Love Bites (REPOST)

Chapter 20 ~ Recognition

It was mid-afternoon when Hermione returned to Hogwarts, a horde of wizards in tow to set up her Spells and Potions lab. Like she was in her younger years, once the witch decided on something, she went into immediate action. Adam watched with his mouth open as the wizards, all wearing hard hats and carrying construction wands and boxes marched through the infirmary behind the doctor to the lab area.

Hermione showed them in, and the wizards went right to work, placing a safety ward on her current lab and immediately setting up partitions to separate it from the new labs. Hermione watched them for a while, then surreptiously removed the bottle of Vellum Potion from her pocket and took a tiny sip. She was about to enter her rooms and most likely see the Potions Master. She wanted to be in control.

Replacing the potion in her pocket, Hermione entered her quarters to find Severus staring at one of the vampire tomes. He didn't look up.

Curious as to what held his attention so securely, she walked over to the table where he was seated, and looked over his shoulder.

There was a picture of a very shapely, pale woman who appeared to be wrapped in nothing but black scarves, with blood red lips, dark hair, dark eyes and jewels entwined in her hair. Silver bracelets lined her arms and her ankles. The look on her face was very seductive. She was beautiful. Hermione looked at the name beneath it.

Vashti, the Queen of Blood

Hermione's eyes widened.

Severus continued to stare at the picture, not acknowledging Hermione at all, his black eyes focused intently on the image of the vampiress. It was as if he were entranced.

"Professor?" Hermione said, trying to rouse him. "Professor?"

"Vashti," he breathed, a note of longing in his voice that alarmed Hermione, "my Queen."

Shit.

Hermione quickly closed the book with a slam. Severus started, then looked up at her.

"Ah, finally decided to return to the fold," the Potions Master said to her, sitting back in the chair and giving her a smirk.

Then his eyes swept over her body with a knowing look that made her belly clinch.

"Professor, I think I need to take these books back to the library," Hermione said, pushing down the warmth she was feeling as his black eyes rested on her. "I don't think they are conducive to slowing your turning."

He furrowed his brow at her.

"They are only books, doctor. Why would you say that?" he asked her.

Hermione hesitated.

"Well, when I came in here, you were staring at a picture of Vashti, and calling her your Queen. You didn't notice me, even when I called your name," she said. "I had to close the book to bring you out of it. You were feeling Vashti's power over you."

Severus blinked at her slowly.

"I have no recollection of this," he said slowly, looking disturbed as his eyes fell on the closed book, "though I do remember browsing through this book's pages."

"Trust me, it happened," Hermione said, picking up the book and stacking it on top of the others. "and that's not good. I'm taking these back today."

Severus suddenly became aware of all the noise coming from the lab.

"What is all that noise?" he asked, rising and walking to the lab door entrance off the study.

Hermione followed him.

He pulled the door open and stared at the work wizards as they erected walls, counters and shelving.

"I'm adding a Spells lab and a Potions lab," Hermione said, smiling. "I'm going to use my degrees to work on this Vashti problem. You're welcome to use the Potions lab, Professor. It will give you something to do to occupy your time," she said.

"Other than tormenting me," the witch thought.

Severus looked down at her.

"It's almost like you read my mind. I was going to ask you if it would be possible to put a Potions lab in here," he said quietly. "In fact, I need to talk to you about something."

He took Hermione's arm, and felt her stiffen. The Potions Master sighed.

"It isn't about last night, although I would like to talk to you about that as well," he said to the witch.

"You…you took advantage of me," Hermione said, "I was…I was…"

"You were in need of relief," Severus said quietly, "and I gave it to you. You would have rubbed yourself raw otherwise."

Hermione turned bright red as the wizard looked down at her, his eyes becoming heated. Then he took a deep breath.

"But this is something else entirely," he said, guiding her to the table and setting her down in the chair he was occupying. He drew up another chair and sat facing her, his eyes intense.

"Dr. Granger, it is pretty much a given that I only have two options to keep from turning. The first is to kill Vashti, and the second is to drink the Restoration Potion. Love is not an option. I cannot make myself fall in love on demand," he said earnestly.

Hermione looked at him.

"Killing Vashti would be difficult and dangerous Professor," she said.

"I know," he responded. "But once we stop the turning I am going to have to try to find her lair and kill her or more than likely she will continue to pursue me."

"How can you stop it while she lives, Professor? You said love isn't an option," Hermione said, frowning slightly.

"I have an Agstani bloom, doctor. We can brew the Restorative Elixir," he said, looking at her for her reaction.

Hermione stared at him in disbelief. Her mouth dropped open, then she got a very lustful look in her eyes, not the sexually driven look, but the knowledge-driven one. Knowledge excited the witch visibly. The Professor smirked at the familiar look. The witch he once knew was shining through. It was heartening.

"You have an Agstani Flower, Professor?" she whispered in awe.

Severus nodded.

"I harvested it the night I was bitten. That was about six weeks ago. It should be dried by now," he replied, looking at the witch.

"Professor, that flower is worth millions of galleons. An obscene amount. You could be the richest wizard in the wizarding world if you sold it," she said, her voice still low with amazement.

"Yes, that was my original intention, Dr. Granger. To keep a bit of it and sell the rest. But the wealth will mean nothing if I am a vampire. I have to use it to save myself. And I will need your help to brew the elixir. I believe you are the only person in the world who could handle the bloom without succumbing to the temptation to steal it, or a portion of it. The entire bloom is needed for the elixir. Will you help me?"

Hermione stared at him. Of course she wouldn't steal any of it. She would give a limb to be able to brew such a rare and powerful elixir.

"Yes. Yes, Professor. I would love to help you," she replied, placing her hand on his arm without realizing it.

He nodded, sighing inwardly with relief. He believed from the beginning she would help him, but there was still a tiny bit of doubt.

"Thank you," he said, his dark eyes boring into hers. He felt a throb as he looked at the witch. If she were his, he'd take her to his bed right now and consummate their agreement in a very passionate, physical way.

His desire was evident in his eyes, but it wasn't the lustful look the witch had come to recognize…it was something else. Something that still caused heat to rise in her belly.

Hold it. She was feeling heat? She had taken the Vellum Potion. She shouldn't be feeling any attraction toward the Professor…unless…unless…

Severus was shocked to see the witch look at him with something like horror. She removed her hand from his arm as if he had suddenly burned her, and all the color drained from her face. She rose quickly from the table, her amber eyes shifting wildly to look anywhere but at him.

Severus was alarmed.

"Doctor…Hermione…what's wrong?' he asked her, startled by her sudden negative reaction to him.

Hermione looked at him, the whites of her eyes showing. She clasped her arms, rubbing her hands up and down them nervously as she thought of something to say, something that would get her away from him.

"I…I…need to go oversee the labs," she said, bolting from the study, a loud 'clunk' sounding behind her before she walked swiftly through the lab door and into the noise of the worker wizards, leaving a stunned Potions Master behind.

"What did I do?" he asked himself, looking after her.

Then his eyes fell on the floor. A bottle lay there, still rolling slightly. Hermione must have dropped it out of her pocket.

Severus stood up, walked over to the bottle and picked it up. He looked at the label.

Vellum Potion.

He stared at the bottle for a moment, then at the door Hermione disappeared through so suddenly.

He was familiar with the properties of Vellum Potion. It was supposed to quell magically inspired lust or desire. But it didn't work on true desire. Obviously the Clarification potion the witch had been taking lost its potency. Yet, Vellum Potion cost a small fortune it was so powerful. A single bottle could last for years.

He looked down at it. The seal was cracked, which meant she had taken it prior to coming into their rooms. He had been thinking about taking her when her strange reaction occurred. Maybe she had seen his desire…he hadn't been trying to hide it after all. It hadn't crossed his mind to do so.

He looked at the bottle again, then something clicked.

It hadn't worked. The Vellum Potion hadn't worked for her. She must have felt something toward him and realized that her attraction was not inspired by Vashti's curse.

It was inspired by him, and him alone without any magical aid, and it frightened the witch.

For the first time in her life, Dr. Hermione Granger was attracted to a man, and it scared her to death.

And Severus Snape now knew her desire was a true one. It really hadn't made much of a difference to him that Hermione's repressed lust for him was inspired by the vampire's curse. He was ready to take advantage of her anyway. But this…this made a bit of difference. Quite a bit of difference.

The knowledge that Hermione's strong attraction to him was real was just another tongue of flame added to his fire concerning the witch. Deflowering a repressed virgin and making her bloom was one thing, but deflowering a virgin who wanted him would make the act much, much more satisfying, much more meaningful.

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Vashti hissed on her throne as she felt herself recede in the wizard's mind. Severus had locked on to her for an instant…she could feel his desire burning through her. She had him fully for several moments. He had called her his Queen. She believed he would come for her soon, the connection was so strong. Then…then another desire took him.

The woman. The mortal woman was drawing him back, his desire shifting towards her. What mortal woman could hold more allure than Vashti? Her dark pleasures were far greater than any a wizard could find in a witch's arms. What could she possibly offer him that was greater?

Love?

Vashti had felt his spirit. He was not a man given to love, but to pleasure. He was selfless yet selfish

What was love compared to eternal life and power? With her, the wizard would never know death. He would be strong and vibrant forever ruling by her side, her lover and her king. He would be an immortal. Compared to these small lives…he would be a god. She would not give him up to a mere mortal.

As far as she could tell Severus had not yet taken this woman. The vampiress would prefer the wizard to have more time to adapt to the turning, but because of the depth of his desire for this mysterious witch, the Queen feared he might inadvertently invest his heart when he took this mortal and fall in love, which would break her hold. Vashti decided she would use her powers of seduction to rouse him, to call him, to make him seek her out.

Tonight.

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Hermione watched the wizards converting her lab space blankly, occasionally shifting her position to stay out of their way. Of course, she wasn't really overseeing. She was trying to deal with the realization that she was attracted to the Potions Master. Him and that monster he had tucked in his trousers.

It was disturbing to know that her responses to him, to his kisses, to his touch weren't inspired by Vashti. It was easy to forgive herself for her weakness, her neediness, her wanton desire for him to continue when she thought she was under a magical influence. Even her reaction in the shower, the desire to masturbate while thinking about him, she attributed to some left over aura from being in his presence and the growing tolerance for the Clarification potion. But it wasn't Vashti. It was her own body responding to him.

Hermione shuddered as she remembered the Potions Master entering the shower, crushing her body against the wall, kissing her, caressing her and bringing her to orgasm by touching her so intimately…how much pleasure the dark wizard pulled from her body, how he told her he could give her so much more. She particularly remembered the small, sharp pain of his bite as she exploded, his tender suckling at the wound, how even that added to her pleasure. Gods, he bit her and she liked it.

"Are you all right, Miss?" a worker said.

Hermione had been standing there glassy eyed and was almost struck by a board that was resting on the shoulder of a wizard who turned suddenly. It missed her head by inches, but the witch hadn't responded.

Hermione started and looked at the wizard.

"I'm fine," she said, looking at him rather strangely.

The wizard's brow furrowed.

"I think it would be better if you weren't in the work area, Miss. We'll get you when we need final approval," he said carefully, catching Hermione by the arm and escorting her to the door that led out into the infirmary.

Hermione stepped through it like walking into a dream and the wizard closed the door behind her.

Adam, who had just finished releasing the Slytherin student back to her house, noticed Hermione's glazed look and trotted over immediately, peering into her face.

"You look like you've seen a vampire," he quipped.

Hermione looked at him soberly.

"So…tell me, how did the Professor like the little gift you left him in his bedroom?" Adam asked, looking at the witch hopefully.

"Gift?" Hermione said blankly.

"Yes, the leggy red-head that popped in here the moment you and the Professor went for your run? She went right for your rooms. I didn't think she was for you…you're as straight as he is," the wizard said. "She knew just how to get in, so I figured you sent her."

"I did, hoping he would use her to slow his turning," Hermione said, taking his clipboard out his and looking it over.

"Didn't work did it? I saw her leaving. Her head was hanging lower than a mountain troll's balls," Adam said, smirking. "you should have known better. Did he fuck you?"

"What?" Hermione spluttered at the medi-witch, "Adam, you can't ask me things like that!"

Adam covered his mouth with his hand in mock horror.

"I'm so sorry doctor. I forgot myself. I should have phrased it more appropriately. Did he penetrate you with his huge penis?" the wizard said, smiling lewdly and pushing up his glasses. His blue eyes were wide with interest.

"Adam, you have no sense of propriety at all," Hermione scolded him. "I can dismiss you for that, you know."

Adam fluttered his eyelashes at her.

"But you won't. I'm the closest thing you have to a girlfriend to confide in doctor," he said, smiling at her. "Plus you like me. I can tell."

Hermione looked at the chubby wizard. She really did like him. Adam wasn't afraid to be himself, and had a wonderful beside manner with the students. She wasn't sure she would confide in him, however. Adam seemed to have loose lips to go along with his other loose parts.

"Be that as it may, Adam, I will not answer such personal questions," she responded, her nostrils flaring a little.

Adam studied her.

"No, he didn't penetrate you. You'd be less uptight, if he did, the wizard said, ignoring Hermione's outraged look. "I'm just asking. Gods."

She was not uptight. She was just…just…reserved. There was nothing wrong with being reserved. It was a sign of maturity.

"All right Adam, he wasn't pleased," Hermione said.

Adam looked at her expectantly. When Hermione didn't say anything more, he threw up his hands dramatically.

"So? What did he do to you? Yell? Scream? Spank you?" Adam said, his blue eyes lighting up at the last suggestion. "He's not the kind of wizard that just lets things pass. I can tell that much."

"Well…he…he..." Hermione began.

Adam looked at her hungrily, waiting to hear the juicy details.

"Um, Dr. Granger, we need you to come tell us where you want the drying cabinet," the workman who escorted her out called from the open lab door.

Hermione looked at the wizard gratefully. Adam visibly drooped.

"We'll have to talk later, Adam. Duty calls," Hermione said, hurrying off to the lab.

"Shit," Adam groused, adjusting his glasses. "I'm always out of the loop."

He slouched off, deciding to straighten up the bandage cabinets. Hopefully, Dr. Granger would tell him more later about what happened with the absolutely yummy Professor Snape.

He needed something juicy to wank off to when he fantasized about the wizard after all.

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A/N: Kind of under the weather today, so sorry about the late posting of this chapter. Vashti is going to try to call Severus tonight. Hopefully Hermione will be aware of him trying to leave and stop him some way. Please review.