Stormwalker

Sorry for not posting chapters for so long!

A/N: Eternal Hearts and Underworld belong to their respective companies. No copyright infringement is intended.

Hermione was in Dumbledore\'s quarters, sitting and awaiting his judgment. She had completely ignored him and fled Hogwarts grounds. Technically she could be expelled, but for the first time in her life she didn\'t care. Gabriel was safe and currently relaxing in his chambers, unable to sleep until the sun rose.

\"Miss Granger\", the old Headmaster began, eyes looking very tired behind his spectacles, \"You have broken two of our strongest rules but given the rather extraordinary circumstances,\" Dumbledore smiled softly, \"I think that you may be excused from your actions.\" A sense of relief flooded through Hermione\'s veins and a small sigh escaped her lips. \"But Professor Lunax has requested your presence, and after informing me of his reasons, I am inclined to agree. Gabriel may be chaotic, but he is usually serious.\"

Hermione rose from her seat with a calm smiling lighting up her face. \"Thank you, Headmaster.\" She left the room without another word, making her way down the corridor to Gabriel\'s quarters. The classroom door was unlocked and she pushed it open, poking her head in. Seeing no one in sight, Hermione walked in. \"Gabriel?\" She received no answer.

Spying the curtain that he had appeared from in their first lesson, Hermione pulled it back and saw Gabriel. She instantly realized why he hadn\'t heard her. The vampire had large silver headphones nestled on his ears and his stormy eyes were closed. She could hear muted music even from across the room, and couldn\'t imagine the volume that was pounding through his ears. Not wanting to disturb him, Hermione took in the spartan room. The only thing on the bare walls was a poster, showing a pale, dark-haired woman in a black leather cat suit. A gun was in each of her hands. The word UNDERWORLD was written underneath the photo in black-blue letters. Since it didn\'t move, Hermione was sure that it was a Muggle poster.

The only other colors besides black, grey, and silver came from the book resting half-open on Gabriel\'s bare chest, which Hermione forced herself not to stare at. Instead, she glanced curiously at the cover. It wasn\'t much help.

Beautiful crimson cursive spelled out the words Eternal Hearts, situated in the center of the thin hardback novel. Above the words were two women, obviously vampires from the fangs protruding over their lips, kissing passionately. Beneath the red letters was a rather disturbing creature. It was humanoid but it\'s face was twisted and feral, it\'s skin was a bland grey, and it was so skinny, one could see every rib. Hermione had no idea what it was. Then she realized that the muted music was no longer there.

Hermione looked up and saw that Gabriel\'s headphones were now resting around his neck. And he was smiling. Without a sound, he dog-eared his book and closed it, setting it on top of the unusual metal suitcase. Raising an eyebrow, the shirtless vampire then relaxed, laying his head against the wall, ignoring the pillow.

\"Are you going to say anything or just stare? I really don\'t mind either way, Hermione, but I am a bit curious.\"

Her cheeks burned with heat. \"The Headmaster said you wanted to see me.\"

Gabriel\'s grin faded a little. \"Yeah, I just wanted to explain everything that\'s happened.\" He motioned for Hermione to sit down next to him. She did and realized that his hair was wet, probably from a shower to wash all of the blood away.

\"First off, any questions?\" He asked with a sigh. \"I\'ll answer anything.\"

\"Two, actually. One has to do withB, an, and the other is just sort of a curiosity.\"

Gabriel nodded. \"Alright. Shoot.\"

\"How did you end up in a relationship with Belle? An...intimate one, I mean.\"

\"I\'ll try and answer that as best as I can. I...was her guardian, the man who took care of her while her father,\" acid seeped into that last word, \"tended to her mother and tortured his slaves. The only thing he taught her was how to be a sadist.\" Gabriel paused. This had been a rather twisted part of his life, and the memories were overwhelming.

\"Belle had seen very few people besides her family, and besides Tempeshia, we were not exactly proper role models. Even at 17, she did not know much of the outside world. But that changed. She often wondered alone, and it was that penchant that led to our...relationship.\" That word was a bit strained, but surprisingly held no bitterness. At Hermione\'s expression, Gabriel shook his head. \"It may be hard for you to understand now, but everything she did, and still does, comes from her abuse as a child and her warped perspective of the world. Her tainted innocence.\" Crimson tears were forming in the corners of his wounded eyes and suddenly she regretted asking the question.

\"One night I found Belle in the only tavern in town, completely drunk. This was a little while before she was changed. She was alone, so I got the barkeep from hitting only her and sat next to her. I doubt that you, ifr, hr, have experienced the amazing truth-spell that occurs when one drinks. Correct?\" Hermione smiled a little and shook her head.

\"That\'s what I thought. Well, Belle began on a rather descriptive tirade about how she wanted to sleep with me, and that she loved me. It was also rather blunt. I took her home, and thought nothing of it at the time. I don\'t even know if she remembered what happened that night.\"

The signs of bloody sorrow had dried upon his face in a macabre mockery of sadness. \"I changed her soon afterwards, and she reveled in her immortality.\" Another question made it\'s way into Hermione\'s thoughts. \"Then she bought her first slave, a human man named Denver. We...didn\'t exactly see eye to eye. I spent most of my time in my room brooding and then heard Belle scream.\" Gabriel\'s expression darkened.

\"She had been flirting a little, just because she was 17 and that was her nature. He had tried to kiss her rap rape her, or something. I him out of the house and never saw him again. I hope the bastard was caught by the hunters. When I went back inside, she latched onto me, crying, so unsure about what had just happened. This was about a month before she was...violated, and still held a virgin\'s innocence, if you understand me?\" She nodded, and again, he paused, closing his eyes before taking an unnecessary breath. \"I took her to my room. What happened after was not my intention in the least. I hugged her to calm her down, and she kissed me. Though not in a familial kind of way. I imagine you can guess the rest. Against my brother Heian\'s rather violent protests, we became a couple. It wasn\'t hard to fool others into believing we weren\'t related, for we shared no common looks save a last name.\"

\"After Belle was raped by another master, we drifted apart rather rapidly. She often accused me of going off with other women, other slaves. It wasn\'t true, but she had made her judgment long ago. Soon after, she left Maison de Sang with Tempeshia to find the cure for her mother\'s lack of bloodlust. It was the last I had seen of her until this night.\"

The tears began again, solemn crimson rivers marring his beautiful, scarred, face. \"Seven hundred years.\" A soft gasp escaped Hermione\'s lips. \"I don\'t know what happened, but she is now sadistic, cruel, and seeks to punish me for a love that I knew not, and forvingving her, though she is the one that turned away.\" Bitterness seeped into those last words.

\"What of Heian and Tempeshia?\" She asked softly.

\"I don\'t know.\"

After a moment of awkward silence, Gabriel asked, \"What was the other question?\"

Hermione laughed bitterly. \"It seems rather stupid now.\"

He shrugged. \"Doesn\'t matter.\"

\"What\'s in the case?\"

Laughing softly, Gabriel took Eternal Hearts off of the metal suitcase. Dropping the book on his lap, he did the same thing with the case and quickly undid the latches with sharp clicks. Flipping up the lid, Hermione saw that the inside was lined with gray foam.

A gun, a set of razors, and several bullets, each in its own niche were in the suitcase. It was not what Hermione was expecting. \"What is all this for?\" She asked, rather confused. Gabriel plucked a bullet from its designated spot and held it gingerly between his thumb and forefinger. \"Silver hollow point filled with holy water and mercury. Hit a vampire anywhere with this and they\'ll be screaming for the pain to stop. Hit their heart, instant death.\" He raised an eyebrow at her wide-eyed expression. \"It\'s designed to be a versatile weapon. The silver wounds lycanthropes, and the mercury is quite lethal in humans, especially when you add in the bullet factor.\"

\"But why do you have all this?\"

\"To kill.\" His bluntness shocked her. \"Hermione, I am not here to teach you how to paralyze Death Eaters.\" His expression was fierce pro proud, a warrior\'s visage. \"When you shoot, you shoot to kill. Even the holy have the stain of blood upon their souls.\"

She knew that someday she\'d probably have to take another life. \"Do you know how many you\'ve killed, Gabriel?\" She said in a hollow voice, choking back tears. Maybe she loved a murderer, but by the gods, she loved him.

\"When you are what I am, and the kind of person whose life once and perhaps still does, depend on death, you don\'t remember the number. Because if you do, you end up killing yourself, or you scream and you can\'t stop.\"

\"You are about to be plunged into an age where a corpse may become a common sight, Hermione.\" Gabriel whispered, unable to speak louder. \"And, please, know this, believe me when I say that I would give up anything to save you from seeing a single one.\"

He put his arms around her and Hermione buried her face in his shoulder, slow crystal tears falling. Everything, her fear, her parent\'s deateeineeing him tortured, all t wat was agonizingly purged. \"Gabriel?\" Hermione felt her eyes closing in exhaustion, bout fought it, because she had to ask her last question, as it had truly been the most important.

She didn\'t see Gabriel\'s slow smile. \"Sleep now, Hermione. Ask me tomorrow.\" Hermione\'s eyes showed pain for a second before sliding into oblivion. Her hand clutched the fabric of her robes, the part that covered the bite mark, aching for a reason she knew not.

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By the way, I just wanted to inform interested readers that I am planning a sequel for Stormwalker.