Chapter 4 The Bloody Bottle
Snape stalked the long winding corridors turning down hallways opening doors and entering through secret passageways so many times it seemed impossible he could know where he was going, but Snape didn't even look up from the ground. He seemed to be deep in thought, and was whispering to himself.
"Why, why did you make me wear that damned bracelet Albus, if I had known who it'd call when I died I would have refused to wear it…Damn you Albus, and now I have to work with Potter… and those friends of his, watch him everyday as that life flows through his veins… I have so little control… I hate not having control of myself, my reputation! Damn that women, why did she have to bring me back…damn you and your cursed Count for bringing me back, and damn you Albus for asking her too! Damn you all! If only… my patronus…why…"
"The patronus draws energy from your soul to work…" Snape jumps as the voice reverberates looking around before realizing it was in his mind.
"Damn you women! Stop sneaking into my head! Why can't I use occlumens on you?"
"Because I made you, and I'm not using legilimency…"
"Than what are…wait, you're a statue, a mere garden display how..."
"My body is asleep, that doesn't mean my soul is."
"How can you have a soul when I! God damn it woman, must you beat me in every way?"
"You know you are much better at wand magic than me and better at potions too, I just know more recipes if you want to put it that way. You can modify and make them stronger and understand them to a level I can't, I can prepare them, you can enhance them." Snape smiled inwardly, feeling slightly better about himself, as he walked into a wall, no through a wall.
"Fine, but why can't I cast some of my spells?"
"Try casting your patronus"
"I can't! You know very well that-"
"Cast you patronus!" The woman ordered, and Snape seemed forced to comply.
"Expecto Patronum!" A small light escaped from the wand, otherwise nothing happened, "see I told you I ca-"
"And that's the point, what did I say the Patronus draws its energy from?"
"The sou- YOU MEAN I DON'T HAVE A SOUL! Damn it woman I should flay y-"
"You already thought about this before I brought it up, you just wouldn't admit you thought it was true: and you know very well that you can't and that it wouldn't do any good if you could Severus. And no, you have a soul, just not In your body, it's still attached to you, but by a thin thread that leads far away, you need to reach your soul and reconnect with it, find a reason to live again, no matter what it may be…" Snape smiled.
"Could it be making Potter's life miserable?"
"Yes, it could, but that isn't a strong enough reason…" Snape entered through a door and entered a room, apparently his room evident by the potions books and ingredients covering the wall, he picked up the potion and started to walk back. "Stop for a moment," Snape stopped and listened irritatedly. "You will go on a quest to get your soul, you'll have to find where it is for you to reconnect with it, even you find a reason for living the soul has to be close by… now why don't you use the shortcut to get back." The woman says evilly. Snape splutters.
"What! There was a shortcut! Why did you make me walk all this way?"
"Aw, but if you had taken the short way we wouldn't have had this lovely chat!" Snape grumbled as the woman sniggered. "Go to the tapestry outside the door and walk through it." Snape went outside, replaced his wards and locked the door before turning to a disgusting tapestry depicting a jewel being reached for by some demons. Snape lifted up the tapestry to find a door and, stared at a wall. He touched it, the wall was solid, he stepped back and lifted his wand preparing to blast away the wall.
"Don't break the wall please, I like the fact that this shortcut is concealed." Snape raises an eyebrow and prepares another spell to enlarge the hole temporarily, but "In fact, Snape, I would like you to not use your wand at all." Snape looks livid.
"And just how, pray tell, am I supposed to do that?" Snape inquires silkily.
"Just will yourself through that crack in the wall."
"I am going to point out that that crack is barely three centimeters wide and you expect me-"
"JUST DO IT!" this woman was not one to be trifled with. Snape sighed and thought himself going through the dusty crack…dust… Snape found himself disintegrating and flowing through the crack, in the next room he solidified and found himself in a circular room with hundreds of different color-coded doors. "Which door, which door," he thought.
"The red one in front of you, and-"
"You know I hate if when you do that..." muttered Snape in his head.
"Why do you think I do it?" asked the women lightly causing Snape to rub his nose and count to ten. "Want to vent your anger? Yes, you do, I know you to well. How about you go through the red door as dust, and reform behind that Potter boy you love to tease so much. Reform with your hand on his shoulder, and your head by his ear, and watch him jump. I want to see how he reacts, and you can form dust again if he tries anything." Snape smiled evilly as he walked toward the red door and disintegrated into a fine dust. Going through the keyhole he came to the large room through a door in the ceiling with a platform under it, apparently for hidden observation of the room.
Snape floated down behind Harry, still dust, and landed on his shoulders. Harry looked up.
"There dust falling from the ceiling… I wonder if…"
"No ones up there Harry," said Hermione, "we need to think about what Ron can do…If only we could anticipate her movements!"
"Maybe we can," Ron and Hermione looked at Harry expectantly. "She said she was a occlumens, but not a good one. Read her mind Ron!"
"That's brilliant Harry!" Said Hermione and Ron shrugged."
"I'll try it."
"Okay, then you can decide what spell is best to use, and then..." Hermione started rambling about spells and counter spells, no one even thought that anyone other than them, and Draco and Goyle, was there. Snape smiled to himself, Weasley would get a surprise when he tried to read his friends mind, not only would she let him, but she'd direct his searching at certain images… this would be interesting…now to have some fun. Snape muttered a nonverbal spell, before remembering that not only did he not have a mouth, but his wand was disintegrated too. To his surprise the vase he was aiming to move fell to the ground anyway. Everyone turned to look for the source of the sound (except Malfoy and Goyle who were looking at some poisons). Snape took his chance and materialized, his hand on Harry's shoulder and his mouth next to his ear.
"Hello Potter." Harry almost jumped a foot into the air he was so startled and Snape had to concentrate on something else himself so he would not burst out laughing. He focused on the nearest thing, Potter, specifically the part of Potter he was looking at was his ear, Snape heard a drumbeat from below and looked down to see where it came from, and saw Potters neck, and the pulse that had created the drumming sound. Snape's eyes dilated till the already dark eyes were huge, and had a tinge of red. Snape licked his lips and leaned forward, and stopped, someone was laughing, it was that woman. Why was she laughing, he was about to, to put it plainly, eat the Potter boy. She wasn't stopping him, though he knew she could easily, Snape's thoughts turned back to what he was doing, and he didn't really care. He leaned closer, his fangs unsheathing and grazing the boy's neck…he inhaled the sweet scent, and opened his mouth wider to-.
"Harry!" Snape jumped up, all this had happened in about 10 seconds, and now Potter's friends were turning around to see him.
"Ahem, yes." Snape stood up and straightened himself, regaining his composure as Potter's friends stared open mouthed and Harry shuddered. "Well, I have the potion and-what are you staring at?" Snape snapped at the group.
"Professor, you're, you're a vampire…" Hermione stated… "That's why Lupin assigned that vampire essay after you assigned the one about werewolves…"
"Correct Miss Granger, as always. I'm a vampire, in a matter of speaking, but I wasn't fully when Lupin assigned that essay. I was Alive for one thing…now, as you can see I am not, and my, desires have been, made more…apparent."
"How?" Asked Harry.
"That is what the lithified (lithify to turn to stone) excuse for a woman over there will tell you after the final duel." Said Snape his voice dripping with anger, at the woman, being denied a meal, but mostly that he had lost control and was about to eat the Potter boy, whom he, while still disgusted by, cared for in a fatherly way… "Wait while I administer this antidote." Snape goes toward the statue of the woman and pours the antidote on the statue, leaving one drop for the mouth. The statue cracked, and then shattered as if it were an exoskeleton. A loud sigh comes from the statue as the figure inside stretches.
"Aaaaaaah, wow that did wonders for my skin!" Snape sneers at this comment, as if he knew the lady would say something like that. "Yes, well done Harry, nice use of transfiguration, you pass, obviously. Now, I believe there is one person left, sorry to be so business like, but I haven't eaten dinner or breakfast and would like to get this over so I can eat, and maybe drink something. Hmmm, Snape would you volunteer?" The lady smiles, hidden laughter in her eyes as Snape sneers back.
"You know that I couldn't refuse lunch with you even if I wanted too." He snapped.
"You know what I mean." The lady says chidingly.
"Yes, well, than I would just be hungrier and you know how hungry fledglings are."
"Yes, well, on with the next person, we'll get you something to eat later. Unless one of you three would like to volunteer?" The lady raises an eyebrow at the trio.
"Volunteer for what?" asks Ron.
"To feed Snape, Ron."
"But he's a vampire!"
"Exactly…" whispers Harry. Ron opens his mouth in a silent O. "I'll volunteer." Harry says quietly.
"No you won't Potter! And if you do I refuse! I will not stoop to such-" Snape stares as Harry mutters a spell that slices open his wrist and waves his wand to create a stream of blood that flows through the air toward him. Snape's pupils dilate at the smell and he licks his lips before snapping back to his old self. Snape takes a large empty bottle from the folds of his robes and holds it out to the thin red stream, waving his wand to move the liquid into the vial. "Thank you Potter, that will do." Says Snape as he cuts off the stream and stoppers the bottle. He then idly points his wand at Harry's cut and heals it without a word. There was an awkward silence as Snape holds the bottle under the light and inspects it. He then unstoppers the vial and smells it, his large nostrils flaring. Tentatively taking a small sip he smiles as the drops hit his tongue. Upending the bottle he pours over half of its contents into his mouth, ignoring the astonished and disgusted glances from Harry and Ron, and the studying eyes of Hermione. Licking his lips Snape looks unlike his usual composed self, he looks happy, and feral, until he notices the group staring at him and puts his mask back on about to berate them for staring when-
"Aren't you going to share Severus?" A laughing voice calls. Everyone turns to the lady who is pretending to pout.
"You know very well Bela that-"
"Bela? Like Belatrix?" Says Ron angrily remembering the cruel lady.
"No, Bela as in Bela Lugosi the famous actor, that lady completely dishonors the name. Severus, I only want a drop to understand the boy better, now give it here, because if I am forced to make you know how unpleasant and embarrassing it will be." Severus sighs and levitates the bottle to the lady, whose name is now known to be Bela. She runs her finger along the edge, licks her finger, and smiles. "Hmmm, virgin, 18 years of age, powerful in defense and offense but weak in planning, needs to eat more meat, had a cold three weeks ago, has suffered immensely for others he does not know, cares for his friends, is loyal but rash. Parslemouth, potential to become an animagus is great, has strong feelings and good intuition. Is-"
"You can tell all that from my blood? How?"
"Blood magic Potter. Blood is powerful and-" Snape is cut off here by Hermione.
"Is regarded as a life source, a source of information and power if used correctly in potions, spells, and rituals. Blood can be used to make a connection to the person and control him or her, it can be used to view memories or track a lost person. Because of it's versatility and use in many dark magicks and potions blood of all sentient creatures has been banned by the ministry in the use of magic, unless of course you have a license for research or have registered a request to use it and-"
"Yes, Ms Granger, always above and beyond." Snape comments as he stalks over to Bela and snatches the vial back from her before downing the rest of its contents. The focus back on Snape now the trio realized he looks different from before he drank the blood. His teeth are straight and white, though the eyeteeth and canines are a little sharper, his hair shiny and clean, his skin less yellow and overall healthier looking. The trio had to work hard to keep from staring at him as he shook the bottle over his open mouth and frowns as he realizes it's empty. Tucking the bottle back into his robes he stalks over to Ron, who nearly faints as vampire Snape comes towards him. "Well Weasley, it appears to be your turn to fight." Snape says sneering as Ron gulps and steps towards the line facing the already positioned Bela.
"1, 2, 3!" Snape counts off the start.
"Legilimens!" Ron shouts pointing his wand at the slowly advancing Bela. Ron's eyes go wide at the images rushing in his mind as Bela stands still projecting them. A minute goes by and nothing changes, after another minute Snape walks up to Ron and puts his own wand to the boy's head.
"I believe this would be more interesting if we could see what Weasley here is seeing. Sit down! If I am correct, and I usually am, this will be like viewing a two-dimensional pensive. Draco, Goyle! Stop playing with that sword and come here and watch." Malfoy and Goyle come and sit down by the rest of the group their sword forgotten as the prospect of seeing something entertaining makes itself available. Snape whispers a spell and an image appears in front of Ron, the memory he's seeing. A boy, cowering in the corner as a shadow of something horrifying falls over him A new memory of a wolf like creature howling on a mountain at the full moon people below in an amusement park scattering in fear. A tall dark man and Bela puling on a girl each wanting the girl for their own, until, with a scream and a shower of blood the girl is ripped in half. The horrifying images continued and continued until…
"You monster! How can you do those things, your just as bad as Voldemort! Inaculum! Revendiro! Inveris!" one of the suits of armor by the wall comes alive and walks toward Bela who gets in a fighting stance, a metal staff appearing in her hands. The loud clanging from the fight drowns out Ron's repeated spells as more and more suits of armor animate and come towards Bela. Swords come off the wall with levitating spells and attack her. After defending herself for three minute against 5 suits of armor that repair themselves when they fall apart and three swords made of silver Bela raises a hand and says "Requiem!" The swords falter for a moment before continuing their actions, if a little slower. Bela scowls and raises both her hands in defeat, but Ron doesn't stop the spells, if anything he puts more force into them.
Bela shakes her head and looks directly at Snape, who nods. Walking up to Harry and Hermione he whispers scathingly to not interfere unless they want to endure something ten times worse than any detention he's ever given them. Walking silently up behind Ron he whispers "Petrificus Totalus" and Ron freezes and falls to the ground because Snape did not bother to catch him. Unfortunately the suits of armor do not stop when their animator falls. Snape points his wand at Ron and casts a quick finite incantatem before casting an even quicker "Imperio." Using his will to tell Ron to cancel the spells Snape then runs over to Bela who seems a little tired as she uses Severus to help her walk over to the group. Snape conjures a chair for her to sit in and then conjures one for himself beside her.
"Snape, conjure some ropes to bind the boy before releasing him from the Imperio." Snape does so and ennerverates Ron, after gagging him. Bela turns to Ron.
"I know you think I'm evil and that I did all those things, but seeing this one memory will show you otherwise. Severus, if you please." Snape nods and whispers another spell. Another memory, showing the same cowering boy, leaving a haunted house and pointing at Bela and laughing as he leaves and screaming delightedly as she growls at him. The memory ends and Snape takes his wand away from Bela's head and she opens her eyes. After shaking her head to clear it Bela continues. "You see, I work at haunted houses scaring the bajeezuz out of people, it's a very good deal. I get to have fun scaring people, they get to have fun being scared, people rarely get hurt, and my family and me get paid to do it. Severus, if you would remove the rag from Ron's mouth." Snape flicks his wand and the gag disappears. Immediately Ron starts screaming.
"Then how do you explain the girl who was torn in half?!? She has to be dead!"
"She is quite alive and well. If you don't believe me"
"NO, I DON'T!" screams Ron.
"Fine then, I'll call my daughter, she volunteered for the part, and knew it would be painful, but also knew it would scare many people shitless and she wanted to see their faces. She recovered after Agatha, my witch, mended her up. Now give me a minute, Severus would you get me my purse?" Snape rolls his eyes and nonverbally levitates Bela's purse over to her. After rummaging through the junk for a minute Bela pulls out a cell phone. Noticing the curious glances she shrugs and says; "They are useful and I live in the muggle world." Bela dials a number on the phone and waits for someone to pick it up. "Hello? Sara? Yes it's Bela, how are you? Good! Yes I'll be home soon, yes Europe is wonderful, it's not like I didn't live here you know. Yes, yes, everyone is forgetful sometimes. Yes, well I need your help, there's a young boy here who thinks that stunt we pulled last year where you got torn in half, yes the one at the manor, he thinks it was real. Yes I know you think it's stupid but we did actually rip you in half you know… Yes, yes. Well he wants to know that your alive so were going to have Severus, yes I'll say hi to him for you, we're going to have him compare voice wavelengths, yes he already recorded the scream from my memory. I know, he's very smart isn't he, no he won't do your potions homework for you he's an adult and you may not bribe him! You understand me young lady, no blood bribes! Yes, yes, now scream for us will you. Yes, wait for a second. Snape? Play back that scream from my memory. On the count of three you'll scream Sara, and Snape will play back the other scream. 1, 2, 3!" Snape hold out his wand and a yellow light comes out of the tip along with the scream from the memory, a nanosecond later a scream comes from the phone. They sound identical.
"Okay you can stop now… damn it. STOP!" Bela yells at the top of her lungs and the room becomes quiet again. "Now do you believe me Ronald Weasley?"
"No, I know Snape's on your side, he could have faked it." Even Hermione had to agree with that.
"Well, I guess you'll just have to meet her. We're going to my house for training anyway. We have tickets for a flight to New Jersey at 6:00 so we better get going. All three of you passed. You two however," Bela looked at Malfoy and Goyle. "Would you like Snape to wipe your memories of him so there isn't even the temptation to blab or the possibility of it being forced out of you? No? Then I expect you, Malfoy, to be at the ministry in one hour to start your training and you, Goyle, to be at the ministry for practice courses that will help you when you retake the test 2 years from now. Shoo!"
Goyle looked quite ready to go but Malfoy was looking at Snape with a scheming look. "Mr. Malfoy." Malfoy jumps as Bela addresses him. "I am quite aware that Snape just used an unforgivable curse without authorization, but there is nothing to gain from reporting it." Malfoy opens to his mouth to speak but Bela hold up her hand and continues. "You see, no one knows Snape is alive, except me, my friends, Dumbledore's portrait, and now you. And if this information were to somehow reach the public Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Goyle, neither of you would ever see the sun again, and before you say that isn't so bad, I'll have you know that the last three people who I said that to are 1,000 years old, and STILL living in my basement, the others I let go for reasons I don't feel I need to share. I know my friends won't tell because they have nothing to gain from it, and even if they did they wouldn't because they are my friends and know what I would do to them if they pissed me off. The other three sitting here cannot tell because they will be with me studying and for other reasons they will come to know. That leaves you. Beware my warning." By the end of this speech Goyle had gone quite pale, but Malfoy was sneering.
"And how do I know that you can really do those things, that you're really as dangerous as you say?" Malfoy asks with a look of superiority. "Yes you beat me and Goyle, but not them." Draco spat. "A well timed spell could still take you out." Malfoy smirked.
"Draco, for once in your pitiful life have the sense to stay quiet." Asked Snape warningly. Malfoy just sneered. Bela smiled at him and his sneer wavered for a second.
"You would like me to prove to you that I am dangerous?" Bela asked Malfoy sweetly and he nodded. "Would me dueling Snape, and winning, prove to you that I am dangerous?" Malfoy nods and sneers again.
"Why can't you duel Malfoy instead, I have no desire to duel you." Snape growls. Bela smiles.
"Because I would kill him, you, are immortal." Snape growls at this.
"Then I forfeit." Snape says raising an eyebrow to see what Bela will do. Malfoy looks stunned that his Professor would forfeit anything. Bela smiles and shakes her head.
"I do not accept, you're not getting out of this, and you won't purposely lose." Bela says as Snape opens his mouth, probably to say just that. "No, I won't force you to try, but you will try because if you lose I get a favor from you, and if you win you get a favor from me." Bela grins knowing Snape wouldn't give up this chance.
"Anything?" Snape enquires raising an eyebrow to show he doubted it.
"Anything, but you will have to deal with the anger of my friends if your choice is something they dislike… Choose carefully if you win, which you won't." Bela adds this final insult with a wave of her hand as she walks away a bit. Snape seethes, and then visibly calms and starts after her so the duel will be away from the observing party.
"If any of you come to close, you will most likely die, stay back, or don't, I don't really care."
"Of course you do Snape," Snape raised his eyebrows at her questioningly, "okay maybe you don't, but I do." Bela walked over to Snape and held out her hand, "Give me your hand." Snape doesn't and gives Bela a look that said he wasn't going to unless she explained why. Bela sighed. "I need both our blood to create a barrier that our spells cannot pass through, and if need be, I can't physically leave. We'll use more of my blood so you don't get hungry." Snape nods, but bites his own hand instead of giving it to Bela. He leaves a gash that flowed freely under the anticoagulant in his saliva. Bela does the same to her own arm and Snape summons the blood like before, this time though he directs it in a very large circle around both of them and sealing it with a rune. Bela followed the circle Snape was creating and drew small runes at seemingly random intervals in the blood; she finished at the same time as Snape. Both of them went over and touched the closing rune Snape made and the whole circle glowed blue, creating what seemed to be a dome over them. Bela then spit on the rune and it glowed green for a second before returning to a lighter blue.
"Yes, if I get out of control say Fetra and then leave yourself, wait for me to calm down and do not touch the circle." Said Bela giving instructions to Snape.
"I am quite aware as to how a Runed Spell-dome works." Snape glared in his most terrifying way but Bela merely walked to the other end of the bubble and waited.
"Whenever you're ready." She said smiling. Snape didn't even wait to say go.