Love Bites (REPOST)

Chapter 3 ~ Dark Relationships and Suspicions

Victor stalked through the underground lair, his face contorted with jealousy, kicking at the skulls that littered the floor of the catacombs. Vashti had finally managed to bite the slayer. This meant she was now connected to the wizard, which meant that he was closer to losing his position as Vashti's consort. He had been the Queen's lover for six centuries now and loved her more than his own half-life.

The mortal who had caught her eye was, in Victor's opinion, no more than lucky. He had no right to the Queen. His resemblance to Questor was nothing but coincidence. The wizard was unworthy as far as Victor was concerned.

The vampire's lips drew back from his teeth as he sought out Vashti. That she would prefer this…this mere mortal to him was unconscionable. Did he not please the Queen? Did he not take her to the heights when he possessed her? He should be her choice for king. Not some mortal who momentarily caught her fancy because of his ability to kill mere servants.

If Vashti had not demanded that he remain underground during the Final Battle, Victor was sure he could have killed the wizard. He was no mere servant. He had power and self-will. He was stronger than any mortal.

Victor continued moving through the catacombs. He could sense her. Vashti was on her throne in the center of the catacombs. This was an old, old place…forgotten by the living. There was only one entrance that was hidden low to the ground, appearing as a crevice, a simple slice in the earth. No one suspected and the undead dwelled here freely.

Most had the erroneous idea that vampires needed human blood to survive. This wasn't true. Living blood kept them active, but a vampire could be locked away without blood for centuries. They might not be in the best shape, but they still survived. This pocket of vampires survived on animal blood. They hunted small rodents for the most part…took lives which would not be noticed by the humans.

Eight years had passed since the Final Battle and defeat of the insane wizard Voldemort. The vampires had been decimated, and only a handful managed to escape to Vashti, who spirited them away to this forgotten place. It had been eight years since any of them had tasted sweet human blood, with the exception of the Queen. And now she was about to turn a human and make him her king.

The scowling vampire walked into the throne room, pushing aside the heavy cobwebs that served as curtains. The mummified bodies of the dead lined the walls, skulls lay scattered everywhere and several small fires burned, illuminating the area. Vashti sat upon her throne. It was made of human bones. Victor knelt before her.

"My Queen, my love," Victor said, raising his pale face to her, his black eyes drinking her in.

Vashti smiled at him, her fangs at short length between her blood-red lips.

"Hello, Victor," the queen said to him, beckoning him to rise.

The consort did so, approaching the throne and lifting her cold, pale hand to his lips, turning it over and lightly nipping at the vein in her wrist with his fangs. Vashti allowed Victor to drink from her on occasion during sex, which was why he was no simple servant. He had some life to him because of his relationship to the queen.

Vashti, although one of the undead, retained the life forces of all her victims from over the centuries and so was more alive than any of them. When ordinary vampires feasted on humans, they only took the blood. But when Vashti fed, she took the life of the blood as well. This was why Severus couldn't sense her. This was also why she was queen. Her power over the vampires was due to the fact that she held their life. They were bound to her.

Vashti pulled her hand away from Victor, knowing he was trying to seduce her. The vampire was jealous of the slayer. Victor was great entertainment, but he was not, in Vashti's estimation, suitable to rule with her. He was too subservient. When she turned the wizard, he would retain all of his darkness, dominance and strength.

Victor scowled at Vashti, then sat down at the foot of her throne sullenly.

"You are thinking of that mortal again," he groused, "You will not let me touch you for thinking of him."

"I spoke with him, tonight Victor. I pulled his spirit into Plane of Fallen Kings and tested him. He is so belligerent, so fierce. He tried to kill me in the mist when I touched him," Vashti said rather dreamily.

"So being near death is what excites you now, my queen?" Victor asked the vampiress,

Vashti looked at Victor.

"He excites me, Victor," she replied.

"He is nothing! A mere mortal. In one hundred and fifty years he will be nothing but bones and dust! Vashti…he is just a man. It is only because he favors Questor that you want him. You will never find another Questor," the vampire said fervently.

He reached up and began to caress the queen's leg slowly.

"And what of me, my queen. What of my passion for you…my love? Will you cast me aside?" Victor asked her. Vashti looked down at him.

"Victor, you are a distraction. A delightful distraction but a distraction all the same. I need a king, not a consort," she said evenly.

"Make me your king then, Vashti. I love you and am loyal to you. I am strong…brave," he claimed.

"But you are no slayer, Victor. I sensed the bloodlust in the wizard when he was killing my servants. He did not need to see them. He felt them and had no mercy. He destroyed my ranks, one wizard alone, with a sword and no magic. At times they attacked him fifteen strong…he should have been killed, but he slayed them all."

"I could have killed him, Victor. He would not have sensed me, and I could have torn his throat out. But he was too magnificent to kill. If he is so powerful as a mortal, then as my king he will be so much more. He may lead us to greatness again. I need a king with the potential for greatness, Victor. You lack that potential, talented as you are in the ways of love. You cannot fuck me back into power," Vashti said, fluttering her dark lashes at him with a wry smile.

"I will challenge him!" Victor snarled. "When you turn him, I will challenge him and kill him, Vashti."

The Queen looked at Victor consideringly.

"I cannot stop you from challenging my choice for king, Victor. If you can slay him, then you will be worthy of the throne. But I doubt you can, Victor…and I would miss you if you were no more. I intend to keep you as my consort," Vashti said softly.

Victor scowled. As king, Severus would be fucking the Queen too, and that was something he couldn't stand the thought of.

"I will challenge him," the vampire swore, his eyes going red with the lust for blood. He rose to his knees and rested his head in his Queen's lap. "He will not have you, Vashti."

The Queen sighed. Victor was so fucking dramatic. True, he had killed another vampire over her four centuries ago. A foreign vampire named Vladimir. It was not a king's challenge but plain jealousy that led Victor to kill.

The Queen sensed the vampire in her domain and sought him out in the dark of night, fully intending on killing him. But she found the vampire attractive. He was not pale, but olive-toned, handsome with dark mesmerizing eyes. He had a rich, exotic voice, and was very seductive. He was not the same kind of vampire as they. He did not hunt nor did he live in one place. Vladimir could pass over water, so traveled the world and lured human females to him. They willingly gave him their blood in return for an ecstatic death in his arms. He was in his nature, closer to an incubus. The Queen brought him back to his lair, fully intending on fucking him.

Vladimir and Vashti had been engaged in vampire foreplay, nude and entwined, fangs fully extended, hissing their lust, nipping and petting, each other when Victor walked in on them. He saw Vladimir's olive flesh streaked with blood from Vashti's nails and went insane, instantly converting to full vampire form and tearing the naked vampire away from his Queen.

Vladimir did not transform this way, nor did he have any extraordinary strength. Victor tore him to pieces before Vashti's eyes, then covered in the fallen creature's gore, took the Queen possessively, both of them hissing, their bodies slick with blood as they mated violently. It was the only time the Vashti allowed Victor to claim her that way. He had killed for her after all.

But she doubted Victor could kill a turned Severus. She doubted the vampire could even kill the wizard now as a mortal. She caressed Victor's head as he rested it on her thighs.

She was going to miss him.

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The Potions Master had no more strange dreams for the next two weeks. Poppy had healed the puncture wounds, but the spot still remain purplish, though smaller in width. It was like a permanent hickey. He used a small, localized glamour to cover it.

Now Severus sat at breakfast in the Great Hall, staring down at his food. For the past few days he had been having digestive problems. Everything he ate seemed to disagree with him. He had been taking a few potions to calm his stomach, but they didn't help much. The wizard looked down the table to see if the medi-witch was at breakfast, but Poppy wasn't. He would have to stop by the infirmary and have her take a look at him. He drank his coffee, then exited the hall.

Severus took the shifting stairwells up to the infirmary hall. As he dismounted, he was struck by a wave of dizziness, and only by clutching the doorway did he manage to keep from falling to the floor far below. He stood there panting as his head cleared. He shook his head. He wasn't eating well, so attributed his weakness to lack of proper nourishment. He continued down the corridor and turned into the infirmary.

"Poppy?" he called, striding through the ward, "Poppy, I need your talents."

A small figure stepped out of the medi-witch's office.

"I'm afraid Poppy is gone, Professor. My talents will have to do," Hermione Granger replied, dressed in a white lab coat, her arms full of parchments.

Severus stared at her.

"Gone? She can't be gone. She didn't say anything," the Potions Master said, walking toward the witch, who disappeared back into the office. He rounded the door and saw the normally neat office strewn with boxes and papers

Hermione pulled a stack of books out of one of the boxes and put them on the shelves behind the desk.

"No, Poppy didn't want a big scene. She left this morning," the witch said, straightening the books then stepping back to look at them. Then she turned to the Potions Master.

Severus' eyes washed over the witch. Hermione's hair was pulled back into a tight bun, reminiscent of the severe way Minerva used to wear her hair. Beneath her lab coat she wore a rather shapeless blue uniform. She also had on white trainers. A strange instrument hung around her neck. Her amber eyes were cool and intelligent as they looked back at him evenly. She didn't smile.

Suddenly she walked past him, drawing her wand out of her pocket.

"Come on, Professor," she said.

Severus stared at her, then slowly followed the witch, who pulled back a privacy curtain and pointed to the cot.

"Sit down," she said rather imperiously. Obviously she didn't expect any resistance.

Severus sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Now, what are your complaints?" Hermione asked him, busily unbuttoning the top fasteners of his robes and pulling them open.

"Complaints?" Severus asked her, a bit put off by her rather cold and business-like manner.

Hermione's small, cool hands pressed the sides of his neck, rotating slightly.

"Yes, complaints. You were coming here to see Poppy. I presume something is wrong," she said.

"Digestive problems," Severus said. "Everything I eat seems to disagree with me."

"I see," Hermione said. Then she noticed that her fingers disappeared beneath the pale skin on the right side of the Potions Master's neck.

"Professor, are you wearing a glamour?" she asked him, picking up her wand.

"Yes," he replied.

Hermione tapped his throat, removing the glamour. She looked at the mark and gave a small smirk.

"A love bite, Professor?" she asked him.

Severus scowled.

"Hardly. I was bitten a couple of weeks back. Poppy healed it, but the bruise remained. I keep it glamoured for obvious reasons," the wizard responded.

"Bitten? By what?" the witch asked him.

"A bat," the dark wizard replied.

Hermione looked at the bruise again.

"And this hasn't faded at all?" she asked him.

"Well, it is much smaller than it was, but no…the color hasn't changed," Severus said.

Hermione looked thoughtful.

"All right. Now tell me about these digestive problems," she said, opening his robes further, then unbuttoning his white shirt beneath it. Severus caught her hand.

"What in the world are you doing, Miss Granger?" he asked her.

Hermione pulled her hand away from his, frowning.

"That's Dr. Granger, Professor. I need to listen to your heart," she said.

"But Poppy never…" the Potions Master began.

"I'm not Poppy, Professor. I do not operate the same way she does, but I assure you I am very qualified to look after your health," she said evenly. "Now, please move your hand so I can examine you."

Severus dropped his hand and sat still as Hermione pulled his shirt completely open. The witch was surprised to see he was a rather muscular wizard underneath his robes. But she was a professional and did not react outwardly. She lifted her stethoscope and placed it against the wizard's chest. The Potions Master jumped.

"That's cold," he said, scowling at her. "Would it be too much to ask that you use a warming charm next time you use that contraption?"

"Shhhh," Hermione said with a bit of irritation as she listened to the wizard's heart. Then she moved it lower to his belly and listened.

Severus looked at the witch as she touched him so intimately. Normally he would have protested, but there was such professionalism in her actions that he didn't say anything. Hermione grunted, let go of the stethoscope, then reached into her pocket and drew out what looked like a muggle fountain pen. She leaned close to his face and shined a light in his eye. The wizard started.

Hermione stood back and frowned at him.

"Will you please hold still, Professor?" she said in an exasperated voice, leaning in again with the light.

Her face was very close to his. He could smell jasmine.

Hermione shined the light into his other eye. She stepped back. She didn't like the way his dark pupils had reacted.

"Wait here," she said, walking down the infirmary and searching through some vials. She found one with a long tube in it. She returned to the Potions Master.

"Roll up your sleeve," Hermione said to the wizard.

Severus stared at her for a moment, then did so.

The witch tapped the wand to a vein in his arm. He was very sinewy. Veins everywhere.

Hermione then tapped the vial and it filled with blood.

She placed a stasis spell on the blood and put the vial in her pocket.

"What's that for?" the Professor asked her.

"I'm going to do some blood work on you, Professor," she replied shortly. "Now tell me about your ailments."

Severus told her about his digestive problems and the dizziness he'd felt on his way to the infirmary. Hermione listened quietly, nodding. When he finished, the witch pressed her hand against his cheek, moving his head so she could look at the bruise again.

"How big was the bat that bit you?" she asked him.

"It was a large bat," he responded.

"Where were you when this happened?" Hermione asked him.

"In the Forbidden Forest. I was collecting herbs," the Professor said.

"I see," Hermione said. "As far as your digestion goes, I am going to suggest you eat broth for the time being."

"Broth? Just broth?" the wizard said, scowling. "I can't live on just broth."

"If you want to keep anything down you will. It's just until I can find out what is causing the indigestion. It will be a day or so," the witch said, "Dress yourself, Professor."

Hermione walked away into her office.

Severus looked after her, buttoning up his shirt, then his robes. She was a far cry from the bubbly, inquisitive, smiling witch he remembered. But then again, life had changed so much for her. She lost her parents in a surprise concerted deatheater attack on the parents of muggle-borns, and then both her friends in the Final Battle, Harry when he killed Voldemort, sacrificing his own life in the process, and Ron when he was hit with the Avada Kedavra curse.

Severus remembered seeing the witch afterwards. She evidenced next to no emotion, but sat in Minerva's embrace, staring at nothing. Then she all but disappeared, throwing herself into the pursuit of knowledge, drowning herself in learning, excelling in everything she put her hand to.

Hermione returned, carrying a small bottle. She handed it to Severus.

"What is this?" he asked, looking at the bottle closely.

"Vitamins. Take one every morning. It will help you get some of the nutrients you need," Hermione said.

Severus opened the bottle and dumped it into his hand. Some mud-colored pills fell out.

"Is this muggle medicine?" he asked, scowling. He didn't do muggle medicine. Too many side effects.

"No. It is my own design. Magically enhanced to be absorbed into the system rather then sitting in a clump someplace in the body. Each pill contains one hundred percent of the body's daily requirements. Take them as I instructed, Professor. I will contact you in one or two days concerning your blood work. Good day," she said, walking back into her office.

Severus was effectively dismissed. He stared at the office for a moment, then slowly exited the infirmary. Hermione had none of the warmth that Poppy did. Poppy had been a mothering kind of medi-witch. Gentle, comforting. Hermione appeared cold and clinical, as if she didn't want to invest anything personal into the act of healing. She examined him, but in effect had told him nothing.

The wizard slowly walked down the corridor heading for the dungeons. It was almost time for class.

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When the Potions Master left, Hermione sat down in the swivel chair behind the desk and removed the vial of blood from her pocket, holding it up toward the torch and examining it before rising and placing it in the medi-cooler Poppy kept in her office.

She didn't like that bruise on the Professor's neck. It should have faded, but was still rather angry-looking. He hadn't winced when she touched it, so there was no pain either, which was strange. She was sure Poppy had examined the original bite for infections and diseases and found nothing. There had been a strange reaction to the light as well. Instead of his pupil instantly shrinking as it should have, first it expanded quite large, almost the entire width of the iris before shrinking. That wasn't normal. It was decidedly abnormal.

He was having trouble eating too. She had a feeling that when she checked his blood, she would find it anemic. Of course, most would assume it was because of his trouble eating, but Hermione suspected something more.

He had said the bat was large. Hermione wondered if Poppy had given the Professor a test for vampirism. She knew that all the vampires in this part of the wizarding world were supposed to be dead, but she had found it hard to believe that they were wiped out completely. It was just so unlikely.

But if a vampire had bitten the Professor, he would have turned immediately. At least that was the common belief. Hermione wasn't sure that this was completely true. If there was one thing the witch had discovered in all her years of study was that every rule had an exception.

Hopefully the bat had been just that, a bat. If it were something else, the Professor was in deep, deep trouble.

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A/N: Okay…we get a glimpse of Vashti's world, and her consort Victor. Lol, I realized while writing this that all the vampires' names start with V. I think I'll keep that up if I introduce any more. Hermione is now at Hogwarts. She's lost everyone she loved…no wonder she over-compensated. Learning was probably the crutch that got her through the pain. Severus has mellowed quite a bit over the years. He was a fairly decent patient. Please review.