Chapter Text
Professor McGonagall has been hiding a secret.
One in which she had managed to smuggle back into Hogwarts, and place into the darkest part of the dungeons. A secret so large that should the Ministry have ever suspected anything, she would surely lose her teaching position as well as her credibility. Not to mention there was always the thought of being sent to Azkaban Prison that loomed over her mind on an occasion.
But none of that mattered in the very beginning. And in this particular instance, the beginning of this remarkable story actually started at the very end of the Second Wizarding War. After Harry Potter had defeated Lord Voldemort, those who remained at Hogwarts were left to sort through the wreckage in hopes of finding any who may have survived the devastation. Unfortunately, the search only resulted in a long, heart-shattering list of casualties.
Minerva's eyes filled with tears from the amount of dead bodies that lined the cobblestone pathways. A majority of them were students- her students- some of which she had considered to be her own children. Her heart swelled.
As the fallen were levitated out from under the rubble, Minerva made sure to close each of their eyes, out of respect for the life that had been sacrificed. No words were spoken amongst those that were lending a helping hand. Nothing could be said.
Hours had drawn on where she and multiple other professors and parents had finally finished their diligent work. The sun was just about to touch the tops of the trees when Professor Binns stood next to Minerva. He held a long parchment in his hands containing the names of all the students whose bodies were laid out before them.
"I believe we have collected all who have perished," Professor Binns croaked weakly.
Rubeus Hagrid, along with a few other teachers, crowded Minerva as she faced the long row of students. His eyes were tired and filled with sorrowful tears as he spoke. "Madam Pomfrey is expecting us inside."
Everyone took one last, long look at their students. With heavy hearts and their heads hung low, they slowly made their way back into the castle. All except Minerva and Hagrid remained.
"Minerva-
"I can't." Her voice cracked with emotion. She had worked so hard to maintain her composure in front of the others. She had fought so hard to stay strong. But the cold hand of reality was beginning to reach up her neck. "I'm not ready to say goodbye."
A large tear fell from the corner of his eye. "I know. Neither are we."
"These were my children." She raised her hand up to her aching chest. "They were our children and I am not ready."
Hagrid rested a hand on her shoulder, causing a broken sob to slip from her lips. The two of them shared a moment of silence before gradually making their way towards the entrance. Minerva felt a chilling numbness seep inside of her bones. She had brought a true meaning to the phrase 'walking amongst the dead'. Each face she passed held a name and a life she was grateful to be a part of.
But just as the two respected friends reached the front doors, something strange had caught McGonagall's attention out of the corner of her eye. Something unexplainable...
"You go ahead, Hagrid," Minerva explained gently. "I'll be right behind you."
She waited until he was gone before turning her attention back to the indistinguishable figure that moved. Her blood had run cold for a brief moment. She pulled for her wand and retraced her steps down the long darkened corridor.
Amongst the broken pieces of castle and crushed pieces of fallen stone, there appeared to be a student whose body had not been accounted for. The closer Minerva got, the more she was able to make out the finer details. Her mouth fell open in a gasp of pure astonishment. Lying in a heap of rubble, covered in soot and dried blood, was none other than the Slytherin Prince himself. Draco Lucius Malfoy.
His hair had fallen out of his usual slicked back composure. His clothes were torn and disheveled, leaving one to second guess if it was truly him or not.
How could this have happened? McGonagall asked herself. She assessed the surrounding area and made several observations. It was clear he had not been crushed, despite being surrounded by large boulders and crumbled rocks. There was no telling for certain if he had been hit with any particular hex or if-
The old witch’s eyes suddenly dropped to the sources of where a majority of the dried blood had been coming from. There along the inner left curve of Draco’s neck were two torn up gashes.
Another gasp slipped past her lips as she raised her hand up to cover her mouth. As Minerva continued to stare down at the lifeless body of the Draco Malfoy she kept a firm grip on her wand. She wasn't entirely sure what had drawn her to this particular corpse of all the others that were present. At first, she could have sworn that the blond had moved.
But there appeared to have been something more happening, a kind of energy that clouded the young wizard’s form. A menacing energy. One that left the old professor hesitant and straight up cautious.
It seemed that the longer she glared at Draco the more her eyes were playing tricks on her. But they weren't. Malfoy’s features were changing. His long sculpted face had thinned. His cheekbones became more defined. Dark rings underlined his closed eyes which emphasized the new paleness of his skin. But the most noticeable change was the color of this chair and eyebrows. Starting from the roots on the top of his head, Draco’s platinum blond hair had transmuted into a ghostly, translucent shade of white.
Minerva's hand still covered her mouth in awe. What was happening to this boy? She hadn't a single idea.
"Mr. Malfoy," she called out. No response. McGonagall proceeded to watch as these new changes consumed her former student. Once the white had reached the ends of Draco’s hair, Minerva's gaze followed down to his hands which were now tipped with the sharpest claws ever to be seen on a human.
The professor's breath caught in her lungs upon seeing Draco curl his fingers into his palms. He was alive!...Wasn't he?
Her sudden burst of excitement had trumped her feeling of fear. She hastily reached down to the young man and rested her hand over Malfoy’s exposed wrist.
Cold!
Her eyes widened from the unexpected chill that crept up her spine from feeling Draco’s skin. It was as if all the blood had drained out of his body and was filled with nothing but ice. What was going on?
"Draco?" Minerva called for him once more.
This time, she had received a different response. One that made her leap several feet back in horror. Her lower lip trembled as the young Slytherin wizard snapped his eyes open- revealing a new set of crimson colored eyes that resembled drops of blood. His mouth fell open as a painful rush of air had forced itself into his chest, forcing his entire body to jerk forward.
"Good Lord," McGonagall whispered to herself.
Taking in his semi-familiar surroundings, Draco’s new eyes trained on the terrifying sight that were his newly acquired claws and snow colored hair. He was wonderfully transfixed and equally bewildered on what was going on. Like the others that had just been outside sorting through the debris, Draco’s mind had fallen into a deep fog from the gruesome layout that surrounded him.
Pieces of the castle were crumbled all around. And bodies...so, so many dead bodies...
As his vision finally cleared, Draco dragged his gaze up from the ground to find his Transfiguration Professor staring back at him. His brows pulled together. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, he stopped. A strange pain bit through his gums. It felt like the burning sensation that had settled in his chest had brutally made its way up to his mouth.
Malfoy’s tongue gently prodded at the inflamed tissue to find that two sharp fangs had dropped into his teeth. The gut-wrenching truth of his situation quickly became clear to him. He knew what he was- at least from the outside...Vampire.
His head still felt massively foggy, but he knew well-enough that he had studied the dark creatures. He had spent countless hours pouring over books that read of multiple mythical creatures within his family’s personal library. Werewolves. Sirens. Trolls. And vampires.
He had taken in as much info as he could on their miraculous abilities as well as their potential weaknesses. Now there wasn't much for him to read up on- but that was mainly because there weren't that many vampires to speak of. It seemed that creating a vampire wasn't as easy as fictional books made it seem. The creature's venom had to find something to attach itself to in order to withhold in the victim's body. Otherwise the person who was bit was as good as dead. Dead as in six-feet under, dead.
But here he was. A living- breathing vampire that could still feel things like pain and, apparently, confusion. Because, although Draco may have understood what he was, he still couldn't comprehend why it had happened.
"Mr. Malfoy," Minerva started again. "If you can speak, can you tell me what in Merlin's name is going on?"
With a shaky breath, Draco opened his mouth. Minerva's eyes widened when she caught a quick glimpse at the fangs that peered out from the man’s lips.
"I think..." His voice was ragged. He tried clearing his throat. "Professor, I think I died."
"Yes, dear. That much is obvious," his professor commented dryly. "The pending question that we must know is 'how?' and or 'why?'"
Draco searched his memory for any possible answers. He tried to recall the events that led up to his death. He closed his eyes and focused.
He had been running -- He was fighting alongside his friends -- People were falling around him left and right -- People were dying -- There were bodies lying everywhere -- Death Eaters were surrounding the place like crazy -- Then he saw her...
"Hermione," Draco whispered. Her name felt like a lost prayer on his lips as he spoke it.
...She had been standing her ground with that oblivious Weasel -- She was fighting off a hoard of Death Eaters -- Hexes were flying through the air like lighting -- Something dark was approaching Granger from behind -- It wasn't human -- Draco found himself running again, this time towards the dark entity that reached out for her -- NO!
Draco stared up at Minerva once more in disbelief. "I...I pushed her out of the way. That creature was getting so close to her- I had to do something! S-She would have died!"
"Easy now," she consoled. "Slow down and take a breath."
McGonagall had lowered her wand. She no longer was sensing a threat coming from the boy. Instead it was nothing but remorse and fear that radiated off of his being. Minerva had wished she could ease his unspoken distress in some way.
He struggled to steady his erratic breathing before trying to get his words out. A bone-chilling numbness had seeped into his haunting features. His newly red eyes darkened with anger. "A vampire was set on attacking Hermione Granger. I watched as its hands reached out for her...I had to stop it."
A dark realization had washed over McGonagall that made her shudder. Her gaze softened as small tears gathered in the corners of her eyes. She slowly nodded her head. "You pushed Ms. Granger out of the way."
"Professor. Please, tell me honestly," Draco gasped. He swallowed the ball of emotion that had gathered in his throat. Part of him feared the potential answer to the question he was about to ask. He clamped his eyes shut and prayed for even the slightest possibility that his actions were not done in vain.
"Is Hermione Granger dead?"
A long, deafening silence had settled between them. Draco bit the inside of his cheek to stop the sob that was on the verge of tearing through him.
"No, Mr. Malfoy." Draco’s eyes shot open. A soul crushing wave of relief filled his hollow being. "Ms. Granger, and the rest of her friends are very much alive."
Not that he gave much of a care towards the rest of the mentioned party, a shrilling smile curved across her mouth- she hadn't even cared if her fangs were showing. Granger was alive. An unspeakable warmth spread through her chest. She’s okay.
Draco’s burst of elation was suddenly cut short by a feeling of apprehension. She was indeed safe. Safe from the Death Eaters and the other creatures that sought out to harm her. But where did that leave him? Surely, he couldn't classify himself as being any different from those monstrosities now.
He hardly knew what he fully looked like at the moment. No doubt it was as terrifying as he imagined. Based on Professor McGonagall's initial reaction, Malfoy was certain that everyone else would share in the same response. Just the thought of imagining how Granger would react to seeing him as he was now made his stomach twist. She’d run from me.
Minerva watched as her former student tried to bring himself to his feet. His balance was very unsteady, and rightfully so. Having been proclaimed dead for the last several hours- she was astonished to see Draco even make the attempt to move from his resting place.
Once Draco had gathered his bearings she lifted his heavy set gaze on his teacher. He released a deep sigh. "Okay, Professor. Do what you have to do. I am ready," he claimed.
A bewildered expression creased between Minerva's brows. Another painful ache had constricted around her heart. She wasn't able to fully understand the thoughts that were rapidly tumbling through the poor boy’s mind. But based on their given, and unforeseen, circumstances, she was able piece together what Mr. Malfoy was expecting her to do.
McGonagall straightened her shoulders back and scowled. "Absolutely not."
"But-
"I have lost enough students to last me over a dozen lifetimes," Minerva explained through tight lips. "I do not intend on losing yet another."
"But, Professor-
"No buts, Mr. Malfoy. Look, I know that you and I have never quite seen eye to eye with one another, however you were always one of my top students. Your dedication to your studies is what sets you apart from so many others. Not your family connections and certainly not your blood status." She insisted harshly. She turned back towards the castle, only this time she headed towards a different entrance that wasn't the front. "If you will, please, follow me this way."
Against his better judgment, Draco had gradually followed after his professor. He refrained from glancing down at all the lifeless bodies that lined the courtyard. So many of them he had recalled knowing. Many of which he and his minions had tormented over the last few years. An ominous cloud loomed over his head as he wrapped his arms around himself.
Minerva had brought them to the deepest part of the dungeons where not an ounce of sunlight was able to reach Mr. Malfoy. She had a good enough understanding of what her student was, based on her common knowledge of vampires. They were, essentially, vicious creatures whose only purpose of existence was based solely on the consumption of blood.
Their predatory nature was similar to that of a werewolf's, but the bloodlust of a werewolf was nothing compared to theirs. Personality wise, vampires were considerably introverted and possessed a nasty disposition towards others. Unfortunately, it wasn’t too far of a stretch away from how Draco was naturally.
Several questions loomed over her mind concerning his development.
Would it be possible to have him integrated back into society? Or would the bloodlust eventually overthrow Draco’s senses and ability to reason?
Minerva didn't know. But she was prepared to find out.