Minutes to Midnight.

"He uh...he doesn't happen to be really nice and not want me dead, is he?" I asked Adrian.

"The exact opposite." said Adrian. "Whatever you do, do not run or scream. He liked that. If you run, he will chase you. If he chases you, he will catch you. If he catches you, you will die."

I swallowed hard as Claudé started to approach our table. "Can I hide under the table?"

"I'd reccomend it."

I slipped under the table like a snake. Draco slid over a little to make it look like I was never there and I started crawing for my freaking life. The table was wide enough and I was thin enough to slip between peoples' feet without them noticing.

"So bro, I heard 'bout you and that Bourdain girl at Court." Claudé said. "Where ah, where is the pretty lady?"

I silently gagged at the term 'pretty lady'.

"Not here." Mia said confidently. Whoa, legit? "Her brothers wanted her home this year after what happened last year."

I stayed where I was, kneeled almost at the end, and swallowed hard. If Claudé knew she was lying, he's probably kill her. And I knew she knew that...

"Hm...not likely." said Claudé. "I can smell Bourdain blood anywhere."

I swallowed once more and crawled for my life - hoping I'd get to the doors before they closed. Once I was at the end, I saw the doors closing and slid, making it out just in time.

I stood and exhaled. Sometimes, I freakin' love being a ninja.

"IZZY, RUN!" Mia called. The look on my face had to read, 'oh, shiiiiittt.'

"I knew I smelt Bourdain blood." I heard behind me.

"Fuck..." I muttered, swallowing hard.

"Go ahead and run," Claudé said casually. "I'll give you a five minute head start."

I swallowed hard and clenched my fists. "No."

"Hmm?"

I faced him with all my might. "No, I'm sick of running. If I hadn't ran, I could have taken those Guards down easy." I heard the doors open behind me. "If I was quicker, Cedric Diggory might still be alive. If my mom, hadn't stood her ground, I wouldn't be able to do this." My eyes flashed, and he dropped to the mercy of my Mangekyou Sharingan.

"NEVER will I run when I am protected those I love. I would sooner throw myself at the mercy of death. Sleep forever now my darling, I won't dwell on Heaven's calling."

"You're a tough little girl." Claudé said, standing and cringing under my sharingan.

"Do NOT call me little." I growled. I released him and got in my fighting stance. "I might not get along with everyone here, hell, the Gryffindors do not like me under any circumstances, but if it came down to it, I'd protect any one of them with my own life."

Everything went dead silent, and all four tables began clapping, wolf whistling, and yelling my name. I smirked.

"Do whatever you want, but just know that no matter how divided we seem, we're one school that will stand up for each other no matter what. I am not afraid to keep on living, I am not afraid to walk this world alone. Nothing you can say can stop me from going."

"Cute little speech." Claudé said as he circled me like his prey. "You know, I could turn you right now - in three seconds. Bite, snap, dead. Then you come back and help me because I'd be your sire."

"Over my dead body." I sneered.

"That can be arranged." I felt him smirk from behind me.

"I dare you to try." Draco said. I turned and he stood there, holding his wand towards Claudé.

"Tch, what can you do? You can't kill me. That's illegal, little Malfoy." Claudé replied arrogantly.

"Of course it is," Hermione said, mimicking Draco's stance, "but you can't fight off hexes flying at you from all over. Now can you?"

"We'd love to see you try!" Mia added, standing from her seat.

I looked at Claudé. "You see? Hufflepuffs, Gryffindors, and Slytherins already banding together."

"And Ravenclaw!" Shouted Cho Chang, now standing as well.

"Try and fight me, now." I told him.

Claudé cracked his fangs and glared, then Adrian stepped in. "Why are you even here, Claudé? Mom and dad finally get sick of covering for your trouble?"

I could sense the fear radiating off of everybody as Claudé smirked, and cackled with meniachal laughter much like Light's from Death Note.

"No, little brother. Look at a calendar." Claudé retored.

There was a pause, and I caught Adrian mutter, "Oh no..."

"Oh yes, little brother. Next month is my sixteenth birthday. You know what that means."

"No, not her. I won't let you. None of us will."

"You have no choice, little brother. It'll be either you or me claiming our bride but, I can get to her quicker and sooner." With a wink, Claudé vanished. For a minute, we all just stood in our spots to take in what the hell just happened.

"Headmaster," said Umbridge (still making me cringe, by the way), "why did you allow this to happen?"

"Because they were a part of the Five Royal Families." Dumbledore said simply as I walked in, hugging Draco. "And I know that dear Isabelle can take care of herself just like her mother whom I'm sure you know of, Dolores."

Umbridge huffed and the feast began.

"What the hell was Claudé talking about?" I asked Adrian as we ate.

He sighed. "Believe it or not, we're identical twins."

Mine, Mia's, James's, Draco's, and Blaise's jaws dropped.

"Nuh-uh! He has snow white hair and two totally different coloured eyes!" Mia said.

"He dyed his hair when we were kids. He usually had a streak of red in it, so the blood red tips is new to me. I haven't seen him in...I'd say a good four or five years."

"What about the eyes?" James asked.

"My mother's eyes are blue. Father's are green."

"Alright, great for genetics. How about what the hell he wants with me?!" I nearly yelled.

"A bride." We all stared at him like he was stupid or something. "Not really to marry, but to be bonded to for all eternity."

"So what about the whole calendar thing?" Mia asked.

"In our family, you have to be sixteen to turn someone and bind them to you. You can turn someone before that, but they just won't be bound to you.
"Typically, vampire brides end up falling in love with their sire - it's part of the bind. They become so loyal that they think they're in love. You could hate the guy and want him dead, be bound, and then love and be loyal to him for the eternity."

"And he wants...Isabelle?" Draco asked with a glare.

Adrian nodded. "He's always had an obsession with the Bourdain bloodline."

"He said something about next month, when does he turn sixteen?" I asked, hiding my face under my hair.

"Halloween at 11:59." Adrian replied sadly.

"And you?"

"November first at 12:07."

"So he would have an eight minute time period to get to Izzy before you could." Mia stated. Adrian nodded.

"Alright, so how the hell are we gonna bring him down?" I asked, lifting my head.

Though somehow, I knew that wasn't his only intention, if it really was his true intention....