A/N: I am shocked by the amount of reviews I've gotten. I've only had five chapters up till now and I've got half the reviews I have for my other big story which has 21 chapters total...i'm shocked. Thank you sooo much to all of my reviewers!! I don't own Harry Potter.
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I turned around and found myself eye to shoulder with Charlie Weasley. His red hair was now just past the tips of his ears. He smiled at me and motioned for me to sit down. As I did I noticed that his seat was right next to mine. "So how did you find yourself here?"
Sighing I leaned back in my chair. "It's a long story."
"Then give me the short and sweet version." Charlie said, taking a sip of water.
Words and phrases jumped around in my mind. I took a deep breath and they all fell into line. "My parents were killed. Well, they weren't actually my birth parents but they raised me. Professor McGonagall pulled me off the Hogwarts Express before it could leave the station and brought me to the Headmasters office." I stared down at my glass as blood started to appear inside of it. "To get straight to the point Pro-Severus is actually my father and he's a vampire. My mother was mortal and died giving birth to me. The tragedy turned me into a Halfling earlier than I was supposed to. Now I'm living with Severus and can't go back to school this year just in case I accidentally slip up and hurt somebody." I swirled the dark red liquid around in the glass and sighed. "So how did you get here?"
Charlie studied me with his deep blue eyes. "I was out in Romania trying to find a Chinese Fireball that had gotten loose. By the time I had found it it was dead. I started back to the camp and got caught in the middle of a furious storm. To get away from the wind and rain I holed myself up in a cave. Turns out there was a Halfling already inhabiting the cave and here I am."
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After we were both full Charlie stood and held out his hand. "May I have this dance?" I hesitantly took his hand and he led me out to the center of the floor where several couples were dancing.
As we twirled around the room the red haired man smiled down at me. "You really look lovely in that dress. It really brings out the silver in your eyes."
I giggled, "What are you talking about? My eyes are hazel. There is no silver in them."
He frowned and looked me hard in the eye. "I guess you're right. It must have been a trick of the light. Please forgive me."
"Not a problem." I studied his face and thought back to the first time I had met him in my fourth year.
"Is there something on my face?" He asked curiously as he spun me gracefully.
I laughed. "No, I was just wondering." I let my sentence trail off, unsure how to state my question. He waited patiently as I connected words and phrases in my mind. "I was wondering if your family knew about you being a Halfling and all."
Silence fell between us and I could almost hear the wheels turning in his head. (A/n: My friends say that whenever I start thinking real hard…they think it's funny….cuz it is.) Finally he said, "Most of my family doesn't know. The only person that I knew I could trust not to tell anyone was Bill because he was never home." His blue eyes sparkled as he looked down at me. "In fact, he's coming over tomorrow morning for breakfast and I'm sure he'd like to see you again."
"He probably doesn't even remember me." I said. It had been two years since I'd met him and I hadn't seen him since. I could barely remember what he looked like.
"I'll talk to Severus about that. He's pretty much been keeping me under lock and key ever since I arrived at his house a little over a week ago." My eyes immediately found the dark man conversing with a beautiful lady at the edges of the room. He turned his head and his dark eyes connected with mine.
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The music came to a stop many hours after the clock had chimed midnight and Charlie and I took our seats. Jacqueline stood up at the head of the room. "Tonight we welcome one more to our rankings." Her voice rang out over the large crowd. "Would Hermione Snape please step into the center of the room?"
I stood from my seat and slowly walked to the very middle of the large ballroom. Jacqueline stood about ten feet in front of me holding a lovely golden goblet. The scent of blood wafted down from the lovely cup and I could feel my mouth start to water.
"Do you, Hermione Snape," the head of the Vampire Council started, "promise to uphold the Vampire Code? To keep humans, Muggle and wizard born safe? To take only what you need and no more? To keep your inheritance a secret from all those that need not know?"
Just as Severus had told me to do I bowed my head and stated in a clear voice, "In the name of the Vampire Council I promise." The goblet was handed to me and I sipped the sweet nectar that kept me alive from it. After a few seconds I handed it back and retracted my fangs. I could feel the magic in the blood, clearly from a powerful witch or wizard.
"Hermione Snape is now a member of the Vampire Council. Go safely into the morning." The beautiful vampire announced to the whole room and there was a flurry of movement.
I started back to my seat to wish Charlie farewell only to find that he was no longer seated there. Someone tapped my shoulder and I whirled to find the blue eyed man standing behind me with a piece of scrape parchment in his hands.
He pressed it into the palm of my left hand. "This is for you, in the case that you can make it for breakfast tomorrow." His lips brushed against the back of my hand. "I must be going. I hope to see you tonight."
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"Did you have a nice time at the ball?" Severus asked as I steadied myself from the after affects of Apparating.
"I had a wonderful time." I said, smiling.
"I see that you and Charlie were getting along quite well. He certainly is a charming young man."
At his words I stared at him in disbelief. "You do realize that you just complemented a Weasley, right?"
Severus laughed. "Yes, Hermione, I do realize that. Charlie was the only one of that brood that I could actually handle being in the same room with. Not that anyone actually knows that, I have a reputation to keep."
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A/n: So this chapters a bit longer than the past….few. I decided to take the top three…contestants?...and refresh all their votes along with my favorite….contestant? I really don't know what to call them. Then you can only vote on those four and we'll see who wins! So here's what voting has been like so far:
Bill: 8
Charlie: 15
Fred: 2
George: 2
Harry: 2
Marcus: 6
Adrian: 1
Draco: 8
Twins: 3
So here's who you can vote for from here on out:
Charlie
Bill
Draco
Twins