"Well, I can safely say I haven't cared for an injured vampire before." Poppy said, her lips pressed into a thin line. Does she disapprove of me, or does she just hate her? What if she hates her, would she treat her anyhow differently? Would she even have her die?
He closed his eyes. You cannot think about such things.
"How is she doing?" He asked softly.
"I think…" Poppy looked straight into his eyes and whispered: "If something doesn't happen soon, Severus, I'm afraid she's not going to make it."
"What–" his throat became suddenly dry "what can we do?"
"Hope." Said Poppy softly, got up from the side of the bed where she was sitting, and was now laying out potions with different labels.
"Do potions even work on vampires?" He asked. Her hand froze in the air.
"I don't know." She said softly. "You decide what to do with her, Headmaster. I'll leave you the potions here for your perusal."
As Poppy walked out of the Hogwarts guest room, he began pacing frantically to and fro.
"How is she doing, Severus?" Albus appeared on one of the portraits. His face was grave and concerned.
"She's dying, Albus!" The younger Headmaster cried, panic and pain clearly apparent in his voice. It was moments like these when he lost his mask, when the true Severus Snape appeared. "What should I do?! Tell me, tell me now Albus!"
"Blood…" Came a slightly audible whisper from the bed. Wheeling around, he knelt by the side of the bed.
"What blood?" He whispered. But he already knew. He just needed a confirmation. Human blood.
"Animal blood… You fool…" She whispered and gave him a weak smile.
"I'll have some fetched from the kitchen right away."
"Make sure it's raw." She whispered, and her head fell back into the pillow. As soon as she had a sip of the scarlet red liquid, her cheeks got a bit rosier and – he didn't know why – he immediately thought that she would get better.
"Thank you, Alyssa." He said softly. "If you hadn't come here tonight, well, I suppose I'd have my hands full of lycanthropic children at best." He tried to put on a nonchalant smirk, to create an impression that he didn't care at all. She half opened one eye and gave a soft smirk.
"Don't mention it." She whispered and tried to smile. Her face conveyed an expression of pain instead.
"God's sake… They can't make these beds large enough for seven feet tall people…" Alyssa was grumbling and yawned as she stretched her arms and legs in the too short bed.
"Ahh, the Sleeping Beauty has risen." Came a sarcasstic smirk and a poisonous comment.
"Shut up…" Alyssa murmured and rubbed her eyes sleepily. "What would Hogwarts be without its castle arsehole." She smirked, winked and watched his reaction.
"Aren't you too old to use such words?" Severus smiled, and folded his arms. He was clearly amused by the fact that he had just touched her sore point.
"I acknowledge I have earned such a title." He murmured in a reconciliatory manner. "Especially from you."
"Well, well, well, look who's come round at last." Alyssa smirked and poked him with her finger. "Finally understand the benefits of having your own pet vampire?"
"How did you know he was going to be here?"
"I met with some fellas." Alyssa pulled a face. "And they said you were chosen a Headmaster. And that your lot's gonna be here, and they talked especially about the– the wolf one. They were all disgusted that even your master would associate with such scum as that one."
"The bites…" He softly touched a wound on her arm. "They don't do anything to you?"
She shook her head: "No. A vampire cannot become a werewolf. Just as a werewolf cannot become a vampire."
"Interesting." He mused. "I had some potions here ready for you, but I didn't know if I could administer them."
"I haven't really tried healing potions before," Alyssa propped herself up on the bed, crossing her long white legs, "but I guess they would have no effect."
"Binky." Severus said nonchalantly, and an elf appeared, dressed in a purple rug and bowing before the Headmaster. "You will be taking care of this– madam here. See that she has everything she needs."
Even though she was pretending not to be listening, Alyssa peeped at the little elf, whose skin immediately got paler.
"T-This madam here, Headmaster?" Binky squealed, and began tugging at the hem of her rug nervously.
"Yes, this madam here." Severus growled dangerously.
"Am I really getting my own house-elf?" Alyssa's right brow curved upwards in amazement. "And can I really ask her anything?"
He stopped in his tracks, the cogs in his brain whirling at full speed. He hesitated. Then he answered: "Anything."
"Fashion magazines." Commanded Alyssa without missing a beat, and the elf, after letting out a bated breath, disappeared, just to reappear again with a neat stack of Muggle fashion magazines. Alyssa picked up the first one on top and immediately immersed herself in it.
"I'll check on you later. Don't leave this room." Severus said, turning slowly around and walking towards the door of the dimly lit chamber.
"Uhu." Answered the cover of Vogue from the bed.
"Is that really what you do all day?" Came a question from the doorway. Alyssa lowered the magazine. There stood the Potions Master, and having tossed his black overcoat aside, he rolled up his sleeves to check on her wounds again.
"Mostly. Or I'm with Teddums." Alyssa yawned and with a slight wince, she let the wizard examine her bare shoulder and arm.
"Is that your boyfriend?" Severus' black eyes shot up to meet hers. She smirked and hissed: "And why is that your concern, human?"
"Turn around." He ordered, and unwrapped her upper body as she was laying on her stomach to examine her back. Her body was muscular and fleshy, not an ounce of body fat to be seen. Her skin was silky and delicate, and although she was as cold as a stone, a warm feeling somehow erupted inside him as he gently brushed his fingers across her back.
"How is it that you have no blood, yet still manage to be alive?" He wondered aloud. "Does it mean you have no heart?"
"Some people would say that about me – ouch!" She winced as he dabbed the fresh, exposed flesh with a white cloth dipped in a disinfectant.
"I'll let Binky do the rest." He murmured, and, after conjuring a divider separating the bed from the small armchair and desk, he seated himself comfortably in it.
"Can't you stand a look at a woman's beautiful naked body?" Came Alyssa's voice from behind the divider, accompanied by a barely audible hiss as the elf was cleaning more of her wounds.
"You're not a woman, you're a vampire." He reminded her calmly.
"Oh, I get it now, you're a backgammon player?" Alyssa chuckled.
"NO." He barked, and the elf squeaked in alarm.
"It's completely allright, you know, in this period of time, unlike when I was younger…"
"How old are you actually?" He asked.
"Believe me, you don't want to know that." Alyssa sighed.
"There's a chance I'll say you don't look it at all." Severus suggested, chuckling good naturedly, his eyes sparkling.
"Two hundred ninety five."
"Pardon me?" He gasped, not really expecting a number beyond a hundred.
"Two nine five, Pumpkin." Alyssa emerged from behind the divider dressed in a pink shiny bathrobe, her young, white and slender body countering her words in every aspect. She patted Severus on his cheek before he could prevent it, and bending down as if to kiss him, she whispered: "That's almost a telephone number."
She giggled and then seated herself in another armchair across the small coffee table and crossing her long legs, she took a curious look at him.
"I'll have some tea, Binky, please." Severus said to no one, although he was sure the elf could hear him. "Would you like some too?" He turned to Alyssa.
"No, thanks." She waved her hand dismissively.
"Vampires can't eat human food?" He asked.
"We can if we want to," Alyssa shrugged her shoulders, "but it won't feed us anyway. Personally, I don't see the need for it." Then she hesitated slightly, before calling: "I'll have the usual."
"I get it now, you have to drink blood because you don't have any." Severus said abruptly.
"Good grief, did it take you all this time to figure that?" She was teasing him jovially.
"How does it taste?" He ventured a question.
"Have you ever bitten your own tongue while chewing?" She asked, her voice becoming slightly bored again.
"I'd like to discuss some matters with you, Alyssa." He said matter-of-factly and leaned forwards to rest with his elbows on his knees..
"Go on." She waved her hand.
"Do you really – truly – not drink human blood?" Severus asked carefully
"I really and truly don't." She answered, slightly irritated.
"Why?" His gentle, silky voice strung a delicious note which would make the fainter minded women out there go weak in their knees.
"I have my reasons." She said dismissively.
"What reasons?" He growled.
"Personal reasons." The irritation in her voice became even more palpable. Eyeing him wryly, the female vampire stretched her long legs in the pink slippers on the red velvet ottoman. "Your point?"
"If you don't want to disclose them to me, how do I know if I should trust you?" He said.
"You don't." She smirked. "That's the gamble."
"You aren't helping me much here, Alyssa." Severus rubbed at the root of his nose tiredly.
"Why are you thinking so hard about trusting me, Severus?" She asked him in earnest.
"Because I have a castle full of children, Alyssa." He answered gravely.
"Yeah, like I would suddenly bolt out of here and began feasting on their blood." She said sarcasstically. "Besides, if you really want to think this through, I don't even know the passwords to the common rooms to begin with."
He shot up straight: "How do you know there are common rooms?"
"How would I not know?" Alyssa moaned, stretching out her hands in a desperate gesture, "I studied here for seven years, God's sake!"
His jaw dropped: "You were a Hogwarts student?! When?"
Alyssa rolled her eyes: "I distinctly remember I've just told you how old I was."
Ashamed of being caught off guard, he scheduled his face back into an emotionless mask and murmured: "So you are a witch? Why didn't you tell me sooner, Alyssa?"
"Because I'm not a witch anymore." The vampire said, and for the first time, Severus noticed that her expression became dejected.
"Why are you not a witch, Alyssa?" He said, trying to sound gentle and nice, and hesitatingly put his warm calloused hand on top of her slender cold one.
"My wand is silent. Not responding to me anymore. I guess when you become a vampire, it doesn't want to serve you anymore." She whispered, her voice cracking up with pain.
"But why?" He said very gently, still rubbing her hand. "Werewolves can be wizards even when–" Noticing the killing glance she gave him, he quickly remembered the circumstances and left his sentence unfinished.
"Which house were you in?" He asked softly.
"The one in the tower." Alyssa's forehead wrinkled as she was thinking hard.
"Gryffindor?" Severus snapped.
"What colours does Gryffindor have?" She asked.
"Red and gold."
"No, that's not it. Ours had blue and gold."
"Ravenclaw then." He winked at her. Ravenclaw was much better than Gryffindor.
"Do Gryffindor and the – snake house – still hold the same rivalry as they used to in my time?" She asked, a smile playing on her lips.
The snake house…!
"In fact, I used to be the Head of Slytherin for many years." He gave her a warm smile, still holding her hand.
"Really? Yes, Slytherin, that's it, I remember now." Alyssa gave a chuckle. "What's the fourth one? With the common room by the kitchens?"
"Hufflepuff."
"Oh yes, the odd named one." Alyssa gave a soft laugh and her sharp teeth shone briefly in the candlelight.
"Were you glad to be a Ravenclaw?" He asked her, his voice being soothing and warm.
"Mostly, yes." She nodded. "There was a couple of real weirdos in our house, and there was a couple of real bookeaters, I was never anywhere near any of these extremes, but I've always had this knack for being different, going my own way, and being resourceful sometimes, you know?" She smiled at him.
"I can imagine that," he smiled back at her.
"What makes you proud to be Slytherin?"
"The ambition, usually. I tend to be very focused and unwavering if there is something I want." He said kindly. "And maybe a bit of cunning comes useful sometimes." He grinned at her and she squeezed his hand gently with a smile.
"Why did you come here, Alyssa?" He asked softly. There was no accussation, no contempt, no malice in that question. It was simply an inquisitive wonder. "A couple of months ago, you told me that you would come only if I begged you to."
"I believe I might be to blame in this aspect." Came another voice from behind them.
"Fuck sake, Albus!" Severus spat angrily, and let go of Alyssa's hand immediately.
"Hello Alyssa, dear." The previous Headmaster smiled from the canvas. "It's lovely to see you, as usual."
"I see they got your good side, Albus." Alyssa said icily. Obviously, she didn't like having been disturbed from the conversation.
"Forgive me, Severus." Dumbledore said, "I've sent Alyssa a letter before I died, asking her to come help you should you need it. She didn't want to at first, but then she agreed."
"Is this why you're really here, Alyssa?" Snape snapped at her. "A pity visit?"
"Don't be so dramatic." She waved her hand dismissively. "As far as I remember, I got you out of a tight spot."
"Don't trouble yourself." He spat, getting up on his feet, and walking briskly to the door. "Good night."
"Good morning, you mean." Alyssa smirked at him, sipping from her goblet of blood which had appeared there an hour or so before.
"Whatever." He said and closed the door shut behind him.
"Did I get in the middle of something here?" Albus asked, visibly confused.
"I'll give you some good advice, ol' man." Alyssa said, still smirking, "next time you feel the need to join our conversation–"
"Yes?" Dumbledore nodded in anticipation.
"–get over it and bugger off." Alyssa recommended wryly, sipping at her blood graciously as if it were a glass of Port.
"You were never the one to hold back your emotions, my dear." Dumbledore smiled at her and disappeared from the canvas.