Written for:

Stratego - Prompt: triad/moresome

Hogwarts Forum - Defence Against The Dark Arts: Task: Write about someone encountering a vampire. It may be during a battle/duel but it could also be for research/education purposes. As long as your vampire isn't in it for mere seconds.

Chocolate Frog Challenge - (Gold): Carmilla Sanguina: Challenge: Write an AU in which any canon female witch is or becomes a vampire. Earn an extra 5 knuts for this challenge!

Musical Showtunes Challenge - Something Bad - Write about a magical creature or being (this can include ghosts)

Love Eternal

It had been in her search for a cure for Lycanthropy that Hermione had disappeared. A year had passed in the search for her.

Ron had given up only a couple of months in - in which Hermione's usual seat in the Burrow was occupied by Lavender Brown.

Words were exchanged between Harry and Ron. Ron stating that Hermione was gone and that there was no point searching anymore, he defended his new relationship with his ex-girlfriend.

Harry had heatedly commented over the fact that Ron was quite eager to move on from Hermione. That he would give up so often on his friends, made him finally realise just what sort of person Ron really was. He made it clear that he didn't need friends like Ron, who would give up on Hermione in an instant.

He would find Hermione without Ron's help.

Harry, Sirius and Remus knew that they would never give up the search. Harry said that Hermione was a sister to him - he would feel her death.

Sirius and Remus agreed. Hermione's disappearance left a large hole in both of their lives. A hole that was impossible to fill. They loved each other, but there was a special place in each of their hearts for the bossy and passionate witch.

They knew that she had to be alive, somewhere!

...oOo...

The search lasted a year. A whole year where Sirius hid his illness from everyone. A year where Remus followed every lead that could possibly help, through his job as the head of the department for Control and Regulation of Magical Creatures. A year where Harry attended any case where the victim had brown hair, or was a muggleborn - or cold-cases dated from when Hermione had disappeared.

Nothing turned up results. Until one day a whisper was heard in Remus' department about rogue Vampires being taken down by a young pretty little thing.

Remus checked his reports of Middlesex vampire attacks. The outskirts of London had the lowest numbers it had ever seen. As though someone was protecting the people.

It was a long-shot, but Remus called for Sirius, asked Kingsley for cover at work, due to a possible lead, and they headed out there, booking a room in a travelodge and began searching anywhere where a vampire could be living.

But with Sirius' condition, Remus found himself going out alone in search, before coming back empty handed.

...oOo...

Remus headed home quickly. The search was a bust, it appeared, and if Sirius was going to die, he wanted it to be in the cottage where they lived most of the time, surrounded by happy memories - not in a hotel room.

He walked in the door, freezing at the sight of a hooded figure sitting next to Sirius, watching him.

His wand out, a stunning spell began to pass his lips, until the hood lowered, brown eyed ringed with red meeting his.

He took a deep breath. Vampire.

"Hermione?" he whispered.

...oOo...

Hermione hesitated from next to Sirius. "Remus," she breathed. He rushed to her side, scooping her up in his arms, clinging to her as tightly as he could.

"We knew you were still alive," Remus murmured into her hair. "We never doubted it for a second."

"I couldn't come back, because of what I am," she said, her voice cracking. "I looked in a few times, from a distance. I could see… you were all happy."

"We weren't," Remus replied. "Not without you!" He barely let go of her, just enough to look at her properly. "You should have come back, Hermione! We would have accepted you - people accepted me after all."

"What happened to Sirius, Remus?" Hermione demanded, changing the subject. Pulling herself from Remus' arms, she leaned over the pureblood, her fingers brushing his cheek.

Remus knew how cold his skin was, spending his nights trying to keep Sirius as warm as possible. His skin was almost as cold as Hermione's.

"The veil. He came back through… but it seems that there is no permanent escape from death," Remus admitted, looking away. "We've tried everything to keep him alive, but…" he trailed off. "He wanted to see you one last time, to know you were alive, at least."

"Alive?" Hermione chuckled darkly. "If that's what you could call this."

"I'm sorry we weren't there," Remus said, coming up behind her, and bringing his hand down on her shoulder as she continued to stare at Sirius. "We failed to protect you."

"It wasn't your job, I was just a girl you both knew," Hermione replied.

"No," Remus admitted. "So much more than that. We vowed to protect you back when you were thirteen, Hermione. Back at that age, you were just a girl that we knew. But things changed after Hogwarts. We would have given our lives to protect you."

She turned to look at him, softness filling her eyes. "And what of you, Remus? You're about to lose your soul-mate?"

"A Werewolf without their soul-mate doesn't live for very long," Remus replied. "That's why I was in such a horrendous state back during my teaching year at Hogwarts - because he was alive, but I couldn't get to him. When he dies, I'll follow."

"Are you scared?" Hermione asked.

He shook his head. "I am fearful of dying, but not of the fact that I'll be joining Sirius. I wouldn't have it any other way. All my affairs are in order. I've made my will. I'll be talking to Harry very soon and explaining to him what's happening."

A half-smile. "Pity," she said. "You could have spent it with me… both of you."

Remus stared at her hard. "Explain," he demanded. "Because it sounds like... but I'm a Werewolf?"

"I could… I swore to myself that I would never bite anyone, but to offer Sirius a form of living…" she trailed off. "But biting creates bonds, Remus."

"What of Remus?" came a whisper from the bed. "Joining you means I'll lose him one day. I can't leave him behind."

Hermione smiled softly. "Do you know why I was bitten in the first place?" she asked. "Because I found a way to cure Lycanthropy. It turned out that though a vampire bite can slowly kill a Werewolf - but vampire blood can heal it. Too much vampire blood can mutate you Lycanthropy."

"Mutate into what?" came the whisper from the bed. Grey eyes latched onto hers, desperately seeking an answer.

"The vampire gene is stronger than the Lycanthropy. Remus would still struggle over the full moon, due to some remaining strains of Lycanthropy that I haven't been able to work on getting rid of, but he wouldn't transform. He would just be weakened by the moon."

The pair stared at her, Sirius pushed himself into a sitting position.

"And the bonds?" Remus asked.

"Well, if I were to bite either of you, you'd be bonded to me. I'm not a strong vampire - I have no power to choose whether to bond or not. The one that bit me, chose not to bond with me. I won't be able to give you the choice."

"Will it break mine and Sirius'' bond?"

Hermione shook her head. "Your souls are too intertwined - nothing, not even death could break your bond to each other. Though if I bit Sirius, he would have a second bond to me."

"And if you also bit me?"

"Then you'll both be bonded to me, and your remaining bond to each other would still exist," Hermione said. She slipped from the chair. "But once bitten, we can't go back on this."

Remus smiled the first true smile he had since Sirius had gotten ill.

"I'm in if Remus is," Sirius whispered, his voice weak but certain of what he wanted.

"Let's get Sirius back to the cottage and do this," Remus agreed. He didn't even need to think about what to do.

...oOo...

News spread quickly through that Hermione had returned. Sirius and Remus were holding a party for her, with all the Weasleys, Kingsley, Neville, Luna and their friends all in attendance.

The moment Hermione appeared, she was swamped with people reaching for her, trying to hug her.

"You're so cold?" Fleur commented, pulling away. A few people took a step back, seeing the red ring in Hermione's eyes.

"I am," she said.

"You have good control," Fleur commented. "When my Veela began to shine, my temper disappeared like that!" She clicked her fingers for emphasis.

Hermione smiled at her welcoming tone. She hadn't considered Fleur being on her side. "It wasn't easy at first," he admitted. "Sirius and Remus have perfect control."

Sirius and Remus moved to Hermione's sides just as Ron moved closer. "Hermione," he said, attempting to throw his arms around her. "I've missed you."

He heard a hiss and a growl, and quickly backed away, looking between the two men. "What in Merlin -"

"When researching, I was bitten by a vampire," Hermione interrupted, watching people's reactions. Ron backed up further, and Sirius' lip curled at him, revealing sharp fangs. "I stayed away, scared of what people would think. Sirius was days from death's door; Death wanted him back."

"So you bit him to save him?" Harry asked. Hermione nodded, relieved that Harry didn't sound scared or angry.

"He is suited as a vampire," Fleur commented, her head tilting. "Though I prefer having a wolf in bed." Both of their gazes flicked to Remus, who looked back mildly.

"And she bit Remus to cure his Lycanthropy." Sirius continued. "The three of us are bonded together - a coven if you will."

Hermione looked around the room. Ron looked disgusted, Molly looked extremely worried, but the majority of her friends looked relieved that she was back. "Minister," she said, turning to Kingsley. "I plan on working on something to allow us to walk around in the daytime, rather than the shadows. I also plan on continuing my research into Lycanthropy cures. I assume my job is still there?"

"I can't very well take it away, you wrote such flawless laws for magical creatures and beings," Kingsley said, chuckling.

There was a long awkward silence as people struggled to think of something else to say.

"Did you know that Nargles reproduce at an extraordinary rate?" Luna said, looking around. "They've been known to have a sexual appetite only second to female vampires."

"Really?" Sirius asked, dragging the word out slowly, his eyebrows raising in Remus' direction. "Now, isn't that interesting to know."

Remus could only smirk in return at the information Luna had shared. He looked younger than he had in a long time - without the Lycanthropy curse weighing him down, he was more at ease and relaxed.

"Just… just close the floo if you're going to be doing that stuff," Harry begged. "Something I don't plan on seeing when I come to visit my three favourite people."

Her eyes met Molly, and Molly moved forward, pulling Hermione into a hug. "Vampires or not, you tell me if either of them give you any trouble," she whispered. "They aren't too old for a telling off."

Hermione nodded, her eyes following Ron as she watched him over Molly's shoulder. He slipped from the room, looking in disgust between the three of them. She heard the sound of the floo activate in the next room and realised she didn't care in the slightest. She had stopped caring the first time she had seen him with Lavender Brown, three weeks after being turned.

With a smile, she turned to her mates - two men that hadn't given up on her, no matter what. "Let's start the party," she said. "How about some champagne to celebrate our union?"

"You know what, let's celebrate that later, in bed," Remus said, bringing Hermione's hand to his lips and placing a kiss to it. His red-ringed amber eyes met hers. "Right now, let's celebrate having you back."

Review Please :)

Thanks for the help Firefly :)