Chapter 8
Note from author: I've had several questions come up about the whole "seeing herself in the mirror" thing and I'm here to answer it! The idea that vampires can not see their reflections came from the author Bram Stoker who wrote Dracula. I am basing this character more so on Anne Rice's ideas. Anne Rice's vampires can see their reflections and are not repelled by crosses and such. Sorry for any confusion this has created!-----cranberry13
Her eyes popped open as if she'd never slept at all. She lay there a moment before throwing off the heavy wooden lid of her new bed. All of the torches on the walls had been extinguished; even though the room was pitch black, her new abilities allowed her to see in the dark. She climbed out of the wooden box and stood up.
Her head spun in dizziness. She was thirsty beyond belief. What she was thirsty for she could not have. She would have to ignore this new urgency. She located her want that was still in her robes' pocket. She said quietly, "incendio," and a ball of flame shot out. It hit one of the torches and the torch lit up. She moved into the classroom, lighting a few more torches. After the room was decently lit, she fell into her desk chair.
On her desk was the work they'd done in the days past. She shuffled through a few. Even though she'd been absent for quite some time, it appeared as if they were still on schedule with their lessons. She owed a huge amount of gratitude to the teachers who'd filled in for her.
At that moment she heard soft footsteps approaching from the hallway. The demon inside of her told her to get ready for an attack. She suppressed the urgent feeling to strike and remained seated. The door creaked open slowly. Standing in the doorway was Severus. In his hands was a vial. She forgot; he was supposed to bring her medicine.
He stood in the doorway giving her that paralyzing stare. His face remained emotionless and his black eyes glittered. Feeling a sense of shame, she bowed her head and looked at the floor. He closed the door behind him and approached her desk. "I see that you've awakened," he said in a neutral voice. Still not having the courage to look at him, she continued to look at the floor.
He sat the vial on her desk. The liquid within it was a deep red color. It reminded her all too much of blood. "Professor Dumbledore has told me everything that has happened," he said. She closed her eyes. Even though she knew he had to tell Severus she wished he hadn't. "Why?" he asked, a little more compassion in his voice. She remained silent, her eyes still closed. "Why did you do it? There must have been some other way." She shook her head and spoke, "There was no other way," in the flattest of tones.
After another moment of silence passed between them, he asked, "You will be leaving at the end of term?" Krista simply nodded. He waited a moment before saying, "You don't have to leave. With the serum you can pass as human." Krista shook her head. "It was part of the agreement. I must comply," she said. "There must be someway around all of this," he said, almost pleadingly. "Look what I've become!" Krista shouted, jerking her head upward.
She saw Severus recede at the sight of her wild vampire eyes, her pallid face, her pointed teeth. She sighed and said, "I am sorry." She bowed her head again, looking at the floor. Not knowing what to say, Severus said, "You will need to drink that soon. It will keep you human for twenty four hours. You will need to take it every evening." She nodded and said, "Thank you."
He stood there, quiet, for a few moments. Finally, he said, "Good night, Professor Trebaxus." He turned on his heel and strode out of the room. Krista opened her mouth to call him back, to apologize, to say something, but he was already gone. She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. Why had she been so rude? She'd driven him away with her bitterness when he was the one person she wanted to be close to.
She raised her head and looked at the potion vial. He'd said she'd need to drink it soon. Hesitantly, she picked up the vial. She put it to her lips and tipped the glass upward. She quickly drank the potion. It left a horrible taste in her mouth but her body grew warm and the great thirst she'd had relinquished.
She set down the vial and watched the remains of the scarlet liquid drain to the bottom. She walked over to the mirror. Although she felt warm like a human she looked the same. She wished the potion worked for appearances too. She walked away from the mirror and sat back down at her desk.
Now she had to decide what to do with the rest of the night. She had already slept and could sleep no more. She supposed after this night the serum would restore a normal sleep pattern. Still, she'd have to suffer through this night alone. She located a stack of un-graded papers and set to work on them. She hoped that as long as she kept herself busy, time would pass easier.
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It was morning, at last. All night she'd been doing things to pass the long night hours. She'd graded papers, straightened the classroom, and even planned out the rest of the week. Now there was only an hour till classes started. She wouldn't go to the Great Hall for breakfast. She could no longer digest human food and she would feel most uneasy walking in front of the entire school, them knowing her for what she'd become.
Walking out into the school wasn't her only anxiety. She was even nervous about her classes. She recalled how nervous she'd been on her first day of teaching. This nervousness was quite similar except for different reasons, of course. Time seemed to be moving faster now that she didn't want it to. She mentally cursed the wretched time.
Finally, it was 8:00 AM. Her class would be arriving in any minute. She sat behind her desk, fiddling with papers, trying to look busy. She began hearing footsteps shuffling into the room but she did not look up. There were none of the usual, "Good mornings". No one even welcomed her back. Like she'd feared, rumors had been spread about her. Most likely, there would be no more "Good mornings".
At last, when she was sure everyone was inside, she looked up at them. Their faces were filled with mixed emotions. Some looked at her with curiosity, some with blank stares, and some with sheer terror. She stood up slowly, thinking that if she moved suddenly she might frighten them. She felt overwhelmingly like an animal being gawked at behind a cage at a muggle zoo.
She smiled, being sure not to show her teeth. "Good morning class," she said. The stared at her until finally some dared to say, "Good morning" in polite return. "I'm glad to be back teaching again. I see that your substitutes have been keeping you busy." She looked at the piles of papers on her desk. The students nodded, staring at her, unblinking. "Well that means that we're right on schedule."
The students remained silent, not daring to move. They appeared as if they were all chiseled out of stone. She wanted to tell them all that had happened to her so maybe they'd understand. She wished they would all know that she would die before she would harm any of them. There was no appropriate way to do this though. Instead of pleading to them, she said, "I would like to begin class today by handing back these papers and then we will start the lesson."
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Severus walked through the school's hallways, returning from dinner. He had not spoken to her since the previous night. She did not appear at any meal (though he supposed he knew the reason why) and he had not seen her in the halls. It was time for him to bring her serum to her. He walked into his classroom and went into his office. The potion he'd prepared earlier was sitting on his desk. He picked the vial up and carried it out of his room.
They'd gotten off on a bad note the night before. He could understand why; he assumed that the transformation had caused a great amount of physical and mental stress on her part. He worried about her though; although she was never an overly cheerful person she seemed to be in a terribly dire mood.
He reached her doorway and looked in. She was sitting at her desk, looking at the papers and occasionally scribbling something with her quill. She was both beautiful and terrifying; he immediately recalled those fierce eyes. They were hard to describe with words. They seemed to have some unnatural glow and the one word that came to mind was intense. She suddenly picked up that he was standing there and stopped writing. Surprised himself, he stopped gawking at her and walked into the classroom.
She gave him a short smile and said, "Good afternoon." He returned with a smile of his own and replied, "Good afternoon." He set the vial on her desk. "Thank you," she said, fixating him with her intense brown eyes. He nodded curtly. Unsure if he should stay or go, he turned and began to leave. "They're all afraid of me," he heard her voice say.
He turned around, glad she'd said something. "I'm sure they've all heard terrible rumors. It will all settle down before it's over with," he said. There was that word he feared, "over". Krista flinched slightly. It seemed to unsettle her as well. After a moment, she said, "I don't want to leave." His black eyes glittered. "I don't want you to either," he said. She sighed an overwhelmed sigh and closed her eyes. He walked over to her and embraced her for the first time since that Christmas day.