"Draco?"a voice in the night whispered. "Draco Malfoy!"

Draco Malfoy awoke and looked around the dark Slytherin dormitory.

"Hermione? What....How did you get in here? Where have you been? Everyone's been looking everywhere for you...."Draco said. Hermione Granger stood beside his bed looking down at him with a crazed yet serene expression on her face. He noticed her head was not encased in cement.

"Shhhh....Come with me, Draco Malfoy." That was odd. Hermione, although usually not inclined to speak to him at all, didn't usually refer to him by his full name. She smiled a little wider, making her look somewhat deranged.

"Where are we going?"Draco whispered. "What's going on?"

"I shall tell you when we get out of here. You must be quiet,"Hermione said, now motioning for him to follow. Draco got out of bed and followed Hermione out of the dormitory, through the common room, and out into the passage beyond. Soon they were outside, Draco following Hermione across the grounds of Hogwarts towards the Forbidden Forest. Draco was not thrilled by the course they were taking.

"Er, we really shouldn't be out of bed at night, and certainly not in the forest,"Draco said. Hermione hissed at him with impatience and hurried onward. Scared now, Draco followed Hermione into the dark forest.

The next morning, as everyone was enjoying their breakfast, Dumbledore stood up and began to speak.

"Your attention, please,"he said. "It is my sad duty to announce that another student has gone missing. Draco Malfoy of Slytherin House is unaccounted for. If anyone has any information regarding his whereabouts, please notify myself or any member of the staff. I would like to remind everyone not to leave their dormitories at night for any reason."

Harry felt a jolt in his heart at Dumbledore's announcement. Draco was missing? What could have happened to him? Was he alright? What if something horrible had happened to him? And why wasn't he as nearly concerned when Hermione went missing?

Sure, Hermione had been one of his best friends for five years now and until recently Draco had been his arch-nemesis the last five years. You'd think he'd be more concerned about Hermione. Well. He wasn't. He had to admit. His very soul ached at the idea that Draco might be in trouble. Hermione had probably walked out a window with that giant ball of cement for a head pulling her to the ground like a bullet out of a gun.

"Gee, Harry, what do you think could have happened to Draco?"Ron said while chewing an enormous mouthful of food. "I hope he's alright."

Now you'd think Ron, at least, would care more about Hermione's disappearance than Harry, considering she was his sister, and pregnant with what was sort of his child although Draco was the one who had impregnated her, and her head could explode at any time.

"Why on earth would you hope he was alright?"Harry asked, with more than a little irritation. "He impregnated your sister with your child, he's been our sworn enemy for five years, and both he and his father delight in mocking your family's destitution on a regular basis. If you want to worry about someone, worry about Hermione, you prat!"

"What's your problem this morning?"Ron said.

"What's my problem? My problem is you sitting there pretending you actually give a crap what happened to Draco, when you could never feel the way I do, pining for him day in and day out, and now wondering what could have happened to him, hoping that I didn't miss my chance to tell him how I feel about him..."Harry whispered, poking at his kippers. Ron's mouth dropped open.

"What??"

"You heard me,"Harry muttered.Ron sat next to Harry in complete shock, not sure of what to say.

"I don't know how I feel about that,"Ron said.

"I don't know why you should have such a hard time swallowing this bit of news after all you've had to hear about recently. I imagine you've had so many shocks you're experiencing post-traumatic stress,"Harry said. Ron stood up.

"I need to get to class,"Ron said, gathering his books.

"Whatever."

Ron avoided Harry for the rest of the day, sitting on the opposite side of the classroom during their classes together. Harry could care less. He was anxious to talk to Professor Persephone, who was currently droning on and on about glands. Harry looked over to where Ron was sitting by the window. Ron was looking at him like he was a registered sex-offender or something. Harry rolled his eyes and put his head on his desk until the class ended.

"Professor, I need to talk to you,"Harry said moving towards Sirius through the crowd trying to leave. "It's important."

"Come into my office, Harry,"Sirius said.

"Do you know anything about what happened to Draco?"Harry said.

"Harry, I thought I told you to stay away from Draco,"Sirius said, reapplying his mascara in front of the lighted mirror on his desk.

"I don't care!"Harry snapped. "I know now I've never felt like this for anyone before, and I can't bear the thought that he might be in trouble. You need to tell me everything you know, right now!

"Alright, Harry, you deserve to know what I know, at least,"Sirius said, turning from the mirror. "After I regained my wits after the battle at the Ministry, I was able to do some spying around for the Order. It was easier for me because everyone thought I was dead. I discovered a plot by Voldemort to send a vampire out to Hogwarts."

"A vampire? Sent here to feed on me?"Harry asked, stunned.

"Voldemort must have known this wouldn't be a successful attempt on your life, but it would be demoralizing to the Order. I followed the vampire here, and lost any trace of him after we made it onto the grounds. I expect he disappeared into the forest."

"What does this have to do with Draco and Hermione?"

"Maybe nothing, maybe everything. Hermione would have been an easy victim, with her head encased in cement she wouldn't have seen a vampire coming and wouldn't be able to resist much. I don't know why the vampire would target Draco, maybe he just happened to be out of bed in the middle of the night, in an area the vampire knew he could get to him without being seen." Sirius stopped when he saw the expression on Harry's face.

"So you're saying Draco could have made a midnight snack for a vampire?"Harry said, tears filling his eyes.

"Harry, I'm sorry. We don't know if the vampire has even come out of the forest yet. Maybe something else happened to Hermione and Draco,"Sirius said.

"Have you told Dumbledore you're alive?"Harry asked.

"No. Not yet. You and Hagrid are the only ones who know right now, and I want it to stay that way until I've managed to stop the vampire. Voldemort doesn't know anyone knows about the vampire yet, and doesn't know I'm alive. Those are two great advantages on my side."

Harry didn't see how, but he was too miserable to question Sirius's odd behavior. The image of a vampire sinking it's fangs into Draco's throat wouldn't leave his mind.

That night, Neville Longbottom was awakened by a strange hissing. He sat up in bed and looked around in fear, his heart beating against his chest like there was an anxious little man inside knocking to be let out.

"Who's there?"he whispered.

"Neville Longbottom?"a voice whispered in the darkness. A figure moved out of the shadows and stood over his bed.

"H-Hermione? What...."

"Come with me now, Neville Longbottom, like a good little boy,"Hermione said sweetly, extending a pale hand out towards him. Despite his fear, he managed to take in Hermione's appearance. She had no cement on her head, she was deathly pale and her hair was wild and tangled. Her stomach bulged outward with the first indications of her pregnancy. And she was smiling like a loon. "Come now, Neville Longbottom."

"Er, alright,"Neville managed to whisper. He didn't want to go anywhere with her. She was frightening. However, he threw back the covers and sat up to put his slippers on. "Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise,"Hermione said, "You don't want to ruin the surprise, do you?"

"I don't like surprises,"Neville said as he stood to follow her.

"Well, most likely you won't like this one, either,"Hermione said, smiling like a chimp. "Come now, Neville Longbottom."

Neville followed Hermione through the dark and silent castle. She moved quietly, making almost no noise, and moving at a great speed. She led him out onto the grounds, then stopped abruptly, almost causing Neville to bump into her.

"What's wrong?"Neville asked. Then he saw what Hermione was staring at. Hagrid was outside his hut, looking around at the dark ground. In his arms he was struggling with two of McGonagall's kiddens.

"Here, kiddy, kiddy, kiddy,"Hagrid called out, moving around the hut. Neville was tempted to call out to him for help, but it occurred to him all that would appear to be happening was that he and Hermione were sneaking out of the school together in the middle of the night. And as far as he knew, that was what was happening. There was just something wrong about Hermione. She was scaring him.

They stood by the great oak doors of the school, hidden in the shadow, and watched while Hagrid discovered the missing kidden hiding in his pumpkin patch. Hermione sighed with impatience as she watched Hagrid stumbling over giant pumpkins and grabbing at the ground like a crazy man. He tripped over a vine and fell to the ground with a thud, a furry black kidden scurrying out of his reach. Fang saw the kidden dart underneath the hut and started barking, the barks echoing into the night loud enough to wake up the residents of Hogsmeade. Hermione stamped her foot with irritation.

"We must move elsewhere,"she hissed, "Someone will come out to see what the commotion is."

They hurried in the shadows through a courtyard of the castle and hid behind a pillar. Sure enough, Argus Filch soon came scuttling out the front doors holding a lantern and followed by his cat Mrs. Norris. Mrs. Norris sniffed the air and looked over in the direction of Neville and Hermione, but hurried after Filch as he continued on towards Hagrid's hut. The kidden hiding underneath the hut immediately darted out towards Filch, with Fang jumping down to chase it. Both animals slammed into Filch, knocking him to the ground as Hagrid was running towards them. Hermione cursed under her breath.

"I guess we're not going to make it to the forest any time soon,"she said turning to Neville.

"We're going to the forest.....?"Neville started, but he soon felt a sharp pain in his throat and everything went black.

It was another somber breakfast the next morning. Dumbledore rose and raised a hand for silence so he could make his announcement.

"Students and staff, it is my grave duty to announce yet again we are missing a student. Some time last night, Neville Longbottom of Gryffindor disappeared. This is the third student to go missing this week, and you should all be taking precautions to prevent any more disappearances. If anyone at all has any information regarding these disappearances, I once again strongly urge you to come forward,"Dumbledore said. Harry looked down at his plate, burning with guilt. He should tell Dumbledore about Sirius and what he said. He looked back up at the staff table and saw Sirius, as Professor Persephone, staring directly at him. There was no humor in the look. It was stern and intense. Harry could guess what it meant.

"Also, everyone be aware that last night two more of Professor McGonagall's, er, children, escaped from Hagrid's hut and are no doubt running wild on the grounds. If you happen to see one, do not try to approach it, but let a member of the staff know where you saw it."

Dumbledore continued to ramble on about safety measures and precautions, but Harry didn't listen. He felt sick. He didn't notice Ron coming over and sitting down.

"Were you having an illicit affair with Neville, also?"Ron asked, grinning as Harry looked up.

"No,"Harry said. "Either you've decided I'm still your friend or you've lost your mind."

"Yeah, well, I guess it doesn't matter if you fancy Draco,"Ron said, helping himself to some of Harry's toast. "This whole situation is terrible and we've got to figure out what to do like we always do."

"Why do we always have to save the day?"Harry asked.

"Who else would do it?"Ron said cheerfully, and Harry knew he was right.

That night, Katie Bell was awakened by a hissing noise. Startled, she lit the lantern she kept by her bed and looked around the dormitory. The other girls snored softly in their beds. No one seemed to be up. Then she saw a shadow in the corner by the staircase.

"Who's there?"she demanded, getting out of bed and arming herself with the nearest thing she could find, a broomstick. "Show yourself." She waved the broom out in front of her.

The figure moved out of the shadows, deathly pale and staring at her intensely.

"Neville?? How did you get in here?"Katie asked, setting the broom down on the bed.

"Come with me now, Katie Bell,"Neville said, smiling like a loon as he reached out towards her.....