Disclaimer: I own neither Hellsing nor Harry Potter. This is a fan work and I am making no money from it.

Hermione fought back sobs. This was not the way her summer holiday was supposed to go. One would think that having spent a year fleeing from Death Eaters followed by fighting in and surviving the battle of Hogwarts, she should deserve a short break from strife. She could just scream for the unfairness of it all. Sure, the summer had started on a high note, what with her and most of her friends surviving followed by her finding her parents and bringing them back home but fate, it seemed was uninterested in cutting her a break.

She had been home for only a few weeks when tragedy once again decided to strike at her. She'd been out late, losing track of time in the local library which was nothing unusual in and of itself. The unusual part had taken place when she'd gotten home to find the front door slightly ajar and the overpowering scent of blood filling the air. Her wand was in her hand before she'd even had the chance to think about it and then she was through the door. The house was in shambles, she could see even from the small foyer. There were holes in the walls and debris from broken furniture and pictures littering the floor about as well as suspicious looking spatters and puddles all about.

She had moved as quietly as she could toward the living room and had to cover her mouth with her hand to stop herself from crying out when she saw her parents lying on the floor, blood pooling around them. Without thinking she found herself rushing toward them, kneeling on the floor as she tried to check for a pulse. She had been unable to stop herself from shrieking in horror when her hand had encountered nothing but a mass of unrecognizably shredded flesh where her mother's neck should have been. Through her sobs she couldn't even hear the man approaching from behind until it was already too late.

Hermione found herself yanked to her feet, her shoulder actually aching from the abruptness of the movement. Her captor held her from behind, quickly shifting his grip to immobilize her in front of him. She tried to free herself but the arms around her were as immovable as iron bars. "It's useless to struggle," her captor whispered to her, his foul breath making her head swim. "You made some very powerful enemies in the war," he informed her, "powerful and wealthy enough to hire someone to do this for them. We don't hire cheap you know."

"So kill me already," said Hermione icily, trying not to completely break down and projecting far more confidence than she felt.

"Oh, you're not going to be killed. There's something far worse in store for you," he said, his voice never rising above a seductive whisper. "I'm going to make you into a ghoul." Hermione paled at this. The curriculum at Hogwarts had covered very little about Vampires, but she knew enough to be terrified of the prospect of what many considered to be a fate far worse than death. The man continued, "I have no idea whether or not you're a virgin, and in this day and age I rather doubt it, but I think it'll be fun to make sure you're not. Wouldn't want to accidentally turn you. After all, my employers want you mindless and shambling by the end of the night," the man cooed before slowly running his long tongue along Hermione's neck eliciting a desperate shriek amidst the tears from the girl as his hand began to wander.

~HPH~

Seras rushed into the small house, weapon drawn as soon as she heard the scream come from within. In the living room she found herself faced with a remarkably familiar predicament. A young woman, the one she'd been sent to protect was being held before a vampire as a human shield, the front of her top was torn and the vampire holding her had a hand inside which had frozen in its wanderings at her entrance. Fortunately she had more options than her former master had when he turned her. The vampire was obviously less experienced than the priest from Cheddar and had far too much of himself exposed. The vampire in front of her sneered as Seras whipped her pistol up faster than the human eye could follow, and grinned wickedly as a second vampire attacked her from behind, neatly amputating her gun arm with a kitchen knife. He cackled in victory for only a moment before his face contorted into one of rage as his sire was reduced to a pile of ash by Seras' off hand, now bent back at an impossible angle and speared through his torso.

Seras turned her full attention back to what she assumed was the lead vampire and her shoulders slumped. Integra was not going to be happy about this. The young girl, her mouth open in terror, had a thick line of Seras' blood spatter traced across her face and more significantly, across her mouth. Fortunately the vampire holding the girl still hadn't shifted what he thought was his well defended position behind the hostage girl. "YOU DARE?!" he screamed at her, his face further contorting as he noticed the utter indifference his opponent had toward his outburst. "Who are you who dares to kill one of my family?!" he demanded only to be further ignored by the woman with the short blond hair who was whispering something to herself. Abruptly his eyes widened and his expression turned to one of panic as he heard what she was muttering.

"...shall be banished into eternal damnation." Seras looked directly into the eyes of the vampire holding the girl before smiling wickedly and saying, "Amen." There was a deafening crack as the pistol her now disembodied arm was holding discharged into the side of the vampire's neck, the blessed .50 caliber round completely separating his head from his shoulders before he rapidly dissolved into another pile of ash.

Before Hermione could hit the ground Seras was there, easing her back into a laying position. The girl's breathing was shallow and her eyes were panicked, "What," she panted, "what's happening to me?" she managed to get out between breaths.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. You got a good deal of my blood in your mouth," at the blank stare she received in return she added, "You are turning." Hermione's eyes went wide with fear, "If I do nothing now you will become a ghoul and I know you don't want that. Your other options," Seras hesitated briefly before continuing to speak, "Your other options are for me to grant you a quick death right now, or for me to make you a vampire."

Hermione's mouth shot open but before she could get out another word her eyes rolled back in her head as her body began to spasm. A wordless cry of agony tore from her throat. "Can't...die…," Hermione managed to gasp between paroxysms, "won't leave...behind…" Seras nodded sorrowfully and took Hermione's hand in her own before leaning down and embedding her fangs in the girl's neck. Seras drank until she felt Hermione's soul entering her body before firmly biting down on her own lip and forcing Hermione's being along with more of her own blood back into the girl's body. Hermione fell limply to the floor as her muscles ceased their spasming and she felt her heart beat for the final time before the world around her faded to black.

~HPH~

Hermione awoke with a start to find herself lying in a strange bed in a strange room. She fought back panic as she tried to take stock of where she was. The fact that she found herself bound to her bed with thick leather straps certainly didn't help. After taking a few deep breaths to calm herself she took a closer look around and noticed a tray with food on it as well as a clipboard hanging from the foot of the bed. The room was well lit and clean, and there was an open door leading out into what looked to be a hallway. Her growing suspicion that this was a hospital was proven correct when a mediwizard walked into the room and upon noticing she was awake and looking around quickly turned and ran back out the door and down the corridor. Hermione frowned in annoyance, couldn't he at least have unstrapped her before leaving?

It was less than a minute later when the healer returned, this time with a tired looking Mrs. Weasley trailing behind him. "Hermione dear," said Mrs. Weasley, tears in her eyes as she walked closer to the bed wringing her hands all the while, "I'm so sorry."

"Whathsfor Mrs. Weathsley? Why'm I thied thown?" Hermione frowned, her mouth wasn't working quite the way she wanted it to. She quickly chalked it up to dehydration after all her throat was almost painfully dry and her tongue felt like it was about twice the size it should have been. Concentrating harder on her speech she asked, "What happened?" Her eyes widened as a short, blonde woman walked into the room behind Mrs. Weasley. Suddenly the memories of the night prior flooded back to her and she began to sob.

"I'm so very sorry," the blonde said to her, moving to the bedside and wiping at the scarlet tears streaming down Hermione's face. "For everything. If I'd been a bit faster in arriving, you might still have your parents. You might still have your humanity." Seras released the restraints keeping Hermione pinned to the bed and embraced the girl, gently stroking her hair and rubbing circles on her back until her sobs began to subside and she once again slipped into unconsciousness. Gently laying her new fledgling back on the hospital bed, Seras slowly approached the Weasley matriarch. "I really am sorry about all of this," she said, her expression downcast.

After a moment's hesitation Mrs. Weasley placed a comforting hand on the shoulder of the small blonde woman in front of her. "It's not your fault dear," she said, trying as much to convince herself as the vampire in front of her, "At least she's still with us. After everything that's happened, I don't think we could bear to lose her. If you hadn't shown up when you did, she would be dead or worse." After a moment's hesitation, Molly spoke again, "I'm not familiar with all the particulars of the law, but Hermione is like a daughter to me and," she was cut off as Seras raised her hand.

"If you would like to adopt her, I won't stop you," said Seras, her own long history as an orphan springing to her mind, "quite the opposite actually. I think having a caring family to support her will do nothing but good. Just know that she's going to need some special care, especially for the first few months until she gets accustomed to what she's become. I'm going to need to take her with me for a while as my duties won't permit me to stay away for so long."

Molly nodded a bit sadly, "Thank you. I couldn't bear to see her having to cope with all of this with no family there to help her."

"I'm glad she has someone like you, Molly. I wish I'd had someone willing to take me in like that when…" Seras trailed off, her gaze drifting to the floor. It was unusual for her to get this emotional, but the parallels developing between her own youth and the recent developments in Hermione's life had opened the doors to some powerful memories, leaving Seras feeling a bit wistful and melancholy. Seras shook her head a bit and managed to school her expression back to neutral, but not before Mrs. Weasley put the pieces together and, her maternal instincts overriding all else, enfolded the young vampire in a warm embrace. Seras blinked in shock and gently returned the embrace.

Molly withdrew after a few moments and looked Seras in the eyes. She stared for a few moments, seeming to search for something within those scarlet pools before breaking eye contact. She seemed to think for a moment before saying quietly, "Seras, as long as Hermione is okay with it, you'll have a place at our table too."

Seras' eyes widened in shock, her mouth working but finding no words. "I…" she managed to stammer as a scarlet tear rolled down her cheek, "I would be honored," she said quietly, raising one gloved hand to wipe away the bloody tear. She smiled a genuine, full smile at the Weasley matriarch, "Thank you Molly." After a few moments of comfortable silence between the two women as they smiled gently at one another Seras spoke. "You can head back and get some sleep if you'd like now that Hermione's woken up once. I've gotten leave for the next two days so I'll be waiting here for her when she wakes again.

Molly was going to protest but after a moment's consideration and a glance at a nearby clock, agreed to go and get some sleep. She had been awake for more than 24 hours now and the lack of rest was definitely beginning to get to her. After making Seras to promise to send her an owl if anything about Hermione's condition changed, she made her way towards one of the fireplaces to floo herself back to The Burrow leaving the two vampires alone in the hospital room.

"Hermione, I know you're awake," Seras said quietly as she approached her fledgling's bed. Hermione's eyes opened and Seras gave her a gentle smile. "I heard when your breathing changed. We don't, strictly speaking, need to breathe, but it's a hard habit to break," said Seras in response to the young draculina's puzzled look. "Anyway, my name is Seras Victoria, your sire and master until you're able to walk the night on your own. Molly told me a bit about you and your reputation so I'm sure you must have many questions. I'll try to answer any you have to the best of my ability."

"So it's true then? I'm a vampire and my parents are…" Hermione trailed off, unable to bring herself to actually speak the words.

"Yes," replied Seras. "I'm afraid so." Seras took a seat on the edge of the bed and twisted a bit to face Hermione, regret written across her features, "I'm sorry I couldn't save them, Hermione. I'm sorry I couldn't really protect you either."

Hermione shook her head, "It wasn't your fault. It was stupid of me to just run into the house like that. After everything I've done and survived already I really should have known better." She tried to smile reassuringly at her sire, but couldn't quite make it convincing. "I feel like I'm lucky you were there at all. If you hadn't shown up when you did I would have been in a far worse place than I am now," she said, trying to convince herself just as much as Seras. "So what's to become of me now?"

"Well, for the immediate future I'm going to have to take you with me as we shouldn't be apart until you're stronger. Beyond that I'm not sure at the moment. Molly offered to take you in, she's already your legal guardian due to your parents' will, but she'd like to adopt you and I think it would be best for both of you if you were to take her up on it. Unfortunately beyond that your future prospects are a bit murky at the moment, there are going to be some serious political entanglements to overcome."

"Where will you need to take me?" asked Hermione, trying to hide the fear and insecurity she was feeling.

"Well, you'll be housed at Hellsing Mansion along with me for the time being. I can't actually tell you specifically where it's located as the information is classified. I'm currently the primary supernatural exterminator for the Hellsing Organization. Since it's difficult to tell in advance when threats will arise it's important that I be available to be deployed at a moment's notice. Unfortunately, as you've seen, sometimes even if I'm able to leave immediately it's difficult or impossible to get where I need to be in time."

"So you were sent to try to save me?" Hermione inquired, her tone disbelieving. She was still getting used to her status as a heroine in the Wizarding World and didn't consider herself someone who would warrant someone being sent to rescue her specifically.

"Yes. Your Minister for Magic caught wind of the contract that had been taken out on your life and contacted us soon afterward. Since you're a VIP in the Wizarding community I was dispatched personally to take care of the matter. Unfortunately, I arrived a bit too late."

"Can you tell me more about Hellsing?"

"We are an organization founded by Abraham Van Hellsing a little over a hundred years ago. We are headed by Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing and are commissioned by the Queen to defend the country from supernatural threats. We deal primarily with vampires, werewolves, and the occasional sidhe who become threats to the general population. We were heavily involved in thwarting the attack on London a few years ago."

Hermione let that all sink in for a little and Seras waited patiently at her side for further questions that she knew would come once the new vampiress had a few moments to process what she'd said. "What did you mean when you mentioned political complications before?"

"Well, I was recruited into the organization immediately after I was turned to ensure that I wouldn't eventually become a threat, but I had no family ties and wasn't a national heroine. I was also old enough to be drafted into a combat role by the organization and had prior experience in law enforcement," stated Seras. "Sir Integra has scheduled a meeting to discuss possibilities for your future in a few days with you and Molly," then with a mischievous grin she added, "The Minister for Magic, the Prime Minister and the Queen will be in attendance."

"I...What? The Queen? Why?" Hermione's eyes were wide with shock.

"Ever since the attack on London, the Queen has taken a more active supervisory role over the knights and she has made it a priority to make sure that Sir Integra has the resources she needs to prevent another cataclysmic attack. As you are one of the most skilled young witches in your society and are going to become one of the most powerful vampires in existence due to your bloodline this event has attracted a lot of high level attention.

"I've heard that vampires place a lot of importance on their bloodlines," Hermione mumbled with obvious distaste.

"Yes, though unlike the case of wizarding families our bloodlines actually impact our power and abilities," Seras calmly informed her, "You see, it is along bloodlines that certain special skills can be inherited. We are both in possession of a number of abilities that most vampires simply do not have access to."

"What is our bloodline?" Hermione asked, her tone still somewhat skeptical.

Seras grinned wickedly before saying simply, "Drakul." Seras couldn't help but giggle at her fledgling's expression as Hermione's mouth fell completely open in shock.