D.M. Hate.

Ch.10

Now I was remembering why I pushed her away in the first place, why I had to keep my distance, why I had to hate her. I couldn't let my emotions take hold of me like that again, not when it came to her safety. She saw me as a manipulative monster for all that I'd done to her. Id been pushing and pulling and saying and yelling whenever I had a sudden realization. I couldn't allow myself to do that anymore, she didn't deserve that treatment, even when it had been successful in making her hate me.
We returned to the party but shortly after, I lost sight of Maeve. I didn't see her for the rest of the night, I even asked her friends if they'd seen her but they seemed just as unaware as I was of her whereabouts. I began to worry and searched the entirety of the accessible parts of the castle. I hadn't even thought to check outside since it was so cold but when I had lost all hope of finding her indoors, I finally went out and searched. I walked on the path she normally walked, thinking she may have decided to blow off steam in that fashion.
I began to wonder if I should even be looking for her. Wouldn't it ruin the detachment Ive been so resolute on forming? But I was so scared, I couldn't think to worry for that, only for what might have happened to her at that very second.
I found myself entering the forbidden forest, hoping I would find her anywhere else but there.
My breath caught in my throat when I noticed the moonlight shown over a figure on the ground several feet infront of me. I ran as fast as possible, scarcely remembering to breathe. On the ground lay Maeves motionless and bloodied figure. My surroundings almost completely disappeared, being swallowed whole by the horror that lay displayed for the forest to see.
"Maeve!" I shook her shoulders and felt for a pulse. It was there but she wouldn't wake up. I went into autopilot, picking her up racing her to the castle, and even now I have no recollection of the actions Id taken in order to get her to the infirmary. But I thanked Merlin that I had in time.
"Will she be alright?" My voice came out more panicked than Id anticipated but I didn't care.
Madame Pomfrey rested a hand on my shoulder, "when Professor Snape arrives he'll have a better assessment. But in my own professional opinion, I believe she will be alright after some extensive work."
A rush of relief went through me and I finally found it in me to sit in the chair beside Maeves hospital bed.
Snape confirmed the worry in the back of my mind that the attack was caused by vampires. He explained that the venom was excruciating not only upon the first bite but would continue to be that way for long after the initial attack. Would she have to be in pain for the rest of her life? The bites were so deep and ragged I was worried there was no way to heal them without making grafts of some kind. I brought a few books to her room after Snape had done everything he could to help her, and decided to do some of my own research on the effects of vampire venom. I could at least help her prepare for what it might be like once she wakes up. But the more I read the worse it seemed to be. Sporadic jolts of pain... burning sensations... permanent physical damage... symptoms carry on for years following the injuries...
Guilt serged through me in vicious stabbing blows. All of this was my fault— if Id only been honest and explained everything to her— if I had not been such a coward in not telling her why I was so afraid— but it happened and I was the reason she would have irreparable damage.

Maeve

I ran outside the castle, tears streaming down my face and the cold air stinging my bare skin.
Stupid. So fucking stupid.
In the forest I laid down. The damp dew covered grass leaked through my dress and stuck to my skin. I had been so sure that time, so sure. How could I have been so mistaken by Draco? Was I not what he wanted? Had I done something to turn him away?
The wind whistled and whipped the branches and grass around me. But then an uncharacteristic snap sounded and I began to look around frantically. Someone was there. My breath sped up and I took several shallow slow breaths, trying to calm myself. Hagrid had told stories about the creatures in this forest, good and bad. Right now I was only remembering the bad because thats the first thing my mind went to in those kinds of moments.
The shuffling stopped and everything seemed to have gone still, the hairs on my arm raising.
I wanted to whisper 'who's there?' Hoping to hear a reassuring call from another student or a professor even though I would be in heaps of trouble if I was caught.
But I didn't have the chance before a heavy weight slammed into me and  pinned me to the ground. Within seconds there were several forms surrounding me, tearing savagely at my flesh. I felt the blood in me draining and filling my vains with an icy acid-like emptiness. My head hurt, a huge pressure filling it and replacing the substance within it with a piercing ringing sound. Warm sets of fangs sunk deep inside of my arms, legs, neck. I couldn't distinguish between what was mine and what were these creatures', almost as if Id begun to grow a multitude of dead limbs. I began to vomit so profusely that a violent shudder overcame me, shaking off my attackers for small broken seconds. Each break between their engorgement in me was a sickening re-association with the horror that was happening. I couldn't move of my own accord, even my own body was rejecting my attempts, if only to move once it needed to empty the acidic substance. My temples stung with a suctioning pressure, like pliers were pinching and pressing into my skull and the oxygen inside of me was being sucked straight out through my pores. I screamed for hours it felt like, but must have been just a few minutes. After long, I quit screaming and started to daze out in a foggy misery. I kept coming in and out of consciousness, trying to stay awake out of fear of losing my life, but begging to escape this excruciating pain.
But I didn't last very long before the pain in my head seemed to swallow me whole and I blacked out for the very last time that night.