A/N: Hello again! So, the last update was a bit rushed and choppy and I apologize for that. I literally had no ideas for that last one and I guess it was telling. No one reviewed. I don't even know if anyone's still reading this story, but I'm going to keep updating until I feel like ending this. Hopefully this chapter is better than the last one. I have ideas coming back for this story. Thank you for those who may still be supporting this story. You guys keep me going as does my love for a certain dark professor. Enjoy!
OOOOOOOOO
Avonlea yawned and flickered her eyes open to the morning light hours later, feeling more satisfied than she had ever felt before. She felt the steady rise and fall of a chest under her cheek and she lifted her head slightly to see a pale chest. Her cheeks flushed as she glanced down at the blanket covered body of Snape that was cradling hers against the couch and then up at his slumbering face. Images of the night before came flooding back to her and Avonlea remembered her moans and demands of the dark professor, his promises to her.
Oh God, she thought, sitting up and putting a hand to her naked chest. We finally did it! We slept together and he told me that he loved me! That – that means that I'm – I'm not going to turn into a vampire!
Avonlea's face brightened with a smile and she lowered her hand from her chest. She carefully lifted herself from the couch and climbed over the professor, careful not to disturb him. Feeling around for her discarded clothes, the Veela-Halfling dressed quickly and headed into the bathroom. She made a straight line for the mirror and stopped in front of it, checking her reflection.
The girl opened her mouth and touched her canines with the tip of her tongue, willing them to sharpen on command. Nothing happened. She didn't feel hungry for blood. The blood thirst was gone. It had fled the moment that she had been promised the love of her soul mate and had fed on his blood, sealing their bond forever. Avonlea prayed that it would never return, even though she knew from the letter that her mother that she would have to feed on Snape's blood once a year as part of their bonding, but she was fine with that.
"I'm free," Avonlea told her reflection with a bright smile. "I don't have to turn into a monster or lose the life that I have wanted to live for so long. I can enjoy normal food and life again." She gripped the sides of the sink. "And I can be loved by the person that I was destined to be with. Even if it has to be a secret for a little while longer. Won't Carissa and the others be happy to hear that?" She nodded to herself. "I can't believe this is happening! I'm so happy!"
She spun around on her heel and laughed as she had to catch herself against the sink again. "Whoops! Dizzy!" she laughed. "Probably should try to get something proper to eat before I try to celebrate this." She lifted her blue eyes to the silver glass again. "And I have to tell Professor McGonagall that I don't have to have blood deliveries anymore. She needs to know that I am safe to be around the other students again, not that I want to be around the other Slytherins again. I'm perfectly happy having my own room with Carissa because…" She turned her head slightly so that she could glance back at the closed door to the bathroom. "It makes things a lot easier for the two of us."
She shook her head and looked back at the mirror. Avonlea knew that she was being ridiculous. She couldn't just expect that Snape would want to spend more time with her just because he had slept with her and confessed his love to her. The man was dark and needed his space. And she needed to give it to him. They could spend time together when he wanted to and would let that happen as she had done for a good time now. They had only spent so much time together recently because it had come down to the wire for her Change to come and the desperate need for him to either tell her that he loved her and consummate the relationship or let the Change happen last night had come to pass. If he wanted to have some space, it was now time for that to happen. Carissa would have to understand that when she came back to Hogwarts after the holidays. After all, their relationship still had to remain a secret from the rest of the students and the professors because of the huge age difference and the problems that could arise from a relationship between a professor and his student.
"But I do love him," Avonlea told herself with a small shake of the head. "And I'm bound to him forever thanks to last night." She remembered his touch across her flesh and shivered, feeling heat course through her body. "God, I hope that we get to have more moments like that and I don't do anything as stupid as I did last night. He must think I was such a child for hiding from him like that. All he wanted to do was love me and I hid from him like some scared little girl trying to play in an adult world." She looked at the mirrored reflection of herself. "But next time, next time I'm going to give him back as much as he gave me. I swear it."
OOOOOOOOO
Snape opened his eyes to find himself alone on the couch that he had spent the night with Avonlea in passion's embrace. His neck prickled where she had bitten him, sealing their bond as soul mates. He pressed the tips of his fingers against the sensitive area and made a mental note to wear his highest collared shirts until the day that he could safely reveal that he was bound to the Veela-Halfling. There were just people in this castle that wouldn't understand the connection that he had formed with that young girl last night, even with McGonagall's explanation and support on their side. The dark professor sat up slowly and looked around for the girl, dark eyes scouring the small common room.
Avonlea emerged from the bathroom and smiled when she saw him searching for her. Snape lifted an eyebrow at her, dark eyes glittering as he took in her slightly disheveled hair and swollen lips. His mind was tossed into vertigo as he remembered the feeling of her body moving underneath of his and the sound of her moans as he took her over the edge of sanity the night before. A small smirk came to his face as she came to sit on the edge of the couch next to his legs.
"I don't know if I like that look on your face," she said softly, placing a hand on his covered thigh. "It looks like you're thinking about something that I might not particularly enjoy, Snape."
Snape slid a hand over her and his smirk grew. "I am merely thinking about the events of last night, Miss Raven. Something that I am not quite accustomed to participating in, but could do so if it is exactly the same…or different, should you prefer it that way."
"Oh!" Color flooded Avonlea's face and she looked away. "I hadn't thought about you thinking that…"
She's lying, Snape thought, smoothing his thumb over the back of his hand and wondering when he had become so tender with a woman that had not been Lily Evans. "I think I do prefer color in your face, Miss Raven," he told her. "It gives you the image of life."
Avonlea's blue eyes returned to his face. "Well, I guess you're going to be seeing it in my face a lot more then because I'm not going to be turning into a vampire. Thanks to you, Snape." Her eyes lowered to his neck and a small frown tugged at her swollen lips. "I'm really sorry that I had to bite you like I did, but it had to happen."
Snape rolled his shoulder, feeling the prickle of the healing bite on his neck. "I am not sorry. Your life has been saved. If a little bite and blood had to be spilled, it was worth it. Do not concern yourself with such a little wound, Miss Raven. The scar will remain, but it will heal over time."
Avonlea nodded and turned her hand over under his, entwining her fingers with his. "You do know that we still can't let anyone know that we're together, don't you?" She squeezed his fingers. "We are officially together now, aren't we?"
"Yes. To both of your questions." Snape gripped her hand tightly in his. "I am no fool. I know what could happen to both of us if the truth is revealed to the others and I do not want either of our characters to be assassinated because of what has transpired between us by the hands of Fate."
"Good. Let's just hope that Carissa and the others can keep their comments to themselves." Avonlea lifted her eyes to his and she frowned. "Do you think those paintings will talk? The ones that you crushed me against last night before we came in here to…well, you know?"
Snape smirked at her. "You still can't say the words, can you, Miss Raven?"
Color flooded her cheeks again and she bit her bottom lip. Snape reached out with his free hand and caressed her cheek with it.
"There is so much for me to teach you in the ways of passion and romance, Miss Raven," he said softly, dark eyes holding hers as she leaned into his touch. "I will somehow manage to coax you out of that innocent shell that you've lived in so long. Even if it takes me a long time, you will someday be able to say that I have thoroughly pleased you in all manners of sexual intercourse."
Avonlea stuck her tongue out at him rather childishly, but Snape didn't care. His fingers brushed back a strand of golden hair and he leaned forward, brushing his lips against hers. Avonlea leaned into him and let him kiss her, taking the kiss deeper. Her fingers pressed against his chest, splaying over his flesh, warmed by the contact. Snape felt her emotions through the contact, the link created through the bond as he had read in their studies before their relationship had begun to develop. She pulled back a moment later, looking at him through slightly hooded eyes. Snape glanced down at her stomach and then back at her face.
"You're hungry," he told her.
Avonlea nodded slowly, shifting her position slightly. "I wish I wasn't though, since you seem to have other ideas."
"Ideas can wait," Snape told her, moving so that he could throw his legs over the side of the couch and sit up properly. "Feeding is more important. As you have not enjoyed proper food in quite some time, I think eating is on the top of the list of things to do. After last night's activities, even I am in need of sustenance."
Avonlea turned her eyes away from the dark professor as he straightened, removing the blanket from his naked form. Snape moved around the common room without the same embarrassment that his mate had, picking up his clothes and putting them back onto his body. Avonlea refused to look at him again until he was fully clothed again and standing in front of her. She raked a hand through her hair, smoothing it down and lifted her blue eyes to him.
One day, she will be able to look at me without embarrassment, Snape told himself, offering her a hand up. And that will be the day that I will have to be worried. Because I might have to be the one to tell her 'no' and keep her from taking me like I want to take her.
"So," Avonlea said as he pulled her to her feet, her body brushing against his. "I guess I'm going to be eating at the Slytherin table, far away from you while you eat at the faculty table. And then what? We go for a walk?"
"Perhaps," Snape told her, raising a hand to touch her cheek again. "But I do believe that you have a friend to communicate with about your continued existence as a normal witch. I must speak with McGonagall about what has taken place. After that, we can take that walk and then decide what happens with each other beyond that point."
Avonlea tilted her face towards his hand and slid her hand over his. "Okay."
Snape pressed a kiss to her lips and then parted from her, giving her the space that he didn't want to necessarily have to give her. He arranged his cloak around himself and turned, heading over to the door to the common room. He held the door open for her, letting her exit before himself. As they walked out into the hall, his dark eyes turned towards the paintings on the wall, silently daring them to make a comment about the events that they had witnessed the night before. They were wise enough to keep their painted mouths shut. Avonlea moved next to him, placing her hands safely away from his and kept her gaze respectfully directed ahead of her. It was a necessity now that they were going to be in the public eye to keep their distance as only professor and student, Head of House and Slytherin. Only in private could they be together and Snape intended to teach her everything that he knew whenever he got the chance.
OOOOOOOOO
Avonlea sat on her knees in front of the fire after breakfast, waiting for Carissa to make her appearance as scheduled. Her stomach was full and she was content with that. She hadn't been able to sit with the dark professor that loved her and she had been okay with that. A little fear had settled in her stomach when she had felt his eyes on her from the faculty table every now and then, but she knew that he couldn't help himself. It had taken all of her resolve not to look back and meet his eyes. Their secret could not be revealed to anyone that didn't already know. People that didn't need to know at all and could try to ruin what they had begun to develop.
"You're distracted," Carissa said, her head appearing in the green flames that sparked to life in the fireplace. "I'm taking that as a good thing on your birthday."
Avonlea smiled at her dark-haired friend and settled even further on her knees. "It is a good thing that I am distracted by, Rissa. You've gotten what you wanted all along."
Carissa's dark eyes glittered. "I did? Do tell. C'mon! Tell me what's happened since we last talked."
Avonlea shrugged. "Well, I'm not going to become a vampire anymore. And I'm not single or a virgin anymore."
She winced as Carissa let out a squeal. She raised a hand in a shushing movement and looked around nervously, afraid that her friend would be overhead by someone. If not on her own end, by someone on Carissa's end of the conversation.
"You mean to tell me that Snape finally told you that he loved you and did the nasty with you?" Carissa asked, a bright smile on her face.
Avonlea nodded. "And it wasn't nasty at all. I don't know why people call it that. He was really sweet to me. I was the embarrassing one. Trying to hide from him and all."
"Wimp." Carissa laughed. "Welcome to the Non-Virgin Club, Lea! You're going to love it, even if we don't have any t-shirts. Maybe I'll have Katia or Cassius make some up."
"Don't, please." Avonlea shook her head. "You know that Snape and I have to keep our relationship a secret until after I graduate from Hogwarts. It's not safe for either of us to admit that we're together. Not with all the judgement that could come from our technically illegal relationship."
"It's only illegal if you get caught and believe it to be," Carissa sighed. "Really. What should people care anyway? Dad saved your humanity by loving you like he did. People could understand that if they heard about it."
"Most people don't understand that part of the Veela heritage, Rissa. It's not widely spoken about. Even the traditional textbooks don't mention it. Snape and I were hard pressed to find books that did talk about the vampire-soulmate thing." Avonlea dragged her fingers over the carpet in front of the fireplace absently. "And people don't really like the idea that a professor could even consider sleeping with his student. Even if she is an adult by wizarding terms."
"Well to hell with them! You and Snape shouldn't have to hide because of that! I think you should get to be as handsy and cute as I am with Katia and Cassius!"
Avonlea looked at her best friend. "Carissa, please. Please, don't let the secret out to anyone that doesn't already know. I can't do that to your father. My relationship with him is already precarious, even if we are bonded forever. Will you promise me that you'll keep the secret? And that you'll get Katia and Cassius to do the same?"
Carissa sighed and shook her head. "Fine. I promise not to tell anyone. But I'm not going to like it."
"I know." Avonlea looked towards the door to the common room. "How are things at the brothel?"
"Boring without you here. Everyone is getting things ready for Christmas and men keep coming and going as usual. One tried to pick me and Katia up, but Cassius threatened to hex him." Carissa laughed. "You should have seen the bastard's face when we each kissed Cassius on the cheek and I rubbed him between the legs. I just looked the guy in the eye and said 'This is mine' like it was the most innocent thing in the world."
"And what happened after that?"
"What do you think? Cassius got horny. Threw me over his shoulder, grabbed Katia's hand, walked us to my room and we had a good long party in the bed." Carissa smiled and her eyes closed as if she was replaying the memories in her head. "I really do live the best life."
Avonlea snapped her fingers to get her best friend's attention. "Hey! Remember, I sleep in that room too. I don't want any of that happening when I'm there."
"Cassius is always welcome to sharing himself with you, you know." Carissa said with a small smirk. "Not that I know you want to participate in an orgy."
Avonlea shook her head. "No thanks. You keep your man to yourself and your orgies. I'll stick with one man and one man only. It's embarrassing enough right now just getting naked with one person. I can't imagine what it's like being with more than one person."
"It's not as bad as you think. And you'll get over your shyness. Dad will see to that, I'm sure." Carissa tilted her head to the side. "Are you going to be bringing him home to the brothel with you when you come in a few days? I know that Mom wants to see him again."
"Rissa, I don't know. I haven't asked him if he wants to come for a visit. I know he's your father and that he should come to see you and your mother, but should we really chance people at the brothel seeing him and me that close together?" Avonlea scratched his head. "Mom will probably suspect something and try to start something."
"What your mother does shouldn't matter. Besides, we can find a way for you two to share some private moments together when you both get here. Mom wants him here. So, get him here. If you have to come at slightly times, that's fine. But bring him here. Let me take care of the rest. Okay?" She turned her head as if hearing something on her end. "I've got to run. People need me to help them finish decorating the brothel before you get here. And Lea?"
"Yeah?"
"Happy Birthday, girly," Carissa said, making a kissy face. "I love you. So do Katia and Cassius."
Avonlea smiled. "Tell them that I love them too."
"Will do." Carissa's head disappeared in a flare of green sparks.
Avonlea watched the flames return to normal golden coloration and sighed, looking down at the carpet in front of the fireplace. "I wonder how Snape is getting on with McGonagall."
OOOOOOOOO
Snape sat across from the Headmistress, remembering the countless days that he had done so with the previous Headmaster. McGonagall had her arms folded on the polished wood as she listened to him finish recounting a cleaner, less detailed account of what had happened the night before with a certain Miss Avonlea Raven.
"So, Miss Raven is not going to become a vampire," McGonagall surmised, looking at him through her glasses.
"She is not," Snape agreed.
"Because you have finally professed your love to her and consummated the bond with her?"
"Yes." Snape lifted an eyebrow at her. "Do you disapprove of that, Minerva?"
McGonagall sat back in her chair. "Normally Severus, such an action would result in the immediate firing of the professor and the contacting of the parents of the student to alert them of what had happened with the student involved as well as the authorities, but this is not the case. I know what would have happened to Miss Raven had you not had intercourse with her last night and confessed your love to her. That is not to say that I wish that it was not necessary for her to find such a mate in a professor, but that is not the hand that Fate has handed either of you."
Snape sat in silence, watching the older professor.
"I cannot, in good conscience, let the other professors know about this new relationship," McGonagall continued with a small shake of the head. "They already do not know of the possibility that she could have become a vampire should she have not had earned your complete love before today and I plan on keeping it that way. I do not wish to give anyone the right to further alienate the poor girl as her breeding has already done by that whore of a mother that she was created by."
"How considerate of you," Snape said quietly.
"Oh, don't give me that tone, Severus. I do care about your character too. If the other professors heard about your new relationship with Miss Raven, they would be on my case to have you fired immediately. And you are one of the best Potions Masters in Europe, if not the best. Miss Raven would not forgive me or herself if something were to happen that would remove you from her life for the remainder of her stay here. And I do intend to ask for her to become a professor here if she earns high enough scores on her N.E.W.T.S and finals."
"I have no doubt that she will do just fine, Minerva," Snape told her. "For such a quiet, shy girl, Miss Raven does have some intelligence."
"I do believe you just gave the girl a small compliment, Severus. Maybe this relationship with her will do you both some good." McGonagall shifted a piece of parchment on her desk. "She will be leaving to go to the brothel to spend time with her mother soon. Will you be fine without her until she gets back?"
"I am a grown man. I can handle being without my mate for a few days."
Snape felt a strange stirring inside of him as he spoke to McGonagall with ease about Avonlea. Even saying the words "my mate" seemed foreign and natural at the same time. He could feel Avonlea's confusion through their bond and knew that she could feel his. His thoughts returned to McGonagall as she spoke again.
"I do hope so because you're going to have to be careful. The both of you are. I expect that you two will remain close, but vigilant about what you do. You are the true adult in this relationship, Severus. Be kind to this girl. As far as I know, Miss Raven has never even had a boyfriend in her entire life."
"Obviously," Snape said slowly, recalling how she had been so embarrassed when she had been merely touched affectionately by him or kissed for the first time. "I do not plan on hurting her, Minerva. It is not my intention to do anything but love her as she deserves."
"Good." McGonagall looked over her glasses at him. "Will that be all, Severus?"
Snape nodded and rose to his feet, adjusting his cloak around himself. McGonagall gave him permission to leave and the dark professor left the office, already intent on seeking out his mate.
He followed the faint sensations of his bond with her to the outside world and looked up to see snow falling softly upon the castle grounds. He walked for several minutes across the snowy landscape, dark eyes searching for the blonde that now held his heart so securely in her hands. His body stiffened when something cold and wet collided with his back. A soft musical laugh lifted into the air as he turned around slowly.
Avonlea tossed a fresh snowball up and down in her hand and looked at him with a bright smile on her face. Her cheeks had a flush of color in her face from the chilly air, even though she was bundled up in a coat and scarf. The wind tossed several strands of her blonde hair into her face and she reached up with her gloved hand to brush them back.
"Hello Snape," she said with a mischievous smile. "Were you looking for someone? Perhaps someone close?"
Snape approached her slowly and lifted his hand to her face, brushing the back of it across her cheek. No one was around them, so he felt safe enough to show some affection to the girl. Avonlea tilted her face up to him, her lips still pulled in that pretty smile.
"You know who I was looking for, Miss Raven," he told her quietly, stroking her face slowly.
"Maybe I do," Avonlea murmured, still tossing her snowball up and down. "I just had to ask because you looked so intent on finding me." She glanced at his lips and then back at his eyes. "I guess you found me, Snape."
Snape nodded and knocked the snowball out of her hand without really looking at it, just so he could clasp her hand in his free hand. "You have a question for me."
Avonlea sighed. "Carissa's mother wants you to come to the brothel for a visit this Christmas. And Carissa wants me to ask you to come with me."
"That is not a question."
Avonlea looked up at him. "Would you come with me to the brothel this Christmas?" She shook her head. "Not together-together, of course. We'd have to go at slightly different times because of our secret, but Carissa promised that she'd find a way for the two of us to have some private times together. So, will you? Come with me, I mean? You can say no, if you want to."
Snape placed his fingers to her lips, silencing her. "You're babbling, Miss Raven."
Avonlea's eyes searched his face, but she remained quiet as she did so. Snape lowered his hand from her lips and slid the same hand around the back of neck, stroking it with the buds of his fingers.
"I suppose I could make a small visit to the brothel," he told her with a small nod. "If not to see Carissa's mother, but to spend some time with you, my new mate. Remember, there is much for me to teach you, my dear one."
"You're not going to let that one drop any time soon, are you?" Avonlea asked, tilting her head to the side.
Snape smirked at her and traced a finger over her lips. "Not likely, Miss Raven. I am your teacher and I plan to teach you what needs to be taught."
Avonlea surprised him by opening her lips and pulling his finger into her mouth. Snape felt the echo of the sensation stir in his pants and a growl built up in his chest. Avonlea's blue eyes burned as she held his gaze, silently daring him to do something. Snape pulled his finger slowly from her mouth and she tilted her face up as he continued to stroke the back of her neck.
"You were saying, Professor," Avonlea purred, putting her hand on his chest.
Snape leaned towards her and put his mouth to her ear, whispering what he intended to teach her that hour into her ear. A soft gasp passed through her lips and when he looked at her face once more, he saw that she was blushing a deep shade of crimson. He smirked at her. Such a shy girl she was at that moment, but he would get that out of her one way or another.
The dark professor parted from her and beckoned for her to follow after him. Shaking her head and muttering under her breath, Avonlea followed after him. Snape smirked to himself as he felt the echo of her growing desire through their bond and knew that their lessons were going to be just as fruitful as he had promised her and maybe even more so, if she was as good of a student in the bedroom as she was in the classroom.
OOOOOOOOO
A/N: Like I said, I have plans. I just need to figure out some more names for characters that are going to be involved in future chapters that are coming up. And remember them and the character descriptions, as I am bad at both. I do hope that you still like this story and will be kind enough to review. I do not mind some flames as long as you're not too overly harsh. I will try to update when I can, but I've got a lot of ongoing projects going on that also require my attention as well as new ones that may be starting. I might be spreading myself a bit thin, but that's typical of me. Thanks, and much love! -Scarlet
