AN:

English is not my native language, so it's very probable that I make mistakes in grammar, that's why some Beta readers are helping me. Sapphire Leo, Twilight684, Hodgeheg, Angry. Tiger. Kitten.

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I took her hand in order to give her strength, rather than as a symbolic act of our union. As we descended the stairs of the tower I realized the complexity of the corridors and alternative stairways that the tower enclosed that I couldn't appreciate as a wolf.

The staircase by which we descended was interconnected with many others in different places. The girls descended the stairs that were placed on the right and the boys by the ones that were placed to the left...though, no matter if they were girls or boys, everybody was watching us-especially me.

I heard the whispered comments.

"What is Malfoy doing in the Tower?"

"What's he doing with Hermione?"

"Did he slip into the tower?

Is she going to inform McGonagall?"

Hermione stopped at the landing and she looked at me, smiling. She took advantage of the fact that I had descended one more step to look at me straight in the eye without having to raise her head. She winked at me and I gave her a smile in return. She was also listening to all the speculations that her housemates were making; I didn't care to clarify a few of them just to silence some of the voices while raising others.

I hugged her waist and pulled her to me and suddenly her arms were around my neck, her fingers digging into my hair and my hand on her neck. The kiss was delicious; it wasn't only to leave the others shocked, it was also a reward and a pat on the back for us. We didn't really care about what every Gryffindor would think, on the contrary the only thing that interested us was ourselves. Her tongue was playing with mine, stroking my teeth, but this time she avoided my fangs... Smart girl.

"Are you sure you don't want to go back to the bedroom?" an uncomfortable voice said behind us-it was Ginerva's.

We said nothing-we only laughed slightly. I released her and we continued descending the stairs. Now the comments of those around us no longer aroused my interest. When it seemed we'd never get to the common room it appeared right in the end of the stairs.

Everyone who was there fell silent when they saw me with my hand in Hermione's, but now that we had enough space I released her and I hugged her waist in a totally possessive gesture that she accepted with a charming smile.

"Good night. I think that it's dinner time," she greeted. "Why you don't go down to the dining room?"

She said nothing more and we went through the frame, even the Fat Lady cried when she saw me go out with Hermione. The cries continued through the rest of the halls as students were gathering to go to dinner. Some even ran into columns or armors because they were watching us, completely stunned. In the lobby we met my housemates, but so far we hadn't encountered any Slytherins and I realized that I was curious to know how they would take it- not very well I imagine.

Their looks were full of amazement. Blaise and Pansy were the first to gawk. I don't think they ever thought that I was serious about what I had said the night before. Crabbe and Goyle said nothing and simply followed their usual routine of searching for food. Everyone else looked at me as if I was a blood traitor, and I was rather amused.

Once we were in the dining room I saw Dumbledore sitting in his place in the center of the staff table. I greeted him with a smile before saying goodbye to Hermione with another long kiss, much to the consternation of many of the students.

"What the hell was that, Malfoy?" Nott asked angrily.

"It is called kiss, Nott," I answered, still savoring the taste of Hermione's lips as I sat at the table.

"Have you gone mad?" Pansy asked.

"No. Simply I don't care." I shrugged.

"They will have to lock you in an asylum! It's one thing to fuck her in secret, but to make out with her in the halls?! That's unacceptable!" Blaise exclaimed.

"By the way, Blaise... You and I have to talk about one small detail," I said grinning and staring at him. "What is this I hear about you trying to scare my girlfriend by saying that I will leave her in a week?" I asked silkily.

"That's what you always do, right?" He looked confused. "Don't tell me you're not thinking of leaving her after eight fucks?"

"No. Honestly, it hasn't crossed my mind to get rid of her for a moment..." I softened my tone, making it clear that it was a fully veiled threat. "I hope you don't think about disturbing her again. I don't want to kill you."

"Who cares who he's with?" Greg protested. "We aren't so concerned about pure blood anymore...right?"

"Exactly..." Vincent shrugged. "If he likes being with Granger, how does it affect us?"

"Perfect, guys." I patted their shoulders. "You get the message..."

"Hermione?" Longbottom approached her. "Are you dating Malfoy?" he asked timidly.

"Yes, Neville..." she said, filling a plate with all the food that would prevent anemia.

"Are you okay?" Ginerva asked beside him. "For the past couple of days you've been eating like Ron."

"Leave me out of it, Ginny." Ronald protested beside her.

"Shut up, asshole!" Ginerva snapped. "I'm concerned because you burn it off playing Quidditch but my friend can end up with an ass the size of a Quaffle."

"Don't worry, Ginny," Hermione smiled, "I'm doing a lot of exercise as of late."

"Hermione, please tell us how it is being with Malfoy." Lavender and Patil sat in front of her with wide eyes. "Does he buy you expensive gifts? When did you start going out together? Are those kisses we've seen everything you do or...? Why was he in your bedroom? How did he get there?"

"It's none of your business." She did not even look up from the table, but from my seat I could see her flushed cheeks as always.

"Come on, Hermione!" Lavender protested. "He has returned very changed over the holiday. He looks even more muscular than ever, he doesn't sleep with the Slytherins, he behaves very strangely and suddenly-bam! He shows up with you as if you were dating and closer than he has ever been with any of the many conquests he has had. Give us some information. Please?" she asked, looking at her with a pout.

"Well, I can tell you that from now on it is very likely that you will see him getting in and out of my bedroom." She was flushed as red as a tomato, and if we weren't separated by four tables full of students I would jump right now to bite her neck...or other equally interesting parts of her anatomy. "And, no, we don't only kiss."

"Hermione, I'll have a heart attack! Tell us more! Please, please, please?!" Lavender begged.

Luckily I don't like to eat now, because I would be choking with laughter.

"Well..."

Ginerva to the rescue. "Don't push Lavender! If you want specific details of his anatomy you just have to ask me."

Hermione glanced at her, intrigued.

"I saw him in all his glory when I went to Hermione's bedroom."

Hermione rolled her eyes again and focused on the food.

"I don't think I've ever seen anyone with his abs, arms like real trunks and I have no words to describe what's under those abs..."

She had time to look at all this with only seeing me for a few seconds? If she was reacting like this then I think I understand poor Hermione a little better when she says that she can't resist my body. I've never heard a woman describe me as something edible.

"Ginny... Would you care to stop talking about Malfoy like that?" Potter reacted.

At least I had erased all traces of my presence on the way to the dining room, because I would not want to hear how he described me.

"I think he's pretty normal..."

"Harry, dear..." Ginerva stroked his hair "Malfoy isn't normal...just like you."

"Why don't you look for an empty room and you decide?" Ronald protested, honestly listening to the conversations of Gryffindors is exciting.

"Ron, are you giving permission to your little sister to misbehave with her boyfriend?" Ginerva asked fluttering her eyelashes in disbelief. "Come on Harry, before he changes his mind." She grabbed his arm and pulled him up.

"But..." Potter could not even protest.

"Shit, Ginny!" Ronald slammed his fist on the table.

I focused on Hermione. She was ignoring what her friends were saying. She ate silently and occasionally she looked at me as if to prove that I was still there, and I worried that the courage was abandoning her... I sighed slightly because I had no other choice but to come to her rescue. Honestly, am I'm going to have to be saving her all the time? Probably, yes, because of her way of being I don't think she recognizes the danger even if she has it under her nose...for example me.

I got up and went straight to the Gryffindor table. I know that my classmates were not enjoying it, but I recognize that I got a slight pleasure out of it. I sat beside her and looked at the gossipers like what they were- insignificant beings that were only giving me extra work with my girlfriend, to which I was going to show some aspects of the darkness that would pleasantly surprise her...

"Love, are you okay?" I asked.

"Yes, I'm just hungry…nothing else," she answered, embarrassed.

"So am I," I whispered in her ear but loud enough for the trio of gossipers to hear. "How long will it take you to finish?" I caressed her thigh under the table.

"I…don't think I'll take long." She blushed even more, "Draco...please." She laughed when I tickled her in her ear with my tongue.

"Don't tempt me, Hermione," I warned her, I knew she would understand why I said it.

"Is it true that you are moving to Hermione's bedroom, Malfoy?" Lavender asked; apparently she is the spokesman.

"Maybe..." I didn't remove my hand from Hermione's thigh so that at least she had an excuse when I start torturing her.

One of the advantages of the shadows is that darkness exists in many places, such as in certain areas covered with light layers of fabric, though I knew for a fact that right now it was just a tiny triangle of lace, the other advantage is that I can have a part of me that is in darkness present elsewhere. Just like I could put my hand in my pocket and pull out the wand that was kept in the drawer of the bedside table, I could easily transfer the tip of my tongue to a certain area full of folds that were very receptive to my touch. The gasp that Hermione gave was epic.

"Are you all right, Hermione?" I asked.

"Yes..." She looked at me with wide eyes, "I think..."

I caressed her again, tasting her flavor. I knew she had realized what I was doing, and now she just had to figure out why I was doing it. I didn't cease in my blind scan and I could see how she was unable to eat any more. She squeezed my hand tightly and looked at me pleadingly.

"Hermione, are you okay? You're pale as snow," Lavender said with concern.

"No, I'm fine... I think I've eaten too much. Come, Draco."

"No," I said firmly, "Why don't you stay and talk with your friends for a while?" I smiled. "I have to grab a few things from my bedroom," I said before I kissed her, confirming her suspicions about where my tongue had been. "I'll join you later."

I left her there, totally frustrated knowing that what I wanted was her to be herself. I did not want her to stop talking just because they ask her about me or what we were doing in private. As long as she didn't tell them that I'm a vampire she could even give them exact measurements of every part of my body. Anyway, she is the only one that would have me like that. I can't afford to be with anyone else and accidentally bite another student... I have enough enough to worry about already with her health, so I don't want to worry about more peoples' health.

I did not really have to pick up anything from my room, but I knew that Severus would be on the lookout to scold me or warn me that the director wanted to see me. Not even two minutes passed when I met my dear godfather.

"Good night, Severus." I smiled.

"Good night, damn fool!" he snapped. "Are you going to continue with this damn farce during the whole course?" The poor man has a big problem with prejudice... he looked at me in the same way he had looked at Professor Lupin. My situation is not remotely similar to the werewolf.

"If you mean will I keep dating Hermione, then the answer is yes," I answered without erasing my smile. "I believe I said something about it last night. Dumbledore doesn't seem to disapprove..."

"Because that naïve fool believes that you love her!" he said angrily.

"What a mistake!" I scoffed. "She and I have a very beneficial deal for both of us, and I will not break it unless it is absolutely necessary."

"You're drinking her blood, admit it." Every word dripped anger.

"She only gives me pleasure, Severus, nothing more." Although for me there is no greater pleasure than drinking her blood, but that would be giving you too many explanations.

"What did she get in return in this profitable trade?" he asked suspiciously.

"Severus, do I have to explain everything?" I laughed openly. I approached him a little and I whispered "She gets an indescribable pleasure of course."

"Don't try to play me, Draco," he threatened me. "Despite what you are, you're not going to win."

"We will have to see. Now if you don't mind, she is waiting for me."

I decided that I had given her more than enough time to recover and to behave again like a normal person. She was no longer in the room, she was in her bedroom, so that is where I went. She expected me, hugging a pillow with a book between her legs.

"Did you have a good time with your friends?" I asked. "Do you already have to give them all the gory details?" I sat next to her.

"No."

"So what?" I looked at her confused. "Hermione, you're supposed to be brave and put aside all the comments that you hear about being with me..."

"I know," she murmured "But it is not as easy as it looks, Draco."

"Why not?" I asked. "I have been bombarded at the table in my house with questions and they even insulted me a few times. I have not said anything and they have become tired of spending useless spit."

"Yeah, but you're a Slytherin. Lavender asked me very specific questions that I don't know if I want to answer. We aren't close enough for me to relate my sexual practices to her," she protested.

"You want me to buy you expensive gifts?" I asked, removing the book. "By the way, you have not given me those notes yet. Do you have them here?" I checked the volume of Defense Against the Dark Arts. "This is very old… Half of the spells are useless... Why do you read it?" I noticed that she looked at me, puzzled. "What?"

"Have you heard my whole conversation with the girls?" she asked curiously.

"Only until I left. Severus demanded my full attention. So...is that it? You want me to buy you expensive gifts to surprise your friends?"

"I don't want gifts, neither expensive nor cheap! Why the hell did you spy on me? And can you explain to me why you did that while I was at the table? Why did you come at all?"

I looked at her waiting for her to finish.

"This makes no sense, Draco..."

"Hermione, I was not spying on you, I'm just looking after you. I went to the table to help, so that in that way you talked a little more. I remember you were much nicer to your partners last week and the previous years... Once there I decided that I could try that trick and it worked, and nothing happens if they thought that your boyfriend was feeling you up... Now they should be trying to listen from the stairs if they hear your screams or the grinding of the springs of the mattress."

I wish them luck taking into account all the enchantments against listening devices that I have set when I came in, also against the spells to prevent them to get to hear something from the stairs or sticking to the door.

"I think I'll buy you a gift anyway, but it seems a bit premature since we have only been together for three nights." I shrugged.

"Stop talking about gifts, dammit!" She hit me with the pillow, exasperated.

"That was a little childish, don't you think?" I said laughing.

"Sorry..." She covered her face, "But this is getting out of my control."

"Hermione..." I uncovered her face to look into her eyes. "What happened?"

"When you told me you were hungry... I thought you meant you needed more blood..." She lowered her eyes. "I love how I feel when you bite me, but I don't know if my body could recover from a major loss of blood... Then I realized that you would have to go hunting and I got worried because you could run into the werewolves or another monster that could harm you or that you could be the one harming someone… Then, when you started to...do that, I realized that you actually wanted to have sex and then you leave me there with Lavender and Patil while they stared at me, trying to figure out what the hell happened between us... I don't I have a wonderful love story to tell them-he saved me from a werewolf, I realized that he's a Greek god and we had sex...end of the story."

"Okay," I took a deep breath, "the amount of blood that I drank from you until now is less than the amount of blood you lose in a single day of your period. I have not killed anyone and I have no intention of killing anyone in the near future, and I can I take care of any monster without any problem better than you could ever imagine. I don't need to feed seriously for at least another two weeks and when I do it I'll take you with me so that you can see exactly how it is. I told you it was silly to do that to you, that it was a stupid experiment and if you don't want it, I will not do it again.

"I did not think you would go straight to your room. You don't have to always fulfill my desires-you can refuse or you can even tell me that you have a headache and I'll understand. I did not know that you don't have a close relationship with those three, but I'm glad because I don't really like the gossip... As for the love story, I think we both know that love has nothing to do with what we have and I don't understand why that would be relevant, but if you want more romance I can try, but it would be lying to you and you know it. If you regret something we have done, I promise you I'll stop visiting you if that's what you want..."

"NO!" She looked horrified. "Don't do that...not now."

"Okay... What do you want then? We could study all we have pushed aside since Friday..."

She nodded.

"Perfect. Would you like to go down to the common room and see how smart I am?" I smiled, trying to cheer her up.

"Everyone is going to go crazy with you there..." She smiled back.

"Well, they can go to the psychiatrist in groups." I grabbed her backpack and I went over to the door. "Do you really not want a gift?" I joked.

"Silly." She threw me the pillow again.

The Gryffindors did not become hysterical when they saw me, but they were not happy. Anyway I did not care what they might say. Hermione gave me the notes of History of Magic and she leaned against me to begin a trial of potions. But then she fell asleep by the excess of emotions and lack of sleep. I let her sleep peacefully while I finished studying and then I took her trial and her pen to help her. Some of the guilt of her exhaustion was mine, so I felt in debt.

Ginerva and Potter entered the common room when everyone else had left, and both were smiling from ear to ear. I don't think they realized that we were on the couch. Given that Hermione was asleep, I picked up the things and I picked her up to take her to her room since she would be much more comfortable in bed. I did not got into bed with her, I just watched her dream while I studied on the couch of her bedroom.

When I finished reading and the pending jobs I watched her. There was more that she did not want to tell me-I was sure of that-and I began to think that she actually wanted a love story…but I can't give it to her. It is true that I would be lying if I pretended to be in love with her. I weigh the pros and cons of the situation and unfortunately for her there were too many cons, but I could not help but notice that the way she often looked at me had nothing to do with lust and too much with love...

I went back to the Abyss and this time the distance was much longer, but I needed advice and I could only trust one person nowadays... Lucian. I showed up in his castle of Aquitaine where I found him enjoying the company of his nieces. Lucian has maintained contact with the descendants of his mortal life. I have no idea how he has achieved it but I know it is something that helps him stay alive, so I guess he can also help me with the problem I have.

"Excuse the intrusion, Lucian," I said when I entered the room. "Good evening, ladies."

"Good evening." They smiled. "We are going to sleep, uncle Luc." They said goodbye to him in an affectionate way that made me remember my parents, but I knew that I would never again have that kind of relationship with them.

"What's up, son?" Lucian asked me, pouring himself a whiskey. I remembered the taste and I wanted to drink one as well, but I still was used to not being able to assimilate it properly "Do you have a problem at school?"

"More or less." I sighed, sitting on the couch in front of him. "I'm afraid I have created problems for myself."

I told him everything about Hermione.

"I don't know what to do, Luc... I know that she is in love with me and I know that if I pretend to be in love with her I will only do more damage when we finish the school year and I have to say goodbye to her."

"Pretend," he answered directly. "You will give her a wonderful year that she will remember for the rest of her life. Why are you so concerned about not seeing her again? Why is it so important for you not to hurt her?" he asked. "Are you sure you don't feel anything for her?"

"No, Lucian, I assure you that what I feel has nothing to do with love... But...what if she can't recover from this 'wonderful year'?"

"She will... Anyway, if you begin to feel something for her, you can always turn her into your ghoul." He sighed, "The same thing happened to me with Queen Leonor... She was a wonderful woman-strong and with a great personality. Being around her gave me great confidence and helped me to become what I am now. When she was no longer young, I realized that she would have to die and you can't turn into an eternal ghoul as a predominant member of royalty... I had to get used to seeing how she got older every year and how she lost her youth and strength… Then, in the end, that woman was only in my memory. Do what you think is the right thing, but I suggest that you pretend because it is best for them. During one year you will have no problems, and certainly in the future you can remember your first year as a vampire as a very pleasant one."

"How was yours?" I asked

"Very boring. I only remember that I was training all the time to kill Saracens. But I have very good memories of my years as a knight apprentice," he added with a half smile.

"Okay... Anyway, I had already planned to give her a gift, even if she throws it at my head. I don't think she can complain if I give her a love story..." I shrugged.

"In any case, give her flowers," he laughed. "She will not throw them at your head."

"Thanks for listening, Lucian..." I thanked him as I left.

"It's okay, son. You can always find me here for anything you need."

I went back into the Abyss to appear again in Hermione's bedroom; she had not moved. The classes would begin in two hours, so I had time to go find her some flowers. Fifteen minutes later I woke her up with a kiss; she would have all the romance she wanted.

She woke up totally dazed and the first thing she saw was my face. Her smile told me that I was right... She was falling for me.

I gave her a smile and looked at her as if there was nobody else in the world for me, and in a strange way it was true. "Good morning, Sleeping Beauty..." I took one of the flowers with which I had covered her bed and I stroked her cheek with its petals. "Are you ready for school?" I kissed her again, "And do not forget that you have to eat breakfast first."

Yes, I know it's hard, but Draco is not in love with her... yet.

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