Disclaimer: Faint Hate and I both wish we owned HP, but we don't... the most I think we have is PMS... and I don't even think we own that!

A/N: Anyways, here's the second chapter of the fic that Faint Hate and I (Crystal56) are working on together. The reason the update took so long was because personal things came up. We both pretty much promise now we'll try to update more often...

Restless Night

After a restless night of sleep, Severus woke to the sunlight shining on his eyelids, rolled over, and hoisted himself regretfully out of bed. He hadn't been able to focus on anything last night, and sleep overcame him before he could think about it. He glanced over at the clock while reaching for a glass of water. It was already noon! He shouldn't have slept so late; he had classes to plan before the school year started. Had he gone to bed far into the night? A shower washed the last bits of sleep from him and Severus regarded what had happened last night. He had that meeting with Dumbledore, and then he had come home and eaten a large hunk of raw meat, and it had tasted like ambrosia in his mouth. Wait; there was a woman there yesterday, wasn't there? He felt like his memory was starting to face. 'I'm not that old,' he pondered as he dressed for the day, and then he headed down to make breakfast. Again, he felt famished. He wanted some raw meat...something bloody...

"What am I thinking?" he asked out loud, "What am I, some kind of vampire?" He laughed sadly to himself, but couldn't shake the fact he felt like another bloody piece of meat.

Bloody...his mouth watered, and he ran a hand through his hair. What the hell had happened the other night? And why did he have this headache? Severus groaned and opened a cupboard, taking out a box of crackers. He waved his wand and the coffee pot turned on, brewing the coffee.

Severus didn't mind living like a Muggle, in fact, he quite enjoyed it. Magic could get irritating after a while, and as a teacher, he didn't make much money so he couldn't replace a wand every five to ten years like other witches and wizards.

He sank into a chair and closed his eyes. That woman...he strained his memory. She had had red hair, he could remember that. It wasn't a Weasly red, it was more a bright maroon, and it was thick and full falling to her waist. He could remember that...and she had eyes like Potter!

Severus scowled at the thought of his least favorite student and popped a cracker into his mouth.

"Think," he commanded himself, standing and getting a mug for his coffee. The scent woke up his brain even better than his shower had. In a way that woman was beautifully sculpted in his mind and yet he neither knew nor remembered much about what had transpired. He tasted his coffee and let out a hiss of disgust, it was missing something. Eyes like Potter, maybe it was some distant relation of the boy's that he never knew about and if that was the case he would think no more about it. But something else irked at the back of his mind. He could've sworn he had seen her before...

He stood and poured himself another mug of coffee, inhaling the sharp scent. He had lessons to plan, relatives to visit, and shopping to do. The shopping part was obvious, who in their right mind would eat wheat saltine crackers for breakfast?

After a few hours of laboring over two weeks of lesson plans, muttering to himself about the dunderheads he'd have to teach yet AGAIN, he stood up, dumped the last dregs of lemon tea down the sink, and went to his room to change into a pair of black Muggle slacks and a white button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to accommodate the European summer heat. He quickly apparated to his younger sisters home and knocked on her door after tripping over one of her children's bikes.

"Sev! What are you doing here?" Samantha's wavy dark brown hair was in a messy ponytail, she was wearing the top half of a red bikini and baggy jeans that looked like her boyfriend's. Her youngest, a two-year-old girl named Pennie, was on her hip.

"I just thought I'd drop by. Maybe take Cara and Nathan off you hands," Severus said, a small smile transforming his sallow skinned face.

"Oh, thank Merlin. I'd kiss you right now but I've had no time to brush my teeth this morning," Sam said, laughing, "Car's in a bit of fit, I told her I didn't want her seeing that Krum boy anymore, he's much too old for her. Nathan has something bothering him, I'm not sure what, but he's always depressed about something, blaring loud music. Have them back when they're grown, will you?" She started jiggling Pennie, who had started to cry.

Severus held out his hands to take his niece, telling Sam to go and get dressed, find a babysitter, and take the day off.

"Where's Don, anyway?" he asked, frowning.

Sam grew serious, her eyes welling up, "He's been taken by the lower level Death Eaters." Severus sighed.

"It'll be fine though. Give me ten minutes, and I'll apparate Pennie and Caleb to Connie's. Tom and Susie are at one of their Muggle friend's places, so they'll be fine," Sam was off, muttering half to Severus and half to herself. Severus stepped inside, kicking some clothing aside. He picked up a worn picture book and sat down, cradling Pennie on his lap and started to read to her. As he read, he looked down at her occasionally (he had memorized this book) and his mouth watered. He wondered how her blood would taste, the blood of a young child, so pure and innocent. He jerked himself from these thoughts, disgusted and hocked. Where was this coming from, and WHY? Why was he thinking of harming little Pennie? His voice faltered, but by then it didn't matter. Pennie was asleep.

"Thanks, Sev," Sam said as she came into the living room. She was wearing a knee length black and pink skirt and a black tank-top, her hair loose around her shoulders.

"Anytime," he whispered, still berating himself. She apparated out after going to Caleb's room.

"Cara! Nathan!" He yelled, walking toward the stairs. Two sets of feet ran pounding down the stairs. Cara with her short, spiky hair, thin brown legs sticking out of her blue jean shorts like a child's, and baggy shirt, reminded him very much of Sam in her younger day's, while Nathan was an almost carbon copy of Draco Malfoy, his favorite student.

"Where's mom?" Nathan asked, tossing his hair out of his eyes with a shake of his head.

"Gone for the day. You two are with me," Severus took put a hand on the teenagers' shoulders, and apparated out, thinking vaguely of the fair going on in Surry. When they landed just beyond the colorful, whirlwind of sound, a woman with maroon colored hair, bright, jade green eyes was standing in front of him with a wicked smile.

"Hello, my darling," she said in a low voiced purr.

TBC

A/N: Anyways, that's the cliffhanger... This chapter was mostly written by Faint Hate, although I had some grammar and spelling to double check, grins. I think you know the drill, Read and Review! (But no flames unless they're rated G-PG or better yet, if you want to flame, don't review at all!)

Check out these stories:

Everlasting Sacrifice (Crystal56)

Anything by Faint Hate! (I like Secrets can Kill personally...)

Snape's Hair (Crystal56)

To Loose Your Better Half (Crystal56)

Severus's Suffering (Crystal56)