A/N: Hello, my lovelies! It's been a REALLY long time since I last updated this story, but I knew you were all a little miffed when I left it with a cliffhanger. Now the answers to the reactions of the characters are here for you. Note though that this is a short update as most of my attention is being focused on dozens of other projects. So for now, here's my little present to you all. Enjoy!
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"So now you know," Avonlea commented, standing on her own feet now.
Snape stared at her in horror and pulled his hand back away from the girl's. The professor took an uncertain step back and watched her brush back an unruly strand of hair that had fallen in her face. His heart thudded painfully loud in his ears and chest and the man felt his body grow chilled from more than just the cold.
"I'm your – your …?" Snape asked in a whisper, barely able to get the words out from between his lips.
"My soul mate? Yes. You're my soul mate." Avonlea crossed her arms and looked away. "Not that it's something that I'm too thrilled about either."
The horror faded away and was switched to mild annoyance for Snape. "You knew that I was your mate the entire time."
"Most of the time," the girl corrected. "There was a period of time that I wasn't exactly sure. It was a hunch that you were the Him I needed, but now I can see that there's no mistaking it. You and I are soul mates, Snape."
All at once, everything hit Snape with the honesty of her words.
Why would he be having erotic dreams of a blonde woman like her? Why would the blood of his daughter satisfy the growing hunger that the girl had? Why would he feel so protective of her when it came to stopping boys from harassing her, considering that he'd never felt inclined to protect even his own child? Why didn't he feel completely annoyed that he had to spend so many hours outside of the classroom with this girl? Why did her scent draw him closer to when no one was looking?
Because she is my soul mate, Snape realized, taking another step back away from her. It wasn't Lily or Carissa's mother…It's this fragile little creature.
"Miss Raven –" Snape began, but the girl put her hand up to silence him.
"You don't have to say anything, Snape," she said, cutting across him. "I've known that you were my soul mate for many weeks now and I didn't tell you. But you know that I couldn't. I couldn't tell you that you were my mate – that's in all the books about the Veela race that we've read. You had to find out on your own." She sighed. "And I guess that's finally happened."
"Why didn't I realize it sooner?" Snape asked himself out loud, his brow furrowing.
"Because we never had skin-on-skin contact," Avonlea answered, wiggling her fingers. "Until tonight." Her blue eyes dimmed with sadness. "But we won't have any more contact like that again."
"Is that so?"
The Veela Halfling nodded. "Yes, sir."
"You really are a stupid girl," Snape said, crossing his arms over his chest. "If I am your soul mate, then I am the only one that can help you stop the change of becoming a vampire. And that, that would require more skin contact than merely touching hands."
"We won't do that. We won't have more skin-on-skin contact."
"Why not?"
Avonlea stepped back away from him, wilting slightly under his steely, dark gaze. "Because you are only thinking about what needs to happen to keep me from becoming a vampire. You find it to be a job and that's not going to do any good." She looked away from him again as music floated from the open doors that led to the ball. "You can't think of our mating as an obligation, a price to pay for keeping me from becoming one of the undead. That won't stop the change. You – you have to want to be with me. You have to truly want me to become your mate forever. You have to want to make love to me and surrender yourself to me. And Snape, you – you can't do that. You can't ever want me without feeling like it's a job."
The girl offered him a wan smile. "I've already accepted that fact. I think I've accepted that from the moment that I realized that you were my soul mate. It's something that I've known for a long time, Snape."
"Miss Raven –" Snape began, taking a step towards her.
Avonlea took another step back away from him and held her hand up. "Please Snape, don't. Don't say anything more about this. You can't love me and you can't help me if you don't love me. Nothing you say to me about this problem will be able to do any good. Please, just forget about all of this. Go on with your life and let me enjoy what time I have left as a normal witch. That's all I'm asking for from you."
Her blue eyes were darkened by sadness and Snape could feel her fear. The girl looked at him and then down at the ground, her shyness coming back to temper her courage. Snape reached out a hand, but the girl shied away from him.
"Miss Raven," Snape said.
"Please forget it." She edged around him, keeping him in her sights. "Let nature take its natural course and keep your life as normal as possible. I'll be okay. You'll see. I will be fine. Now, if you don't mind, I have a ball to go to and friends to be with. Excuse me, sir. And have a good night."
With that, Avonlea turned and fled from him, holding her head up like she wasn't upset. Snape wasn't fooled. He could feel her sadness hovering around him, though the feeling was dissipating as he stood there in the light snow. The professor lifted his gaze up to the sky, letting the snowflakes land on his face for a moment.
That girl is nothing but trouble, he thought, heading back into the castle. And yet…no. Never.
Snape reentered the Great Hall in time to hear the music change into a slow dance type. His eyes scanned the room of dancing teenagers, who were pairing up with whoever they fancied. Like magnets, his dark gaze landed on his daughter and her partners. Avonlea was with them, smiling like nothing had happened outside and was dancing with Cassius. Something stirred in Snape's gut and he forced his gaze away from the small group.
He told McGonagall that he would be leaving the ball early because he was tired and didn't feel well. Without waiting for permission or talking to the woman, Snape turned and left the ball without looking back.
A stiff drink or two is in order after tonight, he thought to himself. And a Sleeping Draft that will keep all dreams away.
OOOOOOOOO
Avonlea had felt Snape leave the Great Hall, even though she hadn't looked out into the crowd for him. She didn't want to look for him, didn't want to see his face again that night. It was a fruitless hope because all she could see was the horrified look that had crossed his face when he had realized that he was her soul mate. It was a face that she would never forget.
And he will never forgive me for this, Avonlea thought, biting her bottom lip. For hiding the truth, even though I had to. For forcing him into this situation in the first place…For lying to him and feeding off the lifeblood of his only daughter. He will never ever love me. How could he? The most love he could muster was spent and left an empty, cold shell in its place. I need to accept that. I have to.
"Day dreaming, are we?" Cassius asked, breaking into Avonlea's thoughts.
"What?" The Veela Halfling looked up at him. "Sorry. Did you say something?"
"Just if you were day dreaming," Cassius told her, readjusting his grip on her hand. "Were you thinking about your future with your mate?"
"That's the last thing that I want to do with my time right now," Avonlea said truthfully, though it hurt. "You know that my chances of ending up by his side are slim to none. He can't love me and even if he tried, it would be too late for me to stay out of vampire waters." She stopped them on the dance floor, earning the attention of Carissa and Katia at the same time. "You guys, I know it's early but I think I'm going to head back to our room. My head is hurting like a bitch and so are my feet and I'm not in a dancing mood anymore."
"Do you want one of us to escort you back up there?" Katia offered, tilting her head to the side. "Because we could stop dancing to do so…"
"No, no, you guys stay here and dance the night away," Avonlea said, letting go of Cassius' hand and backing away. "I'll be fine on my own. There are some potions that I can take to help me get rid of my headache and sleep through the night. Please, don't let me ruin all the fun."
"Are you sure?" Carissa asked, placing a hand on Avonlea's arm.
"Positive." Avonlea worked up a smile. "I'll see you guys in the morning. Later in the morning."
Avonlea turned and worked her way through the crowd, keeping her smile on her face. Once she had left the Great Hall and started up the stairs, the smile fell away. She felt tears smart in her eyes and wrapped her arms around herself in a bid to keep herself from falling apart.
"Don't do this," she whispered to herself, heading up the stairs and ignoring the compliments that the paintings called out to her in passing. "Avonlea, don't you dare do this. You knew that this was going to happen someday. You knew that everything was going to lead to this night and the pain that came with it. You knew all along that your future was doomed the moment he touched you. Don't cry over something you can't change. Don't do it."
Avonlea told the portrait the password to get into the common room that she shared with Carissa and stepped through the small opening. As she crossed the room, the girl pulled off her tiara and threw it aside. She yanked off her necklace and took out her matching earrings. She hurried up to her room, unzipping her dress as she went. Anything to get out of the pretend princess outfit and shove herself back into reality. She didn't want to feel pretty anymore, not while the image of Snape's horrified burned in her mind.
The Veela Halfling stood half-naked in front of her floor-length mirror and looked at herself. Her skin was paler than normal and her eyes were darker with her sadness. She scrubbed off all the makeup and pulled her hair back up into a sloppy ponytail.
"What's there to love about you anyway?" she asked her reflection. "You're a coward. Intelligent to a point. Pretty on some scales. You have no voice. No fascinating qualities. What could a person ever truly love about you?"
She punched the mirror and cried out as the silver shards cut into her hand. The witch drew her bleeding hand close to her chest and looked down at the broken shards.
"Dammit!" she ground out, biting her bottom lip. "Smart move, Avonlea. Smart move."
Avonlea cleaned up the mess with a flick of her wand and then cleaned her wounds. The last thing that she wanted was to leave a mess that would draw attention to her from her best friend. She healed up her wounds and stowed her wand away.
Dressing herself in an overlarge sweater that hung low on her shoulders and a pair of leggings, Avonlea sat down at her usual spot by the fire. She didn't look away from the fire for hours, running through so many painful thoughts that she wasn't aware when her best friend slipped through the door.
"You missed a really good party," Carissa commented, crossing the room with her dress' skirt hitched up to free her feet. "Some funny business happened a little while after you left. Filch is pissed as hell."
"I'm sure he is," Avonlea muttered, chewing on her bottom lip. "You should go get changed and get some sleep, Rissa. All that partying had to wear you down."
"A bit." Carissa's smile faded and she sat down next to Avonlea. "Hey, Lea. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Took some potions to fix everything. Why?"
"Well, you left the party way early and you look like something's bothering you." Carissa wrapped her arm around Avonlea's shoulders. "And I saw you come back into the party with my father behind you moments later. Did something happen between you two?"
Avonlea nodded and looked back at the fire. "He knows that he's my mate now."
A broad smile crossed Carissa's face. "He knows?" She squeezed Avonlea when she nodded. "Oh my God! Yes! Finally! He knows and you know! It's perfect. When is he going to do the horizontal bop with you? Soon? Tomorrow night? In the morning? When?"
"We haven't decided yet," Avonlea told her best friend. "The mood wasn't right with my head hurting and all that. But soon. Once we get into the right romantic setting." She glanced at Carissa. "It'll happen though. Trust me."
"I do trust you," Carissa said before hugging the Veela Halfling tightly. "God! Am I so thrilled that you're going to be okay! You're going to blossom into a beautiful Veela Halfling – more than you are now! It's going to be great not having to visit you in a dark place every time we want to see each other! God, I'm so happy! Katia and Cassius will be too when I tell them!"
Avonlea forced a small smile. "I'm sure they'll be thrilled." She bumped her friend with her shoulder. "Seriously though, you should go get some sleep. I'll be heading that way soon. And don't worry about feeding my blood hunger tonight. You can do it when we both wake up hours from now. Go on, get."
"Okay, okay. I know when I'm not wanted." Carissa pressed a kiss to Avonlea's cheek and rose to her feet. "I'm really happy for you!"
Avonlea watched her friend leave, feeling a sickening flood go through her body at the lies that she had just told her friend. God, let her forgive me one day. Even though I don't deserve anyone's forgiveness.
Her eyes turned to the fire once more and she pointed her wand at it, extinguishing the warm flames that couldn't warm her chilled body anymore.
I need a Sleeping Draft to get through this night and every one of the nights until I'm a vampire. Maybe for the rest of time…
OOOOOOOOO
A/N: Well, that's that. What did you think about this? Please let me know in a small review in the box. Thanks! -Scarlet
