She sat in front of the mirror. Dark circles smudged the delicate skin around big brown eyes that stared hopelessly into the silvered glass, as if trying to see into her soul. But then, maybe that was the problem.
She let her eyes look at the reflected image of her chambers. The velvet drapes surrounding her bed were pulled back, revealing crimson silk sheets and a green comforter, rumpled and disarranged, as if someone had just left their comfortable embrace. Now, in the evening, she had left the heavy velvet curtains at her window open. A cool, gentle breeze sighed through the open window, causing the flame of her candle to dance merrily. The first brave glimpse of the evening star was beginning to peep through the scattering of clouds on the horizon. The huge silver moon seemed to be playing peek-a-boo with the clouds racing past its face. How she wished she could feel anything so frivolous anymore.
She sighed heavily and returned her gaze to the mirror. Her hair was getting long; she could feel it brushing the base of her spine as she turned her head. She could never get an appointment with a Muggle hairdresser at the right time. It didn’t matter anyway. Nothing did anymore. Slowly, she raised her hand, gently tracing her features. Her eyes closed, she trailed her fingers over her forehead, the curving slope of her eyebrows, down her nose and over her pale cheeks, stopping to brush her fingers back and forth over her lips. She ran her tongue quickly over her small, white, perfect row of teeth; nothing there, yet. Lightly, she followed the line of her throat, down the centre, careful to avoid the right side of her neck. Not careful enough, the tips of her fingers brushed it: The Marks.
A strangled cry tore from her throat. She clamped one hand over her mouth and hid her eyes with the other, as if to shield them from the sight in the mirror. Tears leaked from her tightly shut eyes and streamed down her cheeks. Her shoulders shuddered as sob after sob racked her thin body. “This isn’t true. It can’t be happening to me!” The thoughts circled around and around, endlessly through her tired brain.
With an effort of sheer will, she pulled her hands from her face, swiped angrily at the tears on her cheeks and determinedly squared her shoulders. How she hated feeling so weak and useless! Slowly raising her eyes, she looked again into the mirror. What she saw was no longer as frightening as it was the first time. It was after all the same thing she had seen for the past year: nothing.
Hermione Granger rose and walked into her bathroom. Quickly, she washed her face with cold water. She had to hurry now. It was getting dark. She could feel the insatiable appetite rising in her yet again. She had to leave soon before it became too strong to control. She hurried to the window, pushing the curtain aside and thrusting the glass wider to the night air. Before climbing out onto the ledge, she took one last look at herself in the mirror, or at least where her image should be. She never had gotten used to not being able to cast a reflection, objects seeming to move around by themselves.
She could feel her incisors slowly lengthening, the hunger growing. Swiftly, she climbed onto the ledge, spread her arms and leapt forward into the open air. No thump of a body hitting the ground was heard, but a few seconds later, the flitting silhouette of a small brown bat could be seen against the night sky.
Walking in Darkness by shadow_ks
Chapter Notes: Disclaimer: Not mine, wish it was.
A BIG thank you to my beta, Lumiere. Not possible without you.
Please, be gentle! First time fic writer, and I would love to know what you think