24We do not own the Darren Shan Saga or Harry Potter.
Also, we would like you to know that there will not be any pairings in this story.
Chapter 3:
"The Thirst for Escape."
Days flew by, with no mention of what Hermione had done that night. The boys grew concerned at her secrecy. Hermione wasn't the type to break school rules, unless there was a purpose behind it. At night, in their dormitory, they would throw out random ideas, many that did not make much sense. They decided that they would confront her about it one day, if she didn't tell them soon.
Hermione knew Harry and Ron were curious, but she didn't think it was the right time to tell them. She didn't have nearly as much information as she wanted yet. At every road, she only found more questions. Who was this Darren Shan? She wondered if he had been born a vampire or if his life had been swept from under his feet like Lupin's had been. How does one become a vampire, anyways? Hermione had been taking every chance she could to visit Hagrid, searching for a way to observe the vampire further.
One thing the studious girl did notice, was that his violent outbursts were becoming more infrequent. More and more often, when she went to see Bram, –or well Darren Shan– he would just sit there and stare into space. A few times, Hermione even made eye contact. Darren would look as if he might say something for a moment, but just as quickly the look was gone. She began wondering if his rabid tendencies were only an act. But, why would he need to act this way? If he were to be more humane, he couldn't be locked up any more than a werewolf could be.
She noted each of these things in her muggle-made, spiral notebook as she leaned against a tree, gazing into the distance at the Great Lake.
"Hey 'Mione," Ron said, plopping onto the ground next to her, "What's that you've got?"
"It's nothing Ronald," she said as she hastily closed the notebook and tucked it under her arm.
"Right," he said, dragging out the vowel. "Then let me see it if it's 'nothing'."
Hermione's face burned and she hugged it to her chest. "I don't think it's any of your concern," she huffed, looking miffed.
"Well then it's not nothin' now is it? What do you have in there?"
"Not anything," Hermione corrected, trying to push the conversation into another direction.
Ron sighed and frowned at her. "Well whenever you decide to stop hiding things from your best mates, let me and Harry know."
"Harry and me..." Hermione corrected quietly to herself. This was dragging on too long. Harry and Ron had grown entirely too suspicious. Hermione needed answers soon, and the only way she could think to get them was asking the subject itself. Hermione needed to talk to Darren.
Darren's P.O.V.
The first thing I noticed when I woke up was that I felt as if my head was going to explode. The second thing I noticed was that I was in a cage and that I was currently being watched. I hoisted myself into a sitting position and looked around. There was a girl with frizzy, messy, brown hair looking at me with curious eyes. I met her gaze for a moment, wondering if I should say anything. But her face was similar to the audiences' at the Cirque as they watched the wolfman; slightly fearful, slightly fascinated. I had about a million questions on my tongue, but I let none of them escape. The only sound was our breathing and the throbbing in my head.
I broke the gaze and instead looked up to at the top of my small cell. I would need more information before I could begin to think of a plan. The girl's visits became more frequent and lengthy. She would often end up scribbling things down in a notebook she carried with her. She was doing just that before she closed it and looked at him. She opened her mouth, as if she meant to speak.
Third Person Point of View
"You aren't a monster are you? You are intelligent and can even speak. Why don't you? Don't you want to be let out of that cage?" Hermione listed off the questions that had been prominent in her mind.
Darren blinked at her, answering at least one of her questions. He knew she was addressing him. Nevertheless, he didn't answer. Instead, he peered at her, not moving in the slightest, so she continued to ramble.
"My name is Hermione," she said. "I am a fourth year here," she continued, as if the words held some significance. "I know your name too! Darren Shan, right? It's a long story how I know. I read it on a map, but you have a name! You haveto be able to understand me and speak," she said, trying to urge him to talk to her.
Darren, on the other hand was confused. Why would speaking get him out of this cage? His vampiric, embedded stubbornness kept him from saying anything. What if this girl was a vampet? What if they were trying to get information out of him?
"Please! I want to help you! If you can talk to Dumbledore, maybe we can learn something about your kind! If you just answered our questions, I'm sure we could come to some understanding? I can tell you aren't bad. I'm not sure why you were acting rabid... but maybe you could answer that?" Hermione was desperate for answers.
Acting Rabid? Darren thought to himself. When had he been acting rabid? He had no memory of such a thing. Maybe he could use the situation to his advantage. Maybe he could be the one gaining answers.
"Hi..." Darren's voice came out hoarse from not being properly used recently.
Hermione's face lit up. She leaned forward eagerly, writing something down without looking. Darren was briefly reminded of a television program he watched that had a psychiatrist session in it. All they needed now was a couch...
"So, you're Hermione? Mind telling me what I'm doing here?" Before Darren would answer any of her questions, she had to answer some of his.
"Er..." Hermione said, looking behind her at a large castle. "That's kind of a long story."
"I'm not going anywhere." Darren stated truthfully. He was locked in a cage; there wasn't anywhere he could go. I wonder if I could bend the bars... he thought to himself, gaining an idea. He stood up and nearly fell back down as spots danced in front of his eyes. After a moment, his vision cleared and he took a few steps forward. Each step was misery to his head.
"Hey are you alright? You don't look well," Hermione noted as Darren stood.
I'm weak. I need to feed, Darren thought before saying, "Just a little shaky on my feet."
Hermione thought this was odd. He had no problems with pouncing at the cage days earlier. She was thinking this over, when she noticed that the vampire was attempting to bend open the bars of the cage.
"What are you doing?!" she shouted, growing anxious.
He didn't answer. His focus seemed entirely on bending those bars. A bead of sweat broke out on his forehead. Darren put every bit of his strength into peeling the metal apart. But, the hardest part was still to come. As he pulled the bars apart, the magic in them fought back. It was like pushing a ball onto the bottom of a pool -the farther he pushed, the harder the bars rebelled.
When the bars had opened just large enough for Darren to slip through, he squeezed himself between the two metal bars. Once he was out, he collapsed onto the ground. Hermione bit her lip uncertainly, unsure of what to do.
"Well then... that's better," Darren said from the ground, looking back at the cage and then to Hermione, smirking. "Now, again, what am I doing here?"
Hermione stared at the fallen vampire, at loss for words. "Um..." she said unsurely, hoping that Darren would not attack her. "Well, you're a class experiment?"
"Class...?" Darren said, eyebrows pinching together.
"Yes," she nodded, gaining some bravery. "Why are you laying on the ground like that?"
"Well," Darren replied irritably, "I thought this patch of grass looked comfy..."
Hermione was hesitant, but she bravely went over and offered Darren her hand. The young vampire took her hand and used it to get up. "Thanks...," he muttered.
"No problem... So, why didn't you speak any sooner? Why were you acting like an animal?"
"I don't know," he replied, seemingly honest. "I was hoping you could tell me that."
Just then, laughter rang out, far in the distance. Hermione's ears couldn't pick up the noise, but Darren's more sensitive ones could. "What would happen if other people saw me out of that cage?" Darren asked, glancing around.
Hermione stiffened. Not many students were out at this time of day, since it would be dark soon, but if someone happened to spot them, she could get into very deep trouble. "That wouldn't be good...," she said, also examining the area.
Darren nodded seriously, showing he understood. "Then I guess I need somewhere to hide. Happen to know any good places around here?"
Hermione bit down on her lip again in thought. "If I could sneak you past the Whomping Willow, you would be able to follow the path to the Shrieking Shack."
"Whomping Willow? Shrieking Shack? What are those?" Darren asked, wishing for her to explain further.
"The Whomping Willow is an enchanted tree that can swing around its limbs and cause some major damage if you wander too close," Hermione replied. "The Shrieking Shack is just an abandoned house. Some say it's haunted."
"An enchanted tree? You are joking right?" Darren asked incredulously.
"No," she said, seeming confused, "I'm afraid not. Darren?"
"Hmm?" he replied, imagining a shack yelling at any civilians that happened to tread into its yard.
"What do you know about witchcraft and wizardry?" she said tentatively.
"Well, I met a woman who could do magic once, but she didn't like being called a witch."
"That's odd... Did she have a wand?"
Darren scoffed at that. "No, she didn't." He quickly thought up the image of Evanna in her usual form, dressed in rope and carrying a wand. "Not her style, really."
"That's very curious, then. I'm not sure what magic this woman you met was doing, but it couldn't have been what we practice here."
Darren narrowed his eyes at the young witch. "Where ishere?"
Hermione blinked. "My apologies! I can't believe I've been so daft... We're at Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," Hermione answered proudly.
Darren repeated the name to himself, testing it out. "So what exactly am I doing at this school? You said something about a class experiment..."
"Oh, well, the Ministry of Magic –which is like the wizard government- brought you here for us to study you. You're the first vampire that we have ever caught!"
Way to go... Darren thought to himself. "So what exactly were you all studying?"
"Um, eating habits, reactions, and hunting methods," she said.
Then, Darren laughed, something she wasn't expecting. "What's so funny?" she asked, slightly insulted.
"I wasn't aware my eating habits were that much different from anyone else's. Sure, I'll occasionally eat my fork on accident, but other than that..."
Hermione blinked, remembering the vampire taking large bites out of his cage. "Well," she said, also remembering feeding him a rabbit or two, "you haven't exactly... eaten normally for the past few days."
"What have I been eating, then!?" he asked, slightly afraid of her answer.
"Rabbits... ferrets... other medium sized rodents... all raw."
Darren thought his face must have gone green. He felt as if he were going to be sick. "Great... just great."
"Sorry! If it helps at all, you seemed to like it?"
Darren shot Hermione a glare, not bothering to tell her it didn't help a bit. He hardly ever ate raw meat –he let Vancha do that.
Hermione felt that she should change the subject. "So, where are you going to go, now?"
"I need to get off these grounds before I do anything else," he told her. "Where is this 'Whomping Willow' you were telling me about?"
"It's on the other side of the grounds," she said, gazing across the vast grounds.
Darren cursed silently to himself. He felt weak. He hadn't been this helpless since his first few months as a half-vampire. "What is the fastest way to get there?"
"Through the school, of course," she replied.
"Charna's guts," he mumbled. "Will you take me through it?"
Hermione's eyes widened. "It'll be dangerous," she warned. "It would be safest if we could get Harry's map and cloak..."
"Then we can do that first."
"Okay..." Hermione was nervous. She desperately hoped that Harry would let her use them. She had been so secretive lately. What if he said no? It would certainly make things a lot more complicated.
The two began to make their way to the castle in an awkward silence. Darren was serious and intent, silently beating himself up for getting into such a situation. Hermione was doing much of the same.
I can't believe I'm leading a vampire into the school! He just had to bend those bars and get out... I didn't get as much information as I had hoped, and now I'm helping him escape?! How did this happen!? Hermione thought all of this, as they grew closer to their destination.
Eventually, they weren't on their way, they were there, standing in front of the large school-building. Hermione was extremely nervous. Very quietly, they snuck in. Darren followed Hermione as she navigated the halls. Once or twice, they nearly ran into someone, but curfew was looming closer, so less and less students roamed the corridors.
After a nearly disastrous trip up the trick stairs, they finally reached the portrait of the Fat Lady –the entrance to the Gryffindor common room. Hermione ushered Darren to hide behind a statue near the portrait hole, before any students could leave the common room. The Fat Lady stared on, not sure who the boy was, but still allowed Hermione to enter the common room, having seen stranger things.
Once inside, Hermione sought out Harry, who was playing a game of Exploding Snap with Ron. "Harry," she said timidly, trying not to look suspicious, "Can I ask you a favor?"
"Er, sure," Harry replied, his gaze scrutinizing.
"Can I borrow your cloak and map again, please?" she pleaded, hoping that her friend would comply.
"I suppose," Harry said, "it's in the same place as last time."
"Okay," she said, head bobbing, "I'll bring it back soon."
"Alright," Harry said.
Hermione dashed into the boy's dormitory and retrieved both items. Then she ran down the stairs, just as fast, and walked briskly out of the common room, not bothering to look at her two best friends.
Ron and Harry looked after their friend as she left, confused and hurt by her secrecy.
"Maybe she is seeing someone," Ron commented.
"But this is Hermione. She would tell us if she were, right?" Harry said in reply.
"Yeah, but what if it's just snogging or something and she's ashamed?"
"She isn't really the type, Ron," Harry said.
"Yeah, I guess you're right, but if not, then it's something pretty bloody important for 'Mione to be sneaking around like she is," Ron said, sounding certain.
"I know."
Meanwhile, Darren and Hermione were just arriving outside the castle. They had both managed to fit under the cloak and used the map to evade any persons wandering the castle. As they approached the Whomping Willow, Darren stared around, looking for the magical tree and wondering how it got its name.
"There it is," Hermione whispered, not wanting to alert the tree to their presence.
Darren looked up at what seemed to be a normal tree, despite the fact that it was swaying, when there wasn't any wind. They treaded quietly towards the tree, evading any twigs that would crackle under their footsteps.
Eventually, they made their way into the small path in the tree. Doubled over, they half walked, half crawled up the dirt path. But halfway through, they met an obstacle. Darren suddenly fell to the ground, screaming. Hermione cast a silencing charm on him and bit her fingernails nervously wondering what caused this outburst. But, she knew what the real problem was: Darren couldn't get past the wards.