Disclaimer: Not mine. I wouldn't want them. They're much to difficult to keep busy.

A/N: I think this has sunk into the oblivion of back pages far enough. Just this little update before finals and then I have all of summer to devote to this. Also, thanks to all my reviewers. After this chapter meaningful events will begin to occur, I promise.

A Chip Off the Old Block

The weeks that followed held little excitement, as Hermione continued to train. Her forays into the Forbidden Forest took her deeper and deeper in, and each night she found fewer and fewer demons. It was as if they had begun to realize the Forest was no longer safe for them. Still, Hermione continued to research non-lethal methods of slaying.

The first strange event of the year occurred without warning, as they oft do, in the first week of October. Hermione was sitting in the Great Hall eating dinner with her best friends. All of a sudden, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up and she felt an adrenaline boost kick through her system. She straightened up, feeling for the stake she kept hidden under her robes. She surreptitiously surveyed the Hall, trying to locate the source of her discomfort. There. At the teacher's table. Next to Snape stood . . . Snape. A younger Snape.

Hermione poked Ron and Harry. "Look at Snape."

"Blimey, there's two of him." Ron breathed.

Harry frowned. "I didn't know Snape had family. He looks too old to be his son. A younger brother maybe?"

Hermione watched the man out of the corner of her eye, then shook her head. "That man is a vampire."

The boy's jaws dropped. "What's he doing in the castle?"

Hermione shrugged. "I don't know. But we can't do anything now." She went back to her dinner, blithely ignoring her strong desire to hurl a stake across the room.

It was near two o'clock in the morning when Hermione bid Prof. MacGonnagal goodnight and headed off to her dormitory. But her feet carried her passed the Fat Lady and down two levels, into a little-used corridor just above the dungeons. She walked slowly down the hall, peering into the shadows between the shafts of moonlight coming in from the row of high windows. Her left hand gripped a stake, while her other hand palmed the wand up her sleeve.

"Sev didn't tell me there was a Slayer in residence," a voice came from the shadows.

"Come out where I can see you, vampire," Hermione ordered.

The Snape-man stepped into a pool of moonlight, hands raised non-threateningly. "There now, no need for violence."

She glared at him. "Who are you?"

He bowed. "Why, Sediare Snape, at your service, my lady."

"Snape? I didn't know he had a brother." she challenged.

"He doesn't. I'm his father." Sediare explained.

Hermione's voice adopted her lecturing tone. "Vampires can not have children."

"A Slayer and a scholar. How neat." the vampire smiled. "Of course they can't have children. But Severus was all part of my plan. A man like me, the only male heir to the Snape name, is obligated to provide an heir. The line must continue. So I made sure to have little Sev before I became a vampire."

"Wait . . . you wanted to become a vampire?" Hermione was disgusted. Sediare didn't notice.

"But of course! I was very concerned about the family name. I've seen what's been happening to the other Pureblood families. Distasteful. I had to make sure I could keep tabs on mine for a while longer. Plus, immortality has all this. . . allure."