A/N: This chapter is dedicated to the first reviewer for this story, bianca-the-pirate. Thank you all so much for your reviews, current results will be posted at the bottom. I don't own Harry Potter.
--
"Hermione," Professor Snape, I refused to acknowledge that he was my father, called through the door, "please come out of your room. You're going to die of starvation if you stay in there any longer."
My stomach rumbled loudly as I thought of all the food I was missing out on and I glared at my midsection for betraying my hunger. I stood from my seat on my queen sized bed covered in royal blue sheets and walked to the door. "Will you bring me food?" I cringed at how pathetic my voice sounded.
"Not until you leave your room." He said sternly and I could hear his foot tapping.
I stared at the doorknob for a long while before I grabbed it with a pale hand. In fact, I thought as I stared at the hand, it looked paler than usual. 'It's just because I've been locked up in this room for the past five days.' I told myself and turned the handle.
Professor Snape gave me a grim half smile before leading me towards the kitchen. "Is there anything specific you would like?" He asked as I sat down at the table.
"Just a ham sandwich." I said quietly, staring at my hands which sat in my lap. As Professor Snape was preparing my sandwich I looked around the kitchen. It wasn't very large but it had a nice homey feel to it. From my seat at the table I could see into the sitting room where a large fire roared. A couch was placed on each side of the marble fire place, one a navy blue, almost black, and the other a rich golden color.
"Here's your lunch." Professor Snape said and set the plate down in front of me. I stared down at it and suddenly realized that it was not what I was hungry for.
"Um, Professor," my voice was weak, timid, "I'm not really hungry anymore." But even as I said the words my stomach growled.
"Are you sure about that?" He raised an eyebrow at me.
"Well, I'm hungry; I just don't want a ham sandwich anymore. I'm sorry I had you make it for me." I blushed and turned my eyes towards my lap again.
"Don't worry about it. What are you hungry for?" His question, although expected, caught me off guard. As I thought about it I had no idea what in fact I was hungry for. The thought of any kind of food made me nauseous but my stomach rumbled loudly again. Suddenly Professor Snape said, "I think I have just the thing." He rummaged around in one cabinet before moving to another and pouring something behind the door where I couldn't see. He returned to the table with a bottle but I couldn't see what was inside it. I sniffed the top and found that it had an appealing aroma. Without any more hesitation I brought the bottle to my mouth and took long gulps of the sweet, thick liquid.
When the bottle had emptied I looked back up at the dark man. "What was that?"
The professor looked hesitant before saying, "Before I tell you there are a few things about myself that you need to know." He led me to a small room that held so many books my head spun trying to take them all in. He motioned for me to sit in the sole armchair as he leaned against a shelf.
"When I was not much older than you," he began, a faraway look settling in his dark eyes, "my parents took me into our sitting room and told me a story not much unlike the one I'm about to tell you but first I must ask you a question. How much do you know about vampires?"
"Not much." I admitted. We had studied them for a while in third year but it was nothing more than the myths I had known said. "They don't like sunlight, garlic repels them in extremely high quantities but holy water does nothing, and nothing but blood has any nutritional value for them for which they extract from a human with their four fangs. With their fangs they can also turn a human into their kind because they hold an unknown venom in them that can be released upon will."
"Good, good. That's more than I knew when I was your age. What you don't know is that vampirism can't only be contracted by being bit by a vampire. It can also be passed down through birth if both parents have the vampire gene."
"Are you telling me I'm a vampire?" I asked, a little louder than I had meant to.
Professor Snape seemed to struggle to find the right words. "Not particularly." He finally said. "Your case is a rare case where only one of the parents is a vampire. You see, your mother was not of my kind. She was a very beautiful witch by the name of Lorraine Banks."
"So does that mean I'm not a vampire?" I asked, thoroughly confused.
"I'm getting there. Don't get your knickers in a twist." He smiled and it looked awkward on his face for a moment before the rest of his features brightened. "When I first saw you at the Granger's house I was sure that you wouldn't have contracted vampirism for you had your mother's brown hair and hazel eyes. Your complexion wasn't pale but rather pink. For me it was a sigh of relief but there was always the chance that you would be a Halfling."
"Halfling?" I had never heard that term before.
"Both vampire and human sometimes create a whole new species on its own. A Halfling craves blood just as a vampire does but it can also go out in sunlight and be completely unaffected. After their first taste of blood human food no longer seems atrocious to them but it does not need to be consumed. Instead of the normal four fangs a vampire has they have only the two on the top in place of their canines and can turn a human into a Halfling if they choose to."
My head spun as I tried to wrap my mind around the possibility of being anything other than human. That had been blood I had been drinking earlier. "Can I still go back to school in the fall?"
Professor Snape stared at me silently for a long while. "I'm not sure that would be the best idea. With the large student body and the blood spilled everyday, especially with you being friends with Potter I wouldn't want to chance you losing control."
"What will I do for school then? I still have two years to complete!"
"I will visit Albus today and inform him that I'm resigning. I will home school you myself."
"Can I still visit Harry and Ron this summer?" I asked as he made to leave the room.
"Ah!" He exclaimed. "That reminds me. You have received quite a few letters from them and Miss Weasley while you remained locked in your room. I have them stacked on the end table in the sitting room if you wish to read them."
--
A/n: So there's the second chapter. It's quite a bit longer than the first but still not very long so I hope to make the next chapters longer. Here are the voting results so far:
Harry: 3 (I really dread this one winning, I've never even read a Harry/Hermione fic let alone write one)
Bill: 2
Charlie: 2
Twins: 2 (please specify if you'd like to vote for one of the twins, how am I suppose to choose if this wins?)
Draco: 1
Marcus F: 1
Adrian P: 1
If you don't like these results change them by REVIEWING!!