A/N: Hello everyone! Happy Valentine's Day to one and all, single or taken! I bring to you many thanks for supporting me and this journey of a story. I thank you all for the kind reviews and for the kind words and thoughts that you have shared with me. I now bring you another update, short and sweet. Please enjoy!

OOOOOOOOO

Avonlea sighed as she gathered her books together at the end of class. Her best friend muttered something about needing to rush to the ladies' room and left without waiting for Avonlea to stand. The Veela Halfling could feel the eyes of some of her peers on her flesh, burning into her like hot iron. This had been a common occurrence for the past week and hadn't been getting easier on her. Carissa had told her to ignore it since Avonlea had been unable to rein in her Veela charms and make the best of it.

"Maybe you'll find your mate easier this way," the daughter of Severus Snape had said, shrugging a shoulder as they looked over their notes about Veela in front of the fire every night. "He'll get a bit of that charm in his system and come running into your life."

"Hey Avonlea," someone said, attracting her attention.

Heat flooded Avonlea's face at being addressed by someone that she barely interacted with. "Hey Troy…"

"So, the Yule Ball is coming up," Troy muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. "And I was wondering if you'd like to go…with me?"

"Oh!" Avonlea almost dropped her books.

"I mean, you don't have to go with me. If you have already agreed to go with someone else, that's cool too. I was just wondering in case you don't have a date for that night…"

His face is redder than mine has ever been, Avonlea noticed, brushing back the hair that had fallen in her face. I didn't think that was possible…Why does that seem like a cute trait to me?

"No one's asked me to the Ball, Troy," Avonlea told him, hugging her books to her chest. "But I need some time to think about this…I mean, I haven't ever had someone ask me out before and well…I'm new at this."

"Oh, yeah. That's cool. Take all the time that you need. I promise that you will enjoy the night, though, if you go with me. No pressure though." He smiled, flashing bright perfect teeth. "I'll see you around, Avonlea. Okay?"

"Okay," Avonlea said with a nervous smile.

She watched him walk away, leaving her to stand in the classroom like a fool. Avonlea's eyes turned towards the front of the classroom when she felt her skin burning from a harsh glare. Severus Snape's eyes held hers as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Sir?" Avonlea asked, adjusting her grip on her books.

"That boy," Snape said in his waspish voice, gesturing with his eyes at the door that Troy had vanished through. "Was he the one?"

Avonlea shook her head. "No, sir. He's – he's just asking me to consider something."

"And what would that be?"

"He wanted to know if I would attend the Yule Ball with him this year," the Veela Halfling admitted, though she didn't see how that could mean anything to what was going on in the time of her change. "I told him that I would consider his offer."

"Why must you waste time dating the wrong men, Miss Raven? You need to use your remaining time in an attempt to find your mate, not by remaining near the boys that are not him." Snape's glare intensified. "Unless you have given up the search and have wasted my valuable time in a search that would be in vain…"

The Veela's eyes flashed angrily and her small fangs gleamed in the dim light. "I am not giving up, sir! Why would I? I don't particularly find the option of becoming a vampire a pleasant one! I have been looking, sir! I have gone into situations that have placed me out of my comfort zone in order to be around as many of the males in this school as I could. Have I found him? No, I haven't. Will I give up? No! Not until the last moment of my human life!" She straightened her spine stiffly. "And I never asked for you to waste your time on me, sir! I never asked for you to become involved in any of this!"

Snape's eyes darkened. "You are a walking time bomb, Miss Raven, but that doesn't mean that you can talk to me like that."

Avonlea sneered at him. "Am I wasting more of your time, Professor? Would you like me to go away and sniff some more boys and report back to you which one doesn't smell the worst?"

She had no idea why she was picking a fight with Snape or why she wasn't cowering behind her desk. It was something that had never done before and never would have dared to consider. Yet, Avonlea knew it was too late for her to go back now. An apology wouldn't help in this situation with Snape and she knew that she couldn't apologize. She'd gone too far to turn back like a coward. And she didn't feel like doing it anyway.

"Seventy points from Slytherin," Snape said, looking livid. "Now leave my sight and remember that you must respect all of your professors, Miss Raven, or I will see to it that your last moments as a normal witch bear no entertainment of any kind."

"Very well, sir. Goodbye." The Veela Halfling turned away from him and moved out of the classroom, her head held high and her back stiff.

Avonlea leaned against a wall of the castle one floor below the classroom that she had vacated, letting her breath out in a whoosh. Her body trembled with the realization that she, a cowardly nerd, had stood up against a professor. And not just any professor. Professor Severus Snape, the most feared and dangerous professor in the entire castle.

"What the hell is going on with me?" Avonlea asked herself, brushing her hair back away from her face. "Flirting, smiling, dancing…arguing? This isn't me. This isn't me at all. Why is my heritage hitting me so hard, so quickly?"

Notes flashed before her mind's eye as she tried to remember what she knew about her impending change. She remembered a small note that said that a Veela could possibly come into her nature faster than others, depending on the Veela herself. Change rates could be sped up in some Veela, which would explain why she was dealing with all of this, but all Veela had the same deadline for their change. On their seventeenth birthday, they would come fully into their Veela heritage or become a vampire.

"I'm one of those girls then," Avonlea muttered, swiping her tongue across her bottom lip. "Perfect. Ouch!" The Veela winced as her tongue caught on her sharpened fangs. "I really need to keep these hidden from people," she muttered. "And to keep them from cutting my tongue every single time they come out unexpectedly."

She closed her eyes and willed the fangs away, allowing her body to relax for the first time since she had left Snape's classroom. It took a moment, but she managed to get herself calmed down enough to push herself away from the wall and decide to look for her best friend.

"Lea!" Carissa called out, running down the hall with her bag slamming against her hip. "There you are! Damn, you look like you've gone through Hell."

"Gee, it's good to see you too, Rissa," Avonlea said, rolling her eyes.

"What happened when I left for a quick run to the loo?" Carissa asked, straightening the strap of her bag.

"Enough to ruin my entire day," Avonlea said, but she knew that Carissa wouldn't be happy with that short, undetailed answer. "Well, Troy asked me out to the Yule Ball."

Carissa's eyes widened. "Troy? Did what?"

"Troy asked me to join him at the Yule Ball as his date."

"And what did you say? Tell me that you didn't agree to go out with him!"

Avonlea arched an eyebrow. "What difference does it make on how I answered him?"

"It's a big difference." Carissa reached out and grabbed hold of one of Avonlea's hands. "Unless he's the one that you need to mate with forever, then you shouldn't force yourself to go out with him just because he asked you. I-I don't want you to be trapped in a relationship that won't lead to you being happy for the rest of your life. And Troy, well, Troy's not the person that you need right now, Lea." She squeezed Avonlea's hand. "So, what did you tell him when he asked?"
"I told him that I would think about it," Avonlea said softly.

"Then you can tell him that you decided against it."

"I could."

"What else happened?" Carissa asked, peering into Avonlea's eyes for more answers. "There's something else that you're not telling me, Lea. Spill it. Now."

Avonlea took a small breath and looked down at their joined hands. "I got into an argument with Snape. A really bad one. I said somethings that weren't very respectful, Rissa. And he looked at me like I was slime daring to use that tone with him. I've never done something like that to people in front of their faces…"

Carissa's dark eyes widened until they seemed like they were going to pop out of her head. "You argued with my dad? Avonlea! How could you have done that?"

"I just – well, I just snapped a little."

"A little? You spoke back to a professor and you decided that the first one that you'd talk back to was the scariest one in Hogwarts." She smiled proudly and squeezed Avonlea's hand tightly. "You go, girl!"

"Wait, what?"

"You're getting a voice of your own, Lea," Carissa explained. "And you're showing that you won't let anyone mess with you anymore. You won't take any more bull from my dad and he's now very aware of that. Oh, I can't wait to see what you're going to do next. Maybe you'll finally make him see that you're not that scared little mouse that entered his classroom seven years ago because now you're a blooming, confident, sensual young woman. And that could help you with your little problem."

"Only you would see it that way, Rissa." Avonlea pressed a hand against her stomach. "Can we go down the Great Hall now? I'm really hungry."

"That's what you get for skipping lunch," Carissa said, smiling and pulling Avonlea towards the nearest staircase. "I can't wait to tell Katia and Cassius about what you did in that classroom after class. They're going to be so impressed with you. We might even sneak some Fire Whisky into our room and share it with you in celebration of the awakening of confidence in you, Lea. You deserve it."

Avonlea let herself be pulled down the steps, keeping an eye out for the vanishing ones that used to trip her up. A small smile rested on her face as she listened to her best friend prattle on and on about what had gone on in Potions that day.

Am I finding a voice that everyone didn't think that I ever would?

OOOOOOOOO

Avonlea sat on the overstuffed chair by the fire of the room she shared with Carissa, a steaming cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows held between her cold fingers. On her lap was a small magazine that her mother had sent to her during the dinner hours. Fashionable dress after dress was shown on the pages, all in rich colors and fabrics. She didn't need to read her mother's accompanying note to know that she wanted Avonlea to stick with the best of all the dresses because she deserved to have the best. Avonlea flipped through the pages without interest and without truly seeing the images on them.

I have a couple weeks left, Avonlea told herself, flipping the page from a pink one to a very blue covered one. I can go shopping in Hogsmeade before then and find a dress that makes me happy. I don't care about the price or color. I just want to be happy. I want my mate to see that dress and be happy too…Is that too much to ask?

The smell of warm potions and old books met her nose, causing her to look up in alarm. There was no one in the room beside her since Carissa had snuck off to barter for a bottle of Fire Whisky. Avonlea knew that her mind was just playing tricks on her as she sat there alone. It wanted her to acknowledge what her heart was yearning for, just to make the pain and fear go away.

Will he ever look at me like I see men look at young women? Avonlea wondered, looking down at an image of a young witch posed lovingly with a nicely dressed man. Will he ever see me like someone that he could love like this? Could I ever be what he wants me to be? Should I even bother trying to make him see me anymore? Did what I do today ruin all chances that I have of letting him in close enough to see what role he truly plays in this problem of mine?

"I'm royally screwed," Avonlea said to herself, throwing the magazine into the fire and watching the fire consume it.

OOOOOOOOO

A/N: My dears, what do you think of this? I hope that you will all leave a nice little review in the little box where reviews live. I will be attempting to get another update up in a few weeks, if not sooner or later. I haven't really decided yet. Please have a wonderful week and consume lots of chocolate with love. -Scarlet