Harry Potter Demons

Hermione couldn't sleep. Her eyes remained closed, but she was wide awake, and her body was itching for movement. Tossing and turning didn't seem to scratch that itch. Reluctantly, she opened her eyes and sat up. Something was bothering her. Racking her brains, she looked around her dormitory. Her roommates were all sound sleep. Even from behind her red privacy curtains, she could hear Lavender snoring. Hermione snorted.

_I wonder if Ron knows how loud she is when she sleeps._ She thought. _If he doesn't know already._ She added bitterly.

Maybe that was what was bothering her. She knew that she had no feelings for her best friend Ron, but maybe what made her so bitter about his and Lavender's relationship was that it reminded her of something she didn't have—someone who cared about her, and someone she cared about just as much. The closest thing she had to that was the one she had with her books.

Except that her books didn't love her back.

Shaking her head, she crawled out of her bed. _I need something to take my mind off of this._

Normally when she was this restless she would stay curled up in her bed and read a book by wandlight, but her body was screaming for action and she knew she wouldn't have the ability to sit still.

_A walk. I'll go for a walk._ She decided.

Hermione crawled out of bed, slipping on a pair of shoes and grabbing her wand and the Marauder's Map she had borrowed from Harry. Quietly, she slipped out of her dormitory, shutting the door lightly so that her roommates wouldn't wake up. The common room was deserted and the fire that normally burned brightly was now embers. She saw one student sleeping in the corner at one of the desks and smiled when she saw that it was Neville. Next to him was his DADA textbook, sitting wide open on the chapter about werewolves.

_He must have fallen asleep writing the essay about werewolf characteristics._ Hermione, of course, had already finished her essay, with an extra foot more than what had been requested. She tiptoed by him and made it through the portrait with no notice.

The corridor was cold, so she cast warming spell around her. With a second thought, she cast a disillusionment charm as well. She didn't want to take any chances. She pulled the map out.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." She whispered, and the familiar inky black lines immediately appeared on the folded piece of parchment. She tucked her wand under her arm, searching the map for teachers and looking for the best place for her to wander around.

Professor Snape was somewhere on the third floor, patrolling another sleepless night. Hermione made a mental note to steer clear of him. Disillusionment charm or not, he would know that she was near. She continued to unfold the map so that it was completely open, and began scouring the map for more night roamers. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a name exiting the castle. She almost gasped out loud when she read the name.

_Draco Malfoy?_ She bit her lip, watching the procession the ink made towards the clumps of trees. _He's going into the Forbidden Forest!_ Without a second thought, Hermione all but sprinted for the nearest exit. Whatever Malfoy was up to, it couldn't be good.

The air outside was crisp compared to the musky castle. The night sky was clear and the moonlight brightly lit the path that lead into the forest. Hermione paused, standing in between the door with one foot outside and one foot still inside the castle. Her natural hesitations had begun to kick in.

_Is this even a good idea? Taking off after Malfoy, in the dark, after hours?_ She wondered. _Of course it's not, Hermione! Think!_

She turned her head and glanced back at the corridor that she had just raced down. Torches dimly lit the darkness, and the heat beckoned her to stay inside. _Maybe I should find a teacher…they could deal with it._

Hermione remembered that she was also breaking the rules, by even being out this late. No teacher would believe her story, and instead she would get in trouble. With that thought, she stepped forward and started for the path, not even turning back when she heard the doors slam shut.

Walking into the forest was quieter than she thought it would be. Too quiet. The buzz of insects, the rustling of small animals, the hoots of wild owls were missing, making the forest seem hollow and empty, almost like a nightmare. Every step she took broke the serine silence of the forest, finally forcing her to stop in fear of rousing too much attention. Maybe no animal was around, but she knew that Malfoy was in the forest with her and she wanted the element of surprise her on side.

As quietly as she could, she reopened the map. She saw Draco Malfoy's name hovering around a small clear not far from her. She pulled out her wand and whispered, "Mischief Managed!" and watched as the inky lines vanished from the now blank parchment. She folded the map back up and tucked it into the pocket of her nightclothes.

Wand in hand, she approached the small clearing up ahead. Rays of moonlight shone through the branches of the trees in patches, like spotlights on a stage. She stepped into the clearing. It was empty, and she couldn't hear or see any indication that someone was there. Hermione frowned. The map was never wrong. Malfoy had just been standing in the clearing, and she hadn't heard anything that suggested that he had left. She turned around, deciding to return to the castle, and then promptly fell to the ground.

_Stupid rock._ She thought as she pushed herself off the ground. She bent back over to pick her wand up off the ground, cursing her clumsiness. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a faint footprint.

No, it was a _paw_ print.

"Lumos!" She whispered. Under her wand light, several more paw prints appeared, leading straight towards a group of bushes twenty yards away.

Quickly, Hermione whispered "Nox!" She was still disillusioned, and she didn't want her wandlight to give her away. Whatever was behind the bushes couldn't be good. It probably did something to Malfoy, and whatever happened to him, she didn't want to stay around and see the result.

The bush rustled, and Hermione froze. Something was definitely behind the bushes. She held her breath and didn't move for several seconds. Finally, she took one step backwards, planning on fleeing the scene when the bushes suddenly exploded. A large, dark animal leapt from the bushes, landing no fewer than three feet from her. Hermione was barely able to stifle a horrified shriek. The beast snarled at the emptiness around him. His body was lean, larger than any dog or wild wolf that she had ever seen, his head tall enough to reach her chest. His dark, thick black hair was standing on edge, his ears turned forward, listening. His furious, stormy eyes were looking right at Hermione.

_Don't panic._ Hermione reassured herself. _You're under a Disillusionment charm. He can't see you._

Suddenly, the wolf crouched in an unmistakable attack position, teeth bared and ears pushed straight back against his skull.

_Run!_ Hermione screamed at herself and she tore off into the forest. She glanced behind her to see the wolf had leapt where she had just been standing, and was now bounding towards her. Panic shot through her when she realized that she wasn't invisible anymore, the disillusionment charm was gone.

She could hear his breath behind her, disgustingly close. At once, everything came into place. The forbidden forest, the lack of noise, Malfoy, the beast chasing after her, _the full moon above her head_.

_Malfoy!_ Hermione realized. _He's a werewolf!_

The adrenaline running through her veins gave her another push. She turned her body, continuing to run and attempted to shoot a stunning charm towards the werewolf. Her aim was dead on, but Malfoy continued after her unperturbed.

_My magic isn't working!_

Suddenly the ground was pulled from right under her feet. She fell, straight down a hill, and continued to roll. The roots and grass scratched her skin and the rocks left bruises as she slipped and tried to reign herself. Finally, she crashed in pile at the bottom of the steep hill, thankfully hidden from sight behind a group of bushes. She could hear Malfoy howling at the top of the hill, and she froze, not sure what to do. She couldn't see a thing. Instead of racing towards the castle, in her panic she had run even deeper into the forbidden forest. She sat, crouched at the bottom of the bushes, listening for any sound.

She wasn't sure how long she sat there, waiting. Her heart was pounding and all she felt was fear paralyzing every muscle in her body. Finally, when she was sure that Malfoy had left, she crawled out from the bushes. She knew she couldn't stay there. Shakily, she climbed back up the hill and toward the path that lead her back to the castle.

She was almost there. She could see the end of the forest and the safety of the castle just ahead of her. She almost sobbed with relief until she saw a shape materialize from the darkness ahead of her.

It was Draco Malfoy. His blonde hair was streaked with dirt and, if she wasn't scared for her life, she would have gaped at him because he did not have a stich of clothes on. That wasn't her main focus, though because while his body was completely human, his eyes were wild.

Hermione gasped and took a step back. Draco moved forward, not taking his eyes off her, and the stormy grey of his eyes became even more intense. He was standing two feet from her before she found her voice.

"Malfoy?" Hermione whispered. She could hear the panic in her voice. "What are you doing?"

His hands reached out, grabbing her arms and throwing her up against a nearby tree. She heard her terrified shriek and the smack of her head hitting the tree. Her body crumpled to the ground, and immediately she tried to crawl backwards, away from Draco.

Before she even knew what had happened, she felt him crawling on top of her. In vain, she tried to push him off her, only to have her arms pinned up over her head. His body was touching hers, his face close to hers, too close to hers. She felt his nose at her neck, breathing her in and oh merlin, his erection hot and hard against her leg.

His tongue licked her neck, and the last thing she remembered before she was overcome by darkness was the searing pain as his teeth pierced the skin of her neck.

**I begged you to hear me, there's more than flesh and bones,**  
**Let the dead bury their dead, they will come out in droves,**  
**But take the spade from my hands and fill in the holes, you've made.**

**-Mumford and Sons**


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