A/N: Hello Everyone! How have you been enjoying the weather this time of year? I hope you're all handling life well. And I'd like to apologize for not updating sooner, but other projects have taken precedence (an upcoming novella and novel) and took my attention away. I have this update for you though and I hope that you stick around to read it through. Enjoy!
OOOOOOOOO
Avonlea refused to look up at the faculty's table as she sat in the Great Hall with her house for breakfast the day of the Yule Ball. She just couldn't make herself look at anything but her food. Carissa had been teasing her the entire week about her admittance to McGonagall about Snape being her mate. She kept talking about how her father's gaze was softening every time that he was in the presence of the Veela-Halfling and how he kept looking at her in the moments where the class was taking notes or working on homework during study hall. No matter how many times Avonlea told her friend to stop, the dark haired girl would continue on talking about Snape.
"Oh my God," Carissa said, bumping her elbow against her best friend's side. "He just entered the hall, Lea. Look. Look."
"Kiss my ass, Rissa," Avonlea muttered, staring down at her food which was looking a lot less appetizing than it had days before.
"There he goes," Carissa whispered, elbowing Avonlea again. "You missed the way that he glared over at us."
"Seriously Carissa, please stop." The Halfling lifted her gaze to look at Cassius and Katia. "Control your girlfriend, guys. Make her stop."
"We've tried to," Cassius said, shoving a forkful of egg into his mouth. "You're seeing the results of that."
Katia leaned forward. "It was a lot worse a little while ago," she reminded Avonlea. "At least, she's not doing anything within earshot of him." She picked another piece of chicken from the large serving platter situated on the middle of the table. "And it's not like he's going to pop into anyone's head and figure out what's going on."
"And she's not really off when she's talking about the way that he looks at you," Cassius added softly.
"Yeah," Carissa agreed, she waved her fork in a vague circle. "I could really go on and on about that. Ooh! If I really wanted to be mean, I could buy a Howler and make you open it up in the middle of the Great Hall during lunchtime. Then everyone would know and you'd have to confront my father with the knowledge that you've been keeping from him. And he'd have to open his narrow little eyes to the fact that things are getting complicated."
Heat flooded Avonlea's face and she dropped her fork. "I really wish you wouldn't talk about this situation when we're among people that have no right to know what's going on." She glanced around them. "I don't need my problems to become open to the public, Rissa. It's bad enough that you let Cassius and Katia into the secret."
She didn't care that Katia and Cassius gave her a brief dirty look. It really hadn't been her idea to bring the two of them into the secret that she shared with Carissa. The dark daughter of Snape had made her tell them what was going on because she claimed that Avonlea wouldn't be able to hide it from them for very long. Especially if she and Snape got closer. They had sworn to keep the secret with a magical oath, but Avonlea still felt like she was walking on extremely thin ice with all the new people who knew about her connections to the scariest professor in the entire school of Hogwarts.
"Oh, get over it Lea," Carissa ordered, stabbing a buttered potato half with her fork. "We're all in this together. That's what best friends do for each other. We share secrets, protect each other, and borrow things with no intention of giving them back. This is just another one of those things."
Avonlea shook her head and picked her fork back up, poking it at her food with distaste. She heard the Great Hall fall silent around her. Even Peeves stopped taunting students as the Headmaster rose to her feet.
"Students," McGonagall said, standing at the podium that had so recently once been Professor Dumbledore's platform. "As you may all be aware, tonight is the Yule Ball. Now I know that you are all excited about tonight's festivities, but I must lay down some rules in order for you to attend the entire event." She gave a hard stare when some Gryffindor students booed loudly. "All outfits must be tasteful and dancing with a partner must be kept clean. I don't want to see personal body parts coming out on the dance floor – no heavy grinding or stripping, and no sexual contact will be tolerated at the Ball. The faculty will all be circulating through the lot of you and they will not hesitate to send you back to your common rooms if they see anything that goes against the code of conduct." The hint of a smile touched her lips. "Let tonight be one of the best times that you will have here and full of great memories that you may one day share with your children and your children's children."
Like I'm going to have children, Avonlea thought, rolling her eyes as the Headmaster took her seat once more.
Her eyes turned towards the large faculty table before she could stop herself and landed on the dark professor. More heat flooded her face when she saw that he was glancing in her direction. There was a certain bewilderment in his gaze as he looked at her that stirred in the dull hope that maybe he was coming around to the fact that he was her mate.
Avonlea quickly looked back at her food, shaking her head at how stupid she knew those hopes and thoughts really were. Snape couldn't love her if she told him what role he had to play in her life. He had to find out for himself and make the heartfelt decision to give himself up to the bond that had to form between them. All she could do was hope that he'd come to the knowledge on his own and start preparing herself for the future lying ahead of her if he never came to the realization before her Change.
Don't get your hopes up, Avonlea. Time is ticking by too quickly and the man doesn't want to be near you. You'd better enjoy the taste of food and feel the warm glow of the sun on your skin while you can. Her eyes narrowed at the food sitting on her fork. Even if the food isn't as appealing as it was…You should try to enjoy it because the only thing you're going to be eating soon is the blood of your fellow man.
She ate a few more bites of her meal, but her stomach started hurting enough to keep her from thinking about eating more. Avonlea set her fork down and took a drink of chocolate milk before rising to her feet. Her friends looked at her with confusion.
"I'm not really hungry," she said to them. "I think that I'm going to go take a shower while the majority of the castle is eating their first meal." She took a step back. "We can get ready for the Ball after lunch. Okay?"
Carissa nodded. "Okay." She pointed her fork at Avonlea. "Don't do any homework while you're waiting for us. We have until the start of the next semester to do homework, dear. Tonight is our night to have fun."
It may be my last night to have fun, Avonlea thought sadly, but she forced a smile onto her face. "Right. Well, see you later guys."
The Veela-Halfling headed out of the Great Hall, feeling stares on her back. She shivered when she recognized the hardened glare of Severus Snape on her back, but did her best to not show that she felt anything. Avonlea held her head up high and put more confidence into her step.
OOOOOOOOO
Avonlea ran a hand over her face as she sat at the window of the common room she shared with Carissa. She had taken a long hot shower and was now waiting for her hair to dry on its own. A good luck letter from her mother was sitting in her lap, read and reread until Avonlea could see the words without looking at the paper. Her mother wanted the girl to have a Cinderella moment that night – find her mate at the Ball and have a happily ever after with him. Unwanted tears had stung at her eyes as she realized that her mother's dream would never come true.
Yes, she hated the idea that her mother only wanted her to marry a rich Pureblood and have the glory of not being in the whorehouse, but rather never working a day in her life. She had always told herself that she wasn't going to do what her mother wanted and she wasn't going to live the life that her mother lived. But now, she knew that her mother only wanted her to stand a chance in this world. She wanted Avonlea to be happy, to be protected, and to never have to fight to survive like she had. She wanted Avonlea to have the life that she hadn't been able to have for herself. She wanted her daughter to be loved every day and not be a casual, when-he-needs-me kind of girl.
Avonlea shook her head and pressed her hand against the cold glass of the window, grounding herself in the sensations of the world. "I'm sorry, Mom," she whispered, staring out into the whiteness of the snowy world beyond the castle.
The witch moved away from the window and over to the fireplace. She knelt next to it and shoved the letter onto the logs that were sitting cold and dead in the fireplace. With a prod from her wand, Avonlea had the fire ignited and sat back on her heels, watching the fire be consumed by the hungry tendrils of orange flame. Avonlea swiped her hand over her face, brushing away her tears before burrowing her lips farther into the oversized white sweater that she'd donned.
She sat there for several minutes, watching the flames without thinking about anything in particular. Her gums throbbed and she felt her fangs start to pop out. Carissa wasn't there and Avonlea didn't know when her friend would be back to get ready for the Ball. She couldn't go out into the castle to search for her and pull her into a hidden alcove for a quick bite. But Avonlea knew she needed the taste of blood. Just a small taste would have to do.
"Shit," Avonlea muttered, pulling one of her sleeves up until her forearm was bared to the world. "I hope this works."
She brought her wrist up to her mouth and bit down hard. A soft hiss bubbled in the blood that suddenly broke free from her flesh. Avonlea closed her eyes and fed on her own blood for a few moments, just taking enough to keep herself sane.
And I fed only a couple days ago, Avonlea thought glumly, licking the last drop of blood off of her wrist before poking her wand at the wound, sealing it off. Is this hunger going to get really bad before my birthday? Will I be able to hold it off until the majority of the students leave for the winter break?
"God, I hope so," Avonlea muttered, pulling her sleeve back into place.
Her fangs retreated back into her gums and the blonde sat back, watching the flames again. Drinking her own blood had calmed down everything, but she knew that it was just a bandage. Sooner or later, she was going to have to pull Carissa aside and feed from her veins. It was an unpleasant thought and she wanted to hold off on it as long as she could, especially since she wanted her best friend to have an enjoyable night. Taking care of Avonlea's unnatural hunger for blood shouldn't have to be placed on Carissa's shoulders for that night at least.
"I can hold off," Avonlea told herself, wrapping her arms around her knees. "I can make it through the night without bothering her or the others. I can make it until tomorrow and then we'll see what happens…Unless something changes everything tonight."
The Halfling blinked away a wave of tears and rested her chin on her knees. She didn't want to get her hopes up that Severus Snape would come close enough to her and realize that he was her mate. She didn't want to think about joining him in his bed – or hers- in order to save her humanity. The images of his body rolling against hers in the most carnal and primal dances flashed before her eyes, bringing forth an unwanted heat between her legs.
"No, no, no…" Avonlea whispered, fighting against her body's reactions to the mental stimuli. "It's not going to happen. It can't. It won't."
She looked up guiltily when she heard the door to the common room open. Carissa was leading her partners into the room and paused when she looked at Avonlea. Her eyes widened in alarm as she stared.
"What's wrong?" Avonlea asked.
"You didn't – you didn't go feeding on someone else, did you?" Carissa asked in a low, worried tone.
"No. Why?"
Carissa pointed. "You've got a bit of blood at the corner of your lips. Left side."
Avonlea reached up and wiped her hand over her lips. "Oops."
"Yeah, oops." Carissa moved across the room and put her hands on her hips, looking down at Avonlea. "If you didn't feed on someone else, what did you feed on?"
"Myself."
"And that helped?"
Avonlea nodded. "It helped." She forced a smile. "I can't believe I haven't thought about that when the cravings first started."
Carissa reached her hand out. "Come along, dear. We're going to start out preparations for the Ball right now. Starting with our hair and then our makeup and then we'll move onto everything else. My dad won't be able to resist you once he sees you at the ball tonight."
I hope so.
OOOOOOOOO
A/N: So what did you think about this? Please leave a comment in the review box. I think that the next chapter will deal solely with the Yule Ball and maybe there will be more action going on there, but we'll have to see when I start working on it. Thank you for your support and I hope to see you soon! –Scarlet
