Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:41:19 -0500
From: Jesse Jesse <gmmac1987@hotmail.com>
Subject: To Hold The Heart Of A Vampire Pt 2

	"Draco?...............Draco?".......... He woke with a
start, his mind surging through memory after memory; the vampire, the dark
forest, his parents, Voldemort! But where was he now? The room was dark and
dingy, wherever he was, and there were voices, familiar voices. "Draco?"
Granger! "Draco it's Hermione Granger." "I know who you are, mudbloo...."
but there was a severeness, even a danger in Granger's voice he'd never
heard before. "Draco if you're just going to be an arrogant arse, then
we'll take you back to the dark forest! Perhaps you can find the vampire
who almost killed you so he can finish the job!" "Where am I?" "You're at a
safe house." "How did you come by finding me?" "I didn't, Hagrid did."
There was movement in one of the dark corners, and the over sized
half-giant came lumbering to the foot of the bed. "Ye gave us a right good
fright there, Malfoy. I came trampin' through the forest and found ye lyin'
there, lookin' like ye was dead 'an all. Thought ye was dead, but I ran as
fast as me legs would carry me, 'an brought ye to the Weasleys, 'an then
Arthur brought ye here." Draco found himself torn. He'd always had a
contempt for the half-giant, but now knowing that he'd saved his life, he
felt the tiniest bit of gratitude. There'd never been any love lost from
the giant on Draco's behalf either, but to think that he'd still shown
enough compassion to bring him to get help. Granger spoke up once
again. "Draco there are some questions we need to ask you. You're not going
to like them, but we've got to ask them for your own sake." Draco tried to
fain a sneer. "Then why are you going to ask them, if you know I'm not
going to like them?" The severity in her voice was back. "Because if you
don't answer them, you may still end up dead!" Draco tried to sit, but his
body screamed in pain. "Don't try to move, you fool! You're not going to be
going anywhere for a while. You have broken and fractured bones, and
bruises that look horrid. Now, first of all, I need you to tell me what you
were doing in the dark forest." An anger rose in Draco at such a stupid
question. "I was getting ready to attend a sodding garden party, Granger!
What do you think I was doing?!" "So, am I to understand you were hiding?"
"Well, that's generally one of the only reasons one goes to such a place as
the forest!" "All right, then how did you meet the vampire?" A sudden
suspicion rose in Draco's mind. "How do you know I met a vampire?" "Oh
Draco, honestly! Two bleeding holes in your neck, it's not really all that
difficult to realize what happened!" Draco sighed heavily. He was growing
tired of this game. His body felt like hell, his head was splitting, and he
didn't even want to describe how his arse felt. "Look, Granger, since
you've got me here, wherever my prison is, why not just let me tell you the
story, instead of asking a thousand dull questions?" She eyed him
suspiciously. "All right, but you must tell me everything." "Since you have
me confined, do I really have a choice?"

	For the next hour Draco explained the story of the previous night's
events, Voldemort, his parents, flying to Hogwarts, the vampire. He told
her everything. Granger sat wide-eyed with horror, even shedding a few
tears on his behalf. He explained how the vampire had attacked him, how
he'd willed Draco's body to do all the dreadful things he'd been forced to
do. Though it shouldn't have surprised him, Granger had ripped a piece of
parchment from a nearby bag, grabbed a quill, and started making
notes. When he finished she sat chewing her bottom lip, "hmmmm-ing" a great
deal as she pondered her notes. Draco began to become impatient. "Granger,
are you going to sit there and murmur to yourself all afternoon, or are you
going to be kind enough to let me know what the devil you're 'hmmm-ing'
about?!" She jerked. "Oh, I'm sorry. It's just that vampire bites of the
nature you've described usually kill." "What do you mean, they usually
kill?" "Just that. Haven't you ever read in the library's magical creatures
section about them?" Draco felt himself growing impatient and upset
again. "Granger look at me. Do you see who I am? I'm a Malfoy! Have you
ever known me to be interested in anything Hogwarts had to say about any
subject?" Her lips curved into the smallest of smiles. "I suppose not."
"Now, what's all this really about?" "Well, it really is just what I
said. You should be dead. You see, vampires bite for three reasons, to feed
from their mate, to kill, or to infect. The bite of a vampire who feeds
from their mate will do no harm to the person bitten. A vampire who wishes
to kill their victim need only to bite them. There is a magical curse in
their bite, working almost like the bit of a venomous serpent. I was of the
understanding that a vampire's bite was only reduced to infection if
there'd been other blood spilled, before the bite that is." Draco sighed
heavily at what he'd just heard as his mind replayed the early morning's
events over and over. His voice hardly whispered when he answered. "There
was other blood spilled." Granger's head jerked as she eyed him. "What do
you mean?" "When the vampire first grabbed me I struggled and fought
against him. That's what the bruises and blood on my wrists are from, but I
bled somewhere else, somewhere much more intimate." Tears began spilling
down Granger's face again. "Oh Draco, I'm so sorry. I can't imagine what
you're remembering right now." His voice was almost inaudible. "No, you
can't." They both stayed in silence for a great while. Finally Draco broke
the silence with a question that burned inside him. "So, does this mean
that I am a vampire?" Granger remained silent for a moment as she settled a
compassionate gaze on him, almost a gaze of pity. "You're not fully
transformed yet, but yes, you will become a vampire." "What do you mean
'become?' If I've been bitten, aren't I already?" "Transforming into a
vampire isn't something that happens overnight. It's a process. Your body
will have to adjust to the magic that's invaded it. You see Draco, most
vampires prefer muggles because they have no magical resistance at
all. They view them as easier targets, if you will. Because you are a
wizard, we can't be certain what will happen, or how long it will
take. There's no recorded historical precedent for this. For now we'll just
have to watch and wait."

	Though many within what they referred to as "The Order of the
Phoenix" wished to hide from Draco the true location of his recovery, it
didn't take him long to realize that he was at his great aunt Walburga's
home, 12 Grimmauld Place. His first clue came when the ancient, shriveled
elf called Kreacher came shuffling into his room, a look of distaste and
revulsion on his face. "There is the half-blood creature created by the
mixing of blood. If my poor mistress only knew what mud-bloods and other
disgusting creatures were in her house!" Draco seethed with anger as the
tiny elf shuffled around the bed with a tray of food for him. "That's
enough from you, scum! Why don't you just buggar off!" The elf bowed low as
he muttered. "Of course. Kreacher lives to serve his master, and to serve
those his master wishes." Draco wanted nothing more than to squeeze the
ancient elf by the throat until there was no life left in him, but his
heart sank as he knew that the old elf was right. Draco was no longer the
pureblood wizard he'd boasted so many years about being. Truth be told, he
wasn't just a wizard any more at all. He was a grotesque version of a
half-blood, half wizard and half vampire, and this made him resent the elf,
and "his master" all the more, whoever they were. But who was the elf's
master? The answer to this question came just a few days after Draco's
arrival. He'd been spending some time paging through several books Granger
had brought him to pass the time when Harry Potter came through the
door. Draco tried to sneer as he looked up at the boy standing at his
bedside. "Don't you know to knock before you enter? Didn't your precious
Weasley family teach you any manners?" "Buggar off Malfoy! I've not the
time for your bollocks. I'm just checking to make sure you're still alive."
Draco attempted his most oily voice. "Well, as you can readily tell, I am
still alive and in the perfection of health!" Potter was about to retort,
but was cut short by another voice followed by a flaming head of red
hair. "Hairy I meant to tell you...........Oh, hello Malfoy." Draco's heart
jumped. Ronald Weasley, the one person he wanted to see least of all in the
world. "Weasley." "You seem to look a bit better than you did when you
first arrived. Are you feeling any better?" Draco's face turned crimson. He
couldn't understand why, but there was something about Weasley's kindness
that made him squirm, something about his seemingly genuine concern that
made him feel guilty. But why? He'd hated Weasley since the first day
they'd met on the train.

	Over the next several weeks Draco felt a definite change in his
body. Though his body didn't visibly change all that much, he seemed to
think himself a bit paler when he stood in front of the mirror. Molly
Weasley had nearly fainted the first morning he'd come down to
breakfast. The others had had momentary looks aghast as well. It was only
Ronald Weasley who'd simply murmured "morning Malfoy" through his mouthful
of toast. Draco had attempted to eat his breakfast in peace, but had found
it impossible as every time he looked up he was greeted with stares and
goggling eyes. Finally in desperate frustration and impatience he'd thrown
his knife and fork down and returned to his room. A soft knock on the door
had followed later. Ron had eased through the door, the person Draco had
least expected. "Draco are you all right?" His retort was bitter
and hateful. "I'm just lovely Weasley. I'm enjoying the company so
thoroughly, and I'm treated like a king. Why in the hell would you wonder
if I wasn't all right?" Weasley had only replied softly. "Draco, when you
came in this morning, your eyes were glowing. They were red, not the usual
gray. That's what threw everyone off so." There were other changes to
Draco's body. He found his senses heightened and augmented. He'd become
most upset that first night he'd been awoken by the older twins whispering
in their room four doors down the hallway. He'd smelled Mundungus
Fletcher's foul breath from the disgusting tobacco he smoked the moment the
oaf had entered the door a few days later. A few nights later he'd been
awoken by the most wonderful smell he'd ever smelt in his life. The smell
had filled the room for a few seconds, waning a bit as someone hurried down
the hallway toward another room. He'd jumped from bed, hardly able to
control himself, and rushed to the door to see who had passed. Even if it
was Granger or Mrs. Weasley, they wore some wonderful perfume! But all he'd
heard when he opened the door was "Ron are you all right?" "Yes Harry. Just
had to get a drink. Sorry I woke you. Those damn floors creak something
terrible."