Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or the series.

A/N: This is the last chapter! Let me know what you think of the whole story. Enjoy!

Forever Red

Chapter Eight: Vampire Tears

Classes on the final day went normally, but I was called to Dumbledore's office while Harry and Hermione ate their supper. I stood awkwardly in his office with my eyes lowered to the ground. I guessed that Professor McGonnigal had informed Dumbledore about Selena. I crossed my arms, kept my eyes to the ground and waited for him to speak. It's not like I knew what I was supposed to say. "Mr. Weasley," he started. "There have been rumours that vampires have moved into the Forbidden Forest and that you have been attacked by one."

I rubbed my hands against my arms. I searched for the right words to say. "I wouldn't say attacked," I said.

"Did her teeth touch ANY part of your body," he said, narrowing his eyes.

I rubbed my neck awkwardly, where the marks from her teeth were. "My neck," I removed my hand, then noticed the thin scab on my wrist. "And on my wrist, but I offered at that time."

I showed him my wrist; he looked at it for a moment. "Did you offer your neck?" he asked.

"No sir," I responded.

I was about to pull my wrist away, but he spoke again. "Why did you offer your wrist?" he said, even thought it seemed as if he already knew.

My shoulders raised and lowered to form a shrug. "She was hungry and... it was hard to talk to her when she was hungry," I said, feeling slightly ashamed.

"Why didn't you come to me?" he questioned.

"I think Professor McGonnigal knew what was going on, and Professor Snape was seeing her," I said. "I figured one of them would have talked to you about it."

"Professor Snape was seeing her?" Dumbledore seemed rather mad.

I reworded what I had said. "I mean, Snape had seen her wandering around in the halls, not dating her or something like that," I tried to patch up what I said.

He was still mad and it was really easy to tell. "What's her name?" he asked.

I watched his eyes for a moment. "Selena," I said, not thinking.

Dumbledore stroked his long beard for a moment, watching me. "Professor Snape and Professor McGonnigal both know her?" he asked, trying to be calm.

"Yes," I kept my answers short; something was wrong.

Professor Dumbledore stood up. "I'm sorry for whatever burden she has caused you Mr. Weasley. You may return to the Great Hall."

"Wait," I said. "Why are you upset?"

"Was Professor Snape in the Great Hall before I asked to talk to you?" he asked.

"No..." I said. "But I don't see the relevance."

"Go to this personal chamber if you really want to know," he said. "I'll be right behind you."

I nodded nervously. Should I go get Harry and Hermione? I didn't ask and walked from his room. I went straight to Snape's quarters; I didn't think I'd need Harry and Hermione. The door didn't seem to be open, but I stood for a moment trying to decide whether or not to knock. Maybe if I pushed in the door, it'd be a mistake. I pushed my hand lightly against the door. It creaked loudly. There wasn't another sound. I peered through the crack I had created and waited for something to happen.

"Did you hear something?" I heard Professor Snape ask.

I creaked open the door a bit more with my foot. "I didn't," Selena said.

Her figure walked by the door. I crouched down on the ground and watched her standing beside Snape. He sat on the couch and I watched her figure sit down beside his outstretched arm. Her teeth lengthened and pressed onto his wrist. I turned away quickly and heard him cringe in pain. "Do you have to take so much?" he asked.

I looked back at them, watching some of the professor's blood drip onto the floor. "You're old," she shoved him playfully. "It's going to take more."

He scoffed at her. "You're just being selfish," he said.

I watched his tired face smile at the youth beside him. "Am not," she said. "You should have let me eat Ron."

She refused to return his smile. What? I thought she decided to stop herself. "I couldn't let another student fall," he said.

"I wish you promised not to complain," she muttered, sitting in a direction where she didn't have to look at him.

I backed up, so she couldn't see me. "What was that?" he seemed angry with her.

"I said I wish you promised not to complain. You know? To go with the 'I promise to look over you'," she said.

He hit her on her head. "Ungrateful undead," he scowled at her.

"I'm doing you a favour," she stood up and jabbed him in the chest.

"How are you doing ME a favour?" he asked.

"By not letting Ron to die," she said. "They'd figure out that you've had me hidden here."

"I'm doing you a favour by letting you stay here," he shot back.

She leaned in close to him. "Would you prefer a dead Weasley on your floor? You and I both know I wouldn't change him over," she said.

His dark eyes stared into her for a second. "Okay," he smiled and leaned into her. "You are doing me a favour."

How was talking about killing me romantic? I turned away as I noticed Snape rub his blood from Selena's lips. So, she wasn't going to actually turn me into a vampire anyway. She was going to kill me. I lowered my eyes and cursed to myself for ever falling for her. "I heard something this time," Selena pulled away from Snape.

"I'll check," he said and got up.

I back up and felt someone's arm go around my waist as my vision became partially cloaked. I turned to see Harry beside me, but kept quiet at his request. Harry and I slid in while Snape had the door wide open. We sat down quickly so they wouldn't notice us, not that they would. Where was Hermione? "I saw something move," I heard Selena say.

Harry and I didn't move, and kept very silent. "I did too," Snape said.

I quickly realized that I had my hand out of the cloak while I had run. Why was I so stupid? Why did I fall for Selena? I cursed myself inside my head. Harry and I watched Selena approach us, looking around carefully. She did several jabs in the air, several close to Harry and I. As she grew closer Harry and I moved like synchronized swimmers to dodge her not-so-fatal jabs. I was relieved when Dumbledore entered the room and Selena quickly hid herself. Dumbledore quickly looked in our direction and then back at Snape. "Did you send someone down here?" Snape asked.

"No," he shrugged. "Why are you bleeding?" he filled his voice with a somewhat fake concern.

I glanced at Snape's wrapped wrist and the fresh blood that oozed through the cloth. "I cut myself by accident," he lied. "It's nothing to worry about."

Dumbledore sighed easily. "Why do I feel as if we've been through this before?"

How long as Dumbledore been a professor? "You don't understand!" Snape quickly acted like a child having a pet taken away. "She needs me!"

"She is NOT allowed in the school," Dumbledore said.

"She's not in the school, she's in my room," Snape crossed his arms.

"What if she hurts someone?" Dumbledore asked.

"That's why she's with me," Snape said.

"She chose this life. She should be able to handle it herself," Dumbledore said.

"It wasn't supposed to be just her!" he shouted. "You knew what was going on the entire time and you DIDN'T stop it!"

"Calm down," Dumbledore sighed.

Snape leaned back and sat back down in the chair. "Why didn't you stop us?" he asked again, calming down.

"You wouldn't have listened to me if you had tried," Dumbledore responded with a slight smile.

"What's going on?" Harry whispered. "Did Dumbledore know that Selena was being attacked by a vampire?"

Dumbledore seemed to hear us, even though Snape did not. "How did you and Selena make the potion anyway?"

"Minerva helped us look it up," Snape's eyes lowered. "Not that we wanted her to get involved, but she offered."

"And the potion slowly killed her and would turn her into a vampire," Dumbledore said, to explain it to us. "Why didn't you take it?"

"Because he's a coward," Selena stood up.

"I wanted to live," Snape scowled at her.

"We even made an extra one, just for you," she said.

"It was suicide," Snape responded.

"To be with me," she said.

"I liked my life," he said. "Just because you weren't happy doesn't mean I could stop everything just for you and I took you in when you were hungry, I always have."

"You said you wanted to be with me in life and death," red-tinted tears started to form in her eyes.

"Not undeath," Snape said, walking close to her. "I wanted to live. When I said that I meant that I wanted to be with you for all life and after. I didn't mean I wanted to die with you immediately, where's the fun in that?"

"You're a dusty, old, potions professor, how great had your life been?" she stepped away from him.

"It would have been better if you had stayed," he said.

"I stayed like this. You're lucky you can still see me like this, I have to look at a wrinkled mess," she glared through her tears.

"Do you really want to go over this?" he asked, but got no response. "I'm old, my blood tastes bitter, but I'm still here. Why are you still here?"

"Because you wouldn't let me eat the Weasley runt! It would have worked too; his family is large enough, they won't miss him," she said. "It's too bad the Potter kid was famous, or else he would have been easier."

My family would so miss me! I felt angry. "Then leave! If I'm not worth anything to you, just leave. Don't even think about coming near this school though, I'm protecting the students," Snape said, a lot angrier than I was.

"Fine!" Selena screamed, blinded by her anger and the vast amount of oddly coloured tears. "I'll leave you again," she strolled up close to Snape looking deep into his eyes. "I won't come back you know. I'll steak myself someplace, and you won't even be able to find my ashes."

He jabbed her in the middle of her chest, careful not to hit anything. "You wouldn't have the guts. You wouldn't have become a vampire if you knew I was going to chicken out last minute," he said.

Her eyebrows slanted, as she became less angry. I watched Snape's expression soften as he removed his finger from her. "I didn't mean to call you a coward," she said.

His hand touched hers for a moment, but Dumbledore cleared his throat to interrupt them. Neither of them commented, so Dumbledore did, "She can't stay here," he started the conversation once more.

"She needs me," Snape responded.

Harry quickly motioned for us to leave. "I think it is you that needs her," Dumbledore said. His eyes watched us. "Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley do NOT leave this room," he said.

"I knew it," Selena hissed.

Harry took the cloak off of us, and I quickly felt naked and busied myself by looking at my feet. "Why do we have to be here?" Harry asked.

"Selena stalked Ron and tried to suck him dry," Dumbledore said. "I think that explains why she shouldn't even be allowed in the school."

"What am I supposed to do with her then?" Snape asked. "I can't leave her. You're right I do need her. I can't have her anywhere else, I want her here with me."

I looked up and regretted it. Selena's bloodshot eyes glared at me, with red tear stains across her cheeks. How was I supposed to know that this much trouble would have happened? It's not that I had complained about her. The two professors' conversation grew more distant as Selena's eyes hypnotized me with her extreme hate. I began to feel tired, as everything started to spin around me. I took a deep breath as memories flew through my head. Selena's memories of hate and pain were branded into my brain. Her red tears dropped from my eye sockets as I fell face first onto the ground. I was having a hard time deciphering what was happening and what were Selena's horrid memories.

I was choking up blood onto the hardwood floor in front of me. Or was it cement? Who was kicking me? I felt vast amounts of pain in my stomach and my chest as vicious words were being shouted at me. I clutched my hair and started to scream at the pain through my entire body. It felt as if even the hair on my arms were aching. I heard a mix between my name and Selena's name being called to me. A man, a boy was protecting my somewhat feminine body from the hellish people that had been beating moments before. Was it Severus that had saved me? Through blurred vision, I looked into the dark eyes of my protector. He touched my face, checking for what wounds were on it. He was saying something and was smiling, but I couldn't hear him. I felt myself weakly smile back at him. I managed to take a deep breath and started to speak; "And my eyes will burn forever red, from the hate and pain that people had put me through. Someday, I'll show them how to really die."

Hermione was by my side, when did she get here? Her wand was pointed towards Selena. "What did you do him?" she asked.

I watched a salty demon run down Hermione's face. "N-nothing," Selena stammered, looking towards Snape for any kind of guidance.

"I'm..." I couldn't finish as I started to choke on blood in my throat.

Harry was on the other side of me, and sat me upright. I coughed carefully and saw the stains across Snape's floor. "I'm sorry," Selena said as she tried to walk closer to where I sat.

Hermione kept her back. "I'll stake you," Hermione threatened.

I nodded carefully, but I was having difficulty speaking. Selena slowly stepped closer, watching Hermione watch her. Where was Dumbledore? "I'm warning you," Hermione's hand was shaking.

"I just want to make sure he's okay," she said, almost being able to touch me.

Hermione and I both witnessed her lick her lips quickly. I wiped the blood off of my chin. "Get back!" Hermione screamed. "I can see the hunger in your eyes."

Selena stepped closer, but before Hermione could mutter a spell Snape stood in front of her, with his back to Hermione. "I won't let you hurt her," he said, wrapping his arms around Selena.

"She hurt Ron," Hermione said back.

Dumbledore spoke up from behind us. "Stop this, all of you," he said. "This is getting ridiculous. Ron what happened to you?"

I turned around and tried once more to speak. My voice was rough and my throat stung with ever syllable, but I managed to talk to my professor. "I saw her memories," I said. "And I saw one very clearly."

"When I first met Severus," Selena spoke up.

I nodded. "When she first met Professor Snape," I had moulded her words into my own.

Her pale smile was directed towards me. "I take it that their meeting wasn't under the best circumstances?"

"No sir," I said.

"If I chose to leave, may I still visit?" Selena asked.

"No," Dumbledore said.

"May Severus visit me?" she questioned.

"If he wishes to do so," Dumbledore said.

She swallowed. "I'll leave," she said. "And if you ever see me attacking any of the students, you may stake me, no questions asked."

"Okay," Professor Dumbledore said.

Snape tightened his grip around her once more, easily taking over her. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and I turned away as they kissed one another. "You'll visit, right?" Selena had her red-tinted tears starting once more in her eyes.

"Every day," he said.

He released his overpowering hold on her and let her go. She stood on the window, but turned back to look at us once more. She smiled, but her eyes glazed over for a moment. Her body started to fall forward, but Snape was there to catch her. A massive steak showed itself from her back. A vampire appeared in the doorway, one I had seen when we had went looking for Selena. "A life for a life," he said calmly. "Revenge for Lady Sandra."

He disappeared once more as he jumped from the window. I watched Snape pull the steak out of her. She whispered, but no words came out. A lone tear dripped from his eye onto her. He pressed his lips against hers. "We'll meet again in death. I love you."

"I..." ash started to pour from her mouth. "Love you..."