A/N: Hello everyone! It's time for another update, but I'd like to thank the reviewers from the last update and all of the new supporters. This update is a little bit longer than the last one and things get set into place. Please enjoy this little gift that I want to share with you.

OOOOOOOOO

Katia stepped out of the dressing room for the third time that day, dressed in a green dress that complimented her eyes as well as her slim figure. "What do you think about this one?" she asked, swishing the skirt around while Carissa looked at her.

"That's the one," Carissa told her, standing in her own dress in the color of deep black. "You can wear some black gems and I'll wear some green ones to match. Okay?"

Katia nodded and Carissa's eyes turned onto Cassius. "You should wear a black suit and a green shirt, babe. That way you match us too." She waved her hand dismissively. "Go and get all of that for yourself. And try to keep that old lady from fondling you as she 'helps' you find the right size. You're a big boy and you know what size you wear in everything."

"And we're the only two ladies that can fondle you, honey," Katia added, blowing a kiss at the boy that both she and Carissa were dating.

Cassius shrugged a shoulder and turned away, heading towards the less crowded section where boys were looking through the slim pickings of formal wear. Carissa watched him for a moment before knocking on the door to the dressing room that Avonlea was trying her own dress on.

"Lea, you've been in there for ages," she complained, banging her fist against the door once more. "You need to come out here and show us the dress or I'm going to come in there and drag you out here by your hair. Which is it going to be?"

The Halfling sighed from behind the door. "I'm coming out, Carissa. You don't have the money to pay to replace the door anyway."

Carissa wagged her eyebrows at Katia, who stuffed her fist in her mouth to keep from laughing. "But the money that you're sharing with us could buy this entire store, love. Now, come on. I want to see your pretty dress."

The doorknob turned and Avonlea stepped out in a long silvery-white dress that hung low on her shoulders and clung to all the right curves. Avonlea nervously twirled her hair around her fingers, her face flushing with heat.

"Well?" she prompted, waving her free hand to encompass the dress. "What do you think, Rissa?"

Carissa waved a hand to mime cooling herself off. "Whoa. That's the dress. Right, Katia?"

The other girl nodded and Avonlea smiled slightly at her best friend.

"I don't have to alter it at all," Avonlea said, glancing down at the shimmering material. "It fits me well."

"Like it was made for you," Katia sighed dreamily. "Just for you."

"I don't think that your mate is going to be able to take his eyes off of you the entire night," Carissa said, smiling wickedly. "And he'll have a harder time keeping his hands off of you."

The color in Avonlea's face darkened as more heat rushed to her cheeks. Carissa laughed at her and pulled the girl into her arms.

"You're really pretty, Lea," she whispered. "And not just because you're part Veela. I hope that you'll enjoy the Yule Ball when it happens and hold onto the memories and feel as pretty as a girl should when dressed like this." She stepped back and looked at the tag that was attached to Avonlea's dress. "This should take a sizeable chunk out of the money that your mom sent you. Won't that make her happy?"

Avonlea nodded and smiled at her friend. "We should get out of these dresses and pay for them while there's room enough to breathe." She glanced around them. "People are getting tired of waiting for us to finish up in these dressing rooms."

The daughter of Severus Snape didn't seem to care about the people that were glaring at the small trio. She shrugged a shoulder and pushed Avonlea towards the dressing room that she had just vacated.

"I'm more concerned about your dress getting taken," Carissa said, opening the door. "Our dresses are to die for and I am not going to let someone sweep them away from our hands." She shoved Katia into another dressing room. "Girls, get changed first and guard our things. We're going to save Cassius, pay for our goods, and get out of here away from the wolves." She wagged a finger in Avonlea's face. "No arguing, Missy."

Avonlea bit her bottom lip, but didn't disobey her best friend. Carissa moved to stand guard over the two dressing rooms and glanced past the heads of girls vying for the dress of their dreams. She saw the outside world being coated with a light blanket of snow and was glad that she wouldn't have to track through a thick blanket before heading back to Hogwarts. Her eyes widened a little when she saw her father moving through the snow, head bent and shoulders hunched against the world.

He's probably heading to the bar, Carissa thought, shaking her head. But at least then he won't bring his dark cloud over our heads again.

OOOOOOOOO

Avonlea moved through the small store that contained jewelry of different fashions and colors. Cassius was standing near the front of the store, holding the dresses that Avonlea had bought for herself and her two friends. Katia and Carissa were comparing black and green jewelry, muttering about how much it would cost to get one piece over the other. They all had a pact that they would spend as much of the money that Avonlea's mother had sent as they could without becoming too laden with the finer things. And so far, they were going through the money at a reasonable pace.

She ran her fingers over a purple jeweled necklace and earring set. It was one of her mother's favorite things to do – buy jewelry that was worth more than some people made in a year. Avonlea had never been a fan of gaudy jewelry, though, barely wearing heavy gems unless her mother forced her to wear them. The thought of wearing cold metal and cold gems that were mined and that exploited poor workers made her stomach clench in uncomfortable knots.

"Found them," Carissa announced, bounding over with a heavy gold and green necklace in her hand. Katia came over with her heavy silver and black jewelry. "How about you, Lea?"

"I'm not sure what to get," Avonlea muttered, trailing her fingers over another set of jewelry. "I don't think that I should since my dress is so –"

"You have to get something," Carissa said, cutting across her friend. "Don't think that for a moment that your mother won't have someone there to take a picture of you in your complete glory."

"Mom won't hire a photographer, Rissa."

"Isn't it better to be safe than to deal with her bitchy tirade later?"

Avonlea frowned, but nodded. She smacked Katia's hand away when the girl tried to place a tiara on her head. "Don't."

Carissa reached around Avonlea and plucked up a white-gold choker necklace that held soft blue sapphires. She held the necklace next to Avonlea's neck and tilted her head to the side, biting her tongue as she did so. Avonlea stood perfectly still; suddenly unsure of what her friend was doing.

"Rissa?"

"This one," Carissa decided, lowering the necklace. "This is definitely the one necklace that you need to wear at the Yule Ball. It's perfect for you, Lea, so don't argue."

Katia bounced on the balls of her feet. "Are you sure that you don't want to wear a tiara? You could be a princess for a night."

"I don't want to be a princess," Avonlea said, gently taking the necklace from her friend. "Let's just get out of here. The expensiveness of this place is starting to bother me."

"Here, here!" Cassius called out, earning a glare from the lady that ran the jewelry store.

Avonlea hurried her group of friends up to the counter as more students funneled into the store. The price that the lady said had Katia swooning and Avonlea's stomach knotted even more to the point that she felt pain and had to place a hand against it. Cassius let out a low whistle and backed away, heading outside into the light snow.

"Fifty galleons," Carissa said as the entire group headed out of the jewelry store. "You still have fifty galleons left over, Lea. Do you want to send them back to your mother or find some other use for them?"

"Mom will kill me if I send her any money back," Avonlea said, shoving her hands into the pockets of her coat. "And I don't want to spend anything really. You guys can divvy the remainder up and buy whatever it is that you want."

Cassius draped his arm around her shoulders. "Aw, you spoil us so much, Lea. No wonder we love you so much."

"Don't push it," Avonlea muttered, shoving his arm away. She turned around and glared at the people that were walking behind them. "You lot have a problem?"

Carissa looked surprised for a moment as she turned to see what Avonlea was looking at. Two Slytherin boys from their level were standing there, smiling at the Veela Halfling.

"Speak," Avonlea ordered sharply. "Or leave us alone."

The darker of the two Slytherin boys cleared his throat and took a step forward. "We – I was just wondering if you'd like to come to the Ball with me. I hear you don't have a date yet and –"

"No. I don't have a date," Avonlea agreed, putting her hands on her hip. "And no, I don't want to go to the Ball with you. The same goes for you." Her eyes narrowed at the two boys. "Now, if you don't mind. Leave me alone and chase some other skirts because I don't enjoy your presence."

The two boys stood there, stunned. Avonlea glared at them one more time and threw her hair over her shoulder, turning back to her friends. She marched down the street with her head held high and a small sway in her hips. Her friends had to speed up to keep pace with her.

"Whoa!" Cassius said, smirking. "Remind me not to cross you when you haven't had your happy pills."

Katia nodded in agreement, straying closer to Carissa now.

"I think I'm starting to like your new attitude, Lea," Carissa said, hooking her arm around one of Avonlea's. "No more hiding. More backbone. Maybe there's a blessing in this change that you're going through, honey. I can't wait to see what happens next." She reached out and turned Avonlea's face in her direction. "Good. They're not making an appearance. They must be learning too."

The Veela Halfling freed her face from her friend's grip and bit her bottom lip, keeping her words back. Her eyes lifted when she saw the blue glow of a Patronus nearby. A cat stood there, watching her.

"Miss Raven, please come to my office," McGonagall's voice came from the Patronus before it faded away into nothingness. "Immediately."

"Uh-oh," Katia said, pressing a hand against her mouth. "Someone's in trouble."

Avonlea's mouth went dry and she pressed her hand against her stomach again, feeling the knots again. "Rissa –"

"We'll finish shopping here and bring the dresses back to the castle as soon as we can," Carissa said, releasing the Veela. "Don't worry about a thing. Minerva loves you."

She used to, Avonlea thought, heading out of Hogsmeade with less confidence in her step. Before this madness started messing with her students.

OOOOOOOOO

Snape was the only one in the shady bar of Hogsmeade and he was absolutely fine with that. His eyes stayed on the bottle of fire whisky that he had ordered, but his mind was elsewhere. He had continued to have those erotic dreams that he'd been plagued with for the past few weeks, but the image of his partner was barely getting any clearer. That didn't stop him from having to take a cold shower in the morning when he woke up, completely aroused by his unknown bedmate that he knew only the body of.

Trelawney's prophecy had very little influence in getting the dreams to stop. In fact, it had added the question about how blood came into the picture. He knew for a fact that Trelawney was talking about the Veela Halfling. He knew that his daughter was the only one that supplied blood to the girl and that sated the girl's need for blood. Snape also knew that anger was starting to take over that girl's body and that she was starting the fire under his own cauldron. He had to keep that girl close to him in order to protect the school from the vampire tendencies that she was showing a little more of with every passing day.

But there's more to the prophecy, Snape decided, furrowing his brow as he thought about it. There's always more to the prophecies that she gives. Why isn't the answer coming to me now? What more can I do?

Annoyed with himself as well as the whole problem that Miss Raven was presenting herself as, Snape rose to his feet and left the bar after slapping down a few coins. The streets weren't as crowded as they usually were during a Hogsmeade weekend, but that suited him just fine, even though he'd enjoy snapping at some unfortunate student. He wanted nothing more than to go to his dungeon office and be alone in the dark, cool confines that kept him sane.

"Can you believe the nerve?" a boy from his House said to his friend as Snape neared them. "You would think that a girl like that would have been more inclined to accept my date offer. She should be begging for a date."

"It's the new hotness that she has," another boy said. "She's gotten blessed with it and now she thinks she can play games with all of us boys because we're suddenly noticing her."

"Raven is such a tease," the first boy agreed.

"She'll come around when she doesn't have a date before the Ball and then she'll come begging one of us to take her."

"I'll take her every single way that I can."

"One hundred points each from Slytherin," Snape said, glaring at the two boys who paled upon sight of him. "For lude comments about a fellow student in the presence of a professor." He held up a hand and moved closer. "If I ever hear that you have molested a female – or male – student in any fashion, I will see to it that you will always have detention for the rest of your term here at Hogwarts. Or I will expel you and have your wands snapped in half. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir," both boys said at the same time, shaking where they stood.

"Good." Snape lowered his hand. "Now, get back to the castle. Your Hogsmeade time has reached its end."

Like he expected, the two boys turned tail and ran back in the direction that would lead them to Hogwarts. Snape adjusted the collar of his cloak and rolled his shoulder slightly. A small smirk touched his lips.

Maybe this journey wasn't as much of a loss as I thought.

OOOOOOOOO

Avonlea sat with her hands clasped in the headmaster's office, staring down at the desk rather than look at the older witch across from her. Her mouth wasn't completely dry feeling now, thanks to the water that Professor McGonagall had given moments before. Yet, she still felt a little sick sitting there.

"I do not want you to think that you're in any trouble, Miss Raven," McGonagall said, watching the young witch. "I have heard from all of your professors that you are excelling in all your classes and studies. They predict that you will have the highest N.E.W.T.S scores that this school has seen in a very long time. And they are all looking forward to the day that you join the faculty body as a professor on your own."

"I didn't know that, Professor," Avonlea admitted. "I'm trying very hard to keep my grades up."

"And it shows. It shows in all that you've put your energy into." The woman sighed. "I know that you have been studying in the library with Professor Snape in order to find your mate before your next birthday."

"I have. Not recently, but I have." Avonlea looked up and brushed back a tendril of hair that fell in her face. "We have gone through every book in the library that mentions the Veela race, but nothing else has come to light."

"I am sure that you have looked diligently as you would for a grade. B ut Professor Snape has told me that you are no longer putting all of your energy into the search for answers to this problem." McGonagall leaned forward in her seat. "I have never known you to give up on solving a problem. You have always been one of the most dedicated students that I have known. Have you given up, Miss Raven?"

"I haven't and I have, Professor," Avonlea admitted, reaching for her glass of water just to have something to hold onto.

"Explain."

"I am still looking for the mate that I need to be with," Avonlea said slowly. "But I need to give up because I've found him. I've found him, so I have to stop hunting."

McGonagall lifted an eyebrow. "You have found him?"

Avonlea nodded.

"Does he know about this? Why haven't you told anyone about this?"

"Because I have to give up searching for him. And because he would never accept me as his mate." Avonlea sighed. "I found him and I can't have him."

"Why not?" McGonagall demanded.

"Because he's my best friend's father," Avonlea admitted, watching the older witch's expression. "Severus Snape is the mate that I need and cannot have."

OOOOOOOOO

A/N: So, what do you think about this? Do you like it? Hate it? Want more or less of it? Please leave a review in the little box and I will try to get to you as soon as possible. Thanks for all the support! Love you all! -Scarlet