TITLE: Blood and Potions - Section One: Of Snakes and Night Skies
ABBREVIATED TITLE: BaP:S1
Part: 1/? ("I'll... consider it" )
AUTHOR: Cardinal Syn/Jamie Carlson
RATING: PG-13 for Language and Adult Themes
SPOILERS: Misc. Harry Potter spoilers
DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter and all things HP belong to JK Rowling. Not me. The characters Lilium Beryl, Liam Crescent, and Nii Nah Maxwell belong to me.
NOTES: Dhampir is one of the many spellings for a creature that is half-vampire and half-human. Also, this is a "continuation" of my first Harry Potter Fanfiction, "Searching for Acceptance", (which wasn't very good in my eyes, but I'm trying harder here!) and contains the characters Liam and Nii Nah, introduced in S4A.
WARNINGS: Language and adult themes.
PAIRINGS: Hints at Ron/Hermione, Snape/OC (original character), and a one-sided Liam/Nii Nah later on
MAIN CHARACTERS (in order of most prominent in the story): OC (original character) and Severus Snape; Harry, Ron, Hermione, Draco Malfoy, Liam and Nii Nah Maxwell; Albus Dumbledore and the other teachers at Hogwarts School of Witchraft and Wizardry
FANFICTION.NET SUMMARY: Albus Dumbledore has taken it upon himself to hire a Defense Against Vampires specialist, who accepts with great hesitation - as she is a dhampir herself.
EXTENDED SUMMARY: Albus Dumbledore has decided that it is time for Hogwarts to have a fulltime Defense Against Vampires teacher, and has chosen a renowned vampire specialist. But this vampire specialist is a bit hesitant to take the offer as she, herself, is a Dhampir; half-vampire, half human. When she decides to turn down the position, something interesting happens that changes her mind, and makes her decide to stay....

Story Last Updated: September 15, 2002

Story Notes (added September 15, 2002): I have finally finished reading all 4 of the first Harry Potter books (and it will be a while til I can get my hands on Book Five, there are over 1000 holds on it at my local library and I can't afford to buy it when it's out =.( Nuts!). And so, after reading the events in Book Four, I have decided to revise the first six chapters of my story to coincide with these events. (Good thing I'm only halfway done with chapter seven at the point of revision!!!)

This chapter HAS NOT BEEN UPDATED - there was nothing that I needed to add.

r/r is appreciated. Flames will be used to burn Severus Snape hate-mail.

______________________________________________________________________________
Blood and Potions - Section One: Of Snakes and Night Skies
PART ONE -
"I'll... consider it."
______________________________________________________________________________

"With all due respect, Headmaster Dumbledore, I don't think it's a very good idea."

The voice was rich, female, and strong. It lacked any British accent, signifying her being raised in America. Probably the northwest.

"Oh, call me Albus. It isn't fair for me to call you Lilium, when you have to use such formalities," a kind old voice, deep, very accented, and very wise said. Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. "And I personally think it is a very good idea. With the rise in the vampiric population and the growing aggressiveness of such, I feel it is necessary to teach the students here at Hogwarts how to defend themselves against them."

Professor Severus Snape stood just outside the doorway to Albus' chambers, waiting for this private meeting to be over so he could discuss something with Dumbledore. He wasn't eavesdropping, but he certainly wasn't trying not to listen. If they wished to discuss such matters in private, they should do it with the door shut. He stood patiently, his arms crossed, holding his elbows, an unnoticed shadow in the doorway.

The woman Albus was talking to sat in a chair on the other side of Albus' desk, her hands dangling over the edges of the armrest. Her wavy, shoulder-length red-brown hair was allowed to fall forward over her shoulders as far as its length would allow. Violet eyes regarded the Headmaster seriously. Her name was Lilium Beryl. She was a Dhampir, and the world's most renowned vampire specialist.

"Don't you think it would be dangerous?" Lilium asked.

"To teach children how to protect themselves? How so?" Albus asked innocently. The woman frowned. Her lips were duo-toned, the upper lip painted black, the lower red. It was a bit punkish, but with her general style and features, she pulled it off well.

"You know what I mean Albus. As a Dhampir, I am a danger to myself and others. How can you ask me to teach a roomful of children? Granted, the students here are ranging from eleven to nineteen, but doesn't that worry you even more? That is the prize age variance for vampires," she remarked worriedly. Albus smiled gently, and Severus, still watching unnoticed, frowned.

"Be that as it may, you are only a Dhampir, child," he said. "And one of the most in-control one of your kind to date. You're also the only specialist regarding not only in normal vampires, but anything pertaining to vampires, including Lamiæ, which, as you know, is a subject many of the children here would like to learn about." Lilium waved a hand languidly.

"Yes, I heard about miss Liam. I am looking forward to meeting her before I leave. And her nekohito friend." She placed great emphasis on "before I leave", a further indicant of her intention of turning down the teaching position.

"You know of all the times when you'll be the biggest danger to the children - you could simply work your class schedule around that."

"The children will have a very irregular class schedule if I am to do that, Albus," Lilium remarked. "As it is, I have thought about it, and they would have a shorter class year than the rest of the students."

"Which they won't mind, I'm sure," Albus said with amusement. His face and voice lost their humor, and began to reflect the seriousness of his request. "Lilium, it is imperative that you take this job. I can't think of anyone else I would trust enough to work with these students on matters of such importance. You are the only one who knows as much as you do - and I think the only one who could teach it to these children, as it comes to you naturally."

Lilium stood, crossing her arms under her breasts. She was tall and slender, her skin pale, but nowhere near as pale as that of a full-blooded vampire. She was dressed in a plain black velvet skirt, a white peasant blouse, short black boots and a cloak. Her eyes had become as serious as Dumbledore's own.

"Precisely why I'm worried is because it 'comes to me naturally'. Even the most self-controlled of us can loose our tempers or our minds, and cause a lot of damage." Lilium stooped and picked up her bag from the floor. "I would rather not place these children in harm's way to teach them something they can learn themselves."

The woman turned and began to walk toward the door, her face reflecting her state of thought. Albus called one last thing after her.

"But remember, child - without having a good teacher," he began, emphasis on the word "good", "The only other way for these students to really learn... is to encounter vampires themselves. And we both know, even the smartest of students wouldn't survive a one-on-one with a powerful nosferatu."

Lilium raised one hand a little in show that she heard him, but continued on her way out, her eyes set on the floor as she considered everything she and the Headmaster had just discussed.

Professor Snape stepped aside as she walked past, but as he was about to enter, was stopped by the woman's voice behind him.

"It's not polite to eavesdrop."

When he turned to give a sarcastic and altogether nasty reply, he saw she was already further down the corridor. He noticed that her footsteps made no sound, and that she moved with inhuman grace. Vampiric in her movements, but as close to human as she could get in her features - she lacked the all-around vampiness of her kin. Her skin wasn't quite as pale as most would be, her eyes not quite as fathomless, from what Snape could see.

But perhaps her senses were sharper than he had thought. Even if Albus hadn't noticed Snape - which he was rather sure the old man did, as he seemed to notice everything that happened in Hogwarts - she had noticed him. She had known he was there the whole time. Interesting.

Professor Snape entered the room, shutting the door behind himself quietly. He walked over to Albus, who smiled at him.

"What do you think, Severus?" Albus asked.

"I am assuming you are speaking of your choice for the new Defense Against Vampires position," Professor Snape replied, his silky voice as languid and calm as ever.

"You assume correctly," Dumbledore replied with a smile. He leaned back in his chair, regarding Snape in silence, waiting for the Potions Master's opinion. Snape took a seat where the woman had been only moments before, considering.

"You have a point, naturally, that one with experience in the field and extensive knowledge should be chosen," he began. "But she was correct in speaking of the danger to Hogwarts students." Albus shook his head.

"Lilium Beryl is not as much of a threat as she believes herself to be," Dumbledore commented. "She is very much in control. And it would be just as dangerous as having a former Death Eater teaching potions," he added with an underlying tone, conveying his own feelings on the matter with as few words as needed. Snape frowned darkly, but didn't reply.

Snape knew that Dumbledore trusted him, and was amazed at that, even though he had no intention of returning to the "dark side". And because of that very thing, he had to consent to Albus' point on the matter of Lilium's danger to herself and to the school being minor.

"At any rate, it doesn't really matter what I think in this case, Albus," Snape drawled. "It is up to you and the woman herself whether or not she gets the position."

Albus nodded. "True. Now, what did you come to see me about?"

(_' ) ( '_' ) ( '_) ( ) (_' ) ( '_' ) (^_^) (^_~)

The last place Lilium had to visit was the dungeon, and the Potions class. Unfortunately, class was currently in session, but Albus had arranged with the Potions professor to allow her observe class for the last few minutes, and be introduced to a few students. All in hopes of convincing her to change her mind about turning down the job.

But at least she would finally get to meet Liam, and Harry Potter as well. Apparently, Liam and Potter, as well as their friends, had Potions class together.

Lilium stood at the Potions class door, took a deep breath, and resisted the urge to sneeze when the scents of varied and plentiful herbs and other, less pleasant Potions ingredients assaulted her sensitive nose. ~Damn it,~ she thought. ~That room reeks. The potions ingredients are bad enough... sweat, mildew, ugh. I will never be used to having a hypersensitive nose.~

Hesitantly, mainly due to her disgust with the scents contained in the dungeon, and partially because she had a bad feeling that the man she had walked past and snapped at a few days earlier was the teacher here - Professor Severus Snape, she believed his name was, and even THAT sounded spooky - as she hadn't seen him in any of the other classes.

~There's just something about a man all in black who stares at you that creeps you out and turns you on at the same time,~ she thought, and smirked. She knocked on the door and quickly allowed her curiosity replace the smile. The door was opened by a young man of about fourteen or fifteen with slicked-back blond hair and sharp eyes. Lilium could tell he was a Slytherin simply by the look on his face, let alone Slytherin House badge and his green-and-silver tie.

"What do you want? Class is in session," the boy said snottily. Lilium smiled slowly at the boy, and silently laughed at his blinking and sudden confusion. Even Dhampirs had that mesmerizing effect on others.

As she was about to respond to the boy, his teacher appeared behind him.

~I was right. He doesn't look too happy,~ Lilium thought to herself.

"Malfoy, go back to your seat." The boy did as his Head of House said, throwing an uncertain look back at Lilium. Now, Professor Snape addressed Lilium herself. "Come in and be quiet. Stand near the door until the end of class."

Lilium frowned at his snappish and bossy attitude. Tossing her hair back over her shoulder, she silently walked past him to lean against the wall by the door. She could feel his black eyes boring into her, and effectively ignored him.

The Potions professor returned to his cauldron, and addressed the class. "If I catch any of you doing anything but putting the finishing touches on your potions during the last few moments of class, I will take ten points off of your House. Ignore our... guest," he said, looking out of the corner of his eye at Lilium, who, although seething from his general attitude toward her, smiled back pleasantly, "Until class is over. Now, the last ingredient for a Burn Healing potion is Foxtail - remember, this is not to be ingested. Most of the ingredients are poisonous - and if you're not smart enough to be aware of that, you are indeed in trouble."

Lilium noticed his piercing black eyes focus on a young boy with brown hair. ~Neville Longbottom, I believe,~ she thought to herself. ~Professor McGonagall introduced me to him...~

The boy knew he was being referred to and reddened trying to slide under his desk in embarrassment. The Slytherin children snickered, and she noticed a small group of children sitting around Neville throw dirty looks at Professor Snape.

One was a young Gryffindor girl with wild brown hair and a very studious air about her. Another was a Gryffindor boy with flaming red hair. A third was the blue-haired cat-girl the school had recently taken on, meaning that the black-haired, green-eyed girl next to her was Liam Crescent, the Lamia, and the only Slytherin not laughing. And the fifth boy, who had messy dark hair and kind eyes, the hints of a zigzagging scar visible through his bangs. Another Gryffindor, and undoubtedly Harry Potter himself. Lilium tilted her head and looked at the group speculatively.

~An odd bunch of friends,~ she thought. ~I like those five already, and I liked Neville when I met him. He's a sweety.~

As the class wound down, Snape looked over at Lilium briefly.

"Now. You may have heard about the new class that will be added to next year's lesson plan - Defense Against Vampires," the Professor drawled, walking slowly over toward the woman standing near the door, his hands on his hips. "This woman is Headmaster Dumbledore's lead candidate for the position as teacher for that class." He gestured for her to stand before the rows of students. "Introduce yourself."

Lilium threw him a look from behind drooping eyelashes, and moved to the center of the room group of students, basically where the Gryffindor(-plus-one-Slytherin) group sat. Liam looked at her with keen interest, and the wild-haired girl with equal intensity. Some of the older boys elbowed each other and began to whisper. Amused inwardly, but not showing it in her facial expression, Lilium crossed her arms under her breasts, her robes whispering.

The robes she had been asked to wear while on Hogwarts grounds were like adult versions of the robes the children wore - basically, teacher's robes. She wore a plain black shirt under the robes, and a floor-length gray skirt. She looked ethereal in the dim lighting, and she knew that with only a change in expression she could look just as frightening as Professor Snape. But for now, she took the stern-but-friendly approach used by Albus Dumbledore himself.

"Hush, please," She said. The whip crack tone of her voice, barely softened by the almost whispery quality it had, brought them in line. The students looked at her in expectance. "My name is Lilium Beryl. I am, as Professor Snape said, first in line for the position of Defense Against Vampires. You are the only class I have the opportunity to greet, and for the most part," and here she smiled at the Gryffindor(-plus-one-Slytherin) group before her, "I am pleased with the students at this school.

"I have had the pleasure of meeting a few of you, Neville Longbottom being one of them, up close, and was introduced properly before I came here today." Neville smiled at her nervously, and she smiled back warmly. "So far, beside a few rather startling exceptions..." Her eyes went first to the boy referred to by Snape as Malfoy, and then to the Potion's professor himself, but only briefly, as she swept her eyes among the Slytherin quarters of the class, "Most of this school has been very welcoming and pleasant to me. But I am still planning on turning down the position."

The brown-haired girl raised her hand, looking puzzled. Lilium nodded.

"If you enjoy the school and the students, why won't you take the position?" she asked.

Lilium tilted her head to the side. ~I think her name is Hermione. Yes that's it.~ "Hermione, am I correct?" The girl nodded, looking extremely pleased with Lilium knowing her name. "Hermione, I have a few reasons for not wishing to accept the position as Defense Against Vampires teacher. For one, I myself am a Dhampir, which would complicate things a little. And for another, I believe that there are other equally good teachers out there, who would want the job."

"If you don't mind my saying so," a young Slytherin piped up, "Aren't Dhampirs half-vampire themselves? Is that what you mean by it being complicated? You don't want us knowing how to kill you and your own kind?"

Lilium's eyes narrowed in annoyance. "Actually, as far as I am concerned, if a vampire or even Dhampir threatens you, I am all for your defending yourself. Even if it means killing the creature in question. But one of the things you will need to learn is discerning which is which, and how to tell if who or what you are dealing with is really a threat."

"Aren't all vampires a threat?" Malfoy asked. His eyes glittered at her, and she knew he was trying to fluster her.

"Not really. Some are actually very peaceful. My mother was one of the fairly peaceful ones," she said, smiling at the boy. "But my step-father wasn't - I was raised with a very violent vampire step-father, and thus saw both the good and bad of vampiric kind. Which is another reason why Albus chose me. I know about vampires from every point of the good-bad spectrum."

Liam Crescent raised her hand slowly. Lilium looked to her now, her violet eyes softer than they had been when they had been trained on Malfoy.

"Madame, my name is Liam Crescent, which I believe you know. This past year, I have been learning at Hogwarts with my friend Nii Nah, who, as you can see," the green eyes flicked bemusedly to the blue-haired cat-girl, whose feet were kicking under the desk, her cat-ears twitching in rhythm with them, "Is definitely not human. And I myself am a Lamia. I heard that you have extensive knowledge about all things vampiric, including Lamiæ, Dhampirs, and even Succubæ."

The Succubæ comment interested most of the males in the room. Lilium couldn't help but laugh softly.

"Yes, including every vampiric form of demon, ghouls and zombies. As well as Incubi."

"Then won't you be the best choice, as none of the other specialists bother to step outside the field of only vampires, and never bother to look at the other vampiric creatures out there?" Liam finished, her eyes burning with her own hunger for knowledge. Lilium realized that she wanted Lilium to take this job because she would learn the most from her.

Lilium looked away, now frustrated. ~How can I turn this position down if everyone is throwing reasons why I should take it at me?~ she thought in annoyance.

"Because she's probably afraid, Liam." Lilium stiffened. It was that Malfoy boy again. She slowly turned her head to look at him, her eyes icy. She also noted the way Malfoy used Liam's first name, when she had only caught him using people's last names before. She catalogued that information away for later.

"Draco, be quiet," Liam said. "You're being rude."

"It's quite alright," Lilium said sweetly, walking over to where Draco Malfoy was seated. Professor Snape was only a few feet away from Malfoy's desk, and watched her movements intently. "He's right. Naturally, I am afraid. I fear for the safety of the students and teachers in this school to have a Dhampir amongst them. One thing you will learn is that half-breeds carry all the worst and best traits of both sides of the family," she said, turning to the students, speaking loudly and casually.

"The good traits are the keen senses - hearing, smell, touch, taste, etcetera. But the bad traits include the usual bloodlust and such. Even the most self-controlled of us are susceptible to it." She was looking at Draco again, a sweet smile on her face. She saw fear briefly flash in his eyes, and felt a tiny pang of satisfaction. She didn't normally enjoy frightening people - just when they deserved it.

Professor Snape noticed this, and she felt his eyes on her again. She flicked her fingers toward the Head of Slytherin House, and sensed his annoyance at that dismissive gesture. She knew he was the only one who caught it, but could tell he was angry about it anyway.

She then turned her attention back to Liam and Hermione. "Are you still interested in having a Dhampir as a teacher?" They both nodded, not to be discouraged by her show for the raucous Slytherins. "And the rest of you?"

She was amazed to see more than three quarters of the class nod eagerly. Now this flustered her. Only a few Slytherins didn't like the idea of her being their teacher - Malfoy was obviously one of them. She shook her head slowly.

"Well?" a happy voice piped. She looked at Nii Nah Maxwell. "Are you going to take the job?" she asked, purring.

Still shaking her head with disbelief, walking toward the door and gesturing to Snape that he had his class back, she replied, "I'll... consider it."