Sophie Pendragon, Year One | Half-Vampire At Hogwarts

Chapter Sixteen: September

          "Oh, goodness, I'm not sure how to treat her," I overheard a woman saying.

          "I think I do. I just need a glass of water, please," Hannah said.

          "It's very good you recognized her cat. It was smart of you to come here," the woman said.

          "She was bleeding. I didn't know where else she would go," Susan said softly.

          I groaned and sat up, "Where am I?"

          "Lay back down!" the woman scolded.

          I opened my eyes and saw a large room with many beds and curtains. This must be the Hospital Wing. I laid back and saw Susan and Hannah sitting beside me. Hannah had my tablets.

          "I've seen you with these. They help, right?" she said shyly and gave it to me.

          "Yeah. It's how I feed," I said, realizing how hungry I was.

          "Why were you bleeding?" Susan asked without looking at me.

          "Vampires need a type of blood to feed. It's based on emotion. The way you were feeling triggered it. I forgot my tablets and I ran. I wasn't going to hurt anyone here. I went to the clocktower to knock myself out. My ears are sensitive to sounds so I'm glad it all worked out," I said emotionlessly.

          "How I felt? It affected you that badly?" Susan asked, feeling guilty.

          "Worse because you're my friend. You were unhappy. I had already hurt you. I wasn't going to be a danger to you either," I said softly.

          Susan started to cry, "I'm so sorry! When we found you, I-I thought-"

          "Gah! Stop crying!" I yelled.

           Susan froze and the three of us started laughing. The three of us apologized and made up. My ears were damaged but it wasn't permanent. I explained my tablets to them and they kept my secret about my affinity. We agreed to not let any boys between our friendship, no matter how cute, and they helped me get to the common room so I could get more tablets.

           "We should be thanking you," Susan joked.

           "Why?" I asked.

          "We got out of our classes this morning because of you," Hannah explained.

          "Can we stay here and talk? I haven't been fully honest yet," I said in the dorms.

          I told them about my abilities and that if I can't feed, my blood overflows into a horrible nosebleed. That's why I was bleeding this morning. It's important that I can find a place to either relieve that urge, or find a less harmful way to calm down. I wasn't keen on going back to the clocktower any time soon. They weren't too keen on finding out about the almost incident with Draco.

          "Do you think he'll tell on you?" Hannah asked.

          "If he hasn't already, I don't see why he wouldn't," I said softly and changed my uniform to a clean one.

          "Do you want us to keep him away from you?" Susan asked.

           I shook my head, "I made it clear to him to leave me alone. I screamed it at him."

          "It's his own fault for not listening. He's so mean to the other students," Susan scoffed.

          I said nothing and couldn't shake the image of how he looked. I saw myself in his eyes and it was just as monstrous as the first time. No wonder he never forgot about me fully. When it was time for lunch, we met with Justin and Ernie in the Great Hall to go over what we had missed. Glancing up, I saw Draco at the Slytherin tables and he was still frightened. He couldn't look at me and I knew he was trying not to. Without realizing I was crying, a hand brushed up against my cheek.

          "Is homework that hard?" Fred asked.

          I looked at my tear on his finger and frantically wiped my eyes, "No!"

          Fred tilted his head towards the doors and I nodded to him. I got my things and excused myself. Susan and Hannah were already whispering about him and were giggling. When I was in the hallway with Fred, I noticed George wasn't with him.

          "So, Sophie," Fred started, "what happened? You ran out and you were bleeding."

          I rubbed the back of my neck, "Can you keep a secret, Fred? It has to do with my vampire half."

          "If it's that important to be a secret, I promise to keep it," he said and crossed his heart.

          "If someone is very unhappy, it makes me want to feed. If I can't feed, I get really bad nosebleeds. I pass out. This morning, Susan was unhappy but I forgot my tablets. I'm ok now. I just had to knock myself out at the clocktower after-" I cut myself off and stopped walking.

          "Are you alright?" Fred asked, concerned.

          "Not really. I almost bit someone. I'm still dangerous to be around. That's why I kept running," I said softly.

          He was surprised but not scared, "It must be hard for you."

          "A little. You aren't scared?" I asked.

          He shook his head and smiled cutely, "It's normal for you, isn't it? You have your needs like anybody else. I mean, even if you were a werewolf, I wouldn't be scared."

          I started to cry again, "But you haven't seen me when I-"

          Fred hugged me suddenly and it made me cry harder, "Sophie, I don't know what happened but it's ok now."

          I wiped my face with my sleeves, "Thanks, Fred."

          He waved at me when we had to go to class and I had to take a tablet before and after every class for the rest of the day. For the rest of September, I focused on my classes and Draco and I haven't spoken since. I felt his fear every day since and it was making me miserable. I wrote to my dad about the incident and he sent a parcel of tablets for me. Susan, Hannah, and I were doing well in our classes so far and I was enjoying spending time with Harry and Ron. Sometimes I would say hello to Cedric and the twins but I was trying to distance myself from them. I wasn't ready to tell them fully about what had happened and I was trying to work up the courage to tell Harry and Ron.