A/N: This is a story I've been battling with for some time now. I thought of the idea a while ago and at first thought it would be stupid and unreal but after some serious thought and plotting I've decided to give it a go.

Now I am warning you, this could either go really well or really bad but I hope that it will go well! I've never written Hermione and Lucius like this before so it will be fun to see what I can do. I hope everyone will enjoy it because it is so different to what I usually write…

::-::-:: Chapter 1 ::-::-::

Hermione wished she was tucked up in the warm recesses of her bed with a steaming mug of hot chocolate and maybe a biscuit or two. She longed to be relaxing in front of the telly with a sleeping Crookshanks on her lap. Hell, she would even prefer to be eating a dozen Flobberworm fritters in Snapes classroom instead of what was actually happening at this moment! She would give anything to be anywhere other than where she was right now.

Currently, she was running on the cobbled path of Diagon Alley, much to her body's discontent. She prayed that her legs would carry her faster; if she could just get out of the openness of the street and hide in the confinement of a shop then she might just survive this.

No, she would survive this! This twisted and uninviting situation was now reality and she would have to survive it one way or another, even if it meant that her heart might explode in the process. Barely a year ago she had fought in one of the Wizarding World's greatest battles and had survived it. If she had survived that then she could survive this.

Her heavy footsteps pounded in the depths of her dizzying head and she wondered if it was possible to die of a sheer lack of energy. The adrenaline had long run out and was now a pure desire to survive. Her calves and thighs were burning and aching with the need to stop but she would not slow down.

She couldn't slow down.

She wanted to stop so badly, she really did. The thought of resting her lumbering legs and giving her burning lungs time to get back into a steady rhythm was so tempting but she knew she couldn't…

All the running seemed unavailing; she was wandless, having not had the sense to take it with her when she was fetching the milk from the doorstep. Inside, she was screaming at herself for being so stupid. If she had her wand she could have Apparated somewhere safe, or at least had a better chance at defending herself against them.

They were close now; the piercing cries and blood curdling roars was enough to know that they were following and if she stopped now she would undoubtedly be ripped to pieces and eaten alive.

That was not the death she had hoped for.

On what seemed to Hermione like another mundane day of bordering on the line of the Muggle and Wizarding worlds, she had opened the front door to an unholy silence. The Muggle neighbourhood she resided in was never that quiet but she doubted that anything was wrong.

Then she heard the screaming.

Snarls of hunger, sounding like something from a Muggle horror movie could suddenly be heard from all directions

But when she saw the cause of the diabolical noises, she could have sworn that her heart stopped beating.

The blood red eyes had stained her memories long after they had gone. The crimson liquid smeared around the creatures mouth was so vivid against the alabaster skin and Hermione knew it could be only one thing; blood.

How wrong Hermione was to think that nothing was the matter.

She had stood paralysed for only a few seconds before fleeing to the first place she could think of.

Ignoring the fact that her slippers might fly off her feet, she ran and she ran until she was in the familiar ambience of Diagon Alley.

But there was no one here either. That was, no one apart from them.

Looking back on it, she couldn't fathom how she had managed to get away from them unscathed and without her wand handy.

But it did not matter how she managed to, only that she did. That's all that counted now.

Lucius Malfoy inwardly cursed himself for being reduced to crouching on the ground and hiding under what once may have been called a table. Like a Muggle, he thought with criminal amounts of revulsion and his joints were stiff with being stuck in the same position for so long. But after coming face to face with one of them in his beautiful Manor in the countryside, he had panicked and apparated to the first place that jumped into his mind; Diagon Alley.

Truth be told, it was not the most likely of places, nor the most intelligent, he could have taken himself to but on a spur of the moment it was the best he could think of. It would have to do for now.

But that wasn't the only reasoning behind his whereabouts. If there were to be any survivors, and Lucius strongly suspected that if anyone would it would be a Magical person and not a Muggle, they would most likely be in Diagon Alley, he hoped.

He did not want to be alone right now, even if he was Lucius Malfoy.

As he adjusted his weight to make it fractionally comfier for himself, a loud and solid crash echoed through his ears, freezing his blood in instant panic.

Was it… them?

He knew that his make-do attempt at boarding up the remains of the shop up probably wouldn't have kept them out for that long but he had thought it would have been longer than this.

Keeping his wand painfully tight in his left hand, he crept out from his hiding place and rose to his full height.

His body cried for him to stretch out his weariness but he couldn't physically relax knowing that the creature of his potential demise was in the same surroundings as him.

He crept out of the room, gingerly avoiding a collision with any dismembered objects on the floor. The last thing he wanted to do was advertise his whereabouts.

Lost in the bloodied memories of her mind, Hermione failed to realise that she was no longer in the open air of Diagon Alley being chased by ravaged beasts but in the dilapidated remains of a shop. To her immediate relief, she was the only one in the threadbare building.

Or so she thought.

Still dressed in her pyjamas, she leaned her aching body against the wall and slid all the way down to the floor.

Rest, at last.

Her breathing was still coming out in deep breaths of tiredness but it was nowhere near the same rushed pants she had experienced whilst running.

After a few moments rest, her heart rate had slowed down to something of a normal pace and she found herself regaining some lost energy. Despite the increased energy, her body still longed for rest and she couldn't help letting her eyes flutter shut against the darkness.

Settling against the wall in a more sleep succumbing position, she finally felt relaxed and let her mind wander into a dreamy world.

She was what Lucius might say; completely oblivious to anything.

This pitch black nothing was allowing for Lucius to see only an outline of something slumped against the wall and his wand was pressed so tight against his palm he was sure the snake's fangs were cutting into him.

Kill it, before it kills you! The darker corners of his mind were frantically commanding him, but he had to make sure that it wasn't a human. If he blew his chance of actually finding someone alive then he would never forgive himself and that was something Lucius Malfoy rarely did.

And when he heard a soft moan escape its lips the dead weight of dread surrounding him was abandoned.

This was no it. It was a her.

And she was alive.

Knowing it was not one of them and that it was definitely human, he shifted on feather light feet over to the lump on the floor.

What was the silly chit doing just resting? How could she rest so easily knowing what was going on out there?

He wanted to kick her to wake her up, perhaps that would teach her to fall asleep when the world was possibly coming to an end.

Pathetic little girl.

But Lucius could not do that. He couldn't injure her when she might already be in pain.

Good Merlin, what am I thinking? I was never so merciful before. And indeed he wasn't, but all past beliefs and ideas were only a thing of the past. They did not matter to Lucius anymore.

What had mattered to Lucius had been ripped away from him mercilessly...

He crouched down, outstretched his arms and grasped firmly.

Hermione was barely a few inches into her slumber when strong, large hands suddenly clamped around her waist and over her mouth.

She tried to scream but the hand stopped any noise from escaping her mouth. Her arms and legs flailed around the try to push the creature away but she couldn't. She was simply too weak and tired to do anything.

This is it, she thought. It's going to kill me; I'm going to become this inhuman freaks breakfast.

And she waited for the sharp agony of teeth sinking into her flesh or the ripping of her limbs but there was nothing.

Nothing but strained breathing. Hers and whoever was holding onto her.

"Keep quiet you stupid girl!" A husky voice hissed in her ear, sending waves of shivers across her skin.

A voice! A man's voice! A human voice! Her eyes flew open at the sound of it. She ignored the condescending words and forcefulness of the man whose arm was clamped around her; she did not even begin to think who the voice might belong to, only that she was in the presence of another human being.

And human he was indeed. She could feel the strength of his muscles through the thin layer of her pyjama top, the warmth of him radiating pleasantly onto her. The steady, yet accelerated thumps of his heart against her own chest.

A live human. Dear Merlin, thank you!

She felt the assurance in her blood pumping all around her body along with a feeling of safety at being in this man's arms.

Whoever this man was, he would surely keep her safe and protected from the deathly beings outside the confinements of the walls.

"Lumos."

All courage dispersed and she felt her heart sink into her stomach when the wandlight illuminated the face of the last man she had expected to be trapped with.

Lucius Malfoy.

A/N: So there it is, the first chapter of this crazy story that I don't even know whether I should be uploading. Yes, it is a zombie story (well, kind of) and that may not appeal to everyone but there will be a reason behind the events later on.

I can't say when updates will be due, because of my other story but I hope they will be regular. Chapters may not be too lengthy but I will try to make them as long as possible without horribly dragging everything out – I know that most people do prefer longer chapters.

Reviews, comments and constructive criticism is welcome and very much appreciated. I really need to know whether anyone thinks this story is worth continuing because I'm really not sure about it.

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