Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter; I am just a lowly writer and vampire lover.

A/N: This fic takes place in chapter fifteen of Half Blood Prince. If you don't remember that far back, a vampire named Sanguini was at Slughorn's party.

Creature of the Night

The unmistakable sound of crying echoed down the hallways of Hogwarts. His ears were amazingly sharp, sharper than any human's to be sure. He was able to follow the sound with no problem at all. It took awhile to lose that fool Eldred Worple but when he did, Sanguini followed the sound quietly, feet never even making a single sound to give away his appearance.

The girl was sitting on the floor of a bathroom. Tears were streaming down her face and she was making soft tortured sobs that rang in Sanguini's ears.

The girl had not yet realized that he was there. He watched her greedily, reveling in the delicious aroma that emitted from her. Her skin looked extremely soft, pale against the bright colors of her uniform. One bite of that delicious skin, that's all it would take to satisfy the hunger that quelled deep in his belly.

He took a step closer and the girl glanced up as if sensing that she was no longer alone. Her eyes grew wide and she could not hold in the gasp that escaped from her rosy red lips.

"My dear girl, why are you crying?" Sanguini asked her politely.

The girl sprang to her feet and Sanguini saw her glance feebly at the door.

"Rest assured, I mean you no harm. I simply could not bear to hear your tortured cries a moment longer. What in the world could make such a lovely young lady such as you cry in such a way?"

"He…he," she sobbed softly, wiping frantically at her tears.

Sanguini held up a hand to stop her explanation. "Ah say no more! I see a boy is responsible for making you feel this way. I can't say that I am not surprised. The male species has long been unsympathetic to the desires of women. But my dear, you are much to lovely a creature to be affected so by a mere boy."

The girl's skin flushed a lovely pink color at his words and Sanguini had to stop himself from licking his lips.

"What is your name my dear?"

"Hermione Granger," the girl answered.

"Well Miss Granger, it is a pleasure to meet you. I am known as Sanguini. Though of course I was not born with that name."

"You're a vampire," Hermione said softly.

"You are quite correct of course! Yes, I am indeed a vampire. Though other cultures have their own names for what I am, vampire works as good as any."

Eyes wide, Hermione stared at Sanguini as though he was a very interesting homework assignment.

"Are you going to bite me?" She asked the vampire softly.

"Of course not my dear girl, though you do smell quite delectable. However, I would be breaking the law if I were to lay even one fang on that pretty throat of yours."

Hermione blushed again and looked down at the floor.

"That's right," she stated steadfastly. "I remember reading that in Blood Brothers: My Life Amongst the Vampires by Eldred Worple."

The vampire raised an eyebrow in surprise. "You actually read that dribble? Eldred Worple is a fool; he believes that vampires can be tamed like dogs. That their hunger can be suppressed by mere human food. He does not understand what it means to be a creature of the night, to desire the flow of blood more than anything else in this world."

Sanguini paused and stared at the girl with curious eyes. "But I am getting carried away. I apologize; I did not mean to get so easily distracted by my own tribulations. I was asking about you my dear and why you are here all alone, weeping over a boy. What did this young man do that could make you react in such a way?"

The girl rubbed her eyes tiredly and sighed. "Ron was absolutely awful. We were supposed to go to Professor Slughorn's party together. I thought that we were finally going to be something more than friends. I thought he felt the same way I did but now he's off snogging Lavender Brown all over the castle."

"I see," the vampire said. "Well that boy is a fool to reject a lovely young lady such as yourself. If he cannot see how exquisite you are dear girl, then he does not deserve you."

Hermione smiled timidly at the vampire. "Thank you," she said openly.

"Not at all, not at all. Never doubt yourself young one, if you do than others will doubt you too. You are a dashing girl Miss Granger, do not make a mere boy ever make you forget it."

"I won't," she said determinedly.

"I have every confidence that you won't. Now if you will excuse me, Mr. Worple is looking for me." He bowed politely to Hermione and turned around just in time to see Eldred Worple running around the corner breathlessly.

"Sanguini!" Eldred shouted worriedly. "Where did you sneak off to? What have you been doing?" He looked towards the bathroom and spotted Hermione. "You haven't bitten this girl have you? Dumbeldore will have me arrested for sure!"

"Don't be ridiculous Worple. The lovely Miss Granger and I were merely having a most pleasant conversation."

Worple looked towards Hermione as though he did not believe a word of it.

"I'm fine really," Hermione reassured him.

"Oh well, in that case come along Sanguini. We must be going." He motioned for the vampire to follow.

"I see what you mean," Hermione said, to Sanguini. "He really does treat you like a dog."

"Indeed," Sanguini grinned at the dumbfounded look on Worple's face.

"Farewell Miss Granger, it has been a pleasure."

"Goodbye Sir," Hermione smiled.

"Sir? No one has called me sir for many centuries. I quite like the sound of it," Sanguini said, with a smile on his pale lips.

And as Sanguini and Mr. Worple walked away, towards the castle's exit, the smile never wavered from the dead man's face.

The End.