The next day, as day turned to night, I ate dinner as fast as possible and waited to ambush Britney on her way back to the dorms. It wasn't long before I spotted her in the crowd.
"Hey, Britney?" I called out, but she hid her face from me and tried to walk by. I grabbed her by the shoulder and she pulled away, trying to walk past me.
"I just want to talk!" I yelled, a little too loudly, and the everyone in the hallway stopped. Mortified yet again, I lowered my voice and said "I just want to talk, okay? Walk with me?"
"Fine. Okay, fine just... Don't make a scene." Britney said.
Britney and I walked some, until we were in the girl's bathroom nearby. I collapsed against the far wall and sat down, and gestured for her to do the same. Britney was pretty apprehensive at first.
"I won't bite. At least not yet, anyway." I rolled my eyes.
"What did you want to talk about?" She said, crossing her arms, still standing.
"I just... Wanted to check up on you. Seems like McGonagall didn't see fit to expel you after all."
"Thanks to you, I suppose. You'll be wanting something in return, I presume?"
"For God's sake, Britney, I'm... I'm trying to reach out here. Sit down and talk to me like a person. Let's hash it out now so we don't strangle each other before graduation."
"I don't really have that much to say to you." She stuck up her nose. My temper flared up again for a second.
"Sit down before I lose my patience." I commanded. Britney's eyes went wide for a moment, but then she sat down after a bit, clearly annoyed some.
"Okay, fine, if you want to talk, talk." She said.
"You and me, we're pretty different, aren't we?" I said, looking at Britney. Brown eyes, blonde hair, pronounced cupid bow, freckles dotting her cheeks... I hadn't noticed until then quite how... Attractive Britney was. I kept that thought to myself though.
"Yeah. You're a monster, I'm a human." She muttered.
"Besides that. You had two wizard parents, I had two muggles. You come from an honourable family. My dad was an attorney and my mom was a traffic cop. Not the most beloved people in the world. You have your whole future planned, and I'm... Well, I'm a tad directionless if I had to say so myself."
"We likely did have different upbringings." Britney rolled her eyes, and I tried my best to keep myself from smacking her.
"What I'm trying to say is..." I could feel my teeth start to grind and I exhaled before I continued. "Look, I don't blame you. I wouldn't even blame you if you still hated me. Even before I was turned, we never saw eye to eye. But I guess I just wanna know why, you know? What made you the way you are? How come you're so keen on monster hunting?"
"Vampire, I have classes to study for."
"Humour me. I'm the reason you even have any classes to study for. How come you hate monsters so much, Britney? I... Want to understand you. If it's really that much of a drag, you can go but... We have a chance to make things better between us. Here and now."
"I was Attacked. By creatures."
"Oh. That sounds like it sucked. Well I guess... I dunno. Tell me about it."
"It really isn't that interesting."
"Could make all the difference."
"Ugh, okay, fine. I got separated while touching a portkey on the way to a Quiddich game my parents bought us tickets for. It was my birthday, it was supposed to be fun, it wasn't... It wasn't supposed to happen. There are things that... That just should not be. They were a kind of water demon. I believe they're called Shellycoats. Summoned perhaps by a dark wizard some time ago, perhaps it was an experiment gone wrong... I don't really know. All I know is that they were so angry, so rage-filled, so aggressive. And I was twelve. A twelve year old witch. Flung into this ravine, I swam and barely escaped. That's when they came for me. These... Things."
"You survived all on your own?"
"Here, look at this." Britney held her arms out in front of her. I had never noticed but now that they were close, I could clearly see the difference between them. One was shorter, the skin was slightly discoloured, her hands were even different sizes.
"They... They took one of your arms?"
"I was chased and hunted for three days and nights. It was the worst time of my life. The fourth night is when they finally caught me. The demons, they... They don't eat their prey whole. One got ahold of me and beat my arm to a bloody pulp with a rock. The search party found me after they'd eaten my arm and had broke one of my legs in 19 different places."
"Oh, gods below... I am so sorry, Britney."
"The leg they could fix, obviously, but... My arm was gone. Someone had the idea to combine Skelegrow with some muscle and tissue from a cadaver. This was the closest match. I've hated monsters ever since then. It was just... Just so unfair."
"I imagine it was. Britney?"
"Yeah?"
"If I ever go bad, I'm glad there's someone like you around to stop me. The vampire who turned me... He just... Forced it on me. Thought he could groom me. It was... Awful. Just awful. I imagine if he didn't turn me, I might have turned out just like you." I said.
"Hah."
"Oh that's funny?" I said.
"No, it's just... I never thought about it like that. You're a victim of monsters too. Guess we have more in common than I thought."
"Yeah, I guess we do."
"They're pretty angry at me, Jess and Alice. They're trying to be nice about it, but I dragged them into this mess and I almost got the both of them expelled, or worse. Their parents had some colourful words to describe me. Bad influence was the nicest they could muster."
"They'll come around. If not, well... I don't know if we can be friends but we can be not-enemies. People who don't hate each other."
"I suppose I'd like that."
"Me too."
"I'm sorry."
"You better be, what you did to my leg? That hurt. That really hurt."
"I have... Issues. It seems."
"Water under the bridge, I guess. Just don't do it again. Or at least wait until I actually turn dark side, you know?"
"I promise. I'll... Try to keep a more open mind."
"All I can ask. Sorry about giving you a fright the other week. That death eater really did have it coming. And they're both still alive."
"Death Eater? On school grounds?" Britney said, eyes wide, horrified.
"Oh, yeah. Someone's found a way to let them in. Although I doubt they'll try the same strategy twice. They used polyjuice potion if you can believe it."
"Death Eaters actually made it inside Hogwarts?" Britney said, her eyes wide.
"Yeah, The Dark Lord he... He wants me. They were sent to kidnap me. Not the first attempt there's been either. There aren't many vampires about, I can only guess that he wants me to help him strengthen his forces."
"You-Know-Who wants you? And you don't want to join him?"
"He'd be very disappointed if he ever did get me, I know. And besides, he'd interfere with all the nothing I have planned after I graduate."
"Well, just... I thought perhaps you planned to join him. When all was said and done."
"I just wanna get through the year, Britney."
"Sorry."
"Like I said, water under the bridge. I suppose we both need to be heading back anyway."
"Yeah."
"We're good now, yeah? As long as you don't try murder me again, anyway. So just... You don't need to keep avoiding me. Or ducking out the room."
"Okay. Hey, vampire?"
"I have a name, but yeah?"
"Watch your back. You-Know-Who is persistent. If he wants you, he will stop at nothing to get you."
"Yeah. Watch your back too. This year kind of seems like the calm before the storm, you know? I can feel it in my bones. There's darkness ahead."
I got up first, and extended a hand to help Britney out, but she didn't take it. I assumed it was Gryffindor pride thing, but she dusted herself off and left. I followed after a moment, but... I knew she was right.
The Dark Lord and his minions would not stop.