The sky was a black as a raven’s wing, and there wasn't a scar to be seen. Clouds bubbled as if in a cauldron, and the wind blew through the trees as if to pull them from the ground. A single raindrop hit the window of where Hermione Granger slept. She opened her eyes as her sensitive ears picked up the small sound. Stretching her arms, she looked mechanically at the clock by her bed. There was no need to look anymore…time would soon be of no value to her. Once you were immortal, the hours of the day meant little. Still, it was the small amount of human left in her that made her look.

8 :00 p.m.

3 more hours, she thought to herself Three more hours to be me.

Tonight, her transformation would be complete. Valil would have the final pint of her blood within a matter of seconds, and the full midnight moon would absorb the rest of her humanity. Not that it would matter much…to Hermione, she was already a monster. She felt no compassion for anything anymore…not a warm day, nor thunderstorms. Thoughts of Ron had all but vanished, and the only memory she had of Harry now was one in which he lay dead in the middle of a field, with nothing but a broken wand in his hand. In the past couple of weeks, she had killed lambs and rabbits as means of sustaining her thirst, but she knew that soon she would want human blood. The vampires went to Azkaban for that. Even the thought of feeding on one of her friends didn’t bother her anymore. She knew that she had turned evil.

A knock on her door pulled her away from her morbid thoughts. She turned away from the doorway, and Valil let himself in. She could smell the hunger within him, and knew that he was desperately looking forward to the feeding later on that night.

"Hello, my pet," Valil hissed, and she felt his hands tangle her hair in the back. She whipped around to face him.

"Hello, Valil," she mumbled, her voice as dead as a corpse.

"Did you have a nice sleep ?"

"I did, thank you. A little nap was exactly what I needed."

"I’m glad you’re feeling better. Everything needs to be perfect for tonight."

She watched as he sniffed the side of her neck.

"It’s best you keep your distance, Valil, » she warned him, « Unless you want to kill me, you must wait until midnight. That’s the only time you can turn me into a vampire, remember ?"

"Yes, and it wasn’t that at all," he replied, coaxing her cheek with his cold hand, "I was simply saying hello to my queen."

"I am not your queen yet," she retorted, and she spat in his horrible face. She tried to turn away, but he held her arms down on the bed. His nails dug into her skin, but she did not bleed. There wasn’t enough blood left in her for that.

"Face it, Hermione," he said, "You are mine now. There is no way out. Tonight, all of your memories of being a human, all of the good left in your body will evaporate into the moonlight. It’s best that you start loving me now…right now ."

She felt his icy lips lock with hers, and she tried to pull away. Something, however, stopped her. She could taste him on her tongue…the taste of desire…and suddenly she wanted nothing more than to continue kissing him. Her mind was washed clean, there was nothing stopping her from loving this creature before her. Her heart was pounding in her ears as his hands swept through her hair. She was evil, she was his, and she resolved herself to all of it at that moment.

When she felt him leave her, she wanted to pull him back to her.

"Don’t go," she whispered to him, and she heard his horrible, beautiful laugh.

"Soon, you won’t be able to be rid of me," Valil said, and he caressed her cheek once more. She laughed involuntarily, her mind no longer her own. Her heart had turned to stone with the kiss, and her thoughts were now Valil’s. Where a few moments ago, she could only think of the monster she had become, she now embraced her fate. She felt him get up from the bed, and heard the sound of the door close.

Two and a half hours to go.

The anticipation was enough to kill her.

The castle was brilliantly lit up with candles. Left and right, vampires stood conversing with one another, discussing the latest triumph of Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters. They had invaded a Muggle town somewhere close by, seemingly full of happy families unaware to of the terror soon to come. The group had marched in, murdering people left and right. Among the victims were the adoptive family of Harry Potter, the Dursleys. They drank to their leader, their glasses full of the blood of various beings.

One of the vampires, a male by the name of Cambral, stood against the wall, locked in conversation with a dark stranger that no one in the castle had ever met before. He was cloaked in a long, black robe, his face hidden by a large hood. At first, it seemed that Valil had invited a dementor to the event. However, the figure spoke, and it was concluded that he was indeed either a vampire himself or a follower of Lord Voldemort.

"Exciting, this evening, isn’t it ?" Cambral asked the stranger.

"Indeed. A fine party, » he replied, « What did you say the occasion was, again ?"

"Why, my friend, Valil creates his queen tonight, » Cambral replied, « Up on that pedestal there, he will take the final traces of her blood, and she will be one of us."

"Ah, yes. A night of celebration, it is. Who is the girl ?"

"Some Mudblood that the dementors capture in the Final Victory," Cambral replied, "She was one of Harry Potter’s friends. Were you there, in the battle ?"

The stranger did not seem to hear him. His eyes were focused, unmoving, up on that pedestal. Cambral continued to jabber on about the war that had been won, all of his words unheard.

"Just think…after all of these years, the world is ours," Cambral exclaimed, "Isn’t it…"

The vampire stared at the empty space in front of him. The stranger, there before had somehow vanished. There was no loud crack, nor a swish of a cloak…he was just gone. Cambral whipped his head from left to right. Nothing. Shrugging his shoulders and concluding that he had left, Cambral moved into the crowd to gossip with the rest of the creatures there.

The dark stranger had not left. He had escaped to a room, high above the crowd, in a tower where a young girl slept. He watched her breathing…her chest hardly rose at all. She was pale and he knew that if he were to touch her arm, her skin would be as cold as ice. Gingerly, he walked across the room and, as gently as possible, shook her awake.

"Ummm…" she mumbled, and swatted at his hood. He backed away quickly so as not to get slapped in the face. Then, he pushed her one more time.

"Not yet, Valil," she uttered, and she shot up in bed. She nearly let out a scream, but the dark stranger put his finger up to where his mouth would be.

"I’m not a dementor," the stranger said, "It’s okay. I’m here to help you."

"I’m beyond help," Hermione told him, "Why don’t you just leave, sir ? I have something to do in a few minutes."

"Yes, you do, » the man said to her, "You’ve got to escape with me."

He pulled out his wand, mumbling words under his breath, until Hermione felt her eyes grow heavy. Soon, she was asleep again. Whipping out a small sock from his pocket, he whispered, " Portus ," and placed the girl’s hand upon the seam. She was gone within a few seconds.

A minute later, Valil entered the room to collect his queen. He was met with a stake, shot directly through his heart. The stranger stood over him as the vampire slowly expired. He heard his last words.
" You. "

Hermione found herself in a field, with no recollection of how she got there or any idea of where she was. All she knew was that within ten minutes, a loud pop resounded through the air. Before her was the stranger she had met before, his billowing cloak flowing in the wind.

"Good," she heard him say, "You’re safe."

"Who the bloody hell do you think you are ?" she shrieked, "I had resolved myself to that fate. I’m almost a vampire, you idiot ! I’ll drink your blood before you can tell me to stop !"

"That can be fixed," he said, "Just give it some time. First, we have to get away from here. The Portkey couldn’t bring us very far. We have a walk ahead of us, and we need to begin as soon as possible. You aren’t the only one who needs to be rescued, you know ?"

"I’m not going anywhere with you !" she said, "I’ve already been captured before, and I’m not going through it again. Where are you going to take me this time ? Are you a Death Eater, huh ? Going to enslave me like you enslaved my friends?"

"I don’t intend on enslaving anyone. And I’m most definitely not a Death Eater, Hermione. Calm down."

"Don’t tell me to…" she said, and then she froze. He knew who she was. This person was someone she knew.

"How do you know my name ?"

The stranger laughed and shook his head beneath the hood. Then, extending his hand, he offered to help her from the ground. She looked down at it, and then back up at him. Sighing, the stranger reached up and pushed his hood back.

Hermione’s heart jumped up into her throat. Tears instantly welled up in her eyes. Grasping the hand that was offered her. She threw herself into the arms of her rescuer.

"It’s…I…how are you… "

"Some things can’t be explained that quickly, » Harry told her, « I can tell you on the way."

"You’re alive, Harry," she exclaimed, and moved in to hug him again. Suddenly, a waft of air brought the scent of his blood to her nostrils. Instantly, she let go, and she heard the laugh that she believed she would never hear again.

"Can we move on before I become your next meal ?" Harry asked.

"You find the fact that I want to drink your blood funny ?" Hermione said, but she couldn’t help but smile. Her best friend, one that she felt certain she would never see again, was alive and talking to her in that moment. She was out of Valil’s grasp.

"Not at all funny. But that will resolve itself within a few days. Snape packed me some potions to give to you that will restore you to your former glory."

"Snape ?"

"Hermione, we’ve got to go now. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover. I’ll explain it all to you on the way."

Nodding, she followed him up the hill, keeping her distance so as not to be attracted by the scent of his blood. She didn’t take her eyes off of him, and listened to what he was saying to her. In being with him, it was as if there was no evil left in the world, and for a moment, the peril that lie ahead of them seemed to evaporate away. Harry Potter was alive.