I know, I know I am horrible for leaving all of you hanging like this. I've been super busy and haven't really been bitten by the writing bug lately. This isn't my longest or my best chapter but I hope you enjoy it enough to keep reading in the future...

Anywho- please leave me a review about what you think of the chapter and any suggestions you may have. I promise that I will try to update much sooner with the next chapter.

Hermione waited nervously in the Entrance Hall. Tonight, at last, students would be returning to Hogwarts' hallowed halls. She was anxiously waiting for the First Years, as the older students had already filed into the Great Hall.

The past few days had been wonderful for her. Since she now knew that she didn't need to sleep, preparing her classroom and lesson plans had been a breeze. Her 'lessons' with Draco had also been advancing; she could now, after several excruciatingly difficult hours, channel her Power to her eyes and ears. She was working on moving it to the rest of her body, which would lead to more fluid movements and, eventually, changing into her animal form.

Working with Draco, however, was especially tiring.

Hermione kept most of her questions to herself, so as to not upset him again, but it was so damn annoying not knowing much about the person she was spending most of her time with. More so than her curiosity, the actual work was painful.

To start with, she didn't even know what Power was, let alone know how to access it. Draco had used his Power to reach out to hers, which showed her what it felt like.

It hurt. It hurt a lot.

It felt like an electric shock and had knocked her to her knees. Of course, until she could distinguish it on her own, Draco had to keep 'shocking' her. Luckily, Hermione proved she was the 'Brightest Witch of the Age' and the action only needed to be repeated four times.

Never before had Hermione seen anything so beautiful as when she finally achieved the task of channeling Power to her eyes. –Not saying that her Hogwarts: A History was the more beautiful thing in the world, but, as the first thing she truly saw, it now held an even more special place in her heart.

Her ears, on the other hand, she could live without. Her increased hearing was not helping her very much at the moment. Words travelled through the heavy wooden doors to the Great Hall. -Words that floated from rumors currently being spread about the two new vampire professors.

Actually, make that about one vampire professor. Her.

She felt… upset? No, that word didn't cover enough.

"…heard that she…"

"…found her in a creek bed…"

"…evil…"

"…suck us dry…"

"…no, at the bottom of a cliff…"

"…abomination…"

"…and then he dumped her…"

"…unsafe. She'll…"

"…fake sick if I have…"

Hermione took a deep, unnecessary breath to steady herself. The past few days with Draco had made her forget about her previous fears. Now, they were at the forefront of her mind.

-What if they're right and I can't control myself? I don't deserve to be here- no matter how much I want it.

"Stop it."

Hermione whirled around, surprised only to find no one there. "Draco?" There was no answer, but she swore she had heard his voice.

-I guess I'm going crazy now too…

"You're not crazy. I'm still at the Staff Table, but it seems that you've finally figured out your Power enough that you can project."

-I- What? Just… get out of my head please. Things were confusing enough, at the moment, just dealing with her own thoughts. She didn't need his making things worse – not to mention the fact that she got a sick, creeping feeling each time she realized he was lurking about in her mind, looking at, quite possibly, all her most personal moments, when she knew nothing more about Draco than his name and the fact that he was so very powerful. That, and it was just plain creepy.

Hearing Draco in her thoughts was starting to creep her out.

"I'm not in your head. You're projecting and I'm projecting back, so technically you're in my head."

Hermione was stunned; she hadn't been meaning to do anything like that, yet it so easy.

I wasn't trying to do anything Draco – but if I'm projecting into your head, doesn't that mean you're projecting into mine?

Choosing rather blatantly to ignore this, as he had most of the few questions she dared to ask, "Good, that means you're discovering your Power and more of it will come easier for you."

-Like my animal form?

"No, that is the hardest thing, by far, to master. It takes more Power than you have right now."

Oh… That was just... upsetting.

"You'll get there. In time. Which you now have plenty of, unless you do something unbearably stupid to get yourself killed. Now I know you aren't too upset by that – so what's really wrong?"

Hermione blushed even though Draco couldn't see her.

-I… It's just the students. What they are saying about me…

Hermione felt a shimmer of Power in the Hall. Suddenly, the voices changed.

"…from Durmstrang…"

"…kind of creepy..."

"…turns into a bat…"

"…killed a…"

She was dumbstruck. Why would Draco do- whatever it was that he did- just to help her?

-What did you do?

"Just compelled them to a change of subject- not a big deal." Hermione could feel his mental shrug, and was once again disconcerted by the strength of his Power and his mastery over it. If he hadn't been so blasé about it, she might've been infuriated by his constant superiority...

-You didn't have to do that. I could have…

Hermione broke off because Hagrid was now approaching with the First Year students. He gave her a quick nod before ducking into the Great hall. Fear radiated off of him in waves. Hagrid was afraid of her? She hadn't noticed that a few days ago…

The young children were eyeing her wearily. A few looked ready to pass out or puke even. Some looked ready to do both.

She tried to smile brightly, without her fangs showing. "Hello and welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In a moment, you will be joining the rest of the students, at which time you will be sorted into your House. Your House will be like you family for the seven years you will be here. Once you have been sorted, you will join the rest of your House at one of the four tables. The four Houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. If there are no further questions, please form a single file line and follow me."

Hermione flicked her wand, opening the door. The room in front of her hushed until the only sound was that of the First Years behind her, hurrying to catch up.

"Your movement is quicker. Apparently, stress does your Power good."

Draco was looking at her, a smug yet proud expression written on his face.

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