Another Year, Another DADA Professor
Chapter 8, "Regret"
Summary: In which Severus Snape doth verily hit Malachai Tomaren over the head with a big mallot... Actually, no. That's what Sev would do if he were writing the story. BUT HE'S NOT!
A/N: LOOK - it hasn't been a month since my last update! See? I told ya I was getting better.. (grinning)
There's some Blaise/Draco in this chappie for all you ravenous B/D shippers out there.. me included. w00t!
Thank you to all who have reviewed.. the reviews keep me motivated to finish the story, so the more I get, the faster chapter 9 will come out.. mwa ha ha ha ha! Also, my beta, killer-the-cat, has helped me a lot by letting me bounce ideas off her and also offering some of her own. Thank you!!!!
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The next morning dawned a beautiful autumn day over Hogwarts. The leaves on the trees were a myriad rainbow of reds, yellows and oranges, the air was crisp but still warm enough to keep anyone's breath from frosting over, and the sun was bright and fuzzy in the sky.
Down in the castle's bowels, however, Severus Snape saw none of this, and wasn't the least bit disappointed about it either. He was surrounded by cold, damp stone, and it suited him well. Especially today. Gone were what ever had been left of last night's enchantments, and with it the sleep that had claimed him almost against his will. The Morning After was fully upon him now, and his mind was filled with confused thoughts that even a hot bath would not wash away.
Severus hated Malachai Tomaren. Deep down, he feared him a little, too. But now.. now that Tomaren had been clearly defined as an enemy, now that he'd proved himself just as evil as any Death Eater, Severus felt he knew a little better how to handle him.
There was the small fact that he never wanted to see that damnable Vampire again, but since that wasn't an option, he was just going to have to deal with him. That meant getting him out of Hogwarts as quickly as possible, and hoping that when Voldemort sent Tomaren to the chopping block, Severus would be the one holding the axe.
He flooed Lucius at his house and told him what had happened, up till the point where he left the Vampire's chambers. The important thing was to make sure the Death Eaters would be ready for Tomaren when he went a-hunting in Hogsmeade, he knew, but there was no way he was telling Lucius that Tomaren had attacked him.
Then he wouldn't have to mention his orgasm.
He wouldn't have to admit his shame.
Severus kept remembering the feeling of the wet tongue drawing a bulls-eye on his skin. He could still feel the hand stroking his cock.. with faint echoes of the pleasure stirring within him even now.
It had felt incredibly, horribly good.
And he hated Tomaren.. hated himself.. for feeling that way. Even if logic told him that it wasn't his fault. The pleasure had to be present, or Vampires wouldn't ever find willing meals.
It was a side effect, he told himself. Designed to ensure that Tomaren got his sustenance without too much of a fight. Designed for the Vampire's survival. He shouldn't worry about it; he shouldn't be angry.
Right. Severus was bloody furious, and another part of him was damn sure it was Malachai Tomaren's fault. If he'd liked Tomaren, if Tomaren had asked, and he'd said yes.. then it would've been different. Then he wouldn't have reason to be angry.
Eventually, Severus stopped thinking about it. He pulled himself together with a scalding bath, got dressed, and dragged himself out to teach.
The first class was utter Hell. The second would be much worse.
He sat down behind his desk and found himself staring at a room full of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw first years. A sea of black and yellow and blue stared back at him dumbly, like cows.
The minutes ticked by.
Eventually, one Hufflepuff boy whose name he hadn't cared to learn timidly raised a hand.
"Ten points from Hufflepuff," he'd growled, before he'd even realized what he'd said.
A collective gasp went up. The hand went down.
"Any other questions?"
He stared at the dull (if wider than usual) eyes of Europe's youth. It was a depressing sight. "Excellent," Severus went on fiercely, "Consider this a free period."
"Sir," one pinch faced Ravenclaw began.
"Ten points from Ravenclaw I said no talking!"
It didn't matter that he hadn't actually said 'no talking'. The girl shut her mouth, that was enough for him.
The period was spent in silence. Eventually, the children stopped looking at him expectantly, and Severus spent the time reading one inch from Rocelyn Borgin's parchment on The Advantages of Blowing Stuff Up with Potions a hundred or so times over. He just couldn't concentrate on the sentences in front of him, no matter how hard he tried. Severus gave her a 'B' on the assignment because she'd managed to use twelve synonyms for "explosion" in just one sentence, and he was sure that coming up with them all had been difficult.
Time seemed to run together all too fast, even though it ticked by excruciatingly slowly. Eventually it dawned on him that a completely different set of houses and years were sitting in front of him. The Gryffindor and Slytherin fifth years were there now. When had the first year Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws left? He couldn't remember. But it was a different class.. because Ginny Weasley was there, and he knew that she wasn't a first year anymore. Wasn't she? And that flash of blonde in the back.. that had to be a Creevy.
Severus cringed. This was not good. "Bloody hell."
The students stared at him in shock. Fuck, he'd said that out loud.
Another collective gasp arose. Merlin's balls, he'd said 'fuck' out loud too.
"Open your bloody books to page fifty-seven and read about whatever potion it says to until the class is over," Severus snarled, rushing through it in a loud voice in the hopes that this would prevent too many more expletives from leaking out of his mouth. The children looked thoroughly traumatized.
Malachai had swallowed his sperm.
Bloody hell, it was going to be a long day.
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Eventually, he'd gained some control over himself. When his free period had finally rolled around, he'd woken up fully, and was thinking about the day ahead of him. It was a bad sign that it had taken that long.
Today was Tuesday. Harry Potter had an Occulmency lesson at eight o'clock tonight. Severus realized that having to deal with Harry Potter was now associated with 'Not Such A Bad Thing' in his mind, when compared to having to spend one moment in the presence of Malachai Tomaren.
Today was Tuesday. He'd told Lucius that Tomaren would most likely go to Hogsmeade on the weekends. Tomaren's convenient labeling method for his blood supply had come in very handy in anticipating his movements.
Today was Tuesday. Lucius had asked him to check on Draco today. Make sure he was doing alright. Was Lucius secretly communicating with his son already? Had Draco had a very strange house elf approach him with news of his father's prison break? He had to keep Draco away from Lucius. Draco didn't need the turmoil of being on the run with an escaped convict.
Not to mention the heart attack it would give Narcissa if she discovered her idiot husband had stolen away her darling boy.
Merlin's balls, Narcissa would hold Severus personally responsible. She would murder him.
But would that really be so bad? He could do with a rest....
Well, first thing's first. Find Draco and talk to him.
Severus knew Draco should be having Care of Magical Creatures now; he'd heard Draco complaining about it at a curfew check earlier that week. So, that meant that he was probably hanging out in the boy's dormitory with whoever else was skipping Care of Magical Creatures today.
The familiarity of the Slytherin Common Room relaxed him somewhat. He'd spent several hours a day for.. most of his life.. in this room. Around him, green and silver soothed his frayed nerves. Children who had a free period sat around, reading or talking. There weren't that many of them. Hmm.. but no Draco, so he probably was in the dormitory. Severus headed down to the sixth year's dormitory, stepping inside with little care for anyone within's privacy.
It was empty, save for Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini. Two guesses as to why that particular pair were skipping together. Neither of them looked to be in a good mood today, judging from the scowls passed between them before they turned their attention to their Head of House. Severus wondered if he'd interrupted a spat.
"Shouldn't you be in Care of Magical Creatures, Zabini?" Severus asked. He leveled a hawk-like glower on Blaise, hoping to get the boy to leave so he could talk to Draco alone.
The boy gave him a nod, folding skinny arms across his stomach with unconcern and tossing the curtain of black hair that was always getting him mistaken for a female - even by Severus, at first - over his shoulder. "Most definitely."
Severus was a bit surprised by this amazing lack of shame. Why were the Slytherins always acting their most Slytherin at the wrong moments? "Then why, may I ask, are you not there?" he asked icily.
"Because everyone's talking about it, and Pansy slapped Draco, so I'm comforting him."
Severus arched an eyebrow. Teenage gossip, dear Merlin. Blaise didn't look like he'd been doing any comforting, in fact there was still the faint buzz of tension in the room, but Severus didn't really care. "Everyone is talking about what, Mister Zabini?"
"That bloody inept Professor, that's what," Draco suddenly spoke up, his posture becoming defensive and angry. His cheek was pink.
Not now. Not him. Making more trouble? Was that even possible? Could the Vampire not stop tormenting him for two seconds? Severus had to ask, though, try and keep some semblance of professionalism in front of his students. "Draco. It isn't your place to speak so of your Professors," he chastised, though with Draco, house points were never mentioned. Severus could play favorites all he wanted, thanks so much. Minerva did it with the Potter brat. "Whom are we speaking of, here?"
"Professor Tomaren."
That was it; Severus was going to bloody resign. He knew that was the answer that was coming, but it did nothing to improve the fact that he'd been right. Stay calm in front of the students. "And what is your complaint with Professor Tomaren?"
Draco's entire face turned pink now; from anger. Blaise looked at him with some concern, and after a few moments it was clear Draco wasn't answering this one.
"He ah.. he said something very rude to Draco. In front of the class."
"Oh Salazar.. let's hear it," Severus sighed. He could feel another one of his headaches coming on. Rubbing his temple, he waited expectantly.
"Well, Draco was complaining, you see, about this grade he got on an exam.."
"Shut it, Blaise, I'll tell it," Draco growled, shoving at the smaller boy. Blaise rocked on his heels with eyeballs rolled ceiling-ward and gestured for Draco to go ahead.
"Look, this Professor is obviously a rotten teacher, he doesn't even grade fairly at all, and we aren't learning anything really.."
"Then if you aren't learning anything, how could you do badly on an exam?" Severus snapped impatiently, wishing Draco would get to the point already.
Draco stared up at him in surprise for a moment, then decided to press on. "Well anyway, I said it out loud, that we weren't learning anything. And he just looked at me - you know, he's so mousy looking, I didn't think he was going to say a word, really. Honestly, I hadn't thought he'd heard me. It wasn't very quiet in the room. He just stared at me, and he got this freakish look in his eye, and he said.. bollocks, Blaise, how exactly did he say it again?"
Blaise leaned against a bedpost, reciting the line as if he'd already said it a thousand times, "He said, 'Maybe next time you should spend more time studying your text than the inside of Mister Zabini's mouth'."
Draco covered his face with his hands, then dragged them away, his expression embarrassed. "Right in front of the whole bloody class!" he wailed, then plopped down onto a nearby bedspread.
Severus just blinked. It wasn't what Tomaren had said, precisely.. but that a teacher had said that to a student.. in front of an entire class. And that he was sure not too many students - if any - had previously known about Draco and Blaise's not-truthfully-platonic relationship.
"So Miss Parkinson slapped you, and you decided to skip your next class."
"It's going to be all over the whole school," Draco growled, then promptly fell over backwards onto the bed behind him. "Everything's ruined. My future is ruined. What will my mother say? ...What would my father say? The Parkinsons won't let me marry their daughter now - and I'm sure Pansy's now glad of that, too. She was so angry.."
Severus had missed something. "You and Pansy..." He glanced to Blaise, who was scowling again.
Draco nodded, covering his face again. "We figured, well, we're going to get married anyway - it was going to be announced at our graduation parties - so we might as well date.."
Severus didn't like the sound of this at all. "Draco.. as your Godfather, I have always thought of you as the son I never had. So keep that in mind when I say.. that was a bloody stupid thing to do."
"Well it doesn't matter now, does it?" Draco rallied angrily, sitting back up, "We're not getting married now, obviously. The Parkinsons were even reluctant when father was imprisoned.. mother barely managed to smooth things over! But now.. father known death eater, son known pouf."
Blaise laughed. No one else did.
"What about you, Zabini?" Severus asked, turning to Blaise, feeling protective of Draco and angry at the boy who had cost him so much, "Has this ruined your future as well?" It was meant to be snide and rhetorical, but the boy took the question seriously.
Blaise shrugged. "Not any future I'm aware of, Sir. Everyone back home already knows I'm gay. Sorted it all out in fourth year. I'm just going to take over the vineyard back home nobody wants; live off my trust fund.. I can bloody well shag anyone I want."
"Well aren't you sodding lucky?" Draco groused, "My parents had plans for me.."
Severus rolled his eyes. If Tomaren had only known what a favor he had potentially done Draco.. "So make new plans."
Draco stared at his Godfather as if this were the stupidest thing he'd ever heard of. "What?"
"Going deaf now, Draco? I said, make new plans. Your father's a fugitive.."
Draco winced. That had been the wrong thing to say. Oh bloody well.
"Your mother's a societal outcast because of him.. and you're a pouf. So do something different."
"Like what?"
Irritation flared. "I don't know; go live on Zabini's bleeding vineyard. Think of something." He made to leave.
"Where are you going?"
"To have a word with your Defense Professor, Draco. Don't skip anymore classes. And Zabini.. do a better job of comforting Draco, will you?"
With that, he left.
Severus made it to the Defense classroom in record time. He stepped inside to the empty room, then made his way up the little staircase that lead to the office, and walked in without knocking.
Tomaren didn't look up from where his attention was fixed on the fireplace. Dumbledore's head was reflected in its flames. "Would you care to take a walk up to my office, Malachai? I'd like to have a word with you in person.."
There was another person in the room. A young man.. no, THE young man, from Tomaren's bedside picture. Standing behind Tomaren as he reclined in a chair. He was instantly glaring daggers at Severus and tugging on Tomaren's robes, which was strange because he was certain he'd never met the man.
Tomaren looked up to see Severus, and winked. Snape's blood boiled. The Vampire swivelled his chair back to the fireplace, crossing one leg over the other. The boy waited until he'd stopped moving before picking up the Vampire's hair. ..He was braiding it. "A little later, perhaps, Albus? I'm a bit busy at the moment.."
Severus actually saw the twinkle go out of Dumbledore's eyes. "No, now." he said, in a much sterner voice than Severus had recalled hearing in years. There was no arguing with Albus when he was like that.
"..Right then. Now. Gotcha. I'll be there in two shakes of a lamb's tail, Albus.."
"Excellent." The head disappeared abruptly, and the flames died down.
"We've got company. Can I kill him?"
"Excuse me?" Severus asked, in genuine surprise, matching the young man's glare with one of his own.
"No, we can't. Calm down. So, Severus. What can I do for you?"
The young man in the picture. That meant, he had to be Tomaren's lover. At the school. Was he a Vampire too? Was Tomaren planning on turning the castle's dungeons into a Vampire Love Nest? Severus struggled to find the words to correctly express his extreme displeasure in that moment, then went on the offensive.
"How dare you make accusations against Draco when you yourself parade your lover around where any student could walk in and see him?" he growled, making no attempt to hide the rage contorting his features.
Malachai just looked calmly confused. "Lover?" he glanced backwards, trying to see over his own head without disturbing the boy's handiwork. "You mean Dusty?"
Severus blanked. "What? Why would I refer to your cat as your lover, you idiot?" Then he glanced around. "Where is that little fleabag?"
The boy made a very catlike growl deep in his throat. Tomaren smirked. "Standing right behind me."
Severus stared at the boy for a very long moment as the pieces clicked together. "..You're Dusty?" he asked, raising his brows at him.
"How's your hand?" the boy asked, smiling innocently.
He looked down at his scarred knuckles. "You're an animagus."
"Yeah."
"I kicked you."
"You tried."
This day needed to be over right now. "He's not your lover?"
"Used to be," Tomaren explained, then stood from the chair and shook out the braid Dusty had been working on.
"What did you say to Draco?" Severus asked. He was being very calm. It was taking all his concentration not to kill something.
"You know what I said."
"Did you do it to get at me?"
"Did it work?" Tomaren smiled. His canines were slightly pointier than they should've been.
"You ruined his life. Just to irritate me."
"Ah, so it did work."
"Are you aware of how unprofessional that was?"
Tomaren nodded innocently. Dusty snickered behind him. "Sure. Didn't think it would ruin the kid's life.. but hey, he's only sixteen. I'm sure it'll happen three or four more times before he dies."
"Dumbledore-"
"Is just itching to give me a stern talking-to, don't worry." Tomaren stepped towards Severus, waiting for him to get out of the way of the door.
Severus didn't move. "It's about time."
"Can I leave now? Don't want to be late.. Dusty, you'd better stick around here. I'd go cat first, though, just in case any student arrives for the next class early because she can barely contain her eagerness to learn."
The animagus nodded, snickering again. Severus scowled.
"Hey. Move." Tomaren prodded his arm lightly.
"Don't you bloody touch me!" Severus shouted, purely instinctually, and practically jumped out of Tomaren's way.
The Dark Arts Professor looked down at his hand in confusion, then back up at Severus. Dusty snickered. Severus wondered just how much the cat-man knew.. would he really laugh if he knew what Tomaren had done to him to cause that reaction? Probably. Little prat.
Severus made a mental note to inform Lucius about Dusty too... why did things always have to get more complicated the simpler you wanted to keep them?
The Potions Master put a hand to the nearby wall, recovering his breathing into some semblance of normality. Where was his wand? Forget curses, he was going to use it as a bloody stake. He glared at Tomaren through the dark curtain of his hair, waiting for the Vampire to leave, and to stop staring at him like he was sizing up a blood lollipop from Honeyduke's.
Which he was. Those too-blue eyes were locked intently on him. And he swore Tomaren was salivating. No one had ever salivated at him before. It was rather awkward.
Something deep within the Vampire's eyes glittered, and his pale lips curled into a bad imitation of a smile. "You might fear my touch now.. but you'll learn to love it later."
That had managed to be simultaneously threatening and slightly cheesy. "In your bloody dreams, you smarmy .. GIT." It was, in the end, all Severus could say. A very loudly pronounced 'GIT' seemed to sum things up pretty damn well.
Tomaren laughed, then swept out the door and down the stairs in one smooth, lightning-quick motion that certainly wasn't human.
Severus expelled a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. After a few long moments of silence, he remembered the cat. Who was, of course, a man and an animagus, but who for all intents and purposes was still a cat in Severus' mind. He turned. Dusty was staring at him oddly.
"What did he mean by that?"
Surely the boy didn't expect Severus to deign to answer. Look at him.. wearing pants and a sweater that were obviously too big. Both he and Tomaren seemed to be perpetual members of the Clothes Too Large Club. Severus glared an answer at Dusty, but the boy still seemed to be expecting something from him.
"He was looking at you very strangely. And you totally freaked out when he touched you." Dusty sat on the desk, leaning his head back, clearly mulling all this over. "Has he touched you before?"
"Why? Should I be worried that I'm going to catch something now that he has? Is stupidity contagious with Vampires?"
Dusty didn't look amused. Severus didn't know why not; he thought it was a hilarious joke. Lucius would have laughed.
"Great. Let me guess. He fed from you, and while his Vampiric enchantments were literally charming your pants off, you had an orgasm, and now you feel all ashamed and disgusted."
Severus felt his face go hot. He retreated further behind his hair and recoiled into his robes.
Dusty just nodded to himself, frowning slightly. "Just face it; you liked it. It'll be much easier to deal with once you simply accept that."
"Not a bloody chance," Severus growled. "Do not presume to think that you know what has happened to me."
"It's as clear as day. I've seen it before."
"Sod off."
"I'm supposed to be here. If you don't want to talk to me anymore, all you have to do is leave." Dusty shrugged, as if he didn't care either way.
"Answer me one thing. If you aren't his lover 'anymore', they why are you traveling around with this insufferable prat?" Severus asked. It wasn't an important question, but he was curious and he wanted to change the subject away from 'you liked it when he molested you' because that insistence was making him quite angry. He hadn't given his consent and there was no way he would; it was as simple as that.
Dusty gave him another odd look. That was it; the next person to stare at Severus as if he'd spouted a second head was getting a demonstration on the proper way to cast the Cruciatus curse. "What? Because I'm his friend. Don't you have friends?" the cat asked snidely.
"Yes. They eat kittens. So shut the bloody hell up before I tell them where you sleep at night." Okay, that had been petty, and it hadn't done anything very damaging to Dusty, but Severus didn't care. He just wanted to be gone from the boy.
Dusty opened his mouth to say something - apparently it had been a doozy of a something, judging from the huge 'O' shape his lips had been forming - when the floo erupted again.
It was Albus' head, as before, and he was looking unhappy about something. "Severus? I need to speak with you."
Well. That couldn't be good.