Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Challenge accepted from Gin no Kaze

Quick author's note: This is AU as you can obviously tell, some of the character may act or seem different because of one important factor - Harry. Those you expect to be on friendly terms may not be. So yeah, I still kept the characters as in character as possible. I'm introducing them with cautious care. I don't anyone flipping on me.

One Too Many

Nero, a Vampire?

Hermione huffed angrily as she dragged Ronald – although it's quite weird that she calls him Ronald affectionately but refers to him as Ron when upset when everyone else does exactly the opposite. She held his wrist in a vise grip, so tightly that the white of her knuckles were beginning to show. Fred and George walked behind them the older of the two place a hand of their younger sister's shoulder subtly pushing her to keep walking because they knew that she was a stubborn and once she's interested in something that she'll go out of her way to find everything about the subject of her interest. She developed this habit of hers during their younger years always feeling left out amongst her family members as the only female she was always alone and striving to be 'one of the boys'.

Fred and George exchanged discreet glances when they noticed how angry the witch was, but it was more than that too, they had seen what set their brother off. This was something they had to see. Ginny followed wanting to know what was up and to watch the smartest witch of their (or so she heard) tear her tactless brother a new one.

The bushy haired witch dragged her 'acquaintance' to the library there she let go with a shove making Ronald stumble on his feet until he spun red in the face to look at her. Before he could even attempt to argue with her she jumped right into her lecture.

"There was no reason for you to react that way, Ron!"

"Did you not see his eyes," Ron defended back.

Hermione flicked her eyes to Fred and George when they stiffened before looking at Ron wondering where he was getting at because if he was going where she thought he was she would really start to question his intelligence.

Ginny looked confusedly feeling like she missed something, obviously everyone knew what Ron was talking about. "See what?"

"His eyes turned red!"

"That's where you're wrong, Ronnikins –"

"– they flickered red." Hermione huffed at the annoying way the twins responded (to her mostly since she was still getting used to their manner of speech).

Ginny furrowed her brows trying to remember when they had happened. "I didn't see anything like that," she finally said.

"That's because it was nothing. It's a common occurrence," Hermione explained looking exasperated at the superstitious wizards. "In the right lighting and angle, human pupils will reflect light giving out a red color. Completely normal, I've red pictures taken where my eyes came out red – animals do it too."

"But this isn't a picture, and eyes don't flicker any color anymore or at least not that brightly and especially not that red of a color." Ronal argued. "That's not normal, Hermione and you know it. He's…he's a vampire!"

"Don't be ridiculous." Ronald just gave her an equally exasperated look at her stubbornness.

"We rarely see him, he's always sleeping or in that creepy dark library. He never eats anything, at all." Ronald pointed out the facts that will ultimately lead to proving he's supposed theory of Nero being a vampire. "Not only that he's pale – like he's never seen the sun or something. Don't forget that there's spells to disguise his more prominent features, and what's with the white hair?"

"My god Ron," she pointed at his chest while the other rested on her hip. Her bushy hair seemingly puffing up as though it was preparing itself for a lecture like there was no tomorrow, silently the spectators abandoned their brother to face her wrath alone, traitors. "If you don't remember, Nero's playing catch up in learning those missed four years, of course you're not going to see him often. He's studying! And the Black Library is not creepy, it's filled with an immense amount of knowledge and culture albeit mostly dark – there's nothing creepy about it." Hermione flushed in her cheeks, but Ronald didn't miss the slight wavering in her tone. "And just because you don't see him eat, doesn't mean that he's not eating anything. Furthermore, there are people born with white hair they are called albinos, some people don't tan either they just burn under the heat. Besides what's wrong with being a vampire?"

"Oh y'know besides them drinking blood, they're soulless creatures!"

"They are not soulless; they simply abandoned their humanity, difference."

"Same difference, he's a bloody vampire," he insisted.

Hermione opened her mouth to no doubt to jump into another rant explaining again why Nero was not a vampire when the subject of their argument interrupted them with a snort (or maybe it was a huff that could almost be called laughter).

Noting his exhausted eyes, Hermione felt her guilt rising again. She really hadn't meant to slam the door open nor had she meant to wake up the recluse teen. The white haired teen's eyes were filled with mirth, although the dark circle made him paler. There was also a hint of resentment – bitterness maybe in his eyes and smirk. She's seen him sitting right in this very library madly scribbling away in that tiny eligible scrawl of his. She remembers his rejecting her offer of help politely never once removing his eyes from the open tome muttering about doing it all on his own.

"You think I'm a vampire?" Nero rhetorically asked before huffing, "That's a first."

"Well are you?"

"No."

"Oh…"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Oh indeed." She stated dryly knowing that Ronald will not give in his theory until he's proven right but usually his theories fall flat. That's why they were a team, he made up the theories and she proved them false with a better theory that is always proven right (or close to it).

They weren't friends, but they also weren't enemies or strangers to each other. It was a strange association between the two. She was only here because after many insistences from Ronald's mother that she had finally given in the towel and decided to visit. Mrs. Weasley seemed to be under the impression that they were more than 'just friends'. She was also very grateful that she was the one to push Ron to become more studious and less insecure about his abilities among other things, but that wasn't necessarily her doing – Ronald did that himself in a moment of sheer necessity of the situation.

This is something she had never forgiven him for. She will never forgive him, it was unforgivable. And he knew it too, what ever friendship that might have bloomed between fell flat that day.

Kyrie,

Happy Birthday, she's in need of a home and a name.

By the time you receive this letter I'll be living in that school. Apparently, here in backwards land they still use messenger birds. Owls are the best of the best; you'd think it would be a falcon or something. I have officially caught up, and got all my supplies today. Getting them was the easy part (oh, the bank is run by goblins – can you believe that! I had to ride a rollercoaster on an underground cave to get money. My biological mother and adoptive father were loaded, they had trust fund set up for me. Who keeps money guarded by dragons underground)?

I had to stand for like three hours to finally get that stupid stick! Mr. Ollivander (a creepy old man that makes the stick – I think he's older than Jesus!) kept giving me sticks only to snatch them away before I could even try it out, and when I did things exploded or break beyond repair. Finally after three hours he asked if I really was left handed with a weird look in his eyes, like he knew nothing was wrong with my other hand. Good thing I was alone and had my hand bandaged. So now I'm a proud owner of a redwood wand with fairy dust (you really don't want to know what I mean by that – seriously) as it core.

I'm sorry you had to spend your first birthday alone with that old man.

-Nero

PS: I have a godfather, it's weird.

Review.

Next time: In which Nero is tested by a crazy person.