Disclaimer: don't own
A/N: yes i know it's been forever, and I know this chapter is short......
Of Blood and Magic
Chapter 10: Respite
It was not long after the first task that the dragons were on their way back to the Reserve. The potions brewed for the fireball by Snape and Xeven took effect quickly. Within days the dragon was healthy enough to travel and Charlie and the other wizards from the Reserve packed up everything and took off.
Tevelle found her nights oddly empty with the dragons gone, especially now that she did not exactly have permission to wander outside at night anymore. She knew Xeven would look the other way a few times as long as a teacher did not catch her, but neither Xeven nor the teachers would be pleased if it became a regular occurrence.
An ear-splitting wailing cut through the air and Tevelle winced. One of the champions had opened their golden egg again. For the other students the jarring sound was not a problem as long as they were not present in the same room. Stone walls and thick wooden doors did much to mute the sound to human ears.
To acute, vampire hearing however, walls and doors did little to muffle the cacophony. Tevelle hoped each champion would either figure out their egg or at least give up soon. The harsh sound was very good at inducing headaches and setting teeth on edge.
She breathed a quiet sigh of relief when the unknown champion shut their egg as she continued on towards Care of Magical Creatures. The sun was uncomfortably bright as she stepped outside and she hurriedly gulped down a small vial of the sun-adverse potion that would help her cope with the sun's burning rays. A hood helped shield her eyes and the bright world around her became manageable.
After the first task of the tournament the entire school was abuzz with talk about the champions and the events of the Task. Expectedly, much of it was gossip. A surprising amount of it involved Xeven. Well, perhaps after that unintentional stunt with the dragons Tevelle should not be as shocked as she was. She had to keep reminding herself that, while she knew very well that Xeven worked with dragons every day of his very long life, much of the school did not. Most of what was said though greatly annoyed Tevelle. Xeven just found it mildly amusing.
The walk down to the edge of the Forbidden Forest was short and before long she had arrived at class. Most of her classmates were already present so Tevelle tried her best to fade into the crowd. If one more starry-eyed girl asked her about Xeven, well, there would be bloodshed.
The group of students already present hung back more than usual. The breeze shifted and Tevelle caught a whiff of why. The scent of single-malt whisky drifting over form the paddock that housed Madame Maxime's horses was strong enough to make the humans around Tevelle light-headed. For her, the intensity of the smell that assaulted her sensitive nose was incentive enough to stop breathing. Silently she cursed the high-strung winged horses.
Once the entire class had assembled, Hagrid proceeded to explain their task for the day.
"I'm not sure if they hibernate or not," Hagrid was saying, "Thought we'd jus' try an' see if they fancied a kip…we'll just settle em' down in these boxes…" He motioned towards the ten remaining skrewts and the blanket-lined boxes beside them.
As the class attempted to lead the skrewts into the boxes, it became apparent that the creatures did not, in fact, feel the desire to hibernate. Even Tevelle was having trouble with hers.
Before long the majority of the class gave up on the task and rushed towards Hagrid's cabin away from the angry skrewts. Tevelle considered standing her ground against the tide of students, but a familiar and unwelcome scent changed her mind. She soon found herself crammed inside the small cabin with her classmates. Only a handful of students remained outside with Hagrid.
The sound of blood pulsing through her classmates grew louder as they crowded about Tevelle. The vampire in her stirred, but she pushed the urge for blood ruthlessly back down. No longer comfortable, she left through the back door of the cabin and made her way back around to where the skrewts were to lend a hand.
"Well, well, well… this does look like fun." A voice she recognized said. Tevelle hung back just around the corner. It had been Rita Skeeter's scent that had caught her attention earlier.
Tevelle frowned. The woman came by the Reserve several times a year under the pretense of writing an article about the dragon Reserve and the good it was doing for the dragon population. In reality she just wanted an interview with a vampire, what she and the rest of the wizarding world viewed as a 'dark creature'. No doubt Rita had been warned not to reveal Tevelle's identity if she saw her, but there was no sense in risking it. Rita Skeeter was an unpredictable creature at best.
"Who're you?" Hagrid asked, his hands full with the skrewt before him.
"Rita Skeeter, Daily Prophet reporter." Her smile was predatory.
"Though Dumbledore said you weren' allowed inside the school anymore."
Tevelle shook her head. She could already see where this was going. The moment Hagrid had acknowledged Rita's presence the reporter had already had her claws sunk in. There was no avoiding an article now, and Hagrid seemed completely unaware.
As she slunk around the back of Hagrid's hut, Tevelle pushed any guilt she felt for cutting the rest of class aside.
Rita was in full reporting mode. Warning or not, if she saw Tevelle now, somehow her name would find its way into the article. Most wizards would not recognize her name; she was a relatively newly fledged vampire after all. It was those few people that would recognize her name, however, who could cause the most damage. Tevelle was actually mildly surprised that none of the students recognized Xeven's name. It was a name that would definitely show up if one were to research vampires even casually. Either no one had made the connections because they assumed Dumbledore would never let a vampire into the castle, or the disjointed professors of the Defense Against the Dark Arts class had done a terrible job. True the information they would have taught would be completely incorrect, but one did not become one of the oldest and most powerful vampires without being recognized by the wizarding world, even if it was just as a monster.
These thoughts carried her all the way up to the castle.
"Are you not supposed to be in class?" A voice said from the shadowed entryway. Xeven stood from where he had been leaning against the cool stone wall.
"The class is about done anyway. And Rita Skeeter showed up, so I thought it would be better if I slipped away unnoticed." She explained.
A nod was all Tevelle got to show Xeven's approval of her reasoning.
"Well," Xeven continued, "Since you have some free time I have something for you."
"Really? What?"
"Come with me." Xeven lead her back into the castle and down the corridor and a few flights of stairs.
They stopped in front of a painting of fruit in a silver bowl. Xeven reached out with one long finger and tickled the center of the pair.
"What?" Tevelle asked. She had passed by this painting numerous times in her wanderings. Why would Xeven want to tickle it?
A door handle stretched out from the painting.
A soft "oh" escaped her. Never had it occurred to her that this painting was anything other than just that, a painting.
"Welcome to the kitchens." Xeven said, striding into the room beyond. House elves scurried everywhere, weaving between each other and tables with the ease of long practice. Pots and pans were taking down from the walls only to be replaced by one just like them. The smell of a vast array of cooking food and spices mixed and mingles creating odd scents, some pleasant, others not. Despite the crowded preparation space, none of the large tables in the center of the huge room had even a scrap on them. Most likely those tables were the method of conveying the finished meals to the Great Hall above.
Xeven reached down and lightly tapped the shoulder of a house elf who seemed to be unoccupied at the moment.
"Milly, could you perhaps fetch the cake I had prepared?" he asked politely.
"Of course, Sir!" Milly squeaked, her ears perking up at the thought of something to do.
"Cake?" Tevelle asked, "Does this mean I can have that blood-velvet cake you promised me?"
"Yes."
There was a slight tug on the sleeve of Tevelle's robe.
"Will you be needing a table to be set up, sir and missus?"
"No, thank you, simply a pair of dishes, forks, and a knife will be fine."
"Yes sir!" The little house elf ran off to fetch the items, not disrupting the flow of the other workers at all.
Within minutes Mill returned with a covered platter, the other house elf at her side with dishes and utensils.
"Thank you very much," Xeven said as he took the platter. Tevelle took the dishes, smiling her thanks as well. The two house elves bowed excitedly and rushed off to whatever else needed doing.
"Well," Xeven said once they had exited the kitchen, "Shall we go eat?"
Tevelle nodded eagerly. "There should be some room in the Great Hall to eat since dinner hasn't started yet."
"Very well, little bat, lead on." Xeven instructed with a slight bow of his head, a small smile conveying his amusement.
"Gladly."
By the time they reached the Great Hall, Tevelle's mouth was watering in anticipation. The delicious smell was becoming unbearable.
"Patience," Xeven told her silently. Humor colored the slight reprimand.
"Yes, sir."
The few students who were using the Hall to study before the evening meal looked at the two vampires strangely as they sat down at the end of the Slytherin table.
"How big of a piece would you like?" Xeven asked as he uncovered the platter, taking a knife in one hand.
Tevelle grinned, handing her mentor a plate. "Do you really have to ask?"
"I suppose not," Xeven teased, "You would undoubtedly claim the entire cake, and then what would I do?" He added silently, "I like blood-velvet cake as much as the next vampire you know."
Tevelle laughed. "Fine then, we'll split it down the middle."
"It's a small cake, but not that small. We will each have a quarter and decide from there."
"I guess that makes sense."
"Good. Here you are." Xeven handed her one of the plates, a quarter piece sitting neatly in the center.
"And a fork for you," Tevelle added, shoving one of the utensils into Xeven's hand, eager to get started.
The second the dessert touched her tongue; Tevelle closed her eyes in bliss.
"Delicious," she remarked silently. Xeven nodded his agreement.
"A before dinner snack?" A voice said from beside Xeven. It was Dumbledore, no doubt on his way to the head table for his meal.
"Why yes. Your house elves are quite adept at such a difficult recipe. Would you like a taste, Albus?"
Dumbledore chuckled quietly. "No thank you, my friend. As delectable as that blood-velvet cake looks I already have my heart set on a potpie. Perhaps another time.
"Very well," Xeven nodded and, seeing Tevelle's now empty plate, placed the remainder of Tevelle's half upon it.
"You know, Tevelle," Xeven continued once Dumbledore had left, "You would do well to savor things in life. For one, desserts would last much longer."
Tevelle looked down at her already nearly finished cake. Where had it all gone?
"Yeah," she answered aloud, smiling sheepishly at the elder vampire, "I'm noticing that."