Against His Nature

CHAPTER 30

“Merlin’s balls Severus, you always did like damp dark little hovels didn’t you? Is all this self torture really necessary?” Octavia pushed his way through the tiny gap in the rocks behind Albus, his nigh vision adjusting easily to the pitch-black cavern beyond. Albus flicked the end of his wand and illuminated the damp dark hole and it’s twittering inhabitants. Million upon millions of bats hung from the roof crevices like a fluttering black carpet. The stench of droppings made Octavia curl his lips in disgust as the headmaster began to pick a path through the uneven rocks.

“Your comments aren’t helpful Octavia.” Albus glanced over his shoulder and stared at the other Vampire pointedly.

“How are we to find him in here?” Octavia whispered as they wandered further into the colony of bats, looking for one particular bat amongst the millions of others. Albus came to a stop in the largest part of the cavern and glanced up at the roof and it’s sea of beady, brooding eyes and fluttering paper-thin wings.

“Severus?” Albus silenced Octavia with a wave of his hand before calmly addressing the twittering wildlife audience staring down at him. “I want to talk to you my boy, now come here.” Albus held out his wand firmly and pointed to it with his other index finger. There was silence for a moment but when no bats moved Albus tried again. “Please Severus, by hiding you’re not only punishing yourself but others as well. The ministry is beginning to ask questions. Please come here.” Again Albus held out the wand and pointed to it hopefully. There was another brief moment of silence before at length there was a fluttering of wings and the whoosh of air as one of the black, tiny creatures flew down and came to rest upside down on the end of Albus’ wand.

“Very sensible of you Severus, now come along back to Grimmauld Place and we’ll discuss this over tea.” Carefully Albus scooped the bat up into his cupped hands and placed him carefully into the relatively dark safety of his deepest cloak pocket. Octavia had watched the entire scene play out before him with mild irritation. His student was being pandered to like he was still a fledgling, when all he really needed was a good firm kick up the arse. With Severus squirreled away in his pocket Albus carefully negotiated his way out of the cave back out into the frosty evening.

“You do realize he won’t change back unless he’s sure he’s safe.” Octavia muttered as he dusted some dirt from his cloak as he joined Albus on the windswept rocky outcrop they’d arrived at. Albus smiled his familiar grin, and with his eyes sparkling nodded before disappearing with a pop leaving Octavia to follow him.

Back at Grimmauld Place Albus wandered into the living room where a tea tray had already been sat waiting for their arrival. Octavia hesitated on the threshold of the living room as Albus carefully extracted the small bat from his pocket and hung him on candlestick above the fireplace.

“I’ll leave you to it then. Severus was always stubborn and pig headed as a student so I doubt much has changed. Good luck.” With a flippant wave of his hand Octavia was gone again leaving Albus and the bat alone in the warm cozy living room. Albus could feel the beady eyes watching his every move as he got comfortable in the armchair and poured himself and Severus a cup of tea.

“You should know he’s been asking for you.” Albus sipped from his teacup casually as he eyed the bat carefully for signs of a reaction to his comment. “You should have come to me as soon as you realized it was Potter.” The bat ruffled its wings in a flurry and Albus assumed it to be Snape’s way of showing irritation to his comment. “I was the one who encouraged you to stop taking the potion Severus, I asked Octavia to find you a donor. I was prepared for the consequences whatever they were.” Again a flutter of wings just as irritated as the last movement. Albus rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Don’t swear at me Severus Snape, you brought this on yourself by trying to handle it alone. This is new for you, you need guidance and not the kind of guidance Octavia is all too keen on giving you.” Albus watched as the bat took off from it’s perch on the candle stick and flew over to the curtain rod over the window seat, it’s back clearly turned on the elder wizard. Albus tightened his lips as he sipped from his tea trying to ignore the obvious statement Snape was making. “Don’t be childish Snape, this isn’t the time. I received a letter from the Ministry officially requesting that you unite yourself with certain listened persons, or face imprisonment or forced genetic extraction from your person. I also know you’re ignoring your summons from Voldemort; Lucius Malfoy has been sniffing around the castle for the last two weeks looking for you. You’re risking your entire position as spy by this childish pointless charade!” Dumbledore rarely got upset but Snape’s lack of attention was getting to him. For a moment the bat didn’t react but with a flutter of wings the bat fell from the curtain rod and transformed back into a very pale, very dirty disheveled and majorly angry looking Potion Professor.

“I nearly killed him Albus.” Snape whispered his voice raw and hard with lack of use.

“Nonsense the boy’s fine, a little shaken but surprisingly high spirited considering his professor beat the crap out of him.” Snape raised a slightly surprised eyebrow. Albus Dumbledore never swore, as a general rule the headmaster didn’t need to resort to profanity in order to get his point across but in this case it seemed the word was important. “It seems your student is showing more maturity than you are in this situation Severus. The boy even believes he’d been expecting to be cursed by you for the past seven years. Apparently it’s come as a relief to him to finally have the tension between the two of you broken.” Snape sneered irritably, trust the boy who lived to take everything in his stride. Snape shuddered involuntarily his hands shaking around the shaft of his wand as he tried desperately to hold it still. Two weeks without a feed was upsetting his natural instincts and all he could hear was the pound of blood through Albus’ veins. “Here, he gave me this to give to you.” Having seen the glazed hungry look in Snape’s sky blue eyes, Albus flick his wand and smiled when a large plastic bladder appeared in his hands. With a click of his fingers a drinking straw appeared in his other hand, before the headmaster offered both items over to the Vampire. Snape muttered something unintelligible beneath his breath as he stepped forward to take the blood filled package and the straw. Albus smiled crookedly to himself as he watched Snape stick the straw through the sides of the bladder and began sipping, the straw sticking out from between Snape’s two extended incisors.

Albus watched on in silence as Snape emptied the blood package, the professor’s shakes subsiding and a little colour returning to his pale withdrawn face.

“I’m going to start taking the potion again, I can’t live like this Albus.” Snape muttered as he wiped some spilt droplets of blood from his chin with the sleeve of his already soiled robe.

“That is of course your choice Severus.” Albus paused and Snape prepared himself for the inevitable ‘but’ that he knew was coming. “But do you honestly believe it is going to change anything now that you know Potter is a potential mate?” Snape sighed heavily and shrugged his shoulders. Whatever the consequences Snape just wanted to stop feeling like he did around the boy. “Perhaps it is best to discuss this with Harry. According to Octavia the boy is already captivated by your aura.” Snape growled low in his throat at the mention of his mentor’s name.

“Octavia’s a thieving git.” Snape spat out automatically, his instincts kicking in yet again. Albus chuckled and shook his head, causing Snape to blush in embarrassment of his possessive nature.

“Octavia has no intention of taking Harry as his own Snape, the boy has no other claim on him and it is obvious from his defiance that he has no intention of acting on the Ministry’s pushing. He’s yours for the taking should you wish it.” Albus watched carefully as Snape played this new development around in his mind for a moment before muttering the inevitable question.

“And you’d allow it, knowing what I am. What he’d become?” Snape stared at Albus skeptically, wondering why on earth Albus was being so calm about this. Albus shrugged his shoulders casually and shook his head.

“Who am I to stand in the way of a Vampire and his mate? The boy obviously shows no interest in other students around him, thus I can only conclude that he was meant for you.” Albus paused and finished his cup of tea before replacing the china on the tray with a quiet chink. “Besides, think of a protection a Vampire’s blood would give running through Potter’s veins?” Bingo. Snape finally saw the reasoning behind Albus’ unexpectedly calm resolve of the subject. No one would willing give up a talented young boy to a Vampire without having an underlying motive that outweighed all the risks associated with Vampire heritage. Albus was using the situation to his advantage to better equip the boy to face Voldemort, and Snape wondered silently how long it had taken Albus to agree to the situation.

“There’s always a reason with you isn’t there?” Snape muttered a little bitterly as Albus rose from the chair and stretched the kinks from his neck.

“I like to think myself prepared for the worst my boy. Your uniting with Potter will ensure the boy’s immortality, and it will come as a complete surprise to Voldemort.” Albus winked and moved over to the fireplace ready to floo back to Hogwart’s. “You have the weekend to clean yourself up before the order descend on this place for Christmas. I also suggest staying clear of Lupin this festive season, having heard of your altercation with Harry he’s out for your blood.” Snape rolled his eyes as he watched Albus root around in his pockets of his cloak for a moment before removing a hand full of floo powder. “I’ll see you on Christmas Eve, Harry will join us then too.” With a smile Albus was gone leaving Snape alone at Grimmauld Place to consider the options before him.

TBC>>>>>