Chapter 8: When Life Hands You Lemons
My Thanks To All Of My Readers And Reviewers...Enjoy-S.S.
The early morning sun had brought with it a whole host of new problems as Hermione Granger later found. She had Ron were at each other's throats most of the time and Harry did his best to remain neutral but the two had been very passionate about their opinions. Hermione had not liked the idea of Ron thinking that just because she had agreed to date him that he could dictate her life from the moment she said "yes" to being his girlfriend after a number of his feeble attempts to woo her.
"You eat like a pig, Ronald." said Hermione annoyed.
"At least I know not to bring a bloody book to the table." said Ron just as annoyed. "I mean who in their right mind needs to read that much?"
Hermione narrowed her eyes at the red headed wizard.
"Who in their right mind wouldn't chew with their mouth closed." she countered.
"Unbelievable!" said Ron. "I ask you to go out to dinner with me and you start an argument over table manners."
"It's not like your paying for it Ronald." replied Hermione. "We'd just be going to your parents house like always."
"I don't believe you." said Ron. "Most girls would be proud for a bloke they're dating to take them to meet his family."
"I've known your family for years Ronald, and in case you haven't noticed I am not "most girls." said Hermione.
"That's for sure." countered Ron.
Hermione glared at him.
"What's that suppose to mean?" she asked.
He looked at her stunned.
"You're the one who brought it up." he replied.
"Guys." said Harry finally stepping in before it got any worse.
"Well, she did." said Ron in his defense.
Hermione said nothing more as she gathered her things and took her leave of both of them.
Harry shook his head.
"See what you did Ron." he said.
The Corridors, Hogwarts...
Hermione had just finished up her patrol when she happened upon the classroom Snape described in his journal. Curious, she made her way inside and found that it too had been unlocked. It was a dark room filled with toppled and broken furniture. It looked to not have been used in years complete with spider webs and the scent of damp soil. The bushy haired witch made her way inside and found herself face to face with the portrait of Severus Snape along the far wall. Hermione supposed Harry commissioned a frame be put here due to Snape spending so much time in this room in his youth and it gave him peace from the other portraits. The witch figured it was possible for Harry to know about it since he had seen Snape's memories.
Upon seeing the Potions Professor, then Headmaster when the portrait was commissioned Hermione suddenly stiffened knowing all too well that he had been watching her. His obsidian eyes just as intimidating as when he had been alive. The artist had taken good care to make a very realistic likeness of the dour wizard, clad in his trademark ebony robes and shoulder lengthy raven hair. His skin had been more pale than she remembered possibly due to him having killed Dumbledore and life under Voldemort's rule had been chaotic.
"Miss Granger." said Snape in his usual baritone drawl.
Hermione felt herself become slightly embarrassed and looked away from him. She recalled reading various things about him in the journals but it was something else entirely to know about him intimately via his own words and to see them matched up with the person whom she had known for much of her young life.
"Professor Snape." she said summoning her Gryffindor courage.
"Why are you here?" he asked.
"I-I don't really know." she replied. "I guess I was just curious."
"Curious to see the very room in which I spent my youth here at Hogwarts or curious to see the place where I frequently bedded young and unassuming witches?"
Hermione's cheeks reddened and again she tried to look away but couldn't seem to manage it.
"Y-You know that I've been reading your journals?" she asked.
Snape smirked.
"You'd be surprised about what I do know." he replied. "You wouldn't be here if you hadn't read them, seeing as no one else knows how to get in here aside from myself of course."
Hermione smirked as she looked at Snape. She read enough about him to find the dour man fascinating. She often wondered what she would have said to him had she the chance. Still despite his being a portrait it was strange to be talking to him.
"Professor." she started.
"No doubt you've already gotten a list of rapid fire questions." he said still amused.
"Well, it's just a few." she said.
"I'll bet." replied Snape. "What is it that you wish to ask me Granger, I'm pressed for time."
"Don't be silly sir you're a portrait." she said. "You'd think you'd jump at the chance for company."
Snape scoffed.
"You must not realize whom it is that you are speaking to." he said.
Hermione considered this.
"You may have a point." she said.
"Obviously." he replied. "Ask your questions then Granger and go away...even in death you manage to annoy me."
"Were things really that bad for you?" she asked.
"Does it matter?" he asked.
"I-I just need to know." said Hermione.
"Why Miss Granger so you can bore me with your fumbling attempts at pity?" he asked.
"I don't pity you sir." said Hermione. "I-I just wanted to know how someone with a life like yours found the strength to do what you did day after day knowing no one would ever know the extent of what you went through."
"I didn't think about it." replied Snape. "I simply did what was asked of me."
"It cannot be that simple." she said.
"Yet it is that simple." replied Snape. "Unlike you Gryffindors the world does not need to constantly be romanticized and narrowed down to irrelevant representations of morality."
Hermione shook her head. Even in death he hated Gryffindor. She couldn't really blame him thought. It was almost like why Professor McGonagall hated Slytherin.
"Well, I appreciate everything you've done for us." said the bushy haired witch.
"So I've heard." replied Snape. "Your appreciation is noted Granger now can you please leave me in peace?"
"Can I return if I want to talk?" she asked.
"No." replied Snape. "When you leave here this door will be locked and no longer of use...The last thing I need is a line of dunderheads on a pilgrimage paying tribute to me as if I was some great deity."
Hermione smirked.
"Get back to your tower girl." said Snape. "If you wish to keep the journals then do it...I have no use for them but I will not discuss the contents with you or anyone and should they fall into the hands of Potter..."
Hermione threw up her hands at the suggestion in his tone.
"I-I would never allow Harry or any one to have them." she said quickly.
Snape arched an eyebrow at her.
"I-I-I uh...well I have to go Professor it was nice talking to you." said Hermione.
She left him quickly before she became even more mortified by her embarrassment.
When it became apparent that she had gone, Snape stepped out from behind the wall. A makeshift portrait was the best he could come up with on such short notice. The dour wizard stretched still bristling from the knowledge of her knowing his thoughts and inner most secrets. Thankfully he had not written everything down in those cursed books. In truth with all the chaos he had forgotten about them much as he had his potions books.
The vampirian wizard made his way out of the castle still distracted by the lingering scent of jasmine that had come from the vibrant young witch. He could still hear the warm blood flowing through her veins and it took every ounce of self control not to pounce. Clearing his mind of the witch for now Snape turned his attention back to the business at hand. He took flight and made his way rather swiftly to Malfoy Manor. It had been three days and by now the venom would have stopped Lucius' heart.
Malfoy Manor, Wizarding World...
All had been eerily quiet when Snape made his way through the window of Lucius' bedroom. He had been curious as to why it had been left open with the certainty of Lucius' death on the horizon. As his boots touched down against the hard wood flooring below he caught the whiff of lilac and lavender. Before he could whirl around completely she stepped from the shadows throwing herself into his arms. Her soft warm body pressing against the coldness of his own. The sound of her blood rushing through her veins was like composed music in his keen ears. Her heart thundered in her chest as she pressed her soft red lips into his pale ones.
"Severus." she said nearly breathless.
Snape saw the glistening tears that streamed down her supple cheeks.
"Narcissa." he said in a soft tone.
For a moment it had been as if time had never passed and that she was his again but the pressing situation with Lucius made him come back to relaity.
"You're alive." said Narcissa.
"No." he replied separating himself from her.
He held her at a distance unable to trust himself to be too close to her.
"B-But how can this be?" she asked.
Snape stepped into the pale light of the moon and opened his mouth just so that she could see the sharp fangs amid his ivory teeth. The witch gasped in shock but not in horror as she looked upon him.
"You're a vampire?" she said still in shock.
"Obviously." he replied.
"W-What are you doing here?" asked Narcissa.
"I thought that would have been obvious." said Snape. "I've come for my brother."
Narcissa's eyes widened as she realized what this meant.
"Y-You've bitten him haven't you?" she asked. "Is that why his heart has stopped?"
Snape nodded.
"It was at his request." he said in his defense.
Narcissa looked to be deep in thought for a moment as she considered his words. Lucius chose to be bitten. He chose to potentially become a Vampire. Snape looked at her confused himself for a moment but he got a glimpse of an idea formulating in her keen mind.
"No." he said sharply.
"I haven't asked anything of you." she said.
"Narcissa, this is me your are talking to...I am well aware of your charms." he said.
"Severus, I want to go with you." she said. "I want to be as you are...as you have made Lucius."
"No." said Snape firmly.
"Severus." said Narcissa. "I refuse to sit here and wither away while the two of you cling to immortality."
"You have a son to consider." said Snape. "I only gave Lucius the gift because he was near death."
"So you will not bite me?" asked Narcissa. "You would deny me this gift?"
"No." he said again.
"Very well." said Narcissa. "I cannot change your mind."
Snape arched an eyebrow at this. This was the same woman who opted to get around her son doing the dark lord's bidding. There was no way she had given up on her plans.
"What are you up to?" he asked as she walked passed him and made her way toward the dresser.
He attempted to pry into her mind but found that she had put up her defenses. Clever witch. Possibly too clever, she only put up her walls to keep him from stopping her. Which meant she was definitely up to something.
"I'm rather curious Severus." she said suddenly. "When was the last time you've fed?"
Snape considered that it had been quite some time since he had sated his thirst. Still he didn't know what it was that she had been getting at. He had been so lost in his thoughts that he had not noticed her pull a letter opener from the dresser. He caught on to her plot only seconds before the cool metal of the object slashed through her skin from the pointed end. The scent of her fresh blood hit him in waves though it had only been a drop. The scent amplified by the rushing sound of her blood stream only intensified as his savage side took over.
He rushed over to Narcissa before he could blink and pressed her hard against the nearby wall. The witch found that she had been trapped between the wall and the hard lean form of the vampire as he leaned near her neck. A small bead of glistening crimson rolled down to her shoulder staining her pale flesh. Snape's obsidian eyes had become darker than an abyss with a tint of red. His fangs more pronounced as he leaned toward the source of the intoxicating scent.
Unable to control himself he sank his fangs into the flesh of lovely pale neck. A rush filled him as he took in her blood. Rapid images of their time together before she married Lucius and when he made the vow to protect Draco to appease her and Bellatrix. The sweet crimson flowed into his mouth and he continued to drink from her listening to her faint moans as he growled in response.
Her heart beat fast as he continued to drink listening to it's rapid rhythm. He could hear her blood coursing through each and every organ and vein streaming toward the source of his bite. She tasted sweet. Sweeter than anything he had ever experienced thus far. The memories kept coming rapid fire.
Snape had been so engrossed in the feeding that he had not noticed when Narcissa went limp in his grasp. He pulled back from her terrified that he had gone too far and drained the poor witch.
"Foolish witch." he said. "What have you done."
Narcissa did not respond hovering near death from lack of blood.
Without having any other choice Snape bit his wrist and maneuvered so that he could drip the blood into the witch's mouth. He had hoped to get enough venom into her to turn her otherwise she would surely die from lack of blood. Having no choice Snape gently laid Narcissa down in the bed next to Lucius' cold form. He now had to take them both with him back to Selsmire Keep.
As he looked at them he remained curious as to why Narcissa would commit such a brash action. She had never been vain before, the prospect of mortality had never been daunting to her. She was simply unable to imagine life without either one of them. He shook his head at her foolish sentiment.
"Foolish woman." he said again.
Snape turned his attention to Lucius. He levitated the frail wizard from the bed and into his grasp. Lucius had been cold alright, but Snape could hear the faint sound of venom rushing through his veins. The dour wizard could not help but smile as he made his way toward the window. Lucius had indeed survived the transformation even in his weakened state.
He wasn't too sure about Narcissa but he knew he'd have to come back for her. She was a foolish woman indeed had he not been able to stop himself he might have killed her. The dour wizard made his way to Selsmire Keep with Lucius Malfoy in tow. All the while he made plans to retrieve Narcissa. He wasn't sure how Draco was going to cope with both of his parents being stricken with vampirism. He could justify Lucius due to his illness but Narcissa was in good health when he attacked her. This whole thing was much more complicated than he imagined.
