Vacivitas

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Five

"He's a vampire ?"

Hermione, with her chin in her hand, lifts her gaze up from where she's slowly stirring her tea. Tillian and Faye are seated across from her at the circular table in the tearoom. Behind them in the corner of the room, the enchanted piano plays soft music like a soundtrack. It's early afternoon, so the sunlight that shines in through the windows is bright, begging to be seen the way it bathes their table.

She doesn't notice it anymore.

"Yes," she says with a heavy sigh. "He is. And that's part of the reason why I'm here, and why we were in the pits."

Faye chews on her lower lip, a worried expression on her face. "We're food, aren't we?"

"Technically, we're supposed to be. The pit we were in is one of many, all part of Blaise Zabini's oubliette."

"Oubliette?" Tillian asks.

"The prison under his estate. The people in the pits are people he captures and sells to vampires for food. Other creatures, too, but mostly vampires. Malfoy originally purchased me from Blaise."

"Well, now I'm pissed that I was so friendly with him," Tillian says with a sneer. "I had no idea he was our handler."

"Blaise is...Interesting." Hermione drops her hand from beneath her chin and folds her arms on the table. "He's not a good person, and he's got galleons for brains. But he did agree to release you two for a considerably less sum than what he normally charges."

"That sounds sickening," Tillian spits. "I get it, though."

"Yeah, we understand, Hermione," Faye says, offering an encouraging smile. "You promised you'd come back for us, and you did what you had to do."

What she had to do.

Flashbacks of Charon Palace flicker across her mind. They'd done what they had to do that night, too, and it ruined everything. From Malfoy's panic attack to her attempt to end her own life, to him letting his guard down and drowning in his emotions, to now him blocking her out and pushing her away–she didn't know how things could ever go back to normal. Not after what he did this morning.

"I made a deal with Malfoy," Hermione explains. "I would be his blood supply, and he would get you out of the oubliette."

"So he was just feeding off of you this morning?" Tillian asks, his brow furrowed.

"Yes. It was nothing out of the ordinary." And it wasn't, if she determined her opinion based on everything that happened before the day Lucius attacked her.

"But he was standing over you while you were on the floor," Tillian protests. "I mean, you wept, Hermione. That's what's normal for you two?"

"It's..." She sighs again. "Complicated."

"I'd say so."

The three of them sit in silence for a few moments before Hermione speaks again.

"I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you about the oubliette and why we were in the pits, but I didn't want to upset you."

"We aren't upset," Faye says. "We knew it was only a matter of time before one of us was taken away, anyway. It's only logical that galleons were changing hands in the process."

"We're just glad that it was you who got us out, and not someone else," Tillian says, his smile sincere. "And we're glad to be here with you on top of that."

Hermione can't stop her own smile. "I'm glad, too."

"That piano is neat." Faye points at it. "It plays nonstop?"