Disclaimer: I own only the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling.

Authors Note: Well, here's the next chapter. Read and review!

APOLOGIES: I'm not familiar with American cities, roads, etc. so please don't take offence at anything you read here.

-Chapter Ten-

The next time Severus opened his eyes, the sun was on its way up and shining right into his face. Harry was snuggled up in his arms and was sleeping peacefully. He smiled at his mate and hugged him even closer.

After a few minutes of trying to go back to sleep and not succeeding because of that blasted sun, the vampire decided to do something creative with his time instead of getting bored to death, and attacked the Slayers earlobe.

The Gryffindor moaned and turned to his back. At once Severus attacked the others delicate neck and sucked. "You really are insatiable." Harry's hands weaved into the silky hair of his lover then slid out and started to trace patterns on the pale back.

 "Correction, beloved, I'm a vampire."

 "Yeah, a horny one." He received a bite for that one and retailed with suddenly pushing the vampire off and trying to get out of bed.

Severus growled and the hunt was on.

It was a game they often played. Since vampires and werewolves were closely related, vampires had some wolf-like qualities. Like any normal hunter they loved the chase, but it was the prize that was sweetest. If Severus managed to catch Harry – something that he always did – he had the rights to do whatever he wanted with him. That usually involved another great shagging-section plus something embarrassing like having to wear an old fashioned maids outfit for a whole day. The Potion Master really had a sadistic side.

Harry had no idea where his mate had disappeared off to, not even his Slayer senses helped him to discover from which side the vampire would attack. Lately Severus had become much better at avoiding his fine tuned senses, and the Gryffindor wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

He jumped when two long arms wrapped around his waist, then leaned back the warm embrace.

 "It seems that I win again Mr Potter." Severus whispered by his ear then proceeded to nibble at it. Harry only moaned and didn't protest as he was led towards the bed.

Before much could be done, there was a terrible knocking on the door. When it didn't stop after a couple of minutes both Slayer and vampire growled in annoyance.

 "What?!" Harry yelled glaring at the door.

 "Rise and shine, sleeping beauties!" came Draco's unnaturally cheerful voice from the other side. "Time to tell the rest of your story!"

 "It's six in the morning, you idiot!" the Gryffindor yelled back. "Go play on the highway!"

 "As fun as that sounds, Potter, I'm afraid I'll have to decline the offer."

 "It wasn't an offer, it was an order."

 "Same thing." Pause. "So, when can we expect the two of you downstairs? The rest of the house has already been awake for hours."

 "Insufferable, obnoxious, annoying pests the whole lot of them." Severus growled.

Harry shook his head. "We'll be down when we're awake."

 "If you're not awake now, how can you talk to me?"

 "… sleep-talk!"

 "That was lame."

 "Shut up Sev."

 "That means you gonna be down in, what, ten minutes?"

 "Mr Malfoy, if you don't stop pestering us this early in the morning, a certain redheaded Mrs Malfoy is going to become a widow within the next ten seconds."

 "We expect you within the next half hour, or we'll come up and drag you down."

 "Try it and you're dead!"

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Due to the unfortunate fact that Draco's threat wasn't just a bluff, and that Sirius – paired with the Weasley twins – could, and would, do something terribly embarrassing to them if they didn't hurry up, Harry and Severus appeared in the living room about twenty minutes later.

The blonde healer hadn't been kidding around when he said that the rest of the house already was awake. The kids had finished ripping open their gifts and were running around the house like hyperactive rabbits. The grown-ups on the other hand, were drinking tea and doing some small talk until the Slayer and the vampire showed up.

 "Ah, good morning Severus! Harry!" the old Headmaster looked up from a lollypop.

Severus sneered and Harry growled.

 "Arrr, jolly mornin' me hearties!" Sirius came up behind them and pushed them further into the room. He was wearing a black eye-patch and a plastic sword was hanging off his hip.

The Potion Master massaged the bridge of his nose while the Boy Who Lived just glared.

 "Now leave the poor men alone for a minute." Hermione walked into the room and handed Harry a strong coffee. Then she pushed both of them into the sofa and seated herself beside Ron. The rest of the rooms occupants were watching the two of them excitedly. The bushy-haired woman locked at the clock. "A minute is over, start talking!"

 "I'm blaming all this on you Potter."

 "I'm blaming it on Draco and his insufferable curiosity."

 "Good idea." The aforementioned Malfoy didn't look too happy. Severus and Harry were well known for their little revenge addiction.

The vampire sighed and started talking.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Severus turned the radio in the car on. There had to be something better out there than listening to Potters eternal babbling!

The brat himself, was currently looking for something, though how he was supposed to spot the thing he was looking for in the middle of nowhere was beyond him.

 "Potter, I still cannot see why you wouldn't let me drive."

 "You want the cops to pull us over before we even get out of the state?" the Annoying Pest Who Lived glared at him. "Remind me to teach you how to drive during this trip."

 "My driving skills are quite fine."

 "Yeah, if you've got a death wish."

 "You're walking on thin ice, Slayer."

 "You can't kill me. I'm a… fountain of blood to put it poetically."

 "There are other way's to kill someone than drinking their blood."

 "You'd know a lot about that Death Eater." Potter mumbled. However, before Severus could kill the obnoxious nuthead, they passed a sign and the Gryffindor seemed a lot calmer for some reason.

 "What are you so happy about?"

 "We just got out of New York state and into New Jersey. As far as the Order knows there aren't any Snakes here. Most of the magical folks in the state are neutrals; neither Dark nor Light."

 "Is that something to be insanely happy about?"

 "If you own enough cash, you own the folks around here. We'll be quite safe." Potter looked over at him and Severus raised a sarcastic eyebrow. "What, you don't believe me?"

 "No." The vampire deadpanned. "Never have and never will. I'd be more likely to trust a Hufflepuff."

 "Hufflepuffs aren't that bad. At least they're just more trusting than paranoid Slytherins."

 "I am not paranoid, Mr Potter, just concerned about my welfare. Unlike certain Gryffindorks." The Potion Master glared at his companion.

Potter rolled his eyes. "That was low, Snape, even for you. Loosing your touch? And if it hadn't been for this Gryffindor, you still would have been chained to a wall in the Dark Lords dungeons."

Severus sneered. It was a sore subject that one. "Well, excuse me Mr Hero-of-the-World. But I wasn't the one who brought the Dark Lord back in the first place." To his surprise Potter winced and concentrated on the driving.

Not another word was said between them until they reached a shabby looking motel and stopped for the night. Potter secured the car for thieves and they headed into the… in no other words: disgusting building. At the reception a blonde girl was sitting chewing an enormous gum and with way too much makeup painted on her face. She also had a skull tattooed on her bare right shoulder. 

She looked up when they came in, twinning the gum around her finger, and giggled. "Yes, may I help you?" obviously she was trying to either seduce them – Severus shuddered a the thought – or trying to scare them away from the motel, not that he wasn't scared of the place already. It was down right terrible!

 "A room with two beds." Potter ordered.

 "For how long?"

 "One night."

 "Five dollars." She handed the younger man a key. "Room seven. Don't mind the couple in room five, they've always been a bit loud."

The Slayer took the key and stomped out again. Severus followed him to their assigned room and once inside sneered at the dirty room. Potter on the other hand, kept walking to and fro and mumbling furiously to himself.

 "For heavens sake, stop that! You're making me dizzy!" the younger man stopped, sighed and started walking again. The vampire finally lost his patience, swung the protesting Gryffindor over his shoulder and dumped him in a chair. "Now, what the hell are you mumbling about?"

 "You saw her tattoo?" Severus nodded. "Well, it's the mark of a infamous organisation of thieves, murderers, drug dealers, you name it. They've gangs and spies all over the united states, and I've had a few run-ins with them. Lets just say that they're not exactly happy that I'm alive."

 "Life with you is never boring, is it Potter?" the former Slytherin Head of House looked out the window. "Would you look at that, our little blonde friend is already on her way." Potter stepped up to him and they watched as the girl hurried over the parking lot and into a house at the other side.

 "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Severus asked the shorter man as he drew out his wand and pointed it at the girl who was now returning.

 "I'm doing something about her."

Severus grabbed the wand. "No, you're not. You can be sure that those wards put over whatever states by whomever, can pick up on anyone using magic. We don't need any more attention than we already have."

 "Say that to the bed." The Slayer growled. Both of them turned towards the other side of the room, and sure enough there was only one double bed. As in one bed.

 "I thought you told the little urchin out there to give us a room with two beds!"

 "I did!" there was a pause. "This room must be filled with surveillance equipment or something. We're sitting ducks!"

 "Lets get out of here."

 "Best thing you've said in a long time Snape." Potter headed towards the door.

Severus was about to follow him when his sharp hearing picked up the sound of several guns being loaded. Through the thin white curtains he could see the shape of at least a dozen people with rifles and other Muggle machinery. He looked to Potter again. The man had no idea of what waited them outside.

 "Potter," he hissed. "Get down."

 "What?" the younger man turned.

 "Get down." Severus whispered again gesturing.

 "What are you talking about?"

 "Get-" he didn't get further. It all happened in slow motion. The sharp sound from outside, the window breaking into pieces, and then something burning in his arm. He wasn't sure if he screamed in surprise or pain, and neither did he remember how the hell he had ended up on the floor.

 "Severus!" Potter was lying on the floor further away luckily not hit by anything. "Yo, vampy! Still breathing?"

 "What does it look like?"

 "Yep, you're still there. Greasy idiot. Are you strong enough to move?"

 "I think so." He clutched at the wound. "It feels like a flesh wound."

 "You were lucky." The Slayer looked around the room. "Damn, no windows! And I bet no back door either. Trapped like idiots."

 "No comment." Severus looked around himself. As the younger man had pointed out there were no windows except the one where he had been standing. "Any bright ideas Potter?"

 "Why are you asking me?"

 "You seem to have a knack for getting out of situations like these."

 "Potter! We know you're in there!" Severus and Potter looked to the window. "We have a couple of loose ends to tie up. Lets talk about it like real men, eh?! What do you say?!"

 "I say: FUCK OFF!" another round of shots followed these words.

 "Congratulations Potter, you just pissed them off." Severus growled to the younger man.

 "No shit Sherlock, and I don't see you doing anything about the situation." The Gryffindor shot back. "Hey Snape, those vampire Elemental powers of yours might come in handy. Think you could melt their guns, or at least make them too hot to hold?" he mentioned towards the window. "When they're down we run for the car."

 "Only a Gryffindor would think of a plan like that," the vampire mumbled. "But sometimes insanity is your only choice. Alright Potter, I'll try. Get ready to run when I give the signal." Potter nodded and got into a crouching position. Severus did that same and they made their way towards the door.

 "Come on Potter! We ain't got all night for this!" several metallic clicks from outside told them that the guns were being reloaded. "This is not the time to play Hide-and-Seek."

 "You know, that's exactly what Voldie told me at the end of the Third Task at the TriWizard Tournament." Potter whispered.

 "Talking about the good old days will have to wait for another time," the vampire replied. "Right now we need to get to the car, and this time I'm driving."

 "What?!"

 "You heard me. You drive like an old Muggle, way below the speed limit."

 "And you belong in St. Mungo's for thinking that I'll let you drive. I actually want to survive this, believe it or not."

 "Then I suggest that you let me drive."

 "And get caught by the cops? Yeah right!"

 "Lets say that the first person to reach the car gets to drive." Severus looked at his companion.

 "Not fair. You're a bloody vampire with bloody inhuman speed. You'll get there way before me."

 "Exactly." He smirked at the glare Potter sent him. "Now get ready, the guns are beginning to heat up." Just as he said that they heard a painful, surprised yelp from outside then the clutter of a gun landing on the asphalt. It was followed by several others. "Now!"

Potter tore the door open, and they ran out.

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Wonderful place to stop, isn't it? Please review and tell me what you think.

I am still revamping my stories. Currently I'm done with the three Sagas, Order of the Phoenix and Time After Time. I have started on this story and don't suppose it will take long before I'm completely done.

Since I'm still trying to figure out the Blood-thingy with Harry, it'll take some time for it to pop up in the story again. Probably when Sev and Harry reach Hogwarts.

Thanks to:

Katy999, Forgotten Loss, J. Lynn, Silver Earth Dragon, Vampyre, Fair Lady Ravenclaw, tima, WittchWay, Kyohaku Celestiale Vespertina, Lapis Lazuli, Anonymous, Deity, Suna, Mairi Natharia aka Tara-Chan, TigerBlack and Jenny.