I think my favourite review has been from LadyManga1100 who said:

" Fantastic chapter. I did have to re-read this fic as it has been a while since the last update. While I do wish updates were more regular, I am fine waiting for the quality product you produce."

Unfortunately, I have been suffering from a most terrible writers block which is not helped by all these other little plot ideas that jump into my head and completely throw me off course. I am, however, completely devoted to this flick as I think the story I am trying to tell is one that hasn't been told before... the Vampire infant kidnaps I mean... not the Vampire Draco. Believe me when I say no matter how long between updates I will finish this story and I hope like LadyManga1100 you continue to find that the quality of my writing is worth the wait.

Enjoy!

-S

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Disbelief is defined as the inability or refusal to believe and at one point in our lives, applicable to both the young and the old, we have all fallen prey to disbelief. Sometimes our refusal to believe is well justified and this is when disbelief is a good thing. However, the word 'inability' is a nasty one because it points us in the direction of clarity which would argue that sometimes our disbelief stems from our own inability to get out of our own way and see the truth and that's a nasty dose of reality to swallow, isn't it?

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Tuesday

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Hermione's alarm woke her early on Tuesday morning. Her entire body was sore but she felt satisfied so a little stiffness seemed a small price to pay for that. She was disappointed to note that the spot int he bed next to her was empty but she refused to dwell on it as she dragged herself into the shower.

A short time later Hermione was dressed in a deep red work dress and black pumps and she moved out into her kitchen only to receive quite a shock. Draco Malfoy was sitting at her kitchen table, a book in one hand and a mug of tea in the other. Beside him, Hermione noted was what looked like a plate of bacon and eggs. He looked up as she entered the kitchen,

"I wondered when you'd wake" he said casually.

Hermione sat herself at the table and had to hold back a snort of amusement as she realised the book Draco was reading was a cook book.

"Why are you reading that?" she asked, skeptically.

Draco looked at her bemused as he pushed the plate of bacon and eggs towards her. Hermione realised a warming charm had been placed upon them.

"You know these Muggles think they're so smart" he told her, "with their whisk this and dice that but really their 'cooking' is just a simpler version of potion making"

Once more shock hit Hermione as she glanced from her breakfast to Draco in disbelief,

"Are you to have me believe that you cooked this?"

He nodded then laughed at her mystified expression,

"Well I have been up since 4am Granger. I had time to work it all out"

Hermione glanced at the clock, 7:30am - he'd been awake for 3 and a half hours.

"I figured you'd gone home" she confessed.

Draco raised an eyebrow at her in amusement,

"After the night and some of the morning we had? That would be terribly rude of me. I did, however, duck out to get you this"

He handed her a small bottle labelled, 'Dittany'.

"While I find my bite on your terribly appealing I'm going to assume your co-workers will not"

Hermione nodded as she rubbed some of the lotion into the wound and felt it heal instantly.

"Speaking of co-workers…" she said, "There is something we need to discuss"

"Ok?"

Hermione sighed, "Ginny applied for me to have Wednesday and Thursday off because Harry and Ron will be in town. They have a Quidditch game on Saturday"

Now Draco looked interested,

"Potter and Weasel are coming into town?"

""Yes Potter and Weasley are" Hermione corrected, "And I'm going to have to tell them about us - I won't lie to them but they're going to be mad so you'd best watch out"

Her breakfast finished, Hermione took her plate up to the sink, cleaned it and put it away.

"Potter and Weasel don't scare me" Draco said, dismissively.

Hermione sighed, "Well they mean a lot to me so please try to keep that in mind"

Hermione collected her handbag and cloak preparing to leave for work while Draco neatly replaced the cook book on her bookshelf. They met at the front door where he pulled her in for a gentle kiss.

"As long as you spend your nights in a bed containing myself and myself only Granger then I shall try my very hardest to remember your… friends… value to you"

Hermione smiled, "That's all i ask"

XxXxXx

The office was abuzz as Hermione arrived that morning. Everywhere she went her coworkers seemed to be moving around in a flutter.

"Ah Mindy?" Hermione asked, "What's going on?"

Mindy was the office gossip, she always knew everything that was going on.

"Oh Hermione! Haven't you heard?" Mindy gushed, "Harry Potter and Ron Weasley are returning with the Finchburg Finches to verse Montrose Magpies this weekend. The whole Ministry is raving with the news!"

"Oh for heavens sake Mindy look who you're talking to! Of course Hermione Granger would know that Potter and Weasley are returning" Brad snapped from across the room.

Mindy didn't even blink at her obvious ignorance instead she rushed off, probably to inform some other misinformed sod of the news.

"By the way Hermione, there is some sad, pathetic woman sitting outside your office"

She didn't like Brad, Hermione decided, he was a bit of a prat. Finally, she reached her office and sure enough there was a woman waiting outside for her. This woman wore an old brown baggy dress and had her lightish coloured hair pulled back into a messy bun. She saw Hermione and stepped forward,

"Miss Granger?"

She sounded exhausted, Hermione realised. Quickly, she nodded.

"My name is Katherine Bateman. I really hope you can help me"

Given the state of this woman, Hermione quickly unlocked her office and ushered the poor woman inside, helping her into a chair. Unceremoniously, she dumped her bag onto the floor and took a seat behind her desk.

"What can I do for you Miss Bateman?" she asked.

Prat though he may be, Brad was right about one thing, this woman did look incredibly sad.

"I know what I am about to tell you may seem incredibly far fetched" the woman said, "But I need someone to believe me and I've heard you're a very compassionate woman Miss Granger. So I hope you'll be the one to realise I am telling the absolute truth when I tell you that a vampire stole my son, Oliver"

For a moment all Hermione could do was stare. Was this woman serious? Then it all came rushing back to her, the article she'd read which had been about this woman while waiting in the lobby of Malfoy Inc. She sighed,

"Miss Bateman…" she began.

"Dont!"

Hermione looked at the woman in shock,

"Just don't! I can hear that tone in your voice Miss Granger, you think I'm some kind of loon, a nut job, perhaps a drunk? But I'm not! I'm not and I did not dream up my son!"

She began rifling through her pockets, throwing things onto Hermione's desk,

"His birth certificate, photos, a drawing, a medical report from St Mungo's from when they treated his last cold. Oliver is not a figment of my imagination Miss Granger and I need you to believe me because i need your help!"

XxXxXx

Moments of silence had past as Hermione attempted to come to grips with what this seemingly crazy woman was trying to tell her. In this time, Hermione had cast a number of spells over Oliver Bateman's supposed birth certificate, photos and medical records and each spell had revealed that these were not fakes, forgeries or fraud of any kind. For whatever reason, all of these documents appeared to be legitimate and, therefore, Hermione realised, she was going to have to accept the possibility that this woman truly had lost her son. Although to Vampires?

Finally, Hermione put down her wand and picked up her quill, pulling a piece of blank parchment to in front of her to write on.

"Ok Miss Bateman. Please, start from the beginning…"

When she realised Hermione planned to record the details of her recount the woman looked fit to cry with relief and Hermione had to wonder if perhaps she was the first person to take her semi-seriously.

"His name was Deacon Thorberry and I met him at a bar called the Purple Cross. Its located ont he outskirts of London. I used to work at the Owlery in Diagon Alley and on this particular night a few girlfriends of mine convinced me to go out with them for the night. I was 20 and single so I thought 'why not'?

I noticed Deacon the moment I walked into the bar because he was easily the most attractive man there. He waited a little while before he came over to introduce himself but when he did we hit it off. He was so charming.

By the time he asked me to go home with him most of my friends had either met other guys or left. Please Miss Granger don't think this was usual behaviour for me, it wasn't. I went home with Deacon but the moment we got to his place certain things began to stand out to me like he barely had any food in his house, all his booked were about magical creatures and there was little to no wood anywhere in the house. He was a little paranoid I think - When I finally questioned him about it he confessed he was a vampire.

I admit I was shocked but he seemed so civilised and cultured that I allowed the night to progress. I let him drink from me and we had sex, several times. The next morning though I woke up in his apartment alone. It was so creepy so I grabbed my things and left.

Two weeks later I discovered I was pregnant. The doctor told me that the sperm of a vampire is incredibly strong and to have unprotected sex with one would result in pregnancy 100% of the time. It was Deacon that night who had wanted to risk it and maybe then I should have clicked - he must have known I'd get pregnant. I tried to contact him several times and even sent him a picture when Olly was born - I was an idiot.

Just over a week ago, when Olly was one, Deacon showed up at my house. He was a completely different person to the guy I had met in the bar - he seemed so angry. He told me he was going to take Olly, that Olly was going to be a special child because of his vampire heritage and that I would waste that. He said Olly would become a vampire.

I screamed at him to leave, tried to take Olly and run but he's a vampire - he's strong and very fast. He tied me up and said he had to punish me but if I was good I could become a part of history and then he raped me. It lasted forever and I couldn't move. I could hear Olly crying though. When Deacon was done he picked up Olly and told me he'd be back in 9 months and they left.

I've tried everything Miss Granger but no one believes me! They all tell me that Vampries are animals but they're not barbaric. I was an introvert after Olly's birth - we stayed at home a lot. My friends all met him but I didn't parade him around town and so now because of that people believe I've made all this up. I don't know what to do"

The poor woman was at her wit's end, Hermione could see that, as she dissolved into tears but Hermione had to ascertain that what she described was true.

"I'm very sorry MIss Bateman. I can see how exhausted you are but I need to ask you some questions and I'm afraid they will be rather personal" Hermione said.

Looking at her tearfully, the woman nodded.

"You said you let Deacon feed from you the first time you met him? Where exactly?"

"M-my neck and my inner left thigh"

Hermione nodded,

"And could you describe that for me?"

"It hurt at first but then, as he drank, I became more focused on the feel of my blood being sucked out of my body and I felt quite dizzy"

The was exactly the description Hermione herself would have given after last night. She noted this.

"Now you said the rape seemed to last forever? Why do you say that?"

Hermione watched carefully as Miss Bateman blushed and fidgeted nervously,

"It was the same during our one night stand. Deacon just seemed to have this ability to last a long time during intercourse. I've had boyfriends in the past and none of them lasted that long. The rape was the same, he just took a long time to - ah - finish"

Another tick, Hermione realised. She had studied Vampires and Pansy had been dating one but, generally, this was not a piece of information known by many in the Wizarding World. So to your average witch, like Katherine Bateman, she didn't associate an increased libido with Deacon Thorberry being a Vampire - just a randy man with a good sex drive.

"One more question Miss Bateman, you said Deacon was fast and strong… how fast and strong?"

"Well when I tried to break free, he had me back in the same position gagged and bound before I could blink"

And 3 made almost certain, Hermione decided, Katherine Bateman was certainly describing your typical Vampire - some well known details included but other pieces of information she most certainly wouldn't know unless she'd studied the species specially in a magical university course.

Hermione skimmed back over her notes again quickly before she addressed the witch in front of her.

"Here's what I'd like to do Miss Bateman" Hermione said, "You are now pregnant again correct?"

The woman nodded.

"Ok then" Hermione said, "Well I think for now you're pretty safe - no harm will come to you while you carry Deacon's second child. So here is what I propose - I'd like to try and help you but in all honesty I must tell you I still remain a little skeptical. So I'd like a couple of days to go over your story and conduct my own research. If you could return on Friday we can see where we go from there?"

Hermione knew it was not the ideal answer the woman was looking for but she was limited in her current ability to act straight away. This was not the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and any investigation Hermione did into the matter would have to be done delicately.

"Thank you Miss Granger" Katherine Bateman gushed tearfully, "I had heard you were a compassionate woman but you have proved my sources right"

Hermione stood to show the woman out,

"I will do what I can Miss Bateman but I may not be the right person to handle this matter. Still, though, I will try"

As her office door swung shut, Hermione collapsed behind her desk, the poor woman's story running through her head. Vampires? Rape? Kidnapping? It all seemed so unreal… and yet, Hermione had a bad feeling.