Chapter 6
Koli raised his hands to the closed doors. His hand formed a fist and knocked. He waited and waited. Where was Snape? He knocked again. There was no response.
Koli knew better than to disappear and blame his professor later.
He was considering blasting the door open absent-mindedly when he heard Snape approaching.
"Apologies, the headmaster went over his time allowance. Inside."
Snape was slightly impressed; if Koli had been in Gryffindor he would have hotfooted it back to his tower. Sod the consequences. Even most Slytherins would have just ignored the meeting and gone to pester someone.
"Dragomir. I want you to tell me more about yourself."
"You mean you want to know about the Fallen?"
"Well, yes."
Harry grinned. "You should have just said so."
"Will you be going into Hogsmeade at all next week?"
"Don't change the subject". Snape snapped.
"My Dad is coming to Hogsmeade and I thought perhaps you would like to meet him?"
"Oh, this being the man from your 'Kin'.
"Yes".
"Well, I would like that".
"What do you know of vampires Professor Snape?"
The drink blood, are nocturnal and have a mate for life. They have a pale complexion and an aversion to light. They are the living dead. Now, explain.".
"The Fallen are the ancestors of the modern vampire. We have long since been forgotten by both humans and our descendants. We have faded from memory. We are stronger, more resistant and infinitely more dangerous. Of course, we are a people, not creatures. We have morals, free thoughts. Not many of the Fallen are evil. There has been the odd exception. My kin have a royal family, a method of leadership, order and community. We have existed peacefully with humans for our entire existence. It is the lesser beings that have tainted the people and so they were banished. This was a couple of thousand years ago. My kin do indeed drink blood and cannot eat or drink anything else except water though it is not necessary. We can tolerate sunlight and we do not have a chosen mate. We are totally free-willed and choose who ever we fall in love with. We live in hidden groups so that we are not found by humans or vampires for they are foul things indeed. They destroyed all semblance of being a people with their treachery and have become a creature that has animalistic personalities. They do not choose their companions because of love or even responsibility but the best one for them. This has adapted with magic over time to create a mate for them. They drink blood far too often and from unwilling sources. I'm sure you understand why we severed all contact with them."
"How long do you live?"
"It varies. If a person loses their spouse they often die young. This is often the case with those who take human or wizarding marriages. Those who do not can live in excess of 7000 years definitely. The oldest today is 7983. His wife is second at 7457.
"Have there been older er 'Fallen' that have since died?"
"Just one. He died at the age of 15,076 I think. And, that was ten years ago. He was my blood-grandfather, Catalin Costin. He was an incredible guy; he taught me how to fly. It's one of my best memories."
"Would you like a drink Dragomir?"
"Don't suppose Firewhiskeys on your menu?"
"You suppose right; you can have butterbeer?"
"Sure".
Severus walked into the kitchen area and made himself a cup of coffee and brought back butterbeer for Koli. He started describing Romania but Severus seemed to know quite a bit already.
"I visited a lot, quite a while ago. I was …" Severus reddened as he realised he was about to tell a story about his personal life.
"Go on", Koli urged gently.
"I was engaged to a Romanian witch. I used to spend more time out there than I did here. "
"What happened to her?"
"She died. I was called back. I was playing the spy game but I was new to it. I was making mistakes. I came home and I was confronted by some Death Eaters who were insistent that I was betraying Voldemort. I didn't quite talk my way out of it. I was delayed over a month while I was questioned and, well they wanted to be sure I was for them and not against them. I was freed and I wrote to Jadyn immediately and made an arrangement to meet her within the week. She did not reply but I thought she might be angry that I had not written sooner. I got there to find she was missing. Not many would talk about it. I heard she had been seriously ill and had been in a state of panic over the last month. It was my fault. They found her a few months later. I had stayed over there to search for her. She seemed to have had a serious internal disease. I have never found out what it was. It had killed her. It was my fault."
Koli had closed his eyes.
"Did you say… Jadyn?"
"Yes", Severus muttered darkly. His eyes were watery and he had his fists clenched around the arm chair.
"Professor, my mother was called Jadyn."
And please review: make me happy!