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Chapter 3
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"You can come out now, Irvan," Severus said to the shadows near his door. There was nothing visible to tell him the vampire was waiting, but somehow he knew. "It didn't take you long to feed."
"No, it did not," came the pleasant reply from the shadows, declining to reveal himself. The reasons were not known to Severus, but he suspected it to be part of the creature's instinct to remain hidden, waiting for its prey. Much like the spiders it feed on. "Spiders are quite filling. And killing those is beneficial to the environmental balance."
"Indeed." Severus always wondered about the vampire's odd sense of balance. He seemed to be merely an animal using his intelligence to explain his survival. "You have always been welcome in these rooms, why have you not entered," he said after unlocking the wards around the door. It was true that he left an open invitation to the man in case he ever needed to return. Snape had managed to forget about the vampire over the years and was thankful it had never accepted. Severus did not relish the necessary explanations that would follow such an appearance, like now.
"It has been too long for that invitation to stand. And I would hate to appear rude by entering without your knowledge," he said as though knowing Snape's thoughts. The voice was like icy water flowing over his skin. It was only really noticeable when the vampire was concealed from sight. And only when he had feed. The tall graceful creature stepped from the shadows once Severus had the door open. "You have done well for yourself, my friend," in observation of the room.
"I do not consider this 'doing well for myself.' In case you haven't noticed the situation I have carelessly placed myself, this is merely surviving."
"Nonsense, Severus. The Headmaster cares for you deeply. Far more than a mere informant. Though you might not want that with your situation, but believe me, the old man hates the idea of you being hurt."
"You have been reading minds again," Severus said sternly. He had specifically order the creature not to read the minds of anyone in the school. He strongly believed in privacy of thought. Dumbledore's ability was annoying enough.
"Unfortunately, it is a consequence of starvation, one that I cannot control. Even then I only pick up strong emotions when I attempt to suppress it. I have not broken my promise, Severus," the vampire continued patiently. Snape had had this conversation before and knew it bothered Irvan to be questioned on his promises. The man was quite sensitive to rash judgments on his honor. Snape could sympathize, but nonetheless questioned because of his own paranoia.
"Dumbledore is not expecting you until morning."
"Good. Than means you can get some rest." Snape stared at him incredulously. "I have feed and therefore wide awake. You on the other hand are suffering from the Cruciatus and need to relax your body. I will be happy to watch your dreams if you desire, otherwise I shall remain in here reading." The vampire's long face was expressionless, but the midnight black eyes held concern Snape found disconcerting.
"There is no need," he answered. "I'll see you in the morning." Irvan nodded once and went to look through the wall of books in his common room. Snape turned to his bed. A simple ordeal of an oak frame and forest bed covers. He spent little time admiring the bed and removed his outer robe and crawled in. Well, at least he had obeyed Voldemort this evening. Perhaps he would also take Dumbledore's advice to heart.
* * * * * *
When Snape exited his bedroom, he found Irvan in the exact position as he had left him in. Weight shifted on his right leg, hand poised under his chin. His thin black hair hung in a loose tail at the base of his neck, betraying no signs of movement. "Tell me, did you move at all last night?" he asked the creature's back with drawling sarcasm, before moving to ring a House Elf for some tea and toast.
"No," was the answer. Snape smirked. Only a centuries old vampire would have enough patience to remain in the same position doing nothing for an entire night. "It doesn't appear you have any new books on this wall. I'll check another tonight." Snape knew from experience that Irvan would do exactly that, despite the joking manner he gave it.
"I'll save you the trouble," he began in a silky drawl. "The new ones are on the far left of the North Shelf."
"Then I suppose it would have taken me four nights to find them," Irvan replied smoothly as he sat across from Snape. "I was going to start on the South Shelf tonight. I take it we are going to have our little chat with Headmaster Dumbledore after breakfast," he said looking at the food placed on the table. He poured himself some tea and waited for Severus to finish.
"Yes. I assume he is going to want to know why you brought Potter. And how exactly I knew. He has already asked how I know you. You should be able to answer all the questions that will follow that one. And I would not be surprised if McGonnagall or Potter will be present," he added disgusted. He failed to see why those two needed to know the full history surrounding Irvan and himself. He certainly had no desire to relive those events, much less acknowledge the fact that they happened.
"You have always said this Dumbledore was a thorough wizard. Though I will not tell him anything you do not wish to have revealed," Irvan replied carefully.
"It is best if they know everything, Irvan. As much as it irks me to have to have them know, now that I have involved you, they should know." And save them the trouble of interrogations, he thought wiry. Their history may not be relevant to the present situation, but Albus Dumbledore liked to know everything and always managed to pull it out of you no matter what you did.
"If you are worried about how I feel about all of this, Severus, you have forgotten that I have already expressed my feelings. This is hardly the situation I wanted to be in but since I am I will not allow my disgust with the matter cloud what must be done."
"Well that certainly explains you continuous desire to be civil," Snape responded darkly.
Irvan laughed lightly. "Severus, if I recall it was you who had no desire to become otherwise. And it far better fits our personalities than if we attempted to be casual about the whole thing." The vampire rose elegantly with all the grace of a predator. "If you are quite finished, I think it would be a good idea to show Headmaster Dumbledore that not all vampires die in the sight of sunlight."
"Perhaps if you tell the students that they'll be more apt to believe I am one," Snape muttered also rising, thinking about how that little rumor kept a good many students terrified of him at least until they were third years. "Dumbledore will either be in his office or the infirmary. I am more inclined to check the office first."
"Very well. Lead the way."
* * * * * *
Albus was lounging on a couch reading the Daily Prophet when a soft knock interrupted. "Come in," he called from his seat and taking a sip of tea. "Ah, Minerva. A pleasant surprise this morning. How are you doing?"
"Very well, thank you Albus," the Head of Griffindor answered sitting. She was hardly the strict Professor during the summer. She was quite pleasant. The lack of students did wonders on her rigid disciplinary nature. For Dumbledore, she was always available for idle conversations. "Harry is awake and Poppy has him eating healthily and is even willing to let him come up after he is finished."
"Excellent news. I am certain he is curious as to why he is here over the summer holidays," the Headmaster said, pouring Minerva some tea. The poor boy had woken up in the hospital wing far to often to enjoy it. And more than often he never recalled how he had arrived. With it being the summer, Harry was bound to be more confused than ever.
"That he is. It was the first thing he asked when he woke up. I must say this is quite irregular and I myself am curious as to why."
"As am I, Minerva, as am I. But we will not know until Irvan decides to tell us. The most we can do until then is ask Harry what was happening and how much he remembers. Have all of the letters been written yet?" he asked turning to a discussion that they could answer. The conversation centered around the school, getting last minute details settle like who the newest Defense Against the Dark Arts professor should be. At least they agreed on the man. Other topics included the latest discovery in transfigurations; Minerva had altered a complex spell to make it more accessible to the average wizard. They talked for a good part of the morning, until Harry Potter timidly knocked on his door. "Good morning, Harry. How did you sleep?"
"Quite well, sir. If I may ask, do you know why I'm here?" he questioned sitting in an overstuffed chair across from Dumbledore.
"Quite frankly I do not. I was hoping you could remember something about last night that might help us."
"I can't remember much of anything, sir. I think I had a vision of Voldemort, but other than that I just can't remember. Sorry, sir."
"It's quite all right, Harry. I wasn't really expecting you to remember; I was just hoping you might." He was interrupted by a familiar, soft, three knock pattern. "Come in, Severus. We have been expecting you." The door opened to admit the scowling black clad professor and the expressionless vampire. Dumbledore watched as Harry's face morphed into an expression akin to horror or disgust at the sight of the Potions Master, then just as quickly into confusion when he saw the other man. "Please, come in and have a seat. It is a good morning to clear up our musings. But first, Harry this is Irvan, the man who brought you here last night." The vampire inclined his head in acknowledgement before taking a seat in the red wing back next to Snape in its twin.
"Uh . . . sir?" Harry stuttered. Albus decided to let the boy ask most of the questions, considering he needed to know the most. "What happened to make you bring me here?"
"To put it simply and frankly, you were dying and needed to be in the care of people who were capable of seeing to your needs. As it was, your relatives did not seem to notice the warning signs you were displaying." Irvan paused to read the expression on Harry's face. "You needn't worry. I left your aunt and uncle a letter explaining where you went in case they desired to reach you."
"I doubt they would care overly much," Harry muttered to himself. Taken away in the middle of the night and without knowing it. They probably thought it was a Godsend. "But what happened?"
Irvan, Harry knew the man was a vampire by the fangs protruding over his lower lip, gave him a calculated look before answering. Harry wondered why the man was answering at all. "I do not know why you were dying, except that your dreams were directly related." Harry was puzzled. Dreams were causing him to die? "Though I doubt they were really dreams or night terrors given how vivid they were. The one last night was violent enough to cause that scar of yours to bleed."
"Bleed?" He must be referring to the visions.
"Harry, what do you remember about your dreams last night?" Dumbledore prodded. The only way they could solve this was to know what the boy saw while asleep.
"I. . . um. . . er . . . I." Being inarticulate at that moment, he stole a glance at Snape, who was ramrod straight in his chair, glaring darkly. Harry forced himself to swallow. There was no way the Professor could know that he saw what transpired that night, but he must have guessed. "I saw Voldemort and Professor Snape," he said finally finding his tongue, quietly fearing what the professor would do if he heard. Still cautiously watching Snape, Harry saw the expressionless mask flicker to surprise and back quickly. The glare returned darker than before and Harry shrank into his chair trying to hide.
"Potter," Snape whispered dangerously. "What exactly did you see?" The words were forced. If Harry didn't know better he would thought Snape was afraid. Of what, he couldn'y say. But he could guess it dealt with his knowledge of the vision. He ventured a look. Snape was ridged, eyes focus on nothing but Harry. Harry swallowed. Snape couldn't do anything to him with Professor Dumbledore present, and McGonnagall.
"Everything," he whispered looking away. That was perhaps the most difficult thing he had ever admitted. Snape would probably curse him into next week for seeing him so weak. And the scary part was Harry couldn't blame him. Harry himself was embarrassed over his own reaction to Voldemort's curses. Snape at least held some face towards them, even if he was a sniveling coward afterwards.
"Dammit," Snape snapped. There was a very long pause before the wizard spoke again. "Potter, I would appreciate it if you were to tell no one what you saw." Again the word were forced through clenched teeth, perhaps more so than the others. Harry suddenly had the realization that Snape was desperate, that he had blackmail material to use against him. The thought bolstered his confidence slightly, at least until he realized that doing so would hazard anything Dumbledore might have planned. But Snape was desperate; he had all but pleaded with Harry to not reveal that information. He had asked, asked, not ordered, not demanded, asked that Harry not mention it.
"Harry, I can not force you to agree to his request," Dumbledore intervened, sensing the tension. "But I will ask that you not divulge that information to anyone."
"I won't, sir. But I don't understand how those visions were killing me." Harry turned back to the vampire. It seemed this man knew more than the others. "And why were you there at all?"
Irvan cast a quick glance at Snape who nodded. The display was odd, but the creature answered. "Severus asked me to keep watch over you this summer." Harry stared dumbfounded. Such a simple statement brought up thousands of questions more. So many that he could not voice a single one.
Dumbledore saved him. "This brings us to my question. How is it the two of you know each other?"
"That can be answered simply, though I don't believe you will be satisfied with that answer, otherwise Severus would have already answered it. Simply stated: Severus saved my life."
Now it was Dumbledore who sat recovering from shock. Severus Snape was perhaps the most bias man he knew, holding a special hatred for Dark Creatures like werewolves and vampires. The fact that he had saved a vampire was astounding. "And how did this happen?"
"Seeing as how Severus is still shell-shocked, I'll take the liberty to explain."
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AN: I sincerely hope nothing blares out as impossible for the situations provided, if so I wish to correct it and keep a smooth story line moving. As you might expect next time gives a little history, jampacked with conflict, because flashbacks should always be condensed.
And for reading I say thanks.
Questions and comments are submitted below.
Chapter 3
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"You can come out now, Irvan," Severus said to the shadows near his door. There was nothing visible to tell him the vampire was waiting, but somehow he knew. "It didn't take you long to feed."
"No, it did not," came the pleasant reply from the shadows, declining to reveal himself. The reasons were not known to Severus, but he suspected it to be part of the creature's instinct to remain hidden, waiting for its prey. Much like the spiders it feed on. "Spiders are quite filling. And killing those is beneficial to the environmental balance."
"Indeed." Severus always wondered about the vampire's odd sense of balance. He seemed to be merely an animal using his intelligence to explain his survival. "You have always been welcome in these rooms, why have you not entered," he said after unlocking the wards around the door. It was true that he left an open invitation to the man in case he ever needed to return. Snape had managed to forget about the vampire over the years and was thankful it had never accepted. Severus did not relish the necessary explanations that would follow such an appearance, like now.
"It has been too long for that invitation to stand. And I would hate to appear rude by entering without your knowledge," he said as though knowing Snape's thoughts. The voice was like icy water flowing over his skin. It was only really noticeable when the vampire was concealed from sight. And only when he had feed. The tall graceful creature stepped from the shadows once Severus had the door open. "You have done well for yourself, my friend," in observation of the room.
"I do not consider this 'doing well for myself.' In case you haven't noticed the situation I have carelessly placed myself, this is merely surviving."
"Nonsense, Severus. The Headmaster cares for you deeply. Far more than a mere informant. Though you might not want that with your situation, but believe me, the old man hates the idea of you being hurt."
"You have been reading minds again," Severus said sternly. He had specifically order the creature not to read the minds of anyone in the school. He strongly believed in privacy of thought. Dumbledore's ability was annoying enough.
"Unfortunately, it is a consequence of starvation, one that I cannot control. Even then I only pick up strong emotions when I attempt to suppress it. I have not broken my promise, Severus," the vampire continued patiently. Snape had had this conversation before and knew it bothered Irvan to be questioned on his promises. The man was quite sensitive to rash judgments on his honor. Snape could sympathize, but nonetheless questioned because of his own paranoia.
"Dumbledore is not expecting you until morning."
"Good. Than means you can get some rest." Snape stared at him incredulously. "I have feed and therefore wide awake. You on the other hand are suffering from the Cruciatus and need to relax your body. I will be happy to watch your dreams if you desire, otherwise I shall remain in here reading." The vampire's long face was expressionless, but the midnight black eyes held concern Snape found disconcerting.
"There is no need," he answered. "I'll see you in the morning." Irvan nodded once and went to look through the wall of books in his common room. Snape turned to his bed. A simple ordeal of an oak frame and forest bed covers. He spent little time admiring the bed and removed his outer robe and crawled in. Well, at least he had obeyed Voldemort this evening. Perhaps he would also take Dumbledore's advice to heart.
* * * * * *
When Snape exited his bedroom, he found Irvan in the exact position as he had left him in. Weight shifted on his right leg, hand poised under his chin. His thin black hair hung in a loose tail at the base of his neck, betraying no signs of movement. "Tell me, did you move at all last night?" he asked the creature's back with drawling sarcasm, before moving to ring a House Elf for some tea and toast.
"No," was the answer. Snape smirked. Only a centuries old vampire would have enough patience to remain in the same position doing nothing for an entire night. "It doesn't appear you have any new books on this wall. I'll check another tonight." Snape knew from experience that Irvan would do exactly that, despite the joking manner he gave it.
"I'll save you the trouble," he began in a silky drawl. "The new ones are on the far left of the North Shelf."
"Then I suppose it would have taken me four nights to find them," Irvan replied smoothly as he sat across from Snape. "I was going to start on the South Shelf tonight. I take it we are going to have our little chat with Headmaster Dumbledore after breakfast," he said looking at the food placed on the table. He poured himself some tea and waited for Severus to finish.
"Yes. I assume he is going to want to know why you brought Potter. And how exactly I knew. He has already asked how I know you. You should be able to answer all the questions that will follow that one. And I would not be surprised if McGonnagall or Potter will be present," he added disgusted. He failed to see why those two needed to know the full history surrounding Irvan and himself. He certainly had no desire to relive those events, much less acknowledge the fact that they happened.
"You have always said this Dumbledore was a thorough wizard. Though I will not tell him anything you do not wish to have revealed," Irvan replied carefully.
"It is best if they know everything, Irvan. As much as it irks me to have to have them know, now that I have involved you, they should know." And save them the trouble of interrogations, he thought wiry. Their history may not be relevant to the present situation, but Albus Dumbledore liked to know everything and always managed to pull it out of you no matter what you did.
"If you are worried about how I feel about all of this, Severus, you have forgotten that I have already expressed my feelings. This is hardly the situation I wanted to be in but since I am I will not allow my disgust with the matter cloud what must be done."
"Well that certainly explains you continuous desire to be civil," Snape responded darkly.
Irvan laughed lightly. "Severus, if I recall it was you who had no desire to become otherwise. And it far better fits our personalities than if we attempted to be casual about the whole thing." The vampire rose elegantly with all the grace of a predator. "If you are quite finished, I think it would be a good idea to show Headmaster Dumbledore that not all vampires die in the sight of sunlight."
"Perhaps if you tell the students that they'll be more apt to believe I am one," Snape muttered also rising, thinking about how that little rumor kept a good many students terrified of him at least until they were third years. "Dumbledore will either be in his office or the infirmary. I am more inclined to check the office first."
"Very well. Lead the way."
* * * * * *
Albus was lounging on a couch reading the Daily Prophet when a soft knock interrupted. "Come in," he called from his seat and taking a sip of tea. "Ah, Minerva. A pleasant surprise this morning. How are you doing?"
"Very well, thank you Albus," the Head of Griffindor answered sitting. She was hardly the strict Professor during the summer. She was quite pleasant. The lack of students did wonders on her rigid disciplinary nature. For Dumbledore, she was always available for idle conversations. "Harry is awake and Poppy has him eating healthily and is even willing to let him come up after he is finished."
"Excellent news. I am certain he is curious as to why he is here over the summer holidays," the Headmaster said, pouring Minerva some tea. The poor boy had woken up in the hospital wing far to often to enjoy it. And more than often he never recalled how he had arrived. With it being the summer, Harry was bound to be more confused than ever.
"That he is. It was the first thing he asked when he woke up. I must say this is quite irregular and I myself am curious as to why."
"As am I, Minerva, as am I. But we will not know until Irvan decides to tell us. The most we can do until then is ask Harry what was happening and how much he remembers. Have all of the letters been written yet?" he asked turning to a discussion that they could answer. The conversation centered around the school, getting last minute details settle like who the newest Defense Against the Dark Arts professor should be. At least they agreed on the man. Other topics included the latest discovery in transfigurations; Minerva had altered a complex spell to make it more accessible to the average wizard. They talked for a good part of the morning, until Harry Potter timidly knocked on his door. "Good morning, Harry. How did you sleep?"
"Quite well, sir. If I may ask, do you know why I'm here?" he questioned sitting in an overstuffed chair across from Dumbledore.
"Quite frankly I do not. I was hoping you could remember something about last night that might help us."
"I can't remember much of anything, sir. I think I had a vision of Voldemort, but other than that I just can't remember. Sorry, sir."
"It's quite all right, Harry. I wasn't really expecting you to remember; I was just hoping you might." He was interrupted by a familiar, soft, three knock pattern. "Come in, Severus. We have been expecting you." The door opened to admit the scowling black clad professor and the expressionless vampire. Dumbledore watched as Harry's face morphed into an expression akin to horror or disgust at the sight of the Potions Master, then just as quickly into confusion when he saw the other man. "Please, come in and have a seat. It is a good morning to clear up our musings. But first, Harry this is Irvan, the man who brought you here last night." The vampire inclined his head in acknowledgement before taking a seat in the red wing back next to Snape in its twin.
"Uh . . . sir?" Harry stuttered. Albus decided to let the boy ask most of the questions, considering he needed to know the most. "What happened to make you bring me here?"
"To put it simply and frankly, you were dying and needed to be in the care of people who were capable of seeing to your needs. As it was, your relatives did not seem to notice the warning signs you were displaying." Irvan paused to read the expression on Harry's face. "You needn't worry. I left your aunt and uncle a letter explaining where you went in case they desired to reach you."
"I doubt they would care overly much," Harry muttered to himself. Taken away in the middle of the night and without knowing it. They probably thought it was a Godsend. "But what happened?"
Irvan, Harry knew the man was a vampire by the fangs protruding over his lower lip, gave him a calculated look before answering. Harry wondered why the man was answering at all. "I do not know why you were dying, except that your dreams were directly related." Harry was puzzled. Dreams were causing him to die? "Though I doubt they were really dreams or night terrors given how vivid they were. The one last night was violent enough to cause that scar of yours to bleed."
"Bleed?" He must be referring to the visions.
"Harry, what do you remember about your dreams last night?" Dumbledore prodded. The only way they could solve this was to know what the boy saw while asleep.
"I. . . um. . . er . . . I." Being inarticulate at that moment, he stole a glance at Snape, who was ramrod straight in his chair, glaring darkly. Harry forced himself to swallow. There was no way the Professor could know that he saw what transpired that night, but he must have guessed. "I saw Voldemort and Professor Snape," he said finally finding his tongue, quietly fearing what the professor would do if he heard. Still cautiously watching Snape, Harry saw the expressionless mask flicker to surprise and back quickly. The glare returned darker than before and Harry shrank into his chair trying to hide.
"Potter," Snape whispered dangerously. "What exactly did you see?" The words were forced. If Harry didn't know better he would thought Snape was afraid. Of what, he couldn'y say. But he could guess it dealt with his knowledge of the vision. He ventured a look. Snape was ridged, eyes focus on nothing but Harry. Harry swallowed. Snape couldn't do anything to him with Professor Dumbledore present, and McGonnagall.
"Everything," he whispered looking away. That was perhaps the most difficult thing he had ever admitted. Snape would probably curse him into next week for seeing him so weak. And the scary part was Harry couldn't blame him. Harry himself was embarrassed over his own reaction to Voldemort's curses. Snape at least held some face towards them, even if he was a sniveling coward afterwards.
"Dammit," Snape snapped. There was a very long pause before the wizard spoke again. "Potter, I would appreciate it if you were to tell no one what you saw." Again the word were forced through clenched teeth, perhaps more so than the others. Harry suddenly had the realization that Snape was desperate, that he had blackmail material to use against him. The thought bolstered his confidence slightly, at least until he realized that doing so would hazard anything Dumbledore might have planned. But Snape was desperate; he had all but pleaded with Harry to not reveal that information. He had asked, asked, not ordered, not demanded, asked that Harry not mention it.
"Harry, I can not force you to agree to his request," Dumbledore intervened, sensing the tension. "But I will ask that you not divulge that information to anyone."
"I won't, sir. But I don't understand how those visions were killing me." Harry turned back to the vampire. It seemed this man knew more than the others. "And why were you there at all?"
Irvan cast a quick glance at Snape who nodded. The display was odd, but the creature answered. "Severus asked me to keep watch over you this summer." Harry stared dumbfounded. Such a simple statement brought up thousands of questions more. So many that he could not voice a single one.
Dumbledore saved him. "This brings us to my question. How is it the two of you know each other?"
"That can be answered simply, though I don't believe you will be satisfied with that answer, otherwise Severus would have already answered it. Simply stated: Severus saved my life."
Now it was Dumbledore who sat recovering from shock. Severus Snape was perhaps the most bias man he knew, holding a special hatred for Dark Creatures like werewolves and vampires. The fact that he had saved a vampire was astounding. "And how did this happen?"
"Seeing as how Severus is still shell-shocked, I'll take the liberty to explain."
__________________________
AN: I sincerely hope nothing blares out as impossible for the situations provided, if so I wish to correct it and keep a smooth story line moving. As you might expect next time gives a little history, jampacked with conflict, because flashbacks should always be condensed.
And for reading I say thanks.
Questions and comments are submitted below.