Chapter notes:
This is the alternate story line where I promise - no major character death! You all have suffered enough!
If you'd like to get back into the mood, reread chapters 1 - 3. So without further ado...
*sound of tape rewinding*
Back at the manor...
Chapter 11 – Alternate ending
"Come on, Granger, let's get you out of here. Sunrise is in two and a half hours. They'll be here before then to pick you up, and I..." His voice caught and he looked at her from under his fringe. "I don't know how much longer I can be around you."
Her eyes flickered down to his nakedness. Still limp. For now.
He stood and, still holding her hand, pulled her to standing. He exhaled, and a quick blast of wind told her that that he had just used Scourgify on them both.
His display of magic reminded her of what she was missing.
"Where's my wand?"
His mouth flattened into a line of reluctant acceptance. She was no longer interested in becoming a vampire. He couldn't blame her.
"I don't have it. I'm sorry."
He eyed the bloody sheet wrapped around her body.
"What do you usually wear?"
Hermione looked down and thought a bit. "Something black or grey… Form-fitting, but not restrictive. Nothing shiny. I need to be unseen."
"Hmm…" Draco tapped his chin, chuckling despite himself.
Hermione narrowed her eyes. "Maybe I'd be better off with the sheet."
But when the transfiguration of the bed linen was complete, she looked down to see the short-sleeved blouse, skirt, knee socks, and shoes of the Hogwarts uniform.
She laughed.
Draco motioned with his finger, and Hermione twirled as he assessed his work. "It looks strange on you."
"How so?" Hermoine asked, still smiling.
His eyes bored into her. "You're not a girl anymore."
She swallowed. And he was no boy.
"Draco?" Her voice lowered at his proximity.
"Hmm?" His fingers caressed the skin of her arms. She shivered.
"What will they do to you?" If he let her go, they would know. What would he do? Her heart went out to him. Even after all this time, was he still trapped?
"Nothing. I'm leaving. They won't be able to find me."
She smiled, somewhat giddy. Was he finally joining the Order?
"What about…" She raised her eyebrows and looked around the room.
"The Manor will lock itself up to outsiders. I have no use for it anymore." Draco gave her a half grin. "You've probably had enough of my blood to be identified as a Malfoy at this point. You want it?" he asked, gesturing to the room broadly. "It's yours."
Not knowing quite how to answer such an offer, she remained silent.
He brought his eyes back to hers, gave a wistful sigh, and asked, "Where to?"
Hermione looked down at her uniform. "Actually, Hogwarts will do. Near the Forbidden Forest where the anti-Apparation wards end. We have ways of getting to headquarters from—"
She almost fell over at the sudden nausea caused by Side-Along Apparition. Draco righted her, and she inhaled the fresh night air, trying to rid herself of the stomach ache. He had demonstrated his power before, but his speed and ability to perform magic simply by thinking still surprised her.
Looking up, she saw the castle's lights, the place that had been her home away from home for so many years. They had landed near the Forbidden Forest, outside the boundry of the anti-Appartion wards. Draco, in his pale, inhuman nakedness, looked wild, as if he belonged to the woods. Dread formed a pit in her stomach.
"Draco?" Her voice shook slightly.
He turned to her, shoulders slumping, eyes pained and despondent .
"You're not coming with me, are you?"
"If I could control…" He clenched his jaw and closed his eyes. "No, I think not."
Her stomach churned, and tears pricked her eyes. "We'd work with you. You'd be a great asset with your abilities. The Order would work around your… limitations."
He smiled sadly and stroked her hair. "With all that blood during raids? You'd be dueling Death Eaters while I ate and fucked the person nearest to me—friend or enemy. I'd be a liability."
Draco tensed and leaned back from her.
"In fact," he said, voice tight, "I don't know how much time I have left with you before I do something we both regret."
"But what if you fed and," she looked to the ground, "you know, beforehand?" She looked up at him again.
"I fed before you woke tonight and still I…" He shook his head. "I would kill you," he said, inhaling her scent, his eyes fluttering closed. "And I would enjoy it. Immensely."
She fingered her tie, uncertain, only then noticing that it was the green and silver of the Slytherin house.
"What's—"
"Something to remember me by," he whispered with a smile, "and to mess with your friends."
She laughed, sniffled in an attempt not to cry, and then gave up, allowing a few hot tears to spill down her cheeks. He drew into a close embrace.
"But you're free now, after all this time." Hermione's voice cracked as the rough pad of his thumb wiped away her tears. " I don't want to lose you."
His voice pleaded in her ear. "Hermione, I've wished I was with you every night of my existence, but I can't risk being around you."
He gently cupped her face and leaned towards her. She closed her eyes. The cold, night air caused the tears to chill on her cheeks, which warmed when Draco brushed his lips against hers. Her mouth parted as the touch of his tongue, and she shivered when his fingers caressed the skin of her throat. Her body trembled with suppressed sobs. This felt like a goodbye; he really was going to leave. She reached up to draw him closer, to deepen the kiss, but he pulled away with a whimper.
He was panting, and his fangs were out.
"I'm sorry. I can't."
Desperation rose within her. "Draco, please, wait! We haven't considered—"
Too quickly to see, he reappeared ten feet away in the thick of the trees. His grey eyes gleamed like a predator's, ferocious in their intensity.
She started towards him, but he stilled her with a choked cry. "No, don't! Stay there."
She backed up, torn between fear and her desire not to lose him. "Please, wait—"
In a barely controlled growl, he cut her off. "Win the war."
And before she could blink, he was gone.