Chapter 11
(Hermione)
Hermione struggled against the tree she had been tied to. Oddly enough, the man that had kidnapped her didn't take her all that far from school. She was maybe a half an hour walk away. Plus, after he had tied her up, he sat down on a rock to drink something and relax. He didn't even seem interested in her anymore as he leaned back on a tree. "Who are you and what do you want with me?" She snapped at him "You do understand people are going to come looking for me don't you, you…you crazy person!"
"I am counting on it" The man said softly "Ms. Granger, I told you there no need to worry. I only planned to borrow you. I don't wish to harm you or anyone else. Besides, you will be returned to your school by morning. So please just relax" Hermione stared at him in wonder.
"What are you after? Are you after money or someone who cares for me? I mean, if you are telling the truth buddy then what the hell was the point in kidnapping me?" She heard a low sigh as the man reach up to removed his hood. Hermione found herself staring at the vampire Peter Newkirk. "You're after Draco!? Well I won't let you hurt him! I'll kill you before I'd let that happen!"
Peter smiled at her "Ms. Granger I have no intention of hurting my son anymore than you do." Hermione's eyes widened as she looked at Peter. It was all so clear now. Why he had come into a wizarding town; why he stuck around; why he hadn't attacked Draco, but had seemed very interested in him. She couldn't believe she never put this together: it was as plain as fucking day. "I want to help him just like you do."
"I don't understand how is this going to help him... Better yet, what is happening to him?" She asked, trying to take it all in. So much was happening in such a short amount of time. "You know his illness won't allow him to come out this far. He barely makes it to town alone…" Peter raised his hand.
"First off, Draco is not sick; this is not an illness as you people seemed to have labeled it." Peter raised a hand at her protest. "Draco is 10 percent vampire and what is happening to him is called vampiric puberty, and before you ask, yes all vampires have a second puberty. It starts when we are reborn, but Draco wasn't reborn, he was just born…You following this?"
"I think so…You're saying he is having his a second puberty because he has some vampire in him and its being mistaken for an illness because wizards don't understand?" She replied back, hoping she had understood. "Oh, and that this is different from a full-blooded vampire's puberty because he is mostly wizard."
"You got it." Peter smiled at her as he reached up to remove his sunglasses. If she hadn't known vampires see better in the dark, she would have asked why the hell he had them on. His gray eyes met hers; it was amazing how much he looked like a Malfoy. "I am a Malfoy Ms. Granger. That is why I look like one. I changed my name a few 100 years ago to keep out of sight better." She had lots of questions for him, but first she need to know more about Draco's second puberty.
"Will you please just tell me what is happening to him…I mean I understand it is a kind of puberty, but I don't get how it's a puberty seeing as that refers to raging hormones." She asked this, wondering so many things all at once, but trying to stay focused on Draco's heath. "And why did it just show up now? Why not when he went through his first puberty?"
"Draco's body had to become strong enough to withstand this one. If his body couldn't handle the awaking beast in him, it would have killed him. The changes are very stressful on the body. That's why vampires are so weak when they first become reborn. Your whole system is changing…it's like changing an organ in a muggle. Your body has to get used to the new member. This makes you weak and tired, and can even make you sick to your stomach."
"That makes sense. My Aunt had a liver transplant and she was very weak for a few months." Hermione said, feeling good she finely understood Draco's illness slash puberty. "Why does he go out hunting and what sets him off?" She asked Peter, wanting to learn as much as possible.
"Like I said, his body is changing. It needs to learn how to use its new skills and replenish what it is losing during the changes." He got up, walking over to her "Muggles take pills, wizards take potions and vampires learn to drink blood." She nodded, feeling the knowledge fill in the gaps and making her understand more. "Draco won't need to feed on wizarding blood often. Once the change is over, he could go for years without a drop. It's all really just part of his growing up. He needs to learn to hunt, feed and control the beast." He smiled at Hermione "That's where you come in, my dear"
"What? Is he after me?" She asked, confused at his statement. "I thought that's why he was changing; to teach him self to hunt and feed…By the way, you haven't told me what sets him off"
"Slow down, I am not a firkin' book. Now first let me explain that it is very important his beast is let out." He looked her dead in the eye "That's one of the reasons why so many people died from this. You damn wizards think they are crazy and lock them up. Which means their vampire parent can't get to them easily to help release their beast. This starts an inner battle with the locked-up half. In the end the conflict kills them or they die of loneliness because they have chosen a mate and you fools wouldn't let them see their mate"
She felt really glad she didn't turn Draco in after hearing that. He had gone through so much inner conflict over the years this one surely would have killed him. "A vampire's parent must give their child a little blood to set them off. It's sort of like milk for a new born baby." Hermione understood this too and after hearing a lot of the answers she couldn't believe no one had ever thought of asking a damn vampire what was happening. "Ok so, you know why he looks sick. You know what sets him off for the hunting."
"The hunting?" Hermione asked wanting to understand what that meant.
"Vampire's have to be careful not to be caught or they'll most likely be killed because they need blood to live. It is really very stupid when you think about it, I mean if a few good people offered to donate blood to us we wouldn't have to hunt at all…Anyways, Draco's beast half isn't all to bright just yet. It's just woken up, its hungry and it's confused as hell." He pulled the ropes off so Hermione could step out. "I'm guessing Draco doesn't remember hunting anyone either. It's a very traumatic change in one's life. Blocking it out is a defense until he is ready to deal with it."
"Gods I can't believe no one ever drew any of these conclusions. I mean, they're like as plain as fucking day…I just can't believe I never put it together, nor did anyone else for that matter." Hermione said as she sat down next to Peter on the rock. "I can already tell that his beast needs to hunt to learn how to be unseen; to be safe from harm and to get a better handle on itself."
"Pretty much, you're just missing one fact. The two halves must learn to share the one body. Right now Draco's beast half isn't smart enough to speak with his other half. In turn, when he is in his beast form, he'll be more like a wild animal than a person. His communication will be very limited to grunts, purrs and growls."
"That is why people thought the vampire children where crazy. Your kids couldn't tell them anything because they were too young and hadn't finished the changes!" Hermione half shouted when it finally became clear.
"Yes, Draco's vampire half is a new born baby, you can't expect a baby to tell you what is happening to them; they don't even know, they're just learning themselves." Peter said calmly, "And to top it off, this baby is 17, going through the stress of finding his first mate and not understanding any of it in either form. It's a very hard thing to go through no matter what race you are."
"Wait, he is looking for a mate too?" Hermione asked, a bit lost now "I didn't know vampires had mates. I mean you can't have kids together…I am lost again." Peter let out a soft friendly kind of laugh.
"We don't mate like you do and Draco won't mate like we do either. It's like this; a vampire picks a mate to spend his or her life with. We have very long lives you know, and spending them alone is just too much to bear. So we pick a life-mate and hope to live forever with them…It doesn't always work out, but it makes life more livable." He raised his hand a bit "Draco won't pick a life mate; he'll pick a yearly one until he finds a life mate. He in both forms wants his mate to be his friend, so he hunts those that hurt her in beast form and he tries to be close to her in human form…"
"Oh I get it, his mating instinct is still mostly wizard, but a small part of his vampiric self kicks in and the two must agree to be with at least one female a year or forever. His wizard half is after children, but his beast half is after companionship." She said with a big smile, but it then faded away "Wait, when does he pick a mate? And how?"
"The how depends on him, but it would have been somewhere at the start of this school year. Right before I let his beast out for the first time." Peter said, as his eyes looked into the woods.
"Oh so…do you know who his chosen mate is?" Hermione asked, feeling kind of upset about him chasing after someone else.
"Yes, I am surprised you don't." Peter answered, looking over at her.
"Draco's not that open with his feelings. It's hard to tell what he's feeling any time or if he feeling anything at all. I wouldn't have a clue who he liked" She said, looking down at her feet.
"He attacked two teachers right?" Peter asked, Hermione nodded "Ok the first one was a guy, um Professor Snape I think it was?" Hermione nodded again. "Tell me before the attack did Snape upset or threaten anyone you know?"
"Snape is always threatening people I know, it's how the man gets his jollies" Hermione said in a joking, yet serious manner.
"What about the second one, did that teacher threaten anyone you know?" Peter asked, making Hermione think about it.
"Now that you mention it, me and my friends got in a lot of trouble the night she was attacked…Draco's mate would be female right?" Hermione asked just incase, Peter nodded his head yes. "That means his mate is either Ginny Weasley or…or me?"
"Which one is sitting in the woods with Draco's vampiric father?" Peter asked and Hermione's eyes filled with shock and joy. It was her! After all she had been through that day for him and over him. Now she comes to find out she was his mate.
"Wait a second if, I am his mate why hasn't he tried to get in my paints and why is he sleeping with other girls?" She asked folding her arms over her chest grumpily.
"First off, only his beast half knows you're his mate. His human half is still a teenage boy. And just what teenage boy wouldn't sleep around if he could?" He had her there, she knew even Harry sleep around if he had the chance to. "See Granger, the reason I drug you out here is to test how he is coming along. Once his beast half wakes up tonight, he'll come out here looking for you. He won't eat until he finds you; once he knows your ok, he will hunt a small animal and then he'll take you home…Of course he will be like a wild animal when he checks you over."
"Um…How come I don't like the sound of that?" Hermione asked kind of liking Draco's vampire Daddy. The man seemed to care very much for his son and only appeared to want the best for him.
"Because it won't be pleasant: he will sniff, lick and nip every single inch of you until he is positive you haven't been harmed." Hermione's face twisted up in distaste "You better let him do it too; his human half won't have any control so he'll be forceful if he thinks you don't want him."
"Do you mean to say there is a chase he might rape me in his beast form?" Hermione asked as her stomach did a little dance.
"Oh no, rape is much too nice a word for what he might do" She let out a loud groan, not wanting to be Draco's chosen mate anymore. "It will take about year for him to get total control over this. The best thing you can do for both your sakes is give the beast half what it wants and just be friends with his human half. If you fight the beast and he does rape you, Draco will forever have to live with the knowledge that he raped you. The beast may not care, but the human will and seeing as he is 90 percent human it will haunt him forever. Not to mention you will have to live out your life as a rape victim."
"Wow this is shitty all the way around. I give in to the beast I end up losing my virginity to a man that doesn't know what he is doing and if I don't same story only more unpleasant." She let out a low soft breath. Earlier today she was mad because Draco hadn't offered to sleep with her, now she was scared he just might do that!
"Don't worry too much deary, even as the beast he won't be ready to mate just yet." She looked up at Peter with hopeful eyes. "Right now he hasn't even come to you in beast form. He has been protecting you without you even knowing it. After tonight he'll make his animal move on you, which will be a lick and nip on your right shoulder. He will be asking for you to approve him as your mate." He looked to make sure she understood. "If you don't give the ok, he'll keep attacking people that threaten you along with a few other unpleasant things like marking your space as his."
"You mean he might piss in my stuff?" Hermione asked wide eyed.
"If you're lucky that's all he'll do" Peter answered and Hermione gagged in disgust at the idea of Draco pooping in her bed or something. It was disturbing and yet funny. "Now if you agree, he won't find the need to do those things. He'll just be overly jealous of other males. He won't attack them unless he thinks you might leave him for them. Plus, if you do agree to be his mate…He's going to want to mate."
"Wow this just keeps getting better and better" Hermione said sarcastically.
"Yep and here he comes," Peter said, standing up as a black-robbed figure moved into the opening. Hermione didn't know what to do as Peter walked over to his son. The vampire pulled back the hood to show Hermione that Draco's personality wasn't the only thing that changed. His ears were a bit pointed, his eyes glowed a little, his vampire fangs had grown out and his fingernails were longer. Peter looked his son over a bit before running his hands through Draco's hair. She could see Draco smile as he hugged his vampire daddy. "Doing just fine, you're right on time." Peter made Draco look at him. "Don't worry daddy didn't hurt your mate."
Draco's glowing eyes looked over at her in a worried kind of way. She smiled at him giving a little wave; which made him smile and purr as he hugged his father once more. "Well, I'm going to go let you two be alone" Peter said, patting Draco's back. Hermione got up, a little uneasy
"Peter, why haven't you told Draco's human half you're his vampiric father?" She asked, coming to stand next to him as he moved away from his son.
"His human half isn't ready to know that yet." He then shook her hand "I'll be seeing you around Ms. Granger." With one last pat on Draco's head, Peter Newkirk or Malfoy was off into the woods. She watched him go, feeling kind of lost without him there to explain things to her. Suddenly, she felt Draco's hands around her waist as he started to sniff her neck and lick it.
'Oh Gods what do I do now?' She thought as he started to do what Peter said he would. She was so naïve that she ended up standing butt naked in the woods before it was over. Again, like Peter said, once Draco was sure she was unharmed he relaxed. The only thing was his relaxing brought him to the moment she feared. She cringed as his tongue licked her shoulder and his sharp teeth nipped at it lightly. When she didn't respond he nipped a little harder.
Hermione was breathing so hard she felt dizzy. Draco pulled back to look at her and grunt demanding an answer. Hermione couldn't help it her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fainted in his arms.