Disclaimer: sorry, don't own
A/N: thankies to Sugar-high Pixie for reviewing
Of Blood and Magic
Chapter 14: Unicorn Blood
Tevelle was feeling oddly chipper as she sipped her blood. Clouds churned gray and ominous above her in the enchanted ceiling promising cold, dreary weather. Not a single ray of sunshine escaped the cloud cover.
A student a few chairs down the table gripped about the trip to Care of Magical Creatures later in the day.
"Who would want to go out in this weather? It's frigid. Maybe class will be canceled, I doubt that oaf would want to show his face today anyway." The boy grumbled.
Now that was a curious comment. How would a student know if Hagrid was feeling under the weather?
"Read the Prophet." Tevelle looked up to where Xeven sat. He had the paper laid out in front of him, his mouth set in a pensive frown.
Concern wormed its way into her gut as she reached across the table for the paper the boy who had been complaining about the weather had read minutes before.
"Hey-" The boy started to protest the theft, but Tevelle silenced him with a glare.
Dumbledore's Giant Mistake
Albus Dumbledore, eccentric headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, has never been afraid to make controversial staff appointments, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondant.
The more Tevelle read, the larger the sinking feeling in her stomach grew. While Hagrid had never been nice to her and seemed to share the same prejudice against vampires as the rest of the wizarding world, Tevelle was probably the only one at Hogwarts, save Xeven, who could understand what he must be going through.
She had been there long ago, when she had first revealed to her friends from school what had happened. At first they had been surprised and happy to see their friend who, to them, had gone missing without a trace so long ago. Then they noticed that something was different. The little details, the color of her skin and eyes were off. Subtle things were just wrong. More obviously, she had not aged at all in the years since they had last seen her. She was not the Tevelle they had known. Then the surprise and joy turned to a dangerous mixture of fear and disgust.
Xeven had whisked Tevelle away before the first spells hit. Back then Tevelle had been new enough that the spells would have hurt.
The sound of tearing paper drew several glances. Tevelle tossed the remains of the Prophet onto the table in disgust.
"I will go speak to Hagrid. You need to be on your way to class." Xeven's tone left no room for discussion.
Grumbling, Tevelle did as ordered. It was the first class of the new term and Tevelle doubted she would be able to concentrate. History of magic was dull at the best of times.
She arrived at the classroom long before everyone else, even Binns was nowhere to be seen. Tevelle pulled out a sketchbook. There was no use in even trying to pay attention. It was going to be a long morning.
The creak of desks and the scrape of chairs woke Tevelle from the stupor she had fallen into. For some reason Binns' recitation of one of the many goblin rebellions was far more dreary than usual.
Xeven should take up teaching again, the foggy thought drifted through Tevelle's not quite awake mind. I'm sure he could share a much more lively account of the third goblin rebellion and the uprising of 1643. He was probably there too.
The thought entertained her out into the snow and all the way to Care of Magical Creatures, where a gray-haired witch was waiting for them instead of Hagrid. Behind the crowd of students was Hagrid's hut, shutters closed and curtains drawn. Through a crack in the shutters, Tevelle could see a familiar dark shape. Xeven was still talking with the half-giant then. No doubt Xeven had been since breakfast, likely making very little progress in consoling the man.
"My name is Professor Grubbly-Plank," the witch introduced herself as soon as the entire class had gathered, "I am your temporary Care of Magical Creatures teacher."
Tevelle frowned. It did not take her super-human senses to feel the delight in the situation of the other Slytherins. Tevelle could nearly smell it on them. Equally strong was the concern of several Gryffindors.
"This way please," Grubbly-Plank continued, leading them towards the paddock housing the massive Beauxbatons horses and then past, towards the forest.
Tevelle's stomach did a curious back flip when she saw the unicorn tethered to the tree and despite herself; she found a small smile curving her lips upward.
Unicorns were special creatures. They were powerful and pure; both revered and coveted by wizarding kind. And despite being a creature wholly of the light, they were perhaps the closest creatures to vampires, closer even than humans. It was all about the blood. Unicorn blood was powerful. One touch of the blood of a unicorn to the lips and you would be saved from death, but cursed to a half-life, condemned to a state of being not completely alive, but unable to die.
Tevelle had heard the exact same words to describe vampire blood.
A soft snort brought Tevelle's mind back to the moment. The unicorn had fixed her with a large blue eye. It regarded her for a second before nuzzling her hand in recognition. Tevelle smiled softly once again and reached a hand out towards the unicorn mare.
Judging by the paleness of her hair, how it seemed bleached even compared to the freshly fallen snow, this unicorn was old, far older than Tevelle.
"Hello, grandmother," she whispered and a long white ear flickered in her direction to catch the sound. "Why are you letting yourself be tethered like this? If you wanted you could break free and be gone in less time than it would take you to stamp one of your golden hooves."
The unicorn shook her mane in answer and reproof. Tevelle nodded. The meaning, though not spoken with words, was clear. It was not a foal's place to question the decisions of her elders. If the unicorn wished to aid the humans in learning, that was her own choice.
"My apologies." Tevelle rested her hand on a white shoulder. She did not even attempt to scratch, stroke, or pet the unicorn. To do so would be both demeaning and disrespectful.
The human females in the class had no such restraint as they gathered around, oohing and ahhhing at the reclusive creature in their midst. For just that moment, Tevelle felt far more apart from her classmates than she had in quite a while. She felt old and knowledgeable surrounded by ignorant children. The unicorn snorted to show her support of Tevelle's line of thought.
For the rest of the class period, she stood by the unicorn's side. Tevelle attempted to drown out the comments of her classmates. It was simple to ignore the inane chatter of her female classmates as they fawned over the unicorn. More insidious was the conversation the boys were having, an argument about Hagrid. Tevelle resolutely tuned them out. She was not going to let their anger ruin the lovely day and the time she was spending in companionable silence with a creature she did not have to hide from.
Soon enough, Grubbly-Plank took the class in hand and described the various magical properties unicorns possessed. She spoke loudly enough so that the boys could hear as well.
"Grandmother," Tevelle whispered after listening to a few minutes of the lecture, "I'm guessing by you're silent laughter, that this witch knows about as much about unicorns as she does about vampires."
The unicorn flicked her ears back and forth in confirmation, eyes twinkling with amusement.
As the class wound to a close and the students started making their way back up to the castle, Tevelle fell behind.
The door to Hagrid's cabin opened before she had a chance to knock. Xeven stood in the door frame, his face stony. His talk with the half-giant was not going well then.
"Professor Hagrid, may I come in?" Vampires did not need to be invited into a home like some legends said, but it was polite to ask permission, and Xeven had always stressed to Tevelle the need for courtesy, especially in the presence of wizards.
Wizards already have no need of excuses to create unpleasant tales of our kind, Xeven would always say, therefore there is no need to lend any more credence to such beliefs. If we as a people act beyond their expectations, then the day may come when wizarding kind can see past their prejudice to the truth.
When not in hearing range of any wizards, his words were always blunter. There is no need to lower ourselves to their level.
"Professor?" Tevelle asked again when she received no response. Xeven let out a soft, exasperated sigh. Tevelle, taking the hint, stepped across the threshold.
The room darkened considerably as the door swung to a close behind her. Coals glowed dimly in the hearth providing the majority of the illumination in the room. Slivers of sunlight wedged through the cracks in the shudders and curtains.
The distraught half-giant was sitting at the table in the center of the room, staring blankly into a large tankard of what smelled like mead. Tevelle wrinkled her nose. By the red rimming Hagrid's eyes, it was most likely not the first tankard he had poured himself.
A pathetic whine caught Tevelle's attention. Fang looked nearly as depressed as his master. The huge boarhound was slumped in a huddle underneath the table at Hagrid's feet, looking desolately up at them. The poor canine didn't know what to do. All he knew was that his master was so upset that all of the slobbery dog-kisses in the world could not bring him out of his stupor.
"I know, Fang," Tevelle reached down to pat an outstretched paw, "we'll talk some sense into him somehow."
Fang licked her hand in gratitude.
"How long has he been like this?" Tevelle asked her mentor. It would have been polite to speak silently about Hagrid in front of him, but Tevelle had the feeling that Hagrid needed to hear this.
"Most of the day." Xeven answered. "He has slowed down with the liquor though. This morning when I came to see him he was too busy drowning himself to look at it."
"Have you been able to talk to him?"
"I have been able to talk at him. Whether or not he chooses to listen is another matter."
Sighing, Tevelle sat in the chair next to Hagrid.
"Hagrid?"
No response. She took the tankard and moved it across the table. Hagrid simply shifted his gaze to the table.
"Hagrid? Rubeus, look at me." As gently as possible, Tevelle reached over and pulled Hagrid's chin up and around to face her.
"This isn't the end of the world you know."
A flicker of emotion flared in the back of Hagrid's eyes but he did not attempt to move from Tevelle's grasp.
"So they found out that you are a half-giant. Honestly, I'd be surprised if they didn't already suspect. You do tend to tower a bit. Nothing is going to change. Albus knows you, he's not going to kick you out and he's not going to let anyone else try either."
"Of cou'rs it gonna change," Hagrid finally spoke, his voice rough and thick with drink and anger. "No one is gonna wanta be 'round me. I'm dang'rous, a monster. No one is gonna let m' teach their kids, an I'm goin' ter be sen' back to Azkaban. I won' go back. Two weeks was more'n enough lasttime." He reached out for his tankard, but his hand met empty air. Xeven had removed it and very deliberately emptied it into the sink.
"Bastard, I have e'vry right ta drink if I want. An ev'ry reason too! My life is over."
"Rubeus! Stop. You have already had more than enough to drink. You're life isn't over. If you just wait, all of this will blow over in no time. No one cares that you're half-giant."
"They care! They care tha' I'm a monster! Wha they donna care 'bout is tha I had no choice in that matter, unlike you two!" Hagrid yelled as he tore his face away, but Tevelle barely noticed, even when the faint scratches on Hagrid's face from her nails left the scent of blood in the air.
His words echoed in her thoughts, chasing themselves in a circle. With deliberate care, Tevelle set her hand down on the table and laid her fingers out flat. Hagrid barely noticed the flat tone of her voice.
"Well," she said careful to keep her tone neutral. "If that is the way you feel about it, there seems to be little I can do to console you."
By the door, Xeven was so still he could have been carved from granite; his face showed about as much emotion.
Tevelle stood, ignoring Fang's whimpering at her feet. Hagrid, oblivious to the state of the two vampires, was glaring at the embers of the fire.
Without speaking a single word more, both Tevelle and Xeven left Hagrid to his own devices.
The walk up to the castle was quiet. Lunch had already begun so the grounds were nearly deserted.
Try as she might, Tevelle was not quite able to banish the words Hagrid had spoken. He didn't mean it. He wasn't in his right mind. He wasn't thinking. But that was the problem. He truly did mean it, and that was why it hurt so much.
Tevelle had chosen to become a vampire. Whether or not Xeven had had that same choice was something only Xeven knew, but regardless, Hagrid callous words had no doubt hurt the elder vampire as well.
"Did you enjoy your care of magical creature's lesson?" Xeven asked. His voice was as if nothing had ever happened to upset either of them.
"Yes, the substitute somehow managed to capture a unicorn. It was amusing to see what she got wrong when she talked about them."
"Well wizards have a very narrow view on the world. Snow Drift mentioned to me that she wanted to meet you. She was curious what my new foal was like. I suppose this was the easiest way for her to do so."
Tevelle was not at all surprised that Xeven knew the unicorn mare by name. Though there was obviously more to the name than that. Unicorn names were never that short or simple.
She found herself relaxing as she discussed her meeting with the unicorn. She felt it had gone well and could not keep a note of pride from her voice. Xeven gave her a small smile. Eventually, she wound down. They were in the courtyard now.
"Have you ever heard the theory," Xeven spoke silently now, so as not to be overheard by any nearby humans, "that the earliest vampires were made from the drinking of unicorn blood and we, as descendants from those first vampires can trace our bloodlines back to unicorn kind."
They stepped into the bustling dining hall.
"I will leave you to ponder that. Your blood is waiting."
A/N: sorry about the short chapter, please review!