Four days passed in darkness. Snape paced, he scratched at the burning silver chains, strained against them, and paced. He counted the stones in the walls, made mental notes of the weapons that hung on them. And paced. The chains let him use the toilet, and wash. And paced. Soon all solid foods were out of his system, all liquids too, anything that wasn't blood. He scraped at the walls, punched them, and paced. He was hungry, his teeth ached, he needed the witch's blood. And he paced.

On the fifth day McGonagall returned with a huge pitcher. Snape could smell it as she closed the door behind her. It was blood. A lot of blood. But it wasn't the professor's. It wasn't what he wanted. But he was hungry, so he stood up and dusted himself off in a show of false normality.

"And whom am I to thank for this donation?"

"Hagrid." Said McGonagall, setting the pitcher down with a heavy clack. Snape frowned. "He doesn't know you are here, but was happy to donate for when you came back. He would have offered before, but seemed to think you would have declined." McGonagall poured a third of a glass from the pitcher, then holding up her own wand waved and watched carefully as the glass filled up the rest of the way. Now Snape could smell it. Her blood. The entirety of his being screamed when he smelled it, and tried as he might to not react, he twitched. McGonagall did not fail to notice, but said nothing. A small kindness perhaps. Being addicted to anything was a curse. An addiction one could never truly be rid of, even more than undeath, was a horrible curse indeed.

She levitated the glass over to him and he grabbed it carefully from the air with as much patience as he could muster. He sniffed it, just blood. He took a small sip, a very slight flavor of tea and mice and a hint of pine. That must be Hagrid. He opened his mouth and let air wash over his tongue, no changes in flavor. It was just blood. He swallowed finally, and relief filled him. He slowly nursed the drink until it was gone, watching McGonagall go over lesson plans. When he was done he held the glass, it was currently the only weapon he had besides himself, and he was decidedly impotent chained as he was. Although even a well aimed shard of glass would do little as long as she had her wand. A mental command thrown her way would surely only provoke laughter. Still, it didn't hurt to try. Perhaps if he slipped it in instead of being overt.

"Why are you here?"

"To keep you company." Was the terse response.

"Please leave."

At this McGonagall looked up. The command in his voice hung heavy in the air and her eyes clouded for a brief moment before she blinked it away. Snape didn't react, Minerva may not be as good at Occlumency as him, nowhere near in fact, but she was a very strong willed woman. She shook the command away and acted as if it hadn't happened. Perhaps this was another small kindness, perhaps she really didn't notice his command any more than she paid mind to a lazy moth fluttering nearby. Oblivious Gryffindors! … somehow Snape doubted that was true in this particular instance.

"Why?" She queried, though he had a feeling she knew the answer.

"You're tempting me."

"That is the point, resist."

"It is tortuous… I feel the Deputy Headmistress should not be torturing members of her staff."

"Consider it payback for trying to eat me."

"Did you not get that with your duplicity and torture the other day? I'm fairly sure I bruised a rib."

Minerva rolled her eyes. "That was barely torture, Severus. You've survived Cruciatus, the only thing bruised right now is your ego."

"My brain and ears are about to be bruised as well. Your heartbeat is driving me to distraction."

"Your prattling complaints are reaching the same end for me, Severus."

Snape snarled. "If I get even the slightest chance I will drain you dry." His threat drifted through the air to unperturbed ears.

"Well I'll just have to avoid giving you one," said the professor as she started to grade papers.

Snape sat still and meditated. There was a long period where the sound of a scratching quill echoed through the room as he focused his mind. He reached out, her mind was filled with facts and corrections for papers, maybe he could try to-

Suddenly he was kicked out.

"Don't even try Severus. I may not be as good at occlumency as you, but you are just using your vampiric powers, not legilimency, with no wand, against a fully trained witch. Don't even try a wandless Legilimens, all you'll find is my annoyance with how poorly these students did on their tests. I find that thought has completely taken over my mind at the moment." Snape scowled more. He was running out of options. It wasn't as though legilimency would let him influence her anyway, and he doubted anything he found there, even if it were black mail material, would help him out here. He also doubted McGonagall had any secrets she or he would consider blackmail worthy.

"May I at least request to sit on the bed rather than the floor? Or perhaps a change to more iron based chains? Constantly regenerating skin takes up energy, you know."

McGonagall flicked her wand and the chains near the bed reached out and attached themselves to him as the others released with a reluctant clack, falling away. The new chains pulled him toward their origin, albeit with much less force, less silver, although not none. He still couldn't turn into mist. She had done her research.

"Thank you." He said rubbing his wrists, red from constant contact with silver, they had been sizzling very slightly since her interrogation.

McGonagall nodded, not even looking up. He sat in silence while she graded papers, and soon she threw him a book, a revised and annotated edition of 'The Potion Master.' Soon flipping of pages joined the scratching of the quill, and all was calm.

Two hours later McGonagall was done. She pushed the table back and sat down on the other bed.

"You're not really going to sleep here?"

"Yes, I believe that is exactly what is implied when one sits in a bed, Severus."

"But-"

"I don't care Severus, you will deal with your hunger and your lack of privacy quietly or I shall make you. You need to deal with being close to what you want and get it out of your system." With that the professor transfigured her robe into pajamas, waved out the light, and placed her wand under her pillow.

"Goodnight Severus."

There was no reply.

"Severus, anger is not an excuse for bad manners."

Snape let out a sigh and gritted his aching teeth. "I am not a student, Minerva."

"Then stop acting like one!"

"I shall act as my usual self."

"By Merlin Severus, there is no one here to see you, take down the facade!"

"You don't really want that."

"Yes Severus, I do. Though that was not the facade to which I referred. You need to take off all pretense and face this."

"...goodnight Minerva. I do hope it is not your last, although I would enjoy it immensely if it were."

The Transfiguration Professor sighed and closed her eyes.

Snape meanwhile just stared and listened.

Hours later Snape was sweating. The drumbeat was driving him mad. He strained silently, attempting to turn to mist, trying bending the links, all to no avail. He glared in the dark at his prize just out of reach. He was at the end of the chains, as far as they would let him go. Fortunately the chains were just on his wrists this time.

He strained against the wall with all his strength, one more time, and was rewarded with a very small grinding sound. The iron would not budge for him, but the stone might. Silently through the night he pulled at where the chains attached to the wall.

The next morning peaceful silence was decimated when a bird on the bedside table chirped the time. "Seven AM, seven AM, it is seven AM on Saturday!" McGonagall quickly grabbed her wand and quieted the bird. She then promptly transfigured her nightgown into a robe, casting a freshening charm before turning on the lights. Severus had seemingly not moved.

"Did you sleep at all, Severus?"

"No, an infernal drumming sound kept me awake."

McGonagall rolled her eyes and summoned the glass she had given Severus last night, filling it with still warm blood from the pitcher after taking the stasis charm off. She levitated the glass to her friend and though he grabbed it his usual scowl graced the contents.

"You'll get more of what you want tonight. We are trying to get that out of your system, remember?"

Severus nodded as if agreeing, sipping while McGonagall left to get her own breakfast in the great hall. As soon as she exited he sat up and drained half the glass and let a small bit dribble from his mouth, before dropping the rest on the ground. He then let the charm of choice fall away. His wings burst through his shirt, the last thing he hadn't put back. He took a moment to look at them. He had yet to attempt to fly, do anything with his new powers. Perhaps soon. During school hours they were nothing but an annoyance to be pushed asideBut now though... Perhaps all of his new abilities, his new potency, would come to the fore here.

He mussed his hair and took some of the blood and smeared it down his shirt. He looked truly a mess. He'd had to do worse for Voldemort, faking fights. Often actually breaking bones to make it more believable. This was nothing by comparison.

He then spent another good four hours pulling at the chains. Finally, satisfied with the stone's new brittle state he curled into a ball on the bed and waited.

McGonagall opened the door to a sight. She gasped as Severus looked up. She quickly closed the door and moved a bit closer, her concern urging her forward but her caution telling her to move slowly. She was a Gryffindor, but she had almost been put in Ravenclaw after all, and years of war did tend to temper your

"Severus, what happened? Wings?"

"The wings…aren't new. … Half giant blood…burns…. veins."

McGonagall gasped, she hadn't thought of such a possibility, of what other types of blood might do to a vampire. In its pure state, not mixed with hers…

Snape looked up at her, eyes wracked with pain, and pleaded. "It hurts… Please."

McGonagall took a worried step forward and then laughed.

"Severus, you fool. You never willingly ask for help, not this openly!"

Severus only coughed, blood splattering the floor, he reached toward his friend.

"Please. I can do nothing… to alleviate this." He must continue the ruse. Bring doubt to her mind.

McGonagall shook her head as she sat down and began grading papers and working on a lesson plan.

Snape let his arm flop weakly to the ground, at which McGonagall snorted in derision. "You are over acting, Severus. If the pain is real, you will deal with it. Like all food poisoning it will pass. I doubt it comes close to anything you dealt with under his tutelage."

Severus just turned over and twitched.

An hour later Snape lay in much the same position, shivering. He had grown irritated. But he was still patient, still had ideas. With one long nail he cut the inside of his mouth and let the blood fill it. He coughed loudly, spewing the blood on the wall.

McGonagall glanced over, looking at the blood from afar.

"You aren't fooling me Severus."

"Please Minerva." He turned over and stared at her, trying his best to use any allure he had to entrance her. "After years of working together, can you not tell I'm in pain?"

McGonagall shook her head, standing up a bit dazed, and took a step towards him. Snape had not done this for a long time, used his allure, not against a grown witch or wizard. He'd hadn't had to, not since being in the Dark Lord's employ. It was awkward, using this on his friend, but they'd passed the point of fair play long ago.

McGonagall slowly took another step forward, she paused for a long time, then took another step. It was obvious she was fighting it, the empathy and doubt combined with the control Snape was throwing at her, but she was almost within reach. However after only five steps she stopped and shook her head. A slight smile graced her face, she covered her mouth and looked at Severus.

"Did you just try to allure me Severus Snape?" She laughed. Snape felt a red fury gather at the slight of her amusement, but more importantly, much more importantly she was distracted, and closer. Snape quickly put his feet against the wall and pushed off it with all hit might, propelling himself toward the professor.

McGonagall gasped as the vampire reached for her, the wall cracking and the chains coming loose with a shower of stone bits. The room might be magical, but the stone was still stone, and chunks of it pulled free along with the chains.

McGonagall leaned back and to the side, barely dodging Snape's long nails as the vampire tore past her. He landed in the middle of the room, between her and the bottled sunlight.

"Snape. I am trying to help you!" She declared with an exasperated huff.

"You're trying to save yourself and the school from me, which is just as commendable, but don't pretend this is anything but." Snape grabbed the bottles and threw them at the pillows away from both of them.

"Accio b-" McGonagall didn't get a chance to finish. Before she could Snape had thrown his chains at the bottles and broken them; their contents seeping uselessly into the fabric with a muted flash. He flinched at the mild pain and sensation of sunlight, but ignored it and turned back to regard his foe. She was watching him calculatingly, wand at the ready.

"Severus. Don't be rash, you constantly complain of your students' inability to think before they act. I had hoped you were teaching by example, please do not let me be mistaken."

"Don't fret Minerva, I have considered this extensively"

With a quick lunge he tossed her chair at her to buy himself time. As the chair flew through the air he picked up the pitcher and with one eye on his nemesis he calmly drank the contents which McGonagall had never put back in stasis.

McGonagall deftly transfigured the chair into silver dust, which with a flourish of her hand she sent back at Severus.

Snape merely covered his eyes for a moment and continued to drink, pain meaning nothing to him as his skin hissed and bubbled.

"Really? And what do you suppose will happen after this, if you manage to succeed?" McGonagall flicked her wand and the chains from the center of the room raced out at him, as did the silver ones. They clinked and twisted, searching for their quarry with grasping manacles.

Snape quickly finished the pitcher and threw the empty vessel at his prey and it whizzed past McGonagall's head before throwing his own chains in front of the iron ones. Finding something to grab onto the iron manacles clanked shut and fell to the ground. The silver chains clanked at him from across the room, impotent at that distance.

"I'll plead temporary insanity, which is partially true, and continue on with my day," he answered..

McGonagall flicked her wand and the iron chains pulled into the floor, but with the added length of his own chains they did little to hamper his movement. He smiled slightly. It had been a long time since either of them had crossed wands, especially with each other, and never in such odd circumstances. He was never partial to dueling, but there was something to a fight. A no holds barred fight against someone. If the person you were fighting was your lesser, well it was a fun game; but if that person was your equal? Well, if there was nothing too serious on the line for yourself, it was just plain enjoyable.

"Fetra!" The spell shot out of her wand with precision and speed, but the vampire dodged it easily, a slight look of intrigue on his face. He'd been fast before, he was even faster now. He kept his face cool and calculated, refusing to give away anything that could be of use. He could dodge spells for far longer than the old cat had the energy to throw them, but she was still quite an adept spellslinger.

He stood at the ready near the door. McGonagall was still as well, clearly weighing her options. They watched each other, both trying to decide if this was a fight to the death, and for whom.

If he won tonight he would be safe, he just had to avoid killing the witch in the process. If he lost, it was the same outcome, just less fun for him. But if she lost, that could mean two things. The only true failure tonight would be if one of them died. The ideal outcome for both of them was nobody to .

"Admit defeat and everything will be less painful."

"A witch is not defeated as long as she holds her wand Severus."

With a swish and flick the silver and wooden rods raced towards the door and Severus, who ducked at the last minute, then dashed at his quarry.

McGonagall would have little choice but to use the sharpened stakes now, which she wouldn't.

Snape launched himself toward her, feinting right and turning left grabbed at her wand.

With a gasp McGonagall fell to the floor and the silver rod she had hidden behind her sung through the air and connected with Snape's midriff. With an exhale of wind he was deflected and hit into the loo.

He bounced off the cold stone wall and started to use that momentum to propel himself forward, but the chains inside had other plans.

They grabbed him and pulled him to the wall, taut and unyielding. His anger telegraphed itself in a guttural breath that hissed through his teeth as he struggled briefly against the chains. They continued to mock him, pulling him closer to the wall the more he strained, and he settled down knowing he had been beaten.

McGonagall stood up and dusted herself off. With a tired exhalation she looked blankly ahead for a moment, gathering herself. After the mental repose her body straightened and she got back to business. With a wave of her wand she righted the room, another put the chains back in the wall and fixed the stone, and then finally she vanished the shards of broken glass. She turned her wand toward herself and tidied her hair, cleaned her robes and cast a freshening charm.

Then, finally she turned and glared at Snape.

"I am trying to help!"

His teeth gleamed at her comment. "So am I. People have different ideas of what 'help' means I believe."

McGonagall scowled. "I do not believe my dying helps me at all."

Snape's sneer widened, disgust at her sudden lack of imagination obvious. "You assume your death is what I am after. How unlike you Minerva, to assume something. I thought more of your acumen." Snape sat on top of the toilet as if it were a chair and he was having a casual conversation, and had not just tried to devour his ally. He felt a faint tinge of guilt but pushed it aside. "What do you hope to gain from this? How could you expect us to go back to our previous relationship after what has transpired? After becoming enemies again after all this time?"

McGonagall snorted. "You're an addict, not an enemy. Please Severus, get over yourself." And with a flick of her wand she closed the door to the loo and went back to work.