Stalking Isn't Nice… Even If You Propose

Hermione was sitting between Cordelia and Faith on the couch in their office. It's been two hours since she left the Sons and came here. After Reid opened up to her and vice-versa, she found her thoughts stuck on the blonde git she hated so much. She obviously still hated him. And finding out that he slept with a stuffed hippogriff named Roman for every night that Reid lived with them, was only information that she could use during one of their next arguments in the middle of a crowded corridor… or during dinner in the Great Hall. The thought of Draco crawling into Reid's bed with Roman every time there was thunder didn't make him seem human to her. And Hermione definitely didn't think it was adorable how Draco would get the family together every Friday from when he was only two years old and strum his little guitar while singing little made up songs in only his knickers and socks. She still hated him

"You alright there, Scarlet?"

Looking up from the spot on the tiles that she was staring at, Hermione saw Spike standing right in front of her, "Erm… yeah."

"I think we found him," Angel announced, stepping into the room. "Hermione, are you ready to go into the sewers?"

"Sewers?"

"Yeah," Angel was packing things into a tiny little duffle bag while Faith began to toss her stake into the air. "Obviously Spike and I can't go out into the sun and the vampire we're looking for is also obviously not in the sun. We spotted a lone vampire sleeping down there earlier who seemed to match your description. You wanna come with us to make sure we kill the right one and not some innocent vampire who feeds off only the blood of rats?"

"Do you really need to remind us of the life you lived while redeeming yourself every chance you get?" Cordelia asked.

"Yes," Angel nodded his head, throwing the bag over his shoulder, "Yes, I do. Are you guys ready?"

Faith walked ahead of them, wearing a leather outfit similar to the one from the day before; playing with her stake while Angel kept a lookout behind them, also playing with a stake in his hands. Spike tried to force Hermione to take one as well, but she merely grinned while flashing her wand. She never went anywhere without it, and she felt safer with her wand than a plain piece of wood that's only purpose was to be rammed through a heart – which also meant she had to become close enough to the vampire to stab it with the stick. Her way was less gruesome and less suicidal. Reminding herself to just keep breathing, Hermione ignored the fact that the liquid getting into her shoes were once inside of peoples bodies, and had been removed one of two ways; it was disgusting.

Then Hermione remembered she was a witch. Surely there was a spell that would get rid of the foul stench as well as keep her clean? Searching her mind for such a spell, she couldn't remember learning once. Making a mental note to scourgify herself once she reached land again until she could take an actual hot shower, Hermione continued trudging through the human waste. How can any creature choose to willingly sleep and live down here? Looking back at Angel she gave him a small smile and nodded her head in a friendly gesture before looking back ahead of her. She didn't know how he managed to live like this for a century, but she looked up to him now; he was definitely a fighter.

"Thinking of a certain mini me?" Spike teased with a nudge of his elbow to her ribs.

Scowling up at him, Hermione pressed her index finger to her lips, "Shh," she warned him, "We wouldn't want to scare the stalker away now would we?"

Smirking, Spike shook his head, "I'll take that as a yes."

"As a matter of a fact I was not thinking about him," Hermione informed the smirking blonde vampire, crossing her arms over her chest. "I was thinking about how disgusting all of this is."

"Oh honestly you two," Angel snarled, approaching them, "Be quiet. How are we supposed to sneak up on anyone with you two bickering?"

"We were not bickering," Hermione pouted, "I was merely informing William here that he is wrong in his assertions."

"Oh, god," Faith rolled her eyes, also approaching them. "Spike – you walk in front. Angel Cakes – fall behind us again. Doll Face and I will stay in the middle now."

Glad to be away from Spike and his prodding, Hermione found her thoughts wandering back to Draco once again. Reid's memories stayed stuck in her mind, blending in with the proud ferret that she knew so well from school, and she realized something – she doesn't know him so well. She doesn't know him at all. She knows absolutely nothing about him. Sure, she knows that he's a pureblood and he hates her for being a Mudblood, but she didn't know that his father was training him to kill his own half-brother. She knew that he liked to pick on the weaker links, but she didn't know that he was frightened by lightning. She knew that he liked to sprinkle cinnamon on his porridge every morning while eating breakfast and she knew that he wrote with his right hand but used his left hand to doodle. She knew that when he swerved more to his left on his broom while playing Quidditch, the wind curved his hair up just a little – Whoa! Alright, maybe she knew more about him than was considered normal, but it didn't mean that she had a crush on him. Spike was just idiotic, and she was just prone to paying more attention to detail than was necessary.

"You alright there, Doll Face?" Faith asked, noticing that Hermione just paled while her eyes darkened a bit.

Shaking her thoughts away, Hermione ignored the smirking gaze that Spike just flashed her and she nodded her head, "Yeah, sorry; I was just thinking about something Reid told me."

"You mean the boys that you met up with for breakfast?" when Hermione nodded her head, Faith quirked an eyebrow, "Yeah, you've been spacing all day today. What did they say at breakfast?"

Breakfast – Draco's favorite meal of the day, and the one moment that he didn't look like he wanted to kill the entire world; the moment when he still had that soft innocence in his eyes and a… hearing someone clear their throat, Hermione saw that Faith was watching her with an amused look on her face, and she quickly blushed. "Oh… erm… come to find out, Reid is Malfoy's half-brother; it's a long story really."

"Gee," Faith lightly chuckled, "No wonder you've been spacy all afternoon then."

"Faith," Angel growled, walking up to them, "Cover the back. The whole point of you walking with Hermione was so we wouldn't make any noise."

Smiling up at Angel, Hermione found herself thinking back to her favorite professor from Hogwarts, aside from Professor McGonagall of course, but Angel reminded her so much of Remus. They both regretted the monsters that they believed they were and they both spent most of their time in solitude; finding little pleasure and amusement in the forms of annoying friends who forced them out into the real world. At least they did in the beginning.

When he first entered Hogwarts, Remus had his best friends: James, Sirius, and Pettigrew to help him out. In the beginning, Angel had his own friends as well: Darla, Drusilla, and Spike. They all became odd little families; helping the other to cope with their new cravings and experiences. Then one day Remus lost it all: James and his wife were killed then the next day Pettigrew was 'killed' as well, and Sirius was sentenced to Azkaban for the murders. Angel lost it all as well. Not only could he not kill anymore, but he had been abandoned by the ones he actually considered his family. He had his lover, his 'son,' and his 'grandchild.' Suddenly Remus has Sirius back with him after twelve years of being alone, and he learns that Sirius was framed and Pettigrew had been alive as well, but instead of being able to go out into the public with his best friend by his side, Sirius has to stay in hiding while Pettigrew is on the run. Then you have Angel – one day he joins forces with the slayer and everyone comes back to him. Darla returned to reclaim him, but he ended up killing her; Drusilla and Spike ended up returning, but Drusilla left, and now he's stuck with only Spike whom isn't the greatest of company.

"You okay Hermione?" Angel asked, breaking into Hermione's thoughts, "You look a little sick there."

Looking up at the vampire who she now felt an ache for; Hermione nodded her head with teary eyes, "I'm fine, it's just that you remind me so much of Professor Lupin."

"Oi!" Spike shouted, "No talking remember, besides, we're here."

Stepping between Spike and Faith, Hermione saw that he was right. And this was in fact the vampire who had been stalking her. Instead of scooting closer to the slayer or to the vampire who reminded her so much of a person she trusted; she found herself scooting against the one vampire who annoyed her and reminded her of the person who would one day possibly kill her. Faith seemed to notice it too because she smirked, and Spike wrapped an instinctive possessive arm around Hermione's shoulders letting her know she was safe.

The vampire seemed to sense them because in an instant he was jumping up. His eyes landed on Hermione in Spike's arms and he snarled; his face becoming all bumpy like. "What the hell are you doing with him?" the vampire shouted at Hermione.

"Oi!" Spike shouted back, "It isn't very nice to shout, mate."

"Oh shove it," the vampire hissed. His eyes landed on Angel and then Faith and he took a step back. "What is all of this, babe?" he asked Hermione, "Why are you bringing two vampires and a slayer to our lair?"

"Our?" Faith scoffed, taking a quick look around the sewer hole they were in – there was one tiny little bed and a desk. "Consider us the welcoming committee."

"You don't frighten me, slayer," he told her. "Come here, Hermione," he told the witch, "And move away from them," his glowing yellow eyes darkened to an almost crimson color as he watched Hermione shake her head and move closer to Spike, trusting him to guard her. "What are you doing?" the stalker vampire growled at her. "Get over here. Come to me now!"

"Now that's not very nice," Angel said, rolling his head until his own forehead became bumpy. "Didn't your mother ever teach you it's not nice to talk to a child like that?"

"I ate my mother."

"Funny," Angel chuckled, "So did I," Angel tilted his head over at Spike who was also in his vampire form, "Didn't you do the same thing too, Spike?"

Nodding his head, Spike kept his eyes on the vampire in front of him. "Must be some sort of initiation ritual for all of us."

"How sweet," Faith grinned, "Sorry I can't be a part of this little cool vampire club thing you all got going on here, but I have killed a mother demon once. Does that count?"

Hermione found it odd. They found him… they were staring right at him. This was the vampire who was stalking her, and they made it known to her that they were planning on killing him, but instead they were… they were… playing word games with him. She found it amusing but odd at the same time. Why were the patronizing him? Was this all some sort of game to them? Looking up at Spike, she didn't find herself anywhere near frightened by the sight in front of her; his eyes were glowing and his forehead was bumpy while sharp fangs were bared at her stalker, but instead of being frightened, Hermione found herself trying to mesh in with his body.

Spike felt Hermione start to shiver against him, and his eyes lowered towards her, "You alright there, Scarlet?" he asked, confused as to why she was only now shaking. Didn't she realize she was safe?

Nodding her head, Hermione gripped her wand tightly, "It's cold."

Spike didn't believe her. He could feel her, and that type of shivering wasn't from being cold. Raising an eyebrow at her, he saw the blush in her eyes and realized she must have been thinking of his little mini me again and the thought frightened her. "We're almost finished here."

"Yes we are," the stalker stated, "Just hand me my bride and get the hell out of here."

"Eh!" Faith shouted, "Watch your language. We have a child with us."

Rolling his eyes, the stalker scoffed, "My bride won't be a child for much longer."

"All this bride talk," Angel announced, "I'm starting to feel a little bad. We haven't brought a wedding gift."

Dropping her jaw, Hermione looked up at Angel, and Spike winced in pain when he felt her dig her nails tightly into his ribs and try to practically climb his body. "Relax, Scarlet," Spike whispered in her ear, trying to soothe her, "We aren't giving you to him. This is what the hero does; he learned it from Buffy – we all did actually. We throw back and forth some witty banter before we kill the bad guys."

"It riles me up for a good fight," Faith informed the still nervous and confused witch.

Nodding her head, Hermione only said, "Oh, okay."

"Why are you holding him, babe?" the stalker asked vampire, "And why haven't you come yet?"

Snickering, Faith took another step closer to him, "She's only thirteen, babe,I have a feeling she won't be coming for a very long time."

Spike felt the heat from the girl's face through his shirt and chuckled, "This is what's going to happen, lover boy. We're going to kill you."

"What? Why? I didn't do anything."

"You stalked a thirteen year old girl after she very blatantly told you that she didn't want anything to do with being your queen," Angel rolled his eyes. Why did they always have to play stupid to everything?

"She has power," the vampire told them; inching away towards the concrete wall behind him once he saw Angel and Faith move forward again. Spike was standing still, more concerned on making Hermione feel safe than actually killing the pathetic vampire.

Hermione rolled her eyes now, "Yes, because I am a witch."

"No," the stalker vampire laughed, shaking his head, "It's much more than just that. You're one of the ones that will bring him down."

"Bring who down?" asked Spike.

"Him," the vampire grinned, flashing his fangs, "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."

Hermione gasped, "Voldemort? You know about Voldemort? What do you mean I'm one of the ones who will bring him down?"

"You're powerful," the stalker vampire told her, staring into her confused eyes, "You work with the boy who must kill him and you guide him along the way. Without you, your friend will be killed, but because of you he'll win the war. You will be my queen and together we will defeat them all. Together we will run this world. Together, our children will-"

Faith and Angel froze in their places with dropped jaws. One moment the vampire was talking to Hermione about some crazy stuff and the next moment he was being suspended high in the air, and it almost seemed like he was gasping for air… which is ridiculous because he is a vampire and vampires do not need air. Turning around, they saw Hermione standing right in front of a shocked Spike with her wand in her hand and directed at the insane vampire.

"I. Am. Not. Having. Any. Children. With. You," every spoken word was its own sentence and ended with the stalker being slammed into the wall, "I. Am. A. Thirteen. Year. Old. Child."

Faith looked from Hermione to the stalker and back at Hermione then started to laugh, "Seems to me like she does fine on her own."

"Hermione," Angel said, shaking away his memories of the last time he's dealt with a wand wielding witch, "Put the wand down."

"I. Tried. Very. Nicely. To. Tell. You. I. Was. Not. Interested!"

Seeing that Hermione was ignoring Angel's words, Spike bravely stepped forward and placed a hand on Hermione's wand hand and whispered, "Scarlet, calm down now, love. We can't find out anything about this war thing he seems to know about if he's scattered all along the wall, now can we?"

Flicking her wrist, Hermione watched as the stalker vampire dropped to the ground with a shriek of pain. "Very well," she huffed out, "Get on with the questioning then."

"Remind me not get on her wicked side," Faith whispered to Angel before walking over to the groaning vampire. "See what happens when you stalk someone. You never know just how dangerous they really are."

Sorry this chapter is so short... I have no excuses... But hmm… what a cliffhanger, eh?(: What do you guys think?