Twice Bitten ~ COMPLETED

Chapter 25 ~ Defense Against the Dark Arts

Snape hated the oral presentations required for the DADA class, so put them first to get them out of the way. He waited for the class to settle in, rose from his desk and billowed around it, facing the students and eyeing them for a moment.

”I am not going to waste my time giving speeches. You all know what you are here to do, and that is to learn to protect yourself against the Dark Arts. Those of you who may be new to this school, my name is Professor Snape and I am not your friend, not your confidant, and not your nursemaid. I am your teacher and only your teacher. My time is valuable. I don’t do tutoring, I don’t give extra credit, and I don’t give make-up tests, so you’d better do it right the first time. I do however take points and give detentions with alacrity, so be on your best behavior if you want a chance in hell of gaining the House Cup at the end of the year.”

Snape eyed the Gryffindors with a nasty little smirk before continuing. He noticed Hermione rolling her eyes.

”Five points from Gryffindor, Miss Granger, for unnecessary eye-rolling. Thank you for getting me off to a good start,” he purred at her as her housemates scowled.

”Ooh,” Hermione breathed, clenching her fists but not daring to say anything.

Harry shook his head slightly. Hermione was going to be like Snape’s personal Bull’s Eye for the whole year. He would surely take advantage of her attitude towards him to glean points from their house. He really was a bastard.

Snape continued.

”Your first assignment will be to give a three minute oration on the Dark Creature of your choice. Any presentation that runs over the three-minute time period will receive an automatic failing mark,” the wizard said, pacing back and forth in front of the class. “Those of you who have the predilection to be long-winded . . . don’t be. Short and sweet will be the order of the day. This will be my only warning. I expect you to be ready to make your presentations . . . tomorrow. I also expect a short written synopsis as well, citing your sources.”

Groans rose from the class. Snape slammed his hand down on the desk in front of him, shocking the poor seventh year unfortunate enough to be sitting there.

”You are seventh years. You should have information about Dark Creatures dripping out of your ears by now. You’re all lucky that I don’t have you give a presentation off the cuff right now! So stop your blasted whining!” he snarled.

You could have heard a feather hit the floor it became so quiet.

“Now, open your books to page two-hundred and seventy-three, read it to the end of the chapter and hand in a one-foot summary at the end of the class . . . and I WILL be measuring them,” he said, swooping back to his desk and sitting down. He picked up a book and started reading as the class did likewise.

Hermione looked at the pale wizard with narrowed eyes. He wanted a presentation eh?

Well, she’d give him one.

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Hermione wouldn’t tell Harry what Dark Creature she chose to make her presentation on.

“You’ll see,” she said obliquely.

Harry hoped she kept it under the three-minute mark. Getting a failing grade would send Hermione into complete and utter meltdown.

Hermione impatiently listened to the presentations, Snape purposely passing over her again and again until there was no one else left. His black eyes fell on her resignedly.

”All right, Miss Granger. Enthrall us with your wealth of knowledge,” he said, sitting back in his chair and folding his arms. He was sitting with the class so he could better see each student’s presentation. He had a small parchment on which he jotted notes from time to time, which made the presenter quite nervous. Hermione marched up to the front of the class and looked up at the clock on the wall, waiting for the minute hand to reach the twelve before she began, drawing in a deep breath.

“My presentation is on a specific type of Vampire common to the area known as Iraq, although its origin goes back to Ancient Babylonia. The type of Vampire is known as a Lilutu, an altered name of Lilith, who has been given several origins. That of the first prototype for women among them. One accepted fact is that this form of Vampire fed on the blood of children and was cursed with Vampirism because of that,” Hermione began, then got to the meat of it quickly. She only had three minutes.

”There are hundreds of different types of Vampires, but this particular type is like an Incubus or Sex Demon in its make-up, in that it uses sexual allure to attract victims of the opposite sex, much like an Angler Fish uses a worm-like protuberance to attract fish to consume. An even better comparison would be the scent of feces used to attract flies.”

Snape’s nose wrinkled at this comparison, but he said nothing as Hermione continued.

There are four levels of Vampires in this particular hierarchy, the Mother which is born of genuine Evil, the Primary, which is a Vampire that is created by a Mother’s bite which retains its independence, the Secondary which is created by the bite of a Primary which can be easily controlled but has some independence, and finally Minions that are created by the bite of a Secondary and they are animal-like Vampires that hunt on instinct.”

Snape nodded slightly as Hermione went on.

“One of the major and most unsavory aspects about this type of Vampire is even the most selfish, foul, unattractive, perverse, self-seeking, self-centered, fetid, dishonorable, soiled, repellant, distasteful, deceitful, two-faced . . .

"We get the point, Miss Granger," Snape snarled from his desk.

Hermione looked at him pointedly, then continued her monologue.

" . . .mendacious individual can take on the illusion of being attractive and even desirable. Of course, it is all . . . a lie. A kind of setup so the vampire can prey on humans of the opposite sex. But not in every situation does the Vampire kill or turn its victim. In some cases it will find a human desirable and be compelled to “mark” its victim and use it for sexual pleasure without any hint of emotion or affection. It is purely an animalistic act. This creature is incapable of any human feeling. What makes this Vampire even more disturbing is that it can return to mortal form if the original Vampire that started the line is killed and they willingly subject themselves to sunlight. The Vampire influence is literally burned away. In the case of a person who is truly selfish, foul, unattractive, perverse, self-seeking, self-centered, fetid, dishonorable . . .”

”Miss Granger! We’ve been through this list before!” Snape snapped at the witch.

”I just wanted to be sure everyone got the gist of it, Professor,” Hermione replied.

“I’m sure they do. Now wrap it up,” Snape said, frowning at her.

“In the case of such a person, they revert to their original character, leaving the “marked” individual high and dry without any thought as to how they may have affected him or her. I believe this type of Vampire and individual to be the lowest form of life and that they should all be exterminated rather than allowed to continue without any repercussions or redress for their actions, which they clearly remember. They are certainly one of the foulest Dark Creatures known to man, even when they revert back to human form because their deeds linger. Thank you.”

Hermione returned to her seat, having made her presentation in less than three minutes. Snape looked at her.

”Miss Granger, your presentation sounded more like a call to arms for Vampire Hunters than an unbiased presentation of the facts,” he said to her.

”I was simply calling it as I saw it, Professor,” she responded.

”I hope you cited your sources in your written synopsis, Miss Granger,” he said to her sharply.

”Yes I did, although it will be up to you whether or not to accept them, Professor. But, if you do decide to challenge them and give me low marks, I will be forced to take it to the Headmistress,” she replied evenly.

Snape scowled at the witch darkly. It was clear she had presented her oration from personal experience, which would have to be revealed if he tried to take her to task for being so cheeky. Still . . .

”I have no problem with that, Miss Granger,” he said, his voice quite tight. “You will receive the marks you deserve.”

He didn’t like being threatened. Or blackmailed. It didn’t help that Hermione gave him a rather nasty smirk. For a moment, all he could think about was pinning Hermione down in a bed or niche someplace, pummeling the witch to tears and hearing her scream. That would be quite satisfying as well as pleasurable. Still, he had something else up his sleeve.

Snape stood up, walked in front of his desk and gave the class instructions for tomorrow.

“Next class we will meet outside by the lake,” he announced, then his dark eyes shifted directly to Hermione.

”And bring your . . . brooms,” he said with a little nasty quirk to his lips.

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”It’s not fair!” Hermione fumed as she and Harry walked to supper. “Broom magic isn’t even on the syllabus until next Spring!”

Ron was waiting for them in the Entrance Hall.

”Oy Harry, Hermione,” he said by way of greeting. But Harry and Hermione were deep in conversation, so he just fell in step with them, listening.

“Well Hermione, it is Professor Snape’s prerogative to change the syllabus when he wants,” Harry said to her.

”But he’s supposed to give us NOTICE, Harry. I know he’s just doing this to get back at me for my presentation. He knows I hate brooms,” she said, her brows drawn together.”

“What kind of presentation did you give, Hermione?” Ron asked curiously.

”She gave a presentation on VAMPIRES, Ron,” Harry said to him, adjusting his glasses meaningfully.

Ron shook his head as they entered the Great Hall.

”Hermione, I can’t believe you sometimes,” he said to her.

Affronted, Hermione tossed her knapsack on the table and sat down huffily.

”The assignment was to give an oratory presentation on a Dark Creature. That’s precisely what I did!” she snapped, pulling a plate of chicken towards her.

”But Vampires, Hermione? After all we just went through?” Ron asked her as he began piling up his plate with everything in reach.

“I learned a lot about Vampires. I didn’t want it to go to waste,” she said evenly, buttering some bread.

“You just wanted to upset Snape,” Harry said, “and you did it. So why complain about it? If you had done your presentation on werewolves or ghouls or something, you wouldn’t have to go flying tomorrow. None of us would . . . not that I mind flying.”

”I just know the lesson’s going to be something awful,” Hermione said, biting into her chicken viciously.

“Yep. And you’re probably going to go first,” Ron agreed, “Snape is a vindictive bastard.”

Just then, who should enter the Great Hall via the Teacher’s Entrance but the vindictive bastard himself in all his billowing glory. He sat down in his seat, ordered his meal, then looked directly at the Gryffindor table and Hermione with a rather smug look on his pale face.

”Ooh, I hate him!” Hermione hissed, stabbing a potato with her fork, imagining it was the Professor’s hand she was piercing.

Harry and Ron looked at each other over her head, both knowing Hermione didn’t hate Professor Snape but not daring to say so if they wanted to keep their tongues in their heads.

They finished their meals and headed for Gryffindor Tower, Hermione giving Snape a parting glare before she left, nose in the air.

The wizard’s eyes twinkled with amusement.

Hermione was really quite entertaining.

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That night Hermione hurriedly made her rounds of the castle, starting on the top floors and working her way down. She met Draco Malfoy, who was working his way up to the top floors, but didn’t have two words for him. His mother might have helped Harry, but Draco was still a prick and would always be one, Head Boy or not.

She hurriedly navigated the dungeon corridor, checking all the niches and found no one. On her way back up, she heard a door open and looked back to see Snape step into the corridor. He was the DADA teacher, but he still kept his private rooms in the dungeons. Hermione couldn’t help thinking like all slugs he liked damp, dark places.

Hermione continued up the corridor, aware that Snape was right behind her, though she couldn’t really tell exactly where he was, he walked so stealthily. Still, she wasn’t about to look back again and give him the impression she even cared he was present. But she should have.

”Good evening, Miss Granger,” the wizard said almost in her ear. Hermione jumped and scowled at him.

”Really Professor, do you have to invade my personal space like that?” she asked him.

Snape didn’t reply to that question and Hermione felt herself blush. It was easy to see that the wizard was thinking he’d already invaded her personal space and with gusto.

“Are you ready for tomorrow’s lesson?” he purred at her.

”How am I supposed to know if I am? You didn’t tell us exactly what we are going to do. I don’t see why you have to be so mysterious,” she snapped at him.

“Defense Against the Dark Arts is a curriculum that has certain requirements, Miss Granger. You never know what you are going to have to protect yourself against, so it is better that I teach along those lines, not revealing anything before its time. That way I keep an element of spontaneity among the students. I hope to make them ready for anything,” he replied, his hands clasped behind his back.

All right. That made sense.

”But still, Broom magic on the syllabus isn’t supposed to be taught until Spring. You didn’t have to move it up,” she said to him accusingly.

Snape smirked.

“And you didn’t have to do a presentation on Vampires, Hermione,” he said, using her given name.

”I’d prefer you to call me Miss Granger and not be so familiar, Professor,” she said haughtily. “We have protocol to maintain. Only my ‘friends’ call me by name.”

”Friends and lovers?” the wizard asked her, silk in his voice.

Hermione colored but maintained her composure.

”Yes. Of which you are neither,” she replied coolly as they turned into the Entrance Hall.

Hermione knew Snape had to go check the lower corridors. She turned to him.

”I think it’s very childish of you to move up the Broom magic curriculum because you were uncomfortable with my presentation,” she said to him, “Surely you are much more ‘mature’ than that, Professor.”

Snape cocked his head at the witch, his eyes resting on her mouth for a moment. She had never done anything with her mouth to him. If he got hold of her again, he’d rectify that.

”Actually, I prefer teaching Broom magic in the fall. It is easier to see the flyers through the trees and the cool weather keeps them sharp. That syllabus was created during my . . . absence from Hogwarts. I simply passed it out. I will be giving you my own syllabus in a few days. You must think quite highly of yourself if you believe I would alter my curriculum just to focus on you . . . Miss Granger,” he said to her. “And I do believe you want my ‘focus.’”

”I don’t want anything from you!” Hermione spat, “Not a damn thing!”

The witch stormed away from the wizard, her hair bouncing as she stomped up the stairs.

Snape watched her for a while, then headed down the DADA corridor. By her violent reaction, he had struck a nerve and knew it.

Hermione Granger didn’t fool him one bit.

Snape carefully checked the niches, knowing he would find nothing. The students were always on their best behavior the first two weeks of the term. They had to fall into their comfort zone before they began rutting all over the castle.

Hopefully, he’d be doing a bit of rutting himself in the weeks to come.

And Hermione would be the “rut-ee.”

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A/N: lol. I had fun with Hermione’s presentation. Thanks for reading.