Even though he was a rather small child, Harry was certainly a challenge for Hermione to carry back to the castle. And the fact that he just lost consciousness didn't help.
Minutes ago Harry had just turned into a bloodthirsty monster that almost killed her, but if it wasn't for a timely arrival by their Potionsmaster Snape, she'd have been dead already.
All she needed to do now was get Harry to the infirmary, as he had a lot of bruises and cuts. She tried to find Ron on the way back, but Hagrid, who was actually looking for them, told Hermione that Ron had already been picked up.
"Oh, thank goodness," Hermione sighed in relief.
"What 'appened ter Harry? He's not lookin' too well," Hagrid said, sounding very concerned.
"Let's say that something happened, alright Hagrid?" Hermione said. She didn't want to tell what actually happened, because she knew of Hagrid's nature of telling things he shouldn't be telling to people.
"Now," She pulled Harry up. "Mind carrying Harry for me?"
"Oh sure, sure Hermione," Hagrid grabbed Harry's unconscious body and placed him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
After several minutes, they finally arrived at the infirmary. Madam Pomfrey immediately took care of Harry, checking his pulse and whatnot before setting him down on a bed in the middle of the infirmary.
While Harry was unconscious, Hermione looked around and spotted Ron lying on a bed near the door. She left Harry with Hagrid and went to Ron to see if he's awake.
By the time Hermione arrived at Ron's bed, he looked and greeted her with a small but warm smile.
"Hey," he said weakly. Hermione saw that once had a broken nose, noticeable by the remaining blood on his face.
"I was worried about you, Ron, but thank goodness you're alright," Hermione said. "Who brought you here?"
"An Auror brought me here probably an hour ago, right after Harry ran aw- Wait," His eyes widened, remebering what happened only hours ago and then his face became all red. "Where is he?! I wanna get back at him for knocking my lights out." Ron stood up, seemingly forgetting that he's injured.
Hermione stopped Ron before he can run off to Harry's bed and get back at him.
"No, Ron. Don't do it, please," Hermione pleaded, trying with all her might to stop Ron.
"It's not his fault, Ron. It's mine," She admitted. That stopped Ron in his tracks. Hermione put her head down in disgrace. "If I hadn't given Harry that vampire costume, then this none of this wouldn't have happened."
"Oh, well, ahem," Ron seemed shocked and speechless that Hermione admitted it was her fault. "Can I see him, then?"
Hermione wiped a few tears from her eyes and nodded. She led Ron to where Harry lay unconscious. Hagrid informed her that he hadn't moved since they left him.
Hagrid left after saying goodbye to both Ron and Hermione, saying that he had to deal with problems concerning Aragog and his offspring. After a few minutes, Ron was cleared to leave and since he couldn't force Hermione to leave Harry's side, he left.
Hermione would have wanted to go and follow, but he couldn't leave Harry. She wanted to say sorry for what she did, as she felt it was all her fault. Deciding that she would rather sleep in the Hospital wing next to Harry, she asked Madam Pomfrey if she could stay, and she said yes only if Hermione agreed to lock the doors after she left, which she agreed to.
It was nearing 12 midnight, and Hermione was getting concerned about Harry's complexion; he had gotten paler in the past two hours, and she was worried that something might be wrong. She checked his pulse, and weirdly enough he was alright, nothing was wrong with him. The only thing that was different is that his skin felt cold to the touch. Hermione thought to check his skin again in the morning.
Since it was already late in the night, Hermione pulled a hospital bed and positioned it next to Harry's. As she went to sleep, Hermione noticed again how handsome Harry had grown since their first year. He was still a young boy, but at his age he certainly was charming, like his father was.
Taking a last look at Harry, she closed her eyes and went to sleep. As her mind slowly descended into a deep sleep, she started dreaming.
She opened her eyes again, and Hermione found herself in total darkness. She could smell something that was like rusting metal, and felt that there was a puddle around her feet.
Wanting to see what was the cause of the smell and what was the puddle around her feet, Hermione grabbed her wand and muttered, "Lumos,"
She suddenly saw a horrifying scene as the light engulfed the corridor; several bodies of students were on the floor, all of them were pale and looked to be bled dry of their blood.
Hermione felt like she wanted to throw up, but she recovered and quickly left the foul smelling corridor.
As she ventured onwards, she couldhear several shouts down the corridor.
"Kill them! Just bloody kill them, they're already too far gone!" A strained voice shouted. Hermione instantly ran in the direction where the shouts were coming from.
When she arrived at the place, she was already too late; there were three students laying on the floor, their bodies the same as the first bodies she saw.
Hermione silently thought to herself, "Who would do something so evil?"
She suddenly heard several loud taunting laughs coming from further down the corridor. She followed the voices until Hermion found herself in front of the Great Hall, its huge, heavy doors closed firmly.
Wishing that Hagrid was with her to open the door, Hermione pushed at the door, but it wouldn't budge. After several failed tries, she whipped her wand out and blasted open the door. What she saw was more horrific than the scene she'd saw earlier.
A majority of the students except from Slytherin were strewn across the floor, some were still crying in agony as several Slytherin students bit onto their fellow wounded students in the neck.
And then she saw a few familiar faces on the floor; Ron, Fred, George, Percy and Ginny lied there, pale and lifeless, staring up at the ceiling as several turned Slytherin students were feasting on their necks.
The majority of the Slytherin students were standing in the front, and in the middle of them was a young boy holding a bloody grey tassle hat. Hermione cautiously approached them, but the other Slytherins didn't seem to even bother attacking her.
Hermione looked at the one who held the item; a handsome boy with emerald green eyes and a grin on his face stared at her from the front.
"Welcome, Hermione," Harry said. "As you can see, we've already started dinner without you." The Slytherin students laughed. Harry held his left hand up, which silenced the Slytherins.
"Why?" was the only thing she could say. All this death surrounding her and the scene she'd seen from earlier was too much and it made her utterly speechless.
Harry smiled. "It's because of the hunger, Hermione," he said, standing up. "It can never be truly filled, never truly satiated. Speaking of which." Harry stood up and dropped the tassle hat.
"I'm still hungry," Harry ran at her full speed, and before Hermione managed to run, he had already sunken his fangs into her. She clearly felt them piercing her skin and Harry's tongue gently licking her neck, his oddly cold skin meeting Hermione's own warm skin. She felt helpless in his firm yet caring grasp, as she slid to the floor slowly weakening.
"Now," he said, finally pulling back. "You're one of us." He smirked.
Hermione awoke with a scream, shocking Madam Pomfrey as she passed by.
"My goodness, you almost gave me a heart attack!" She said, clutching her chest.
Hermione sat up and looked around and saw that it was that it already morning. The hospital wing's doors were already open, and she could see a few students walking by outside. She looked to her right and saw Harry, who still looked like he hadn't moved since last night.
Hermione asked Madam Pomfrey if Harry had woken up yet, and she said no. He still might be dizzy from smashing his head on the stone floor in Hogsmeade.
"Good morning, Hermione," a familiar voice called from the door. She turned her head and found Ron approaching her, bringing what seemed to be a gift basket. Its contents had loads of candies, particularly from yesterday's Halloween. Some were from Zonko's, the Apothecary, the Quidditch Supply Shop, but the most numerous candies were from the sweet shop.
"Oh, good morning Ron. Glad you could visit us," Hermione thought that Ron'd skip out on them, but she thought wrong. And she didn't even anticipate that he'd bring a gift basket. She'd forgotten how thoughtful Ron could be sometimes.
Ron put the gift basket on the table next to the bed and sat down next to Harry.
"Bloody hell, he looks pale," Ron said, noting Harry's pale skin. "You think he's-"
"No he isn't!" Hermione snapped. She calmed down and apologized to Ron. "He might still be dizzy from breaking his nose last night."
"Well, that seems possible," Ron said. "Oh, wait till you hear what Professor Trelawney said when I passed by her in the hallway."
Ron explained that when he was done with breakfast and was leaving the Great Hall, he unexpectedly bumped into Professor Trelawney. She was, in Ron's words, acted weirder than she already is.
"She'd suddenly gone all rigid, you know, and her eyes went to the back of her head," Ron said. "I was about to call for help when she said 'To return the boy who is turned into a monster to his original state, it wil take a being that turns into a monster at the end of every month, when his teeth bites his flesh, the spell will be reverse.'"
Hermione, who wasn't listening, kept her watch on Harry and nodded. Fortunately though, Ron didn't notice that she wasn't listening to what he was saying and continued, saying that Professor Trelawney went on like nothing happened.
Aside from a few moans and groans, there was nothing that showed Harry getting better.
Feeling a little hungry, she went downstairs to the Great Hall for a hot meal. After she had her fill, Hermione jogged up the stairs hoping that Harry had already woken up, when suddenly Seamus and Dean blocked her way.
"Is it true, Hermione?" Dean asked. Based on the look on his face, Dean seemed to be looking for an answer.
"About what?" she asked.
"About Harry attacking you and Ron last night at Hogsmeade," Hermione saw this coming, but not this quick. She'd hoped that they'd find sooner or later, because if she told Dean or anyone the truth, it would spread like wildfire and Hermione would be blamed.
If Hermione lied about it though, the truth would eventually be revealed and would both end the same, with her being blamed.
Seeing that there's nothing she can do to avoid being blamed, Hermione told everything from start to finish. She told Dean that he should be careful who he's going to tell this to, especially Professor McGonagall.
Hermione continued until she arrived at the hospital wing where Harry was still lying down on his bed, but unlike earlier, he was awake and was talking to Ron.
Hermione approached the bed with a small smile on her face. Harry noticed her approaching and returned her smile.
Hermione sat on the foot on the bed and embraced Harry tightly.
"Ouch," Harry winced. Hermione immediately pulled back and apologized.
"No, I'm sorry. I put the two of you in danger. I-" Hermione cut him off before he could finish his sentence.
"No, Harry. Don't apologize. It's my fault, all of it," she said. "If I hadn't changed you, then what happened last night wouldn't have happened." Tears had begun to fall from her eyes. Harry sat up despite the pain and hugged her.
"It's alright, Hermione. I don't blame you for what happened," Harry said comfortingly. "And what happened to me, it's gone. It's over."
Hermione pulled back and wiped away her tears. "Thanks Harry," she said.
"No problem," Harry replied.
They spent the next hour talking about what it felt like, being a bloodthirsty vampire. Harry said it felt like there was a void in him that needed to be constantly filled. Now, of course, he was feeling very hungry. Not for blood, but for some lunch.
Hermione asked Madam Pomfrey if Harry was allowed to leave, and she said agreed after a final check-up.
After that, they made their way to the Great Hall so Harry could have some lunch.
While entering, Hermione expected that everyone inside would turn their heads and look at Harry, but it turned out that nobody even cared or bother to look at him. The only ones that did turn their heads were the Weasely twins, Seamus, Dean, and Neville.
They scooted over and gave the three seats. Harry had a plate of eggs and bacon, a blueberry muffin and juice, while Ron and Hermione settled on a plate of cookies and biscuits.
As they ate, Hermione noticed that Harry was eating extremely fast, gobbling his bacon and eggs so fast that it was a wonder he didn't choke.
"Harry, slowly down or you'll choke," Harry turned to her and just smiled, then continued eating.
The rest of the day was free, so all they did was roam around the grounds, and when they got tired, they stayed at Hagrid's hut.
In his hut, Hagrid had been hunting some rodents around his pumpkin patch, and instead of throwing them away, he had them hung in his backyard like clothes.
While they were there, Hermione noticed that Harry was staring at the dead rodents on the clothesline with an odd expression on his face. She asked if he was alright and he said he was thinking about something.
They left after Hagrid's pet Fang had been chased off into the Forbidden Forest by a rather large rodent, cutting their visit short as Hagrid had to chase Fang before he gets lost in the forest.
Dinner arrived, and tonight they were serving the most delicious food they'd have served; thick and juicy steaks.
While they were eating, Hermione got a very rare steak. She didn't want it, and was about to get another piece when Harry asked if he could trade his for hers.
Surprised, Hermione gave her steak to him and watched while he gobbled down every bite of it. He was certainly hungry, as Harry just kept eating every cut of his rare steak until it was finished.
After dinner, they left the Great Hall and arrived at the Common Room, where they seperated for the night as Hermione went to the girls dormitory.
As she lied in her bed, Hermione kept thinking about how Harry acted so odd earlier. She didn't know what was wrong with him, Harry was alright when Madam Pomfrey checked him before they left the Hospital wing.
There should be a logical explanation for this, but she chose to think nothing of it, so Hermione rolled into her bed and went to sleep.
End of Chapter 2
So, how's that for a second chapter? I hope you guys enjoyed that, and I hope you'll enjoy all the other chapters that'll be arriving in May.
Thanks for reading everybody. Please leave a review and tell me what you think. If you have any questions then feel free to PM.