Three very distinctly dressed teenagers knocked quickly on the warehouse door. One was clothed as if she had only just stepped out of the Middle Ages where she had been a member of a rich and noble family. The second, another female, was scantily clad and precariously dressed for someone so young. The only male sported a bandana, leather jacket, and horribly worn jeans. The door opened and the motley group entered.
Professor Severus Snape watched this from the shadows across the street, all the while running through his mind exactly what he would say to each of them if given half the chance.
Of course, that was a big "if", Snape realized quite suddenly and quite bitterly. They would most likely have killed him first.
Even after serving Voldemort, and then serving as a spy for Dumbledore, of all the detestable creatures he had encountered, vampires were his least favourite.
And now he had to go into one of their clubs.
As he started to cross towards it, he wondered absently if he would be getting a pay raise for this. After all, it had to do with Hogwarts itself and not, as he had previously thought, the Order.
The boy at the door raised a questioning eyebrow, but let him in nevertheless. Snape was certain he heard him mumble "It's your funeral." when he passed, but chose to ignore it.
The music in here was deafening, yet at the moment this was his last concern. The professor scanned the wildly dancing crowd, shook his head to try and clear it, and mused aloud to no one in particular, "And just how am I supposed to find her?"
"Find who?" inquired a voice from behind him and he spun to face this person.
He was more that a little disoriented as he stared at the petite girl. His words hadn't even reached his own ears, how on earth could she have heard?
"Collect yourself, human. I heard because I need no words to speak. Now, who is it you seek?"
Snape narrowed his eyes, prepared a snide reply, then thought better of it. "Someone by the name of Melissa Danier, I was told she may be here."
The girl's eyes flicked to his for a moment and he was shocked to see such an intense emerald green, before she, too, scanned the crowd. "No one by that name here."
She turned away, then paused and looked back at him over her shoulder. "You'd do well to leave. Immediately."
A strongly compelling desire to do just that hit him as she spoke these words, and he glanced around once again. He couldn't help but think that it this Melissa was all the Headmaster claimed she was, she wouldn't be in a lowly place such as this.
When his eyes finally made their way back to where the girl had stood, she had disappeared. He sighed, pushed his way through the throng of people, and returned to the entrance.
The boy seemed shocked to see him, and made no move to open the door. Snape sent him a glare usually reserved for Gryffindors in Potions class but the kid met his stare unflinchingly.
Coming to the end of his already short temper, Snape started forwards, hand reaching for his wand, but the door swung open before he had a chance to do anything.
The boy jumped and Snape skidded to a halt. He was positive no one had touched the door, yet was too tired and frustrated to care. He stalked out of it and only barely heard the boy let out a small cry of horror as he left.
Unfortunately, Snape's night had just gone from bad to worse as he rounded the corner and came face to face with four teenagers.
Not just teenagers . . . vampires, he thought wildly, as he readied his wand.
"The guy thinks he's Harry Potter!" scoffed one of the four, and the others laughed appreciatively.
The Potions Master scowled and briskly turned on his heel only to find his way blocked. His mind raced, he'd been foolish enough already with his wand, but to use it? Vampires were no better than Muggles when it came to the Ministry and to preform even a basic spell in front of them was inviting trouble.
Before he had a chance to consider his options, Snape felt four pairs of hands come down with monumental force and pull him towards them. His head was roughly tilted back and his throat exposed when a cry went up from one of his assailants.
As the others turned viciously to find the cause of the vampire's pain, Snape fought out of the grip of all but one. Dimly, he heard two more cries join the first.
However, the vampire still holding him moved in for the kill. He snarled venomously in Snape's ear, "Be sure to struggle, it makes it hurt more."
A voice rang out sharply from the distance, "That is enough!"
The vampire's eyes filled with fear and he released his prey. Snape quickly stepped back and searched for the source of the voice.
It was the girl from the club and her eyes, blazing red, were fixed on the vampire, who stood stock still.
For a moment, neither moved and the professor took this time to survey the scene. Three piles of smoking ashes lay on the street, his attacker was cowering under the gaze of the short, auburn-haired barely-out-of-childhood girl, who looked absolutely terrifying. The air around her seemed to be crackling with white-blue electricity. The vampire's voice broke the silence.
"Please . . . " he whimpered, then said nothing more.
"Please what?" she spat. "Let you live? I hardly find that appropriate."
"It's just a human."
"I don't care if it's an earthworm! If I have forbidden its death, you will not touch it!"
Snape blinked. "You forbade them from killing me?"
"Get out of my sight."
Just as Snape was about to ask if she meant him, the vampire climbed to his feet and fled into the night.
There was an awkward silence as they stood there. Finally, Snape turned to the girl. "I suppose I should introduce myself. My name is -- "
"I know who you are. And you know who I am, if you would just think about it for a minute."
Realization washed over him, as well as a wave of relief. "Melissa Danier, of course."