was completely oblivious, holding up the cup, and gawking at it slightly. "Merlin, Hermione! How did you stay undetected at Gringotts long enough to find the vault?"

Having been completely entranced by the veins and muscles in Ron's pale neck, she jumped at the sound of her name. "It was actually pretty easy." She concentrated for a few seconds, and then morphed into Bellatrix Lestrange. "And Draco knew where the vault was."

Ron yelped, dropping the cup. "Warn a bloke, will you?"

"Ron," Harry said in a low voice, "you need to say calm."

"Calm? Who are you kidding?" he said, gesturing to Hermione.

His heart was thudding rapidly, as was Harry's who had also been shocked to see his godfather's murderer suddenly appear before him. She furrowed her brow and morphed back into herself. They were both staring at her in wonderment. "But don't you see? Just think of the possibilities. We don't even know what our limits are."

She could feel her hunger and desire for the two starting to overwhelm her. She had to say something, anything to distract from the blood pulsing underneath their skin.

"Why didn't you bring Remus? He should have been here as well." She didn't even feel like she was talking; it was as if someone else was. She was so intent on the pulse in the arteries of Ron's throat.

Harry pointed up at the full moon. "He wanted to come."

She started gravitating towards Ron again. Draco gently pulled her back as her voice went unnaturally soft, "Oh, right, I should have known." His flesh looked so warm and inviting. She needed his blood. She couldn't think of anything else besides the warm liquid and his yielding skin. She felt her breathing become heavier, more labored. Ron finally noticed how she was looking at him and he shifted uncomfortably under her hungry gaze.

"It's…it's okay, Ron. I'm not going to bite you." Ron looked relieved, but Harry was eyeing her skeptically. Draco resumed massaging the back of her neck with his fingers, rubbing slowly, possessively. She rocked back and forth slightly with the movement of his fingers, shutting her eyes briefly.

Mind over matter. Mind over matter.

Draco's voice cut through her thoughts, "Make sure that binding spell works, yeah? She's not going to last much longer."

Harry glared back at him. "We'll try it out on you first then, not her."

"I wouldn't dream of anything different, Potter," he drawled.

Her eyes snapped open as Harry swiftly drew his wand. "Incarcerous Argentum!"

Silver ropes shot out of Harry's wand and wrapped around Draco's arms and torso. He grunted at the pain, and fell to his knees with a grunt. The silver ropes were burning through Draco's shirt, cutting into his flesh, and he hissed. She didn't know why the sight of Draco on his knees, bound and in pain aroused her so, but it did. She felt her fangs extend. It was too much. The smell, the warmth, the taste, the desire. Blood was pumping everywhere.

"He really looks like he's in pain," she heard Ron say. She turned back to him.

Delicious.

"It fucking hurts, Weasley. Not as bad as the – nnnnnggghhh! – Cruciatus, but it's excruciating-" he grit his teeth and whimpered. "Fucking hell."

She wouldn't hurt him, just a little sip. Just one. She walked slowly towards Ron. He wouldn't mind, she'd make it good for him.

"I think this would work," Malfoy was saying through clenched teeth. "She was right, the silver—oh, shite. Weasley, look out–"

In a flash, Hermione appeared in front of Ron. "Blimey, Hermione! You move fast," he said, not without trepidation in his voice.

Tall, muscular, supple, yielding. All for her. Slowly, she pressed herself against Ron. His body was heating up, and his heart was beating so loudly in his chest it was all she could hear. She slid her palms up his chest and around his shoulders, pulling him down. He was deliciously aroused, she could sense it. She snaked her hand down to feel his prick through his trousers.

"Aaah. Hermi-" he whimpered.

Ron put his hands on her waist, not quite sure if he wanted to hold her closer or push her away.

Just a taste, she didn't need much. She wouldn't hurt him. Relishing his closeness, she licked the nape of his neck and felt him shudder in her strong embrace.

Briefly, she thought she heard someone calling her name as she opened her mouth and sunk her fangs into his flesh. Her eyes rolled back and she moaned in pleasure.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Ron gave a yell in pain and disbelief, which turned into a groan, and his body sagged bonelessly against her. Harry was watching the whole scene, entranced. Hermione was rubbing Ron, eliciting a series of whimpering moans from him while his body trembled. He couldn't believe this was happening. She was also giving little moans of pleasure and slowly grinding herself against him. It was all very surreal. Surely Hermione wouldn't hurt him? He could clearly see that she was getting hungry earlier, but she wouldn't drain him completely.

Would she?

Harry looked down at Malfoy for confirmation of his thoughts. He had stopped wincing and struggling with his bonds in order to watch the scene playing out before him. There was a very self-satisfied smirk on his face.

"God, I love being right."

Harry couldn't understand what Malfoy found so amusing about the situation. Still in shock, he pulled on her shoulder; surely she could be reasoned with. He really didn't want to cause her the pain that Malfoy was in.

"Hermione?"

Ron gasped, and his eyes rolled back as he clutched onto Hermione's undulating body. She gave a moan of pleasure, and Harry felt his cock twitch at the sound.

"Hermione?" he said louder, and pulled on her shoulder with more force.

"Don't bother," Malfoy grunted from below. "Just—nnnnngh! Hold on, I'll be out of these in a—"

Hermione turned to face him and he felt ice flood his veins.

"Yes, Harry?" she answered, distractedly.

Her eyes were no longer the hazel he knew so well. They were gleaming brightly, partly gold, partly amber. Inhuman. She stared at him in hunger and lust; there was no sign of his best mate from school. Wasn't she in there anymore?

"Hermione," his voice sounded more panicky than he would care to admit. "Hermione, you could have seriously hurt Ron. You have to get ahold of yourself."

She was licking the blood from around her mouth with sensual relish. As she drew nearer, he felt a rush of fear and adrenaline as he realized what she was about to do. He put his arms on her shoulders to keep her away, but she was much too strong and slowly closed in on his throat.

Harry looked over at Ron, who was staring at her dumbstruck, with a hand clamped over his bleeding neck, and sporting a very prominent erection.

"Ron, she's too strong, you have to–uhhhh."

A sharp pain marked where she had bit at the juncture of his neck and shoulder, and she pressed her lithe body against his. To his horror, he felt himself harden as she rubbed herself against his groin, helping to turn her bite from pain into pleasure. He felt hot and yet he shivered from the feel of her soft, wet, mouth on his neck. He couldn't remember what he was trying to do. All he knew was that Hermione was writhing against him in a most decadent way, and he moaned with her movements as she slithered over his body.

Suddenly, she threw her head back with a hiss, and he felt cold air where she had once been rubbing up against him. His hands numbly fell to his sides. Harry felt just as gormless as Ron looked.

Arm trembling with exertion, Malfoy was pressing the silver ropes against her back, and they burned her skin through her shirt.

"Down, girl," he said with a smirk. She rounded on him, growling, and knocked the silver ropes out of his hand.

Malfoy looked up at Harry and Ron, "Much as I would love to see how this would have ended, I think the meeting's over."

Ron looked dumbly at Hermione, who was snarling at Malfoy. "What are you going to do to her?"

At the sound of his voice, Hermione reared on Ron again, hungrily eyeing the blood still streaming from the wound she'd inflicted. Malfoy grabbed her by the waist and pulled her back to him. She struggled to get free, and clawed at the air in front of Ron, eyes never leaving the blood dribbling down from the bite.

He answered with a feral grin. "Distract her."

Hermione succeeded in extracting herself from his hold and lunged at Ron and Harry, who jumped back. But before she could reach them, Draco tackled her to the ground while she growled and struggled against him. She turned around to get at the source of the scent of the blood in the air, reaching out, snarling and grabbing at them. Not without considerable effort, Draco caught her shoulder, twisted her around and slammed her down on her back. He pinned her down and began ripping at her clothes, snarling and exposing her nakedness.

"Harry!" Ron exclaimed, his face pale. "He's–he's raping her!" He raised his wand, but Harry grabbed his hand and forced it down. They watched Draco force her legs apart and thrust violently into her. Ron flinched. She threw her head back and gave an animalistic yell.

"No," Harry said, his voice soft with disbelief. "No, he's not."

Malfoy looked up from Hermione's writhing body, and she clawed at his back, trying to bring him down to her. He gave Harry and Ron another feral grin, flaunting his ownership over her as he thrust once, twice more into her while she arched her back and writhed underneath him. His fangs were out and his eyes were glittering with lust and hunger, much in the same way that Hermione's had when he had interrupted her feeding from Ron.

"Leave," he growled, "I smell your blood."

Harry forced himself to look away, but was unable to block out the grunts, moans and shrieks from their vicious copulating. Ron was staring at them in dumbstruck horror.

"Ron."

He was still staring at them.

"Ron!" Harry raised his voice.

Slowly, Ron turned to face him, mouth half open. He seemed to be both aroused and sick to his stomach from the sight and the sounds coming from the ground before him.

"Let's go." Harry placed his hand on his friend's shoulder, and they Apparated onto the top step just outside the door of number twelve Grimmauld Place. Harry turned the knob and pushed the door open. Here they were, worrying about Hermione being in love with Malfoy; but after what they had just seen, he wished that that was all they had to worry about. He took a few steps inside and then staggered to the left, leaned over, and vomited.

Chapter end notes:

Yes, yes, I know you Neil DeGrasse Tyson lovers. If it's a full moon then Draco and Hermione would be toast if they were looking at the Earth from up there. I couldn't think of a good reason to not have Lupin at the meeting. If Lupin was there, he never would have let things get that out of control. However, I already wrote the moon portion when I realized my mistake and didn't want to change the location. Sorry! I am requesting some suspension of disbelief for this bit. We're already in a world with magic and vampires and werewolves so just a bit more...