A/N: Just wanted to thank everyone for being patient. Once finals were over, I had a bit of writer's block with this story, but yay my muse is back!

Disclaimer: HpNot Mine, Me Broke.

Hermione wandered through the halls, wishing to herself that Ginny was still alive. It had been Ginny that could always be persuaded to help in the research of all of the strange little tasks that they had been involved in ever since they got to Hogwart's. Ginny would have been more than happy to help Hermione research vampires, but she knew that eventually she would have to get used to life without Ginny. She couldn't fathom how horrid the Weasleys felt.

Once she reached Gryffindor tower, Hermione calmly said the password to the Fat Lady who silently swung to the side to let her enter. Sadly enough, the common room itself seemed to mirror the misery that Hermione felt. Things just hadn't been the same without Ginny. Although she wasn't a member of the so-called "Golden Trio", Ginny had her rightful place in all their lives. To think, Ron and Harry would have never seen the interior of the Slytherin common room second year if Ginny hadn't been around. True, the poor girl had been kidnapped by Voldemort's diary, but her presence had made things interesting.

Somehow, Hermione knew that losing Ginny had been worse on Harry than on any other death. Cedric had sadly only been the beginning. And adding Sirius on top of that, compounded with that awful Umbridge woman, it was no wonder that Harry cracked under pressure. And to think, of them all it had been Professor Snape to find and save Harry, albeit unusually. For the first time, Hermione thought that she may understand the Potion's master a bit. He cared very deeply for his students, in his own way, and those who could not see that were blinded by his hardened shell.

Hermione settled her thoughts back on the task at hand. Without Ginny's help, she would have to settle with reading through the books on vampires that she had already checked out of the library herself. The only problem with those books was that like muggle books, Hermione wasn't sure what to believe, and since Harry didn't appear to know anything, asking him would be practically pointless. It really would have been nice to have another brain to bounce ideas off of.

After a moment, she had a brilliant idea. Why not ask Professor Erasmus himself? Since he was the one to come up with this "wonderful" plan that Harry was under the effects of some sort of highly contagious disease, then he had to know what truly was going on with Harry.

Hermione smiled smugly as she left her room and sauntered off towards the dungeons to what had previously been Professor Snape's chambers.

Severus sat, staring at the almost perfect image of his lost love. It was hard to believe that Draco, having been partly his, had completely sidestepped the Snape features and gained only the pale features of Elizabeth. Draco must have sensed Severus staring because he looked up suddenly, his lips trying to fight a small smile.

"Did you need something, Father?" The boy asked, almost timidly.

Severus shook his head. "No, Draco. I was simply marveling the extent that you look like your mother. I truly wish that she could have met you."

Draco nodded. "I've been thinking…"

Severus looked at Draco questioningly. "About what, Draco?"

Draco sighed, almost as if to gain his nerve. "I wanted to apologize for my previous actions. I know now that I may have been a bit unfair to you. I still am not particularly overjoyed at the prospect that you thought of Potter before you thought of me, but that is something that I cannot change. I suppose the important thing is that you are trying now…."

Severus nodded. "Draco, no one is perfect. Had I been fully aware of everything that went on at Malfoy Manor, I never would have left you there for so long. I don't know how to get you to believe that, but I imagine that your belief isn't the biggest issue at the moment. All parents wish that they never made mistakes, and this situation, while there was a bit of interference that complicated matters, could have been handled a bit differently. For that Draco, I do apologize."

Draco seemed to mull things over for a moment. "There is part of me that desires to punish you for the injustices you've caused me; part of me that wishes for your pain. But, in all truth, punishment never produces the desired result. I don't know if what Erasmus has given me can be considered an amazing gift, or a difficult curse. My mind is so split, that at times, I believe that it will split down the middle and leave me an imbecile."

Severus sat up in his chair and leaned forward. "Draco, the only advice that I can give to you is this: it is both. At times, I have been truly thankful that I am not entirely human, and others, it has made me a very lonesome man. Your mother somehow saw through all of that, and rather than thinking me a demon of the night, she embraced me, never fearing. I have never met another like her, and I doubt if I ever will again. To her, nothing that I had done wrong mattered. All she cared about was my happiness. I suppose that is one of the greatest reasons that I gave you away."

Draco stared his father dead in the eye. "I don't understand."

Severus sighed. "The blundering fool that I was, I blamed you, a small child, for your mother's death. I kept telling myself that if it hadn't been for you, she would still be with me. Over the years, I have realized that she wanted you just as much as I did. And sometimes, even in the wizarding world, things happen beyond ones control…I did want you to have a good life, Draco. I simply feared that because of my resentment, you would be better served elsewhere. I apologize for that grave miscalculation."

"If you had it all to do over again, what would you do?" Draco asked, trying to still the hurt from his voice.

Severus smiled. "I would change nothing."

Erasmus sat in his boy's chambers and silently sharpened his claws against an old stone that he had found on the Potion Master's desk.

The teaching of the young- who would have ever thought him capable? It was only a mere 700 years ago that he aided an army of conquering soldiers in burning a village in Bavaria to the ground. Sometimes at night, he could still hear the pitiful cries of the children. Their agonizing screams used to fill him with a sense of amusement. But now, after encountering so many that seemed more than just merely small faces, the cries could not be stifled. Almost as if they were coming back to haunt him, to make him pay for his past transgressions. He supposed that he had never been the epitome of good, but he certainly was not truly evil. At least not that he was aware of.

There was a time when he relished in the amount of blood he could spill in a given day. At times, he missed those days. He missed the thrill of it. The thrill of the hunt. But, as with the passage of time, he imagined that if he tried to do those things now, he would be sorely disappointed. One's memories always seemed to be better than the actual experience. Just as he was about to lay the stone back down on Severus' desk, a knock sounded at the door. Erasmus sniffed at the air. Definitely feminine, pure, uncorrupt. What was a creature like that doing seeking out his rooms?

Erasmus crept across the room and slowly opened the door, grinning like a maniac; fangs extending over his lower lip.

Hermione took one look at Erasmus and tried to decide if she should save her skin and make a run for it.

"Can I help you, Miss…Granger I think it was?" Erasmus continued with the odd smile.

Hermione took a deep breath. "Yes, sir. I… well…."

"Spit it out child, I do not have eternity." Erasmus said facetiously.

"Sir, I… I wanted to know the truth about vampires."

Erasmus relaxed his smile into something altogether more pleasant. Thought for a moment, then stepped aside for her to enter.

"Welcome to my lair, Miss Granger."

Hermione took another breath, quickly sidestepped the vampire, and entered into his rooms. Erasmus slowly closed the door behind them, purposefully allowing the hinges to creak.