Chapter 7 Home Sweet Home

The trio still had three hours to go before they landed, and they were getting fidgety with impatience. Hermione especially seemed to have something on her mind; she kept glancing at Snape then at Bella. Finally Snape asked her what the hell she was doing. She sighed and put up another muffliato.

"I was thinking, -"

"Are you implying that you actually stop thinking once in a while Miss Granger?" Snape asked before Bella whacked upside the head jokingly. Snape snarled but remained quiet.

"Thank you Bella." continued Hermione; Bella waved her hand to say it was nothing. "If you turned Snape why is he different then you?"

"In what way?" asked Bella as if it wasn't terribly important.

"Well he's just a vampire right?"

"No, he's a werewolf too, but he's not as powerful as me, he will be over the years, but he was turned, not born so that's the main difference. I don't really know about anything else, I'm the only one of my kind that I know of, as the circumstances of my creation were highly improbable. We don't really know much about it as I refuse to endanger others by experimenting with blood and such."

Hermione looked pleased that Bella thought of others first but disappointed that it hindered the pursuit of knowledge. "What about the Count? You started the story as if he were more involved."

"I just used him as an excuse to tell you, but better you learn about him now than later." said Bella nonchalantly.

"Who is the Count?" asked Hermione.

"A very old friend of mine and Dumbledore's, he's been my friend longer though, longer than Dumbledore's been alive defiantly. You have probably heard of him, it'll be a great surprise when you see him."

"A great understatement on your part Bella." Muttered Snape as Bella glared at him. Hermione sighed and canceled the muffliato to prevent any arguments, and then went back to reading.

Three hours, a horrid movie, and three stomach calming potions later they were on the ground and walking toward the exit.

"Bella! I haf come to pick you and your guests up! Severus, you look vonderful, enjoy the flight back?" Snape gave a nod to the middle-aged man coming towards them, and Bella embraced him for a moment before letting the group get a good look at him. When she let go they could see that the man was dressed in a black business suit with black shoes and a cane the man looked very rich. "Come, let us walk and talk. Bella since you haf brought back three new guests I vill assume they passed the testing and are here to stay for ahvile." Turning to look at Hermione the Count continued speaking. "You must be Hermione Granger; I was told that visdom practically flows through your veins." Hermione flushed, not knowing if she should be thanking for a compliment of be afraid. "You must be Ron Veasly, a good strong childe, a good heart. Oh, and you-" The man's eyes went wide for a moment when he spotted Harry; he sniffed the air and smiled before looking back at him. "You must be Harry Potter, I have heard many things about you, my house is in Europe actually but I find myself here more oft than not." The man shook hands with each of them in turn and by that time they were outside.

"Let us find a nice deserted part in the parking lot so we may apparate home. I vill take Harry, you can take Ron, and Severus vill take Hermione." The tall man said. Bella laughed.

"I saw the way you were looking at Harry, Vladimir. No, no, there is no way you are taking Harry." Hermione's eyes opened a bit at the name Vladimir, apparently she recognized it; Harry would have to ask her later.

"You do not think haf control over myself?" asked the Count sadly.

"No, I know you have perfect control; I also know you are an evil bastard." Bella retorted. The Count smiled.

"You know me too vell, fine ve vill apparate together." Bella nodded and held Hands with Ron and Hermione, while Snape put his hand on Harry's shoulder. Moments later they were in front of what looked like a very old mansion in the middle of some suburban part of the U.S. Bella, the Count and Severus walked up to the house ignoring the trio's staring. Before Bella could put the key in the door though it burst open and she was caught in a tangle of arms as a young girl dressed in black jeans and a tee practically tackles her to the ground.

"Sara, hello, good to see you too, now please get up you're getting my new clothes dirty." The girl slowly got up and took her attention to the Count who she gave a quick hug and then pounced on Severus.

"Pleeeeeaaaasseeee help me with my brewing! Agatha's got me working on a potion that I doubt even you know it's so old and complicated!" Snape brushed the girl off of himself and started to drag her inside.

"We'll see about that." He smirked and muttered before Bella grabbed him on the shoulder shaking her head and smiling.

"We need to introduce my daughter to our guests first. Sara, this is Harry, Ron, and Hermione, I'm training them as a favor to Dumbledore. Guys, this is my daughter Sara, the one I ripped in half." Ron stared at the girl, her blonde hair riddled with black and her skin pale. She was in amazing shape, and obviously had no stitches to cover up scars from being torn in half. She extended her hand to Ron.

"Hi, as you can see, I'm quite alive and well, so stop bugging Bella please." Ron blushed. Sara turned to Snape and pouted. "Can we stay for a bit, I want to see their reaction to the house and people, I remember mine." Sara smiled as they walked inside.

"Lou! Meet our guests and get your ass down here!" There was a rumbling on the stairs and a young man ran at top speed into Bella licking her face and howling with joy. Two wolf-like dogs followed him. "Lou! Calm down! Bad Boy! Stop it or I'll have Severus give you the wolfsbane potion, I know you hate that." Lou looked down and gave her one quick kiss before looking at his horrified guests.

"You don't take the wolfsbane potion!" asked Hermione horrified.

"Don't have to; my Bella makes sure of that. A potion made with her blood has the same effect. I don't really understand it; only Agatha, who created the potion, does…It makes my brain hurt trying to figure it out." Snape sneered at Lou who growled back.

"Both of you! Behave! Honestly, I feel like our guests are more mature than you at the moment." Snape look horrified at the thought of his former students being more mature than him. "Anyway, Lou, these are the trainees, Ron and Hermione Weasley, and Harry Potter. Harry, Ron, Hermione, this is my husband Lou, a regular werewolf; we've been married for about….400 years. It's our anniversary next Friday." Bella smiled happily as Lou planted a kiss on her cheek.

"That's impossible! How would he be immortal?" Hermione asked incredulously. "A lot of people in this house are in some way immortal. I'm undead…ish, and Snape as well as the Count are undead. Lou drank some potion of unknown origin and nearly died, only to be blessed with long levity afterward. Other residents have some secret or spell or something. Then of course ghosts are, well, ghosts. Agatha… well she's just a weird." Bella shrugged as if it didn't really matter to her.

A small boom echoed in the house, and one of the windows in the attic blew open and billowed out black smoke.

"I am Not weird!" A voice from the blown open window yelled, between numerous coughs. "I prefer to think, cough, think of myself as eccentric, or cough, visionary, but Not WEIRD!" With that statement the smoke billowing from the window was forcefully expelled and the window closed with such force that the resulting noise set off another explosion in the room. Loud curses emanated from the now broken window.

"Uhm, yes. That's Agatha;" said Bella with a touch of annoyance, "She is our resident witch, eccentric, grandmother, and nutcase." At this there was another bang from the uppermost window, followed by more curses. "She also likes potions, and-" Bella was interrupted by what was left of the window falling with a crash meters behind her, "experimenting… I think we better go inside before the attic falls down again." Ron's eyes went wide.

"What does she mean, again?" he asked Sara, who just smiled. As they walked into the house Sara asked them if they knew who the Count really was. Ron and Harry said no, the Count raised an eyebrow at Hermione and she pointed to the emblem on his chest before smiling. The counts eyes sparkled in a way not unlike Dumbledore's, but with more menace. Bella smiled and asked if Hermione would like to see their room, Hermione said yes, and Sara said she'd come as she'd be able to hear the boys reaction anyway. All three climbed the stairs and made their way to Sara's room, which Hermione would share. They were halfway up the stairs before they heard a loud scream, Sara chuckled and Hermione looked fairly smug.

"So, what is the Count's full title?" Hermione asked.

"I thought you knew who he was…" Sara smiled.

"I do, but a title can be changed in a couple thousand years." Hermione smiled and Sara laughed.

"You'll have to ask my mom for that." Hermione looked at Bella as she opened the door to Sara's, and now Hermione's, rooms.

"His full title is Count Sam Vladimir Dracul, my, Sara's, and now your, teacher and hopefully friend. He is also a Guardian of the Magic Sanctuary." Bella waved her hand to indicate that meant the house. Hermione smiled and they all started to enter the room, they stopped when Bella stood blocking the entranceway in front of them. They turned around to see what she was looking at. An annoyed Severus Snape, followed by a grinning Harry, had come up the stairs silently, looking completely miffed, if not somewhat amused.

"Weasley fainted." Snape stated as Hermione burst into laughter and Sara guffawed, Snape look repulsed by this outward display of emotion. "Sara, I would like to take a look at this potion as soon as possible, I will not tolerate time wasting." Snape said quietly and glared at Sara. Sara, however, seemed immune to the stare that had scared so many students to the point of tears; she merely nodded and tugged Hermione into her room.

"This is my bed, that's yours, that's my-our wardrobe. That's it really; I am quite willing to share everything that's in here." Hermione merely nodded but was still staring at the room. The walls were painted with mural of a sun setting over many different places turning into a black night sky, until on the ceiling stars are visible. There was a nice bathroom, a mini fridge, a window seat, a bookcase, shelves of items, and two beds, one with blood red sheets and black pillows and one with Gryffindor colors. Hermione smiled.

"It's very nice. Thank you for sharing you're room…but why can't I sleep with Ron, he is my husband." Hermione said happily.

"Because you will not have time to focus on relationships and putting you in the same room will make you notice the lack of time spent together and will most likely cause fights. Also, you will need your energy for training and will most likely fall asleep as soon as you hit the bed." Bella commented from the hallway as they came back out. Hermione nodded and asked if she could come with Sara and look at this potion. "You'll have to ask Severus and Sara, it's there decision not mine, besides I should go down to check on the boys now…it's been to quiet." Bella hurried down the stairs to make sure the Ron was in one piece.

"You have a nice room Hermione, hope mine's as good as yours." muttered Harry. Sara assured him it was and was about to show him when Snape stepped in.

"You have dawdled long enough; you will show me this potion now, Potter, Granger, you may accompany me." Sara grinned at Snape's announcement and led them down the stairs, past a fainted Ron whom Bella was trying to wake, and to a door that they hadn't noticed previously. Sara opened the door and they climbed down a long flight of stairs that ended in a dungeon-like room that was quite similar to Snape's classroom. The only difference was that was that one side of the large dungeon was covered in plants of all shapes and sizes. Apparently they had enchanted the dungeon to allow all sorts of potion ingredients to grow. Snape was in his element here.

Sara handed him a book and he looked at the components of the potion, his eyes grew wide.

"This is extremely volatile, not to mention unstable at many points… and you were supposed to make this?" Snape looked at Sara as if it were insane to let her anywhere near the book. Sara nodded.

"I think Agatha is really meaning to test you, she knew I wouldn't do this without your help, and then that you wouldn't let me help… She's testing you, not me." Sara grinned as Snape set down the book and lit the fire beneath the cauldron.

"Go get the needed ingredients, Granger, you may assist in preparing them, Potter, you may get the ingredients that are not to be used fresh, or are not plants." Snape read off the list of ingredients and Harry and Sara went to work gathering, while Hermione stood wide eyed at the list she had just heard.

"P-professor…"

"Yes, I know, now do be quiet." Hermione closed her mouth and set to dicing the bat wings she had been handed while Snape added powdered unicorn horn, bicorn horn, and dragon teeth. Sara picked fresh wolfsbane, thyme, aloe vera root, nightshade flower, and other plants. Harry handed a bottle of powdered silver to Snape, who poured it into the potion in a clockwise spiral, stirring counterclockwise at the same time. Snape held out his hand and the diced bat wings were put in it, he inspected them closely before putting them into the cauldron. He stirred clockwise, and then counter clockwise, 10 times each before making the fire beneath hotter. Snape then motioned everyone out of the way while he set up 20 different ingredients on the workbench in a certain order. He went down the table dicing, grinding, measuring, pouring, and preparing the ingredients. He gave the potion one stir and then starting at the middle of the ingredient laden table, he grabbed two ingredients and put them in the cauldron, stirred, then left for two more, and two more. Before long he was moving to fast that even Hermione lost track of what he was doing, the only indication that something was actually being prepared was the occasional bubbling or change in the potion. It turned black, then green, then silver, purple, black, white, then clear. Snape stopped moving three minutes later and looked at the book describing the potion; he nodded and then looked at the last line, before turning the page to read the final instructions, his eyes widened momentarily.

"Potter, Miss Granger, Sara, come here. Accio knife." Sara walked toward Snape without hesitation, but Hermione and Harry stayed back. "I'm not going to hurt you for Merlin's sake, for the potion to be stable it requires the blood of three individuals, I cannot donate as I am dead, and need to provide the final ingredient." Sara took the knife from Snape before he could stop her and slit her small finger and let three drops fall into the cauldron before handing the knife to Hermione, who followed suit. Harry did the same. Each time a drop hit the potion it hissed small bubbles rose in the water like potion. Snape threw healing spells at each of their fingers before going back to the potion.

"The potion is old enough for its purpose to have been lost; therefore, I will be the one testing it." Harry started to protest. "Quiet Potter!" Harry closed his mouth. "Potter, I'm already dead, pain means nothing after my years of service to the Dark Lord, and we have capable healers here. In the case that it does kill me…I am quite disposable; you, are not." Snape threw a full body bind spell on Harry so he wouldn't interfere and continued working on the potion.

Hermione looked sad. "It's for safety Harry…really." Hermione whispered to him.

Severus stirred in half circles, and then stirred so fast the center of the potion looked like a whirlpool. The stirring technique changed so many times even Hermione couldn't keep track, mostly because it was hard to imagine there were so many ways to simply stir a potion. Finally Snape brought the fire down to a simmer to let the potion cool for 5 minutes. No one spoke, no one moved; they only looked at the potion. Two minutes later Snape stepped up and pulled out one of his own hairs and dropped it into the cauldron, the potion turned pink. Snape then, to Hermione's surprise and disgust, spat into the potion, which was now a blood red. The potion seemed to move, silver wisps swimming through the now thick dark red potion. Snape read the instructions one more time.

"Drink one… it's smudged…" Snape took one cup from the shelf and dipped it into the potion and filled it to the brim. He quickly tipped back his head, held his nose, and poured the potion down his throat, obviously expecting a bad taste. His eyes widened in surprise and he looked down at the goblet and licked his lips. "I…I think I need another cup… to… ascertain the effects of the potion." Snape went over to the cauldron and bent over to dip the cup back in.

"P-professor? Maybe y-you shouldn't drink anymore. We, uhm, we don't know what might happen, it might no-not be meant to effect vampires. If the healers are as good as you say, maybe, I-I should try so-ome. You should stop, we could get Bella, or Agatha or…" Hermione talked as she edged forward to put her hand on the Potion Master's shoulder and hopefully get him to stop. Snape whirled around and hissed at her, his eyes red and fangs extended.

"Are you insinuating that your methods are more perfected than mine? I doubt you are as experienced as me Miss Granger, now do be quiet." Snape snarled angrily and Hermione squeaked and backed off quickly, but not quickly enough to avoid the full body bind thrown at her. Hermione landed on the floor unable to move, and Harry could only watch.

"That's better, no more interferences now, hmm?" Snape smirked. "Not that you have a choice."

Snape raised an eyebrow before turning back to the potion. Sara stood by silently, she was accustomed to Snape's manner when he was in one of his experimental moods, she had had to be healed a couple of times when she had purposely baited him. Snape went back and dipped the cup back in, filling it to the brim, and bringing it to his lips. Sara watched as Snape's Adams apple bobbed up and down. In seconds the potion was gone, and in a few more Snape had another cupful at his mouth. The process was repeated five times and still Severus showed no sign of stopping. Sara wasn't worried though, she didn't see anything wrong, just a man enjoying his work, until Snape threw the cup down and bent over the cauldron to get better access to the liquid. This was wrong; Snape always was proper and never acted like this. Sara sneaked quietly to the door, but apparently not quietly enough.

"Petrificus Totalus!" Snape pointed his wand at Sara without even looking at her and stopped drinking long enough to say the spell. Sara fell down to the floor as well. This was not a good predicament.