THC/The Houses Competition

House:Gryffindor

Category: Standard

Class: DADA

Prompt(s): [Crossover/AU] Twilight (Books) OR Vampire!AU (No sexual content.) [Speech] "When we first met, you were younger."

Word Count: 1814

Summary: The hundreds of myths and legends painting vampires as horrible creatures are not true. When Harry Potter, a vampire, has not had blood in weeks during his hunt for the horcruxes in the Forest of Dean, Hermione suggests a risky plan to save his life.

Title: Not A Monster

The Muggle world had been gathering vampire folklore for many centuries, going as far back as ancient Greece for entertainment. Ordinary people loved reading books and watching movies of a century-old vampire seducing a young girl. Nowadays, a romance between a vampire and a human was deemed romantic.

The only problem was that the folklore collected over many years was wrong. Vampires were not cruel, evil beings who prowled the world at night in search of people whose blood they could drink.

One of the more popular myths was that vampires could not go out into the sunlight. Anyone who had watched horror movies with vampires knew that exposure to sunlight would have resulted in a fiery death. This was not true. Vampires could go out into the sunlight just like anyone else. The sun did not affect them, just like garlic, silver, or crosses.

Garlic was thought to be a nuisance to vampires just as silver was, although not nearly as potent. Even the most determined vampire would be turned off by the garlic cloves' odor and taste. Again, this was a lie, another way to make vampires more entertaining to muggles.

It was said that vampires did not have a reflection due to the lack of soul. They could not touch holy water or it would burn their skin like acid. They had the ability to turn into bats, and seduce their victims with hypnosis. All of these were myths, stories told over centuries. A muggle would add something in every few hundred years and soon it became the vampire lore everyone knows today.

The magical world knew the truth. Being a vampire was a blood curse, passed on by the males of the family. You were born as a vampire, there was no such thing as being bitten and turned. You were born with heightened senses such as hearing, smell and sight. You also had incessed strength and speed. A vampire could outrun anyone without breaking a sweat or even throw someone across a room with little effort.

Wooden stakes through the heart or decapitation did kill a vampire, as it would anyone else. Stab a muggle through the heart with a wooden stake or cut their head off; they weren't going to survive.

The one thing that muggles did get right was the bloodlust. Vampires needed to drink blood. If a vampire went too long without drinking blood, it had deadly consequences, which is why Hermione was so worried.

It had been weeks since Harry, Hermione and Ron had a proper meal and weeks since Harry had a drop of blood. They have been hunting horcruxes, dodging Snatchers, living off the land; but since the first snowfall, resources have been small and Hermione could see that Harry was getting weaker.

Harry had grown thinner over the past few weeks. His eyes and cheeks were sunken in and dark circles lay beneath his eyes. His eyes, once a brilliant green, were now dull as if all life had been sucked out of them.

He was pale and a thin layer of sweat covered his body. His hands shook with every uneven breath he took. He was dying. Hermione knew that he needed blood and he needed blood fast. She made her way over to the small cot where he lay, brushing his bangs out of his eyes before lowering her hand and taking his, wrapping her fingers in between his, feeling how cold he was to the touch.

"Harry?" Hermione asked softly.

Harry slowly opened his eyes and turned to face Hermione, seeing the blurry image of his friend a few inches away.

"You need blood," Hermione said once Harry was able to focus on her.

Harry shook his head. "I'm fine," he slurred as his eyes slipped shut. "Just need to rest and I'll be good."

"No, you won't. Both Ron and I can see it. It's been weeks since you had any blood and it's taking its toll on your body. Harry, you're weak. You can't even get out of bed without stumbling over your own feet, " Hermione explained before letting out a small sigh. She unwrapped her fingers from Harry's hands and reached for her sleeve and pulled it up, exposing her bare forearm. "I want you to drink from me."

Harry opened his eyes once more and looked at Hermione in shock. "What?" Harry asked as he did his best to back up from her.

"You need blood, you're dying," Hermione bluntly said. "I'm not saying all of it, just enough to get you on your feet."

Harry shook his head, a disgusted look washing over his face, "I can't... I won't."

Hermione frowned. She could understand Harry's reluctance. There were laws put in place for vampires: if a vampire was caught feeding off a human, they were sentenced to Azkaban. There were blood substitutions that kept a vampire nourished just as well as human blood would.

Since being on the run, Harry had been drinking from animals: rabbits, deer, foxes, owls, anything they could catch. Since winter rolled in, animals had been few and far between. Harry never tasted blood from a human and Hermione could only imagine how it would feel to drink from one of your friends, but he didn't have a choice. If Harry was going to live to see his next meal, then he needed to drink from her.

"When we first met, you were younger," Hermione began. "Do you remember when I came into your and Ron's compartment looking for Neville's toad and we became friends? The three of us had each other's backs, I can't picture my life if I didn't have my two trusted friends with me. But in order to complete the mission, we need to keep our strength. You need to trust me. You need to drink!" Hermione begged. "I know you don't like drinking in front of us. You always make excuses. I wont judge, we won't, but you need to drink. Just a little…please?" Hermione's eyes filled with tears.

Harry shook his head again, unwilling to take blood from Hermione. He wasn't going to be one of those vampires who would feed off humans no matter how thirsty he was.

"You saved me from the troll our first year. Do you remember that? I was trapped in the bathroom and didn't know that a troll had entered the school. You and Ron came rushing in against your own safety. If you hadn't done that, I would be dead right now. Second year I was petrified, third year you saved me from Lupin's werewolf form. You wrapped your arms around me so you would get the attack and I would be safe. You have saved me again and again, please let me save you now. You don't need a lot, just a little," Hermione said in desperation as she held out her arm to Harry. "You need to drink, Harry, please let me help you."

"I can't, Hermione, you know what will happen. Human blood, I won't be able to stop!" Harry said out of breath. He knew what happened to vampires once they got a taste of human blood, they became addicted and unable to stop. Once a vampire had a taste of human blood, they became a monster with one thing in mind. Harry wasn't going to allow himself to become a monster, he wasn't going to allow himself to become one of those vampires who hunt down humans like prey.

"I won't let that happen," Hermione reassured. "I promise you, I will do everything to keep that from happening. I'm not going to let you turn into a monster," bringing her arm up and pressing it against Harry's lips.

"I won't let you go, promise," Hermione spoke softly as she held Harry's hand with her other one.

Harry could smell—could hear—the blood pumping through Hermione's veins as she held her arm to him. Harry could feel his breath quicken, his mouth watering. Harry opened his mouth slightly, allowing his fangs to descend from his gums. He brought his arm up and placed his hand on the back of Hermione's arm and pressed it against his mouth, firmly.

Hermione shuddered, feeling Harry's mouth wrap around her arm, the warmth of his breath pressing against her skin. Hermione let out a shaky breath, feeling Harry's teeth slide against her skin until they got into position, drawing in a sharp gasp that Harry barely heard over the beating of his heart when his teeth sank into her skin like a hot knife through butter.

Harry could remember when he was five, Dudley slammed his face up against his cupboard door causing his nose to bleed from the impact. Harry could remember in every detail as he stood there, blinking furiously while the taste of his own blood spilled for the first time on the tip of his tongue. Back then, Harry didn't have words for what he tasted except for coppery or metallic. But as Hermione's blood filled his mouth, he could taste a richness to it that he never tasted before, a rich flavour that drove Harry to want more. It burned his tongue, all the while soothing his throat and filling his need.

Hermione watched as Harry quickly regained his color back, the dark circles under his eyes disappearing and the brightness to his eyes returning to their full brilliant green.

Harry could feel his strength return the more he drank. He never felt this good before, the power he felt from Hermione's blood was unbelievable, overpowering. His mind screamed at him to drain her, to take every last drop of blood her body held.

"No," Harry told himself as he fought the instant off "Not a monster…I'm not a monster…I can stop!" Harry told himself over and over again. "Let go, let go, LET GO!" Harry screamed at himself and with great effort he pulled back, letting Hermione's arm go free from his grasp as he collapsed into the bed, running his tongue along his teeth to get the last bit of blood that reminded.

Hermione cried out the moment Harry's fangs pulled out of her arm, watching as the blood spilled from the two puncture wounds that were left behind. She grabbed a towel that was on the bedside table and wrapped it around her arm. "I said that you could stop," Hermione said, putting pressure on the wound.

"I almost didn't," Harry admitted, panting as if he just ran ten miles.

"But you did, just like I said you would. I'm proud of you," Hermione said, watching as Harry's eyes drooped a little. "You should rest some more. I bet you will feel a lot better when you wake up," Hermione added, pulling the blanket up and tucking Harry in.

"Thank you, Harry," Hermione whispered as Harry fell back to sleep.