Bloodsucker

Draco Malfoy was a snob.

It was a title he pretended to wear proudly. What else could he do? It wasn't like he could be himself. If he even knew who he was. But he didn't. So he settled for being a snob.

But pretending could only go on for so long. Sometimes he had to get away, just for a moment.

He often found himself at the Astronomy Tower during those moments. The view gave him time to think and relax. This morning was one of those times.

It was the crack of dawn. The sun had just begun to rise up and Draco hadn't slept. He barely could anymore. Time was nonexistent to him. He'd get in his bed at nine, blink, and it would be four in the morning. He had tried to fall asleep, he really did. But his body didn't give in. So he made his way up to the tower.

He didn't make the walk long. Students technically weren't supposed to be out of their dorms until breakfast began. Most teachers and portraits let it slide for older students anyway. He makes his way through the halls and up the staircase. The stone clacks under his shoes. He'd opted for some muggle sneakers that he'd gotten a during a secret day trip to the city over the summer. Whoever Jordan was, they knew how to make a good trainer.

Draco make it to the top step and walks through the opening to the tower. The sun had begun to rise behind the clouds. The sight was beautiful and Draco neglected to look down at the floor until he nearly tripped over something. He looks down at his feet and almost screams.

There was a body laying at his feet.

Lavander Browns body.

Draco had gotten good at identifying dead bodies. The lack of chest movement. The way their limbs went limp in a way no alive person could manage. He could feel the death radiating off the tower.

"Fuck."

Draco already had his family's Death Eater reputation. No one would be surprised if he was found kneeling next to a dead body. They wouldn't hesitate to blame him. They'd say he was just like his father. The thought made him shake.

He steps back from her. There's a puddle of blood coming from underneath her There's blood all over his muggle sneakers.

"Great. Now I have to throw these out."

He scoffs and thinks to himself. What was he gonna do? Did he still have time to run? Or should he get Dumbledore?

Draco almost laughs at his own suggestion. If anyone would want to paint him as a murderer, it was definitely the old lad that ran this damned place.

He takes another step backwards, his eyes still stuck on the body under him. It was only the first week of school and someone had already died in the castle. Maybe he should’ve listened to his father when he wanted to send him to Durmstrang. He probably would’ve been a way better off student as opposed to-

“I- I- I k-killed h-her.”

Draco jumps out of his skin as the quiet sob reaches his ears. The sun was only a quarter of the into the sky above but he could still make out the girl who was curled up in a ball up against one of the pillars of the Tower.

“Granger?”

She jumps at the sound of his voice. Her eyes look up at him. His face almost pales at the sight. Her eyes were beady red and the veins under her eyes grew more pronounced. He barely registers himself being shoved until his back is against the wall next to the opening arch.

The back of his head smacks into the stone and he yells in pain. His hands are pinned down by hers. He attempts to wring himself free but he isn’t even able to budge. The grip on his wrists get tighter and he screams in pain once again. Her eyes somehow grow even darker and the veins in her under eyes shoot blood through them. He continues to fight against her grasp as she angles her hair upwards and fangs appear from out of her teeth.

But nothing happens. His body hits the ground, his head almost missing a secondary assault by way of the floor. A gust of wind flys by him as he lays on the ground. He lays there for a moment, recovering from the attack.

Granger had killed Lavender Brown? Why? And why did she have fangs? And why in Merlin’s name did her eyes look like that?!

His head is pounding with pain as he tries to stand on his feet. The world was spinning around him. The sun had finally begun to shine overhead. He could hear the faint and distant sound of Hogwarts and its students beginning to wake.

In a few hours or maybe even a few days, someone would come up here and find Lavender Browns body. Though Draco had a deep urge to scream bloody murder and call for help, he knew he couldn’t. He stumbles towards the arch, passing Lavender.

He takes a moment to look at her, noticing the blood was leaking from her neck. She had been bitten and drained of blood. Just like he would’ve been.

He forces his eyes away from the corpse and tries to hurry down the steps, away from from the crime scene. He couldn’t worry about Lavender anymore. Not when he had something even bigger to worry about. He only has one thought in his mind.

He needs to find Hermione Granger.