Written for Hermione's Haven Roll-A-Prompt 2019

Happy New Year's everyone!

Pairing: Hermione x Neville
Trope: Soulmates
Creature: Vampire

Everyone had a soulmate. Even Vampires.

Vampire soulmates were weird. Normally, everyone was born with a heart mark on their arm. When they reached maturity, the heart would start beating in time with their soulmate's heartbeat. It would go on beating at a rhythm until the soulmates were in the same vicinity as the other. Then, the marks would start beating faster and faster until it ceased. In that moment, the person would meet the one they were meant to spend the rest of their lives with.

Of course, with no heartbeats to be had, Vampire matches worked a little differently.

No one could ever excuse a society that fed off blood to be gentle creatures. They weren't. There was an aggression deep in their bones that made it hard to be civilized during trying times. It was entirely too easy for Vampires to break out in snarls and settle their anger in a duel. Maybe to circumvent that-who knew how the God's minds worked?- Vampire soulmates couldn't physically harm each other. That's how you knew. One minute you were charging towards the other with weapons drawn, and the next, the metal was bouncing harmlessly off an invisible shield. Vampires couldn't do magic, so there was no other explanation.

Enter Neville Longbottom and Hermione Granger.

The two Vampires were considered the best fighters in Vampire society. Trained in the same academy; they scored perfect on every test, bested their opponents without fail, and managed to avoid each other entirely. It wasn't hard. She'd been born almost a year ahead of him and had started her training earlier as a result. They heard of the other but never made it to actually meeting despite having some of the same friends.

Until tonight.

Hermione stealthy made her way through the halls of the building she was breaking into. She'd been hired by the company owner as part of the risk assessment team tasked with plugging the weaknesses in his security team. She'd been given a dossier on every one of the guards and the building plans, and had formulated a plan to get to the target before anyone knew she was there. She'd been successful so far. Hermione knew there was only one guard she needed to worry about, but he had been working on paperwork the last she checked. She already had a list of things they could do to tighten their security.

Honestly, it had been entirely too easy.

The thought, along with the faintest of sounds, stopped Hermione cold. It had been too easy. She knew Neville Longbottom's reputation. Her gut had told her not to underestimate him, and here she was, underestimating him.

Her enhanced hearing picked up the dagger being thrown a little too late, and she turned to try and deflect it. Miraculously, the metal missed her shoulder and jammed into the wall behind her. She wasn't there to hurt any of them, so she had no weapons on her. Gunfire ripped through the room before she could announce herself. Hermione dove to the ground, moving on crouched legs toward the guard shooting at her and speaking calmly into his earpiece. The bullets stopped short of hitting her every single time, enough to make Hermione frown. She could have sworn this man had better gun range scores than this.

Finally, she was in range.

She jumped from her crouched position, leg stretched to catch him in the stomach. Instead, her booted foot lost control for a second and moved to the side of him. The mistake made Hermione stumble into a semi-split when her leg fell to gravity, but she recovered quickly. Using her awkward position, Hermione slammed her palms on the ground and threw her other leg up and forward, intent on kicking him in the face. She didn't see where her foot went, but her boot met air and then Hermione was laying flat on her back without anyone putting her there.

She blinked in frustration, taking in the guard who stared down at her with suspicion. His gun was pointed at her face, stance unwavering. Without the correct bullets, the weapon would not kill her, but being shot would hurt. She held her hands up in surrender, knowing she had somehow lost this round.

Neville didn't relax. "That was shit fighting for someone like you."

She'd known it, but she didn't like the words being spoken out loud. "Compared to your weapons handling?" she countered. "That dagger was nowhere near my heart and those bullets found better homes in the ceiling."

His frown grew more pronounced. "That shouldn't have happened. I never miss."

She shrugged. "I wasn't trying very hard to get away from them. Seems to me someone needs to spend more time at the range."

"Maybe you'd benefit from a martial arts refresher course."

Growling low in her throat, Hermione moved to kick his knee.

The blow never landed, her boot swinging wildly to the right, landing on the ground once more.

Hermione's mouth opened in shock. Neville's eyes widened.

"I'm going to try something."

Neville was aiming his gun at her heart before she could ask what he wanted to try. She braced for the impact, fighting the instinct to close her eyes or move out of the way. The shot, one that should have gone through her torso, veered to the left and sunk into the carpet. Hermione was breathing hard from the near-miss, and the dawning realization that Neville couldn't harm her.

They were soulmates.

Of course they were. Hermione couldn't believe she was meeting her soulmate while she was pretending to infiltrate the building he guarded.

Evidently, Neville was thinking the same thing because he sighed and sheathed his gun while pulling something from his belt. "Since when did you turn to a life of crime anyway? The Hermione Granger I've heard of from my friends isn't that type of Vampire. Or maybe you're working for one of the competitors."

Hermione eyed the handcuffs, noting the reinforced metal that would undoubtedly hold her. This was going to be a long night. "Look… I wasn't supposed to say anything, even if I was caught, but since you're… Well, I don't want you to think too badly of me. I was sent by your employer to test your security plan."

He raised a brow, gently picking her up off the ground and moving her arms behind her. "Really?"

She rolled her eyes at his disbelieving tone. "Note I have no weapons on my person. If I was legitimately trying to break in and do harm, would that be the case?"

Neville shrugged. "Who knows? Right now, I'm going to do my job and throw you into containment until we're assured you're not a threat."

Oh, it was definitely going to be a long night.

It turned out to be three days.

Hermione was spitting mad by the time Neville came back down to retrieve her, a slightly guilty expression on his face. She hoped he was guilty. Once she'd been shown to her cell, not simply tossed in due to their discovered soulmate status, she'd not seen or heard a peep out of anyone. No one had come down to check on her or see if she needed any blood. There had been no update on whether they believed she truly wished them no harm. It didn't take that long to verify her story.

She crossed her arms over her chest, giving him an unamused expression when he stopped in front of her cell. "Got everything you need then? I'd like to get out of here and track down the nearest blood source before my hunger throws me into a frenzy."

Neville winced. "I have a blood supply waiting in my office. I'm sorry for leaving you here for so long. Before I could corroborate your story, someone did try breaking into the safe located on the floor we found you on. I've been dealing with the fallout."

Hermione came to attention, her hands clenching under her arm. "Are you serious? That's not a coincidence, for someone to have attempted a break-in right after my test."

Neville nodded, punching in a code on the keypad near her cell door to release her. "It wasn't. The boss had been tipped by one of his friends that one of their rivals was going to hire someone to steal some sealed files. Instead of informing us, he decided to hire you to test how we'd react." His face showed his irritation at the revelation. "Lucky for him, I had already set our protocols to a higher level after capturing you."

She rolled her eyes at the mindset of their mutual employer. Honestly. "I'm glad you were able to get this all sorted out then." She gave him a sideways glance as she moved out of the small corner that had been her home for the past three days and started for the stairs. "I guess I can forgive being forgotten and left to starve. It wouldn't due to start our relationship on that note." She stopped and turned to glare at him. "Just don't let it happen again."

Neville grinned at the sharp words, following his soulmate up the stairs. "Trust me, Hermione, I fully intend to make it up to you."

She grinned in return. "I look forward to it."