AN: I'm so glad people like this story.
RECAP:
The silence stretched on, as neither mother, daughter, nor cat could think of anything to say. But then her mother cleared her throat.
"I assume you heard everything." She said stiffly. Ana stared at her mother. The pale face testifying to the fact that her mother had taken her make up off for the day. Grey shadows around her eyes told Ana what she feared.
Her mother is a vampire.
END RECAP.
Disclaimer- I don't own anything. No, seriously. Lol.
Breaking out of her reverie, Ana cleared her throat.
"Yes," She croaked, "Everything."
Her mother looked thoughtful for a moment, gazing into the fireplace.
"I didn't want you to find out this way…" she said absentmindedly. Anger flared inside Ana.
"No, you'd rather I found out from some stranger. Is that it?" she said angrily. Her mother looked up sharply, the expression on her face making Ana feel guilty.
"You know that's not true," She whispered, "I was waiting for the right time. The right time never presented itself to me, and now you're being whisked away." Her mother smiled slightly, " But I'm glad we are able to talk about this before you leave."
Ana didn't know how to feel. She just found out that she's a vampire, a witch, and on top of that, she's being shipped off to some magical school. Tonight. She was a whirlwind of emotions, and she desperately struggled to not get caught up in them. She found her self closing her eyes and holding her hands to her face, trying to keep hold of her usual calm.
" Ana? We need to hurry. The bus leaves at 9." Soren told them, glancing at the clock. "Of course, we'll have to stay at the Leaky Cauldron for the night. But given the fact that it's 8 o'clock now, we really must get going."
Ana took her hands away from her face slowly, glaring at the cat.
"You can't possibly expect me to believe all of this. This is insane!" she leapt to her feet, pacing angrily, any thought of emotional control out the window.
"First, this cat harasses me at school, follows me home and starts talking! Then, as if that's not strange enough, he tells me I'm a witch! "Must talk to your mother", he says, "tell her about you going to school", he says. And oh, lo and behold, my mother's a vampire! And then I find that I am too. And you expect me to go along with all of this? Ha! Nice try, but your little joke didn't fool me. Sorry." She snapped, sitting down in a huff, she glared at both of them.
They sat watching her throughout the entire explosion, calmly, as if studying her. They blinked.
"I told you she probably wouldn't be able to handle all of this at once…." The cat mumbled to Mrs. Darkly.
"Hmm….we may have to postpone her departure…." They conversed like she wasn't even in the room, although their eyes remained focused on her.
"Hello! I'm right here, you know!"
"No! We can't put this off. She must leave tonight. Now. The professor is expecting to see her tomorrow. And he's not one to keep waiting…." Soren mumbled the last part. Ana struggled to control her anger. Her eye twitched with the effort.
"Mother…will you please tell this cat…that I'm not leaving?" she ground out between clenched teeth. Her mother sighed.
"I'm sorry darling. He's right, we can't put off your education. You have so much to catch up on."
"I'm educated enough…"
"Not the right way, you aren't. You don't know anything about magic, and that's the world you belong to now." Her mother told her softly. Ana glared at her mother.
"You're going to just…just send me away? And with a cat? A talking cat!" Ana fairly shrieked. "You expect me to just go along with your craziness!"
Her mother sighed wearily.
"Ana….please just handle this like I know you can." She pleaded. Ana's mouth closed in shock, making an audible snapping noise. "You're more level headed then this and you know it."
Ana blinked back the tears that were suddenly threatening to spill over.
"We'll I'm glad you hold such a high opinion of me. But sometimes the price of a level head is more than I'm willing to pay." She said coldly. 'How dare she act like I should be able to handle this. She's making it seem like I'm acting childish! Doesn't she know what being this way does to me? Doesn't she know that I can barely feel anything anymore?'
"Please, I realize this is all so sudden. But we must leave immediately." Soren tried to remind them without getting them angry.
Ana glared at her mother for not understanding. She got to her feet.
"Fine then. Let's go." She said sharply, walking to the door. Soren glanced quickly at Mrs. Darkly.
"Please watch out for her. I have a feeling she's going to need looking after…." She trailed off, taking a sip of her rum. Soren nodded to Mrs. Darkly, then quickly darted out the door to follow the fuming vampiress.
Ana brushed away the tears that were spilling down her cheeks. 'In the morning, I'm going to feel stupid about acting this way….' She berated herself. Soren caught up with her.
"Do I need to pack anything?" she asked stiffly, not looking down at him. Soren felt crummy.
"No, nothing. You'll have to buy all new things. And we'll do that tomorrow. Actually you don't need much. I have a list of what you'll need for school. You'll love Hogwarts! It's the best school there is for witches and wizards!" Soren said brightly, attempting to cheer her up.
Ana glared at him, her eyes flickering pure fire.
Soren cringed at the murderous glare, and decided against trying to make her happy.
They walked out the door to the limo that was waiting there. Ana got in without another thought. At the moment, getting away from here was all she wanted. Soren leapt into the backseat with her.
The driver took off; driving them closer and closer to a world that Ana didn't know existed this morning.
Ana sat numbly in the back seat, staring out the window. She compared this ride to the one she had taken to school this morning, and how everything was easier then. How long ago it seemed…
Soren instructed the driver where to go and 30 minutes later, they were there. At the bus stop, Ana refused to aknowledge Soren. They sat on the bench and waited. In a few minutes, the bus pulled up and they got on, Ana paying for the ride. The bus driver was startled by the black cat that jumped in after Ana.
"Hey! You can't have that cat in here!" he exclaimed. Ana glared daggers at him and handed him a 20 dollar bill. Satisfying the greedy driver, Ana took the first empty seat she saw. Sitting stiffly, she continued to ignore Soren, even though he was sitting right beside her.
Ana was still in a bit of a contemplative daze, when Soren told her they had arrived.
"Where are we?" she questioned blankly, not really interested. She climbedoff the busafter Soren.
"The Leaky Cauldron. Come along now, we're really late. Hopefully there'll be some rooms available. If not, we'll have some…ahem….persuading to do." Mischief twinkled in the black cat's eye. Ana raised her eyebrow in question. A mischievous talking cat…
Ana took in the rundown, dark, and altogether shabby look of the building, and her eyes got big. She felt a spark of excitement at the prospect of sleeping in such a mysterious place. It was so different then the kind of buildings she usually stayed in if her parent's ever took her anywhere.
"Ahem….Ana? Are you coming?" she hadn't noticed the cat walking in without her.
"Oh…yeah." She answered, walking in after him.
Just as she was about to enter, a wave of dizziness passed through her, making her grasp the doorframe for support. Her vision blurred and she heard a scream inside her head. Looking around quickly for the source of the scream, she saw that no one seemed to hear it. Mildly unsettled by the strange experience, she decided to ignore it and pretend it never happened. The dizziness passed and she walked unsteadily through the door.
She was overwhelmed by the smell of smoke. There were people scattered throughout the pub, dressed in the oddest assortment of clothes she had ever seen. Soren distracted her by trotting up and leaping onto the bar to talk to a grizzly old man.
Ana's eyes continued to wander around the room. A man dressed in long black robes was seated at a table in the darkest corner of the pub. He had a hood over his head hiding his face, but Ana felt like he was looking straight at her.
She turned away quickly, hoping he didn't notice her looking at him. Moving a little closer to Soren, Ana caught some parts of the conversation.
"What do you mean, you don't want us staying here?" Soren asked, shocked. The grizzly old man scowled at the black cat on his bar.
"Just what I said. I don't need any trouble here."
"TROUBLE?" Soren nearly shrieked, causing a few customers to glance over to see what the commotion was. Ana saw the hooded figure turn sharply to look at them. The owner visibly gulped, noticing how much attention they were attracting.
"Keep it down, will ya? I got important customers in here." He said nervously, smiling at the customers.
"Oh really? And we aren't important customers? MAYBE ALL THE PEOPLE HERE--" and here he raised his voice and turned to the crowd, "WOULD LIKE TO KNOW HOW YOU ARE REFUSING SERVICE TO WELL PAYING CUSTOMERS?" he yelled, making the owner cringe. "A cat and a little girl…. Honestly, are we that intimidating?" he quietly growled the last part.
"I'm not stupid, I hear people talk. I know what she is!" he said in a furious whisper.
The owner was glaring daggers at Soren, who was glaring right back. Ana shuffled her feet uncomfortably aware of all the stares. Finally, the owner relented.
"Fine. I got one empty room. It's got hot water and one bed. And that's the best you'll be getting." He growled.
"Wonderful! We'll take it." Soren's expression brightened immediately. The owner took a key down off the wall and led them up the stairs to a room. Giving them the key, the owner scowled at them. Soren smiled up at him.
"Thank you for your wonderful service." Soren said brightly. Without the crowd of customers surrounding them, the owner suddenly seemed more willing to yell at them.
"Show of the times, it is. The day they let one of…..them…." and here he jabbed a dirty finger at Ana, "one of them go to a school like Hogwarts!" he spat at Ana's feet. She took a step back quickly, glaring at him icily.
Something inside her reared it's ugly head and took control.
"You nasty little simpleton….how dare you speak to me that way…..how dare you….." she hissed, quickly stepping towards him.
He nearly fell backwards, trying to scramble away. Sputtering and red faced, he tried to retreat from her approaching form.
"Not so loud now, are you?" she taunted. She knew something was wrong with her; she knew she was out of control. But her mouth was so dry…she wanted so much to drink something…maybe just a little sip…
She was vaguely aware of Soren hissing her name and scratching at her ankles, but it was like something nagging at her from the back of her consciousness. She continued to approach the disgusting man, the beast that had taken over reveling in his blatant fear. The voice that was inside her mind laughed, and she recognized it as the voice that had screamed. Horrified, she realized the voice was her own, the dark chuckling coming from her own parted lips.
The horrified part of her fought this invasion of her mind, trying to stop herself from approaching the cowering form of the pub owner. Her footsteps slowed, but didn't stop. The chuckling stopped and she felt the beast bristle in anger at her defiance. Stop walking….stop walking……stop walking…..she repeated to herself, over and over.
The beast roared with laughter. Inside her mind, she could hear it. 'You think you can defy me? You're just a child! You know nothing about what I am! How do you presume to stop me, young one? You're little mantra is quite amusing. Pointless, but amusing. No, you need to feed…. And I will help you… there is nothing you can do to prevent this…. So stop your struggling, little one…You will find this enjoyable…'
She could feel her common sense being pushed away, and replaced with a fierce hunger for life blood.…She jumped upon the now screaming man, and slowly lowered her head, taking note of his eyes. It was his eyes that made her stop. Sheer horror, in the most pure form, was written upon his face. His eyes were wide and wild with fear. Ana paused, trying vainly to push the beast from her thoughts, her eyes closed tightly with the effort.
"Stupefy." Ana briefly heard a voice from behind her say,and she was quickly hit by a red light which threw her away from the owner's body.
Her head connected with the opposite wall and her world went black.
She was floating somewhere between consciousness and the dark she had previously been occupying. She could see herself somehow, and she guessed it was her reflection in a mirror. But her reflection was standing differently and it moved when she didn't. She realized she was looking at her beast. It was her, and yet it wasn't.
"Pretty, aren't I?" it said, laughingly. Ana kept silent, unsure of what was happening. The reflection rolled its eyes. "You're unconscious, stupid. I decided we should have a little conversation before you wake up. Nice little meeting place, huh?" she said, motioning to the little room. It was unfurnished except for a cushion that was positioned on the floor in front of her strange other self.
"What happened?" Ana asked the reflection, sitting down on the cushion.
"Some nosy git interrupted our little snack." It said, nose wrinkling in disdain. "But we'll find out about that one. It's your job to discover who it was. If only we had known some countercurses…. But we'll soon learn those!"
Ana was puzzled.
"Why did you try to make me bite that man?" she questioned angrily.
Her beast snorted in amusement.
"Why? Because you needed his blood, stupid. And it's not my fault you freaked out! Thanks to "Mommy", you've never needed to drink from anyone. I think you were a little startled by the idea…But that's why I'm here! Well, I've always been inside you; you've just never needed me until now. Just think of me as you, except more awesome and not as boring." She taunted laughingly.
'Arrogant little thing, isn't she? Hmmm….' Ana thought.
"I am not arrogant! I'm just more confident than you! And besides, I am you. No need to be jealous of yourself….."she chuckled. Ana glared at her, just realizing that she could hear her thoughts.
"Of course I can hear your thoughts. I'm you, stupid. Get it through your head." She said with a sigh.
Suddenly, Ana could feel herself being pulled backwards, away from the room with her beast.
"Okay…you're waking up now. Don't forget to yell at whoever stunned us!" her beast yelled before Ana drifted awake. She feigned sleep and listened to what was happening around her. There were people talking….
"That was completely unnecessary! You could have hurt her!" That voice she recognized as Soren, and he was pissed. Then, a cool, calm voice answered him.
"Unnecessary? She almost had her fangs into the man. Stop being delusional. She's dangerous, and your denial of this will cause someone to get hurt." A man's voice stated calmly.
"Well, you didn't have to knock her out! You could have just restrained her!"
"And have an angry vampire on my hands? Her beast had taken control. How long has it been since she's fed?" he asked, sounding slightly annoyed. She could hear Soren pacing, his paws making soft thumping sounds as he walked anxiously around her still form.
"A couple of hours ago maybe? I don't know! Can't you wake her up?"
"No, it's better if she sleeps and regains consciousness naturally. Here, give her this when she wakes up." The man said, and Ana could hear him setting something down on a table beside the bed she was laying in.
"What is it?"
"It's a potion. Just think of it as concentrated blood. After she drinks this, she won't need it for at least another few days. It's a fairly mild compared to the one I will give her when she gets to Hogwarts. It will suppress any urges she has to attack someone for blood."
At the mention of blood, Ana accidentally opened her eyes.
"It seems she has awoken. I will see you at Hogwarts tomorrow. Good-bye." He said curtly, and Ana saw with horror that it was the man dressed in the cloak that had been sitting in the corner of the bar. Soren jumped on top of Ana and stared straight into her eyes.
"Oh thank God…." He said, overcome with relief. He turned to the stranger dressed in robes. "Thank you professor. Yes, we look forward to seeing you tomorrow." The "professor" smirked slightly, noticing the look of horror on Ana's face.
"Indeed." He said, before turning quickly and walking out the door, his black robes billowing behind him.
Ana pushed the worried cat off of her.
"Soren? Who was that?" she asked, disconcerted.
"That's Professor Snape. He's the one whois staying at Hogwarts over the summer. Coincidentally, he's the one who will be helping you catch up on everything. Why do you ask?"
"He just seemed kind of…. well, evil. I guess that would be the only way to describe it."
Soren scoffed.
"Well you better get used to it! He's your professor and you'll be spending all summer with him."
Ana blanched at the thought. All summer….She suddenly remembered all that had happened in the past hour.
"How dare he stun me like that!" she exclaimed furiously. She spotted the vial of dark red liquid on the table beside her.
"Oh yes, you're going to have to drink that. It'll stop any more of those nasty little encounters with your beast." Soren told her.
Ana gasped in surprise.
"How do you know about--"
"Your beast? Every vampire has one. It's not your fault you lost control. You'll soon learn to handle stuff like that. Now drink that and go to sleep. Tomorrow we have to go to Diagon Alley and get your things."
Ana picked up the vial and pulled the cork. Hesitantly lifting it to her nose, she took a sniff.
Ugh….it smelled vile. Rancid. Rusty. All together disgusting. And she was supposed to drink this?
"No way. This stuff is nasty. It's probably poison." She told Soren. He sighed.
"You have to drink it. It probably doesn't taste as bad as it smells." He said reassuringly. She lifted an eyebrow skeptically. But she held her nose with one hand and quickly poured the contents down her throat.
Soren was wrong. It tasted just as gross as it smelled, if not worse. She thought for a moment that she might retch. But the contents of the vial slid into her stomach and she felt a warm sensation that wasn't altogether unpleasant. It calmed her burning veins and she was no longer thirsty.
Soren had watched her gulp down the liquid and cringed as her face contorted with disgust.
"That nasty, huh?"
"You have no idea…." She told him.
"Well, goodnight. I'll see you in the morning."
"Hmm…. Yes, goodnight." She said distracted by the feeling of the liquid in her stomach. She suddenly felt very sleepy. 'Maybe he put something in this to make me sleep…' was her only thought before sleep stole her away.
Soren smiled, watching her sleeping form. He felt a sort of brotherly love for her, and he was glad she had handled things well today.
Well, as well as could be expected. After all, it's not everyday that somebody finds out she:
1. Is a witch.
2. Is a vampire.
3. Has a beast inside her, forcing her to lose control over her own body.
4. Is going to a school that she had never even heard of before.
Yes….She was doing very well considering all these things.
Well? How was it? Tell me! I must know! R&R!