Hermione had hardly said a word to her friends all day, not wanting to tell them a thing about what was going to happen tonight. Actually, the sun had already begun to set, and she had been sitting on a log now for over an hour, and she hadn't had the slightest clue as to how long she'd have to wait! Draco hadn't given her any of the details.
As much as her seat was very uncomfortable, and her legs had fallen asleep multiple times, and her fingers were numb with cold, she wasn't bored in the slightest. She'd brought many things with her to keep her company and to keep her mind occupied off of whatever would be happening that night. She had multiple books on Muggle History, Charms, Transfiguration, one very long one that would be boring to anyone else about the difference between Hexes, Jinxes, and Curses, and another on different kinds of Pixies. She's also brought out some homework for Potions, and all the equipment she would need to write a fifty page essay on her favorite type of fungi – which wasn't due until the end of the year. There she sat, about forty metres away from the edge of the dark forest, quill in one hand, and a lit up wand in the other. She was taking vigorous notes right then on a specific effect of a certain Hex, one that she wasn't even sure existed. Her mind was working hard, reading this sentence and that, jotting down notes here and there, covering the page in messy scribble while she tried to soak up as much information as a witch her age possibly could without magical help.
She was just about to finish the one hundred and two page chapter when she heard a twig snap nearby. Immediately she dropped the book to her side and stood up, want illuminating the woods around her. She didn't see anything. After a few moments she decided that it was probably some gnome wandering around, or an owl snatching up a mouse, and so she returned to her book. Panicking about almost being out of parchment – even though she'd brought nearly a hundred pages – she almost didn't hear the snapping noise which came from even closer that time. Standing again, wand trying it's hardest to find the source of the noise for her, she spun in circles, watching each tree carefully before settling herself back down, although, this time, a little bit more cautiously.
After a number of moments of silence, she slowly turned her eyes back to the final page of the chapter when the behind the log she was sitting on, there was a loud thud. She whipped her head around fast enough to hurt her neck and raised her wand towards the owner of the sound.
Standing not even two inches away from her was what could only be, a very thirsty vampire.
It inched its face closer to hers, and for some reason, she found that she couldn't move away. She could feel its breath, hot on her face. She closed her eyes as she awaited the bite, but it never came. Instead there was a bright light lighting up her eyelids. When she opened them, she saw the vampire picking itself up off the ground, looking at its surroundings as if it couldn't remember why it had come, and then wander off into the forest.
Hermione was lost for words. She stared after the creature, watching it sway and weave its way through the trees, before it disappeared completely into the blackness.
"Close call," startled again, she turned herself around quickly, feeling the tension in her neck that she'd already created the last time something had startled her only a few seconds prior.
"Oh!" She gasped, brown curls bouncing around her shoulders as she jumped back.
"Gotta be careful with those, they'll suck you dry. Selfish little bastards can't leave anything left for you to survive off of."
Draco was now taking Hermione's seat on the log, staring at the various books and parchment sprawled out across the dirt and leaves.
"You really do come prepared, don't you?" Malfoy noted, eyeing her notes.
"I didn't know how long I'd be out here," she answered when she could finally find her voice.
Draco put the paper into the opened book which now had a nice coating of leaf dust and one tiny little bug wandering on top of it, and shut the book, using the pages of notes as a bookmark. The book happened to be so big, that the seventy eight pages didn't seem to make much difference to the old binding. Looking up, he met her eyes carefully. "It'll be alright to go back soon, although we should wait a little bit just to make sure. I want everyone to be back inside their beds before I take you back."
Hermione nodded, accepting this easily. She'd already been out there long enough that her nose and cheeks were red, and her hair and socks had become damp from the cold night air inside the trees, a few more minutes wouldn't make a difference. "Could you tell me why I've been out here now?" She asked politely, though the demand wasn't so subtle.
"I will," he agreed, sorting her books for her into a neat pile, largest at the bottom and smallest on the top, making them easier to carry no doubt. "How was your night out here? Run into any boogiemen?"
"Only the one you saw," she hadn't missed that Draco hadn't given her an answer. "Did you see why he went away?"
"Oh yeah, memory charm. Works like magic." He winked.
A/N: Sorry, short and uneventful chapter. I've been sick all day but I really wanted to post something... I'll make it up to you all I promise. Where do you think this is going? Any ideas as to what's going to happen next? I'll have the next chapter up soon; hopefully I'll be better so it can actually make a little sense... Until next time! R&R please?