Love For Blood

Chapter Six

Harry's eyes shot open. His breathing was heavy. He sat up and scanned the room. He began to calm when he realized he was in his dorm in pajamas. 'Was it a dream?' Harry rubbed his forehead. He heard the snores of his dorm mates and figured it was early morning before sunrise.

He padded to the bathroom and began to strip to take a warm shower. He sighed as the water soothed any aches in his body. He ran soap over his body and shampooed his wild raven hair. He wrapped a towel around his waist and walked to the mirror. He was brushing his teeth when he saw a faint purple tint on his neck. He tilted his head to the side to get a better view. There he saw two faint marks engraved into his skin. He ran his fingers across the puncture wounds and hissed at the pain.

...

"I can smell it all over you..."

"and it smells delicious."

...

Harry shook off the memory. 'It was just a dream, a really weird dream.' Harry forgot about the marks, shrugging it off as a coincidence, and got ready. He checked the time after throwing on his robes.

6:56 a.m.

Harry walked down to the common room to see Hermione, along with some other dispersed early birds on different couches, sitting by the fireplace. She had her face buried in a book while writing notes on a piece of parchment. He sat down beside her, leaning over to her ear and saying "boo."

"There are more card deck combinations than there are atoms on Earth!" Hermione yelped looking over and sighed, "Oh, it's just you, Harry." Harry was laughing wildly.

"So you become a fact dispenser when startled? That'll stop any serial killer in their tracks, I swear," Harry bubbled with laughter.

"Well, you could use a few facts!" Hermione huffed, a pink tint of embarrassment dusting her cheeks. Harry smiled brightly at her.

"So what are you working on, 'Mione," Harry questioned.

"Yesterday's homework. Speaking of," Hermione reached into her school bag and pulled out a stack of parchment, "here's your make up work."

"Makeup work?" Harry asked as he took the parchment from Hermione.

"Yea, you got that paper cut and went to take care of it then you just never came back. Ron said that when he checked during his free period, you were fast asleep in your bed in your pajamas. He said you were still like that when he checked after dinner," Hermione answered with a smile. "While I think it was irresponsible of you to skip class, it is getting close to the you know, so I understand and made a copy of my notes for you. It should be with your make up work."

"Thank, 'Mione. I really do appreciate you," Harry said with a smile. Hermione nodded confidently, proud of herself. Her face twisted into concern.

"Oh my Merlin, what happened to your neck, Harry?!" Hermione whisper-yelled, pointing to the side of Harry's neck.

...

"They always say you have the worst luck, Potter. I'm starting to believe them."

...

"Oh, yeah. I'm pretty sure one of the guys left the windows open and a few mosquitos got to me," Harry laughed, pulling up the collar of his shirt.

"Must have been some horrid mosquitos. If you want, I have ointment in my room you could borrow," Hermione stated kindly. Harry shook his head.

"Nah, I should be fine, but thank you for the offer, 'Mione," Harry replied.

"Anytime, Harry. Now, you should probably try to complete your work before class," Hermione suggested. Harry's eyes widened.

"Oh, bloody hell! I have half a day of work to catch up on!" Harry began to frantically lay out his work. Hermione laughed as Harry began to scribble wildly. They sat and worked for a few hours until 8:24 rolled around and Ron stumbled down the stairs mumbling "Must. Eat. Food." like a zombie. Hermione and Ron were still kinda on rough terms since their argument the first day back.

...

"Hey, Hermione, who was that person you were shaggin' on the train," Ron said at his usual above-normal volume voice. Which, obviously, a sentence like that got the attention of the people around them. Hermione looked at him indignantly.

"For starters, we weren't 'shaggin' you barbarian. And it doesn't matter who they were, just a person I know," Hermione stated firmly, stabbing a cooked carrot on her plate.

"Seems like more than just someone you know. Plus, if it's 'just someone you know' it makes you look like a little bit of a whore, Mione," Ron mumbled loud enough for Hermione to hear. Harry dug his elbow into Ron's side, but it was already too late. Hermione slammed her fork down on the table and rose to her feet.

"You know what? Fuck you, Ron! What I do and who I do it with is none of your fucking concern!" Hermione shouted before storming out of the hall.

...

So Harry became a peacekeeper of sorts until they made up. He just had to prevent Ron from opening his mouth and letting something dumb fall out and make sure Hermione didn't kill Ron. It seemed easy enough for Harry, given his track record.

They all walked down to breakfast, Neville joining in somewhere along the way. Hermione and Neville talked about the new Herbology project while Harry and Ron debated which team would win the quidditch cup. They entered the Great Hall and Ron raced to his seat and began to dump ridiculous amounts of food on his plate. Harry laughed and plopped down beside Ron.

"The amount of food you intake isn't natural, Ron," Harry shook his head with a smile while grabbing a piece of toast. Hermione and Neville sat across from them, still chatting about the Herbology project.

"Well, you surviving killing curses isn't natural, but you still do it," Ron stated with his mouth full.

"I guess you got a point," Harry laughed, patting Ron on the back. Ron swallowed his food and looked over to Harry with a goofy smile. Then, Harry saw something he had never seen before. Ronald's face became angry and serious. Harry thought it looked scary as shit.

"We need to talk. Now." Ron whispered dangerously, grabbing Harry's arm and pulling him towards the Great Hall doors.

'What's going on?' Hermione mouthed with a concerned expression. Harry shrugged and shook his head before being pulled completely out of the Great Hall by Ron.