Welcome to Slayer's Way

Chapter Fifteen:

Sanura watched the sorting ceremony come to an end and was relieved to see that Eva had finally begun to relax. She too sighed with relief but felt as if something were not right. As if her thoughts had been read the doors to the Great Hall burst open and a group of vampires burst into the room.

"Look's like a smorgasbord," the first vampire said baring his fangs at the nearest child.

"Too true," a second replied.

Sanura jumped to her feet and ran around the table. Realizing she was in robes she threw them off but only after removing the silver butterfly knife from the pocket. One of the vampires had singled out a first year Ravenclaw and the girl inched back against the table in fright.

"Hey." Sanura called to the vampires. "Why don't you try picking on someone your own size?"

"Like you?" the vampire hissed bearing his fangs.

"Exactly," Sanura said. She held the butterfly knife behind her back. Just as she was about to throw it one of the vampires threw a dagger at her. Catching it by the blade in mid air she threw it back and it hit the first vampire in the heart, killing him. The children huddled together in the corners of the room too afraid to be marveled by her performance. She took out each vampire without hesitation and when she was finished the children applauded.

"Wow," a small Hufflepuff said.

"That was amazing," said another.

"Did you see when she..." one of the Slytherin boys began.

The room filled with excited murmurs as the children reclaimed their seats. Sanura went over to the small Ravenclaw that had been cornered and checked her neck and arms for bites and scratches.

"You were very brave," the girl said in a shaky voice.

"I'm trained to be brave," Sanura said to her. The girl gave her a hug and thanked her. Sanura then returned to her seat reclaiming her robes along the way. Eva looked at her shakily.

"I've never seen you do that before," Eva said. It was obvious that she was upset at the display she had just witnessed. Sanura moved to give her a hug but Eva flinched.

"Eva, I'm a slayer. It's what I do. I would never kill you, you're more human that I'll ever be,"

"I know. I keep forgetting that you're a slayer because you've always been my friend," Eva said. She then gave Sanura a hug and smiled weakly at her. Before anything else could be said Dumbledore stood up and McGonagall called for everyone's attention.

"I'm sure that after that small demonstration you are all wondering who this young lady is," he began. He looked to Sanura and she automatically rose from her seat once more. "This is Professor Sanura Crow. What you saw her do today is one of the things she hopes to teach you by the time you leave Hogwarts,"

Sanura smiled and nodded and again the room filled with applause. Sanura took her seat and looked around the room. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a broken chair in the exact same spot that she had killed one of the vampires. Realizing that something was not right she leaned toward Severus.

"Where'd that broken chair come from?" she questioned. She looked to the different locations where the vampire had been and each one held a broken chair.

"I am not sure," Severus said. "Did you accidentally break them when you were fighting?"

"No." she said shortly. She looked to Dumbledore who had a particularly strange twinkle in his eyes. "I'm going to ask Dumbledore, I think that he knows more than he lets on,"

As soon as the feast ended and Sanura had taken Eva to her quarters she returned to the Great hall and approached Dumbledore.

"Where'd those broken chairs come from?" she said pointing at one of the chairs.

"Ah, you noticed." He said. "I wanted to give both the staff and the students a demonstration of your skills," he said his eyes twinkling again. "I am sorry that I did not inform you but had I done so you wouldn't have reacted the way you did,"

Sanura took a step back and blinked. "You mean to tell me that those weren't vampire? That I scared the shit out of my best friend so you could give your students a fucking show!" she screeched. "Forgive me for saying this sir but that was the stupidest thing you could have done!"

Dumbledore looked at Sanura as if he had not heard a word she had spoken. He simply explained that he had transfigured a few chairs into vampires and instructed them as to how to act. "They would not have hurt any of the children," he said.

"This is bullshit," she said shaking her head. "You didn't hear a word I said did you?"

"I heard you." Dumbledore said.

"Don't do it again," she huffed. She felt angry and tired. All she wanted to do was curl up in her bed and sleep until tomorrow when she would have to start teaching classes.

"There will be no need," he said calmly. He turned to leave but stopped. "Do the students still require those special uniforms?"

"Yes." She said. "I completely forgot about them."

"I shall accompany you to your quarters, you can show me what the children need,"

"Very well," she said. Turning to leave she headed toward her quarters with Dumbledore close behind her. She found a pair of sweat pants, a pair of shorts, and a t-shirt and showed them to Dumbledore. "This is what they need."

"Fine." Dumbledore said. He took the clothing she had provided him with and promised that the uniforms would be ready by the next morning. Deciding not to question how it would happen Sanura led him out. Her room felt sticky and warm so she changed into a black silk slip. Sliding under the sheets she closed her eyes but realized that she was not tired.

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Chapter Sixteen:

Severus sat in his study wondering what Sanura had managed to discover. She looked angry while talking to Dumbledore but at the same time she looked tired. He had returned to his quarters only to discover that sleep would be the last thing he managed to find that night. He wondered if he should go find Sanura.

"You just want to be sure that she is not upset," he said aloud to himself as he left his quarters and headed toward the third floor. He pulled down on the hand of the dragon and proceeded down the hallway. He knocked cautiously on the door. When he got no answer he knocked again. Deciding that she was asleep he turned to leave when the door swung open.

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Sanura lay on her bed reading a book. She was no longer tired but she didn't want to make any noise. She would have to get used to sleeping at night again. Turning the page of her book she thought she heard someone knock on her door. She rose quickly from her bed and threw a long silk bathrobe over her nightclothes. The person knocked again and she ran toward the door. She opened it to see Severus just as he was turning to leave.

"Severus?" she said.

He turned and looked at her. He was unsure of what to say so he spoke the first thing that came to his mind. "What did you find out from Dumbledore?" he asked. "You looked quite upset,"

Sanura smiled at him. She didn't think that he should have to stand in the hallway. "Why don't you come in?" she said moving to one side and gesturing for him to enter. He hesitated and she smiled. "I don't bite," she said grinning. He smiled and entered the room. Closing the door she sat down on the sofa and Severus claimed an armchair. As soon as they were both seated Sanura told Severus about Dumbledore's part in the vampire's appearance.

"They weren't vampires at all," she said shaking her head. "They were chairs transformed into vampires. I am quite displeased."

"I can imagine," he looked over to her and she smiled.

"I felt so tired when I left dinner but now I'm wide awake," she said.

"Would you care to take a walk?" he questioned.

"Sure," she said. She rose from her seat and grabbed a pair of sandals from her room.

"You're going to go out in that?" he questioned.

"Yes," she said. "It wouldn't be the first time I've walked around outside with my nightclothes on,"

"As you wish," he said.

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Chapter Seventeen:

Draco Malfoy had snuck out of bed and was sneaking toward the Forbidden Forrest. He felt that because he was an upperclassman the rule about the forest should not apply to him. After all, as a first year he had been in the forest and nothing bad happened to him. He was sure he could handle himself. He stopped when he heard a female voice. Ducking behind a tree he looked to see Severus walking with his arm around the new professor's waist. They stopped and he pointed toward the Quidditch Field. He said something to her and she nodded. Draco watched them walk away and decided that he would follow them instead of going to the forest. He could sneak there any night; this could provide him with important information. Muttering an invisibility spell he followed them. They stopped at the lake and Severus waved his wand producing a blanket. The blanket rolled itself out to reveal a candle and some wine.

"Wow," he heard Sanura said in awe. "This magic stuff is cool,"

"It does come in handy," Severus said to her. They sat and he poured the wine. They talked for what seemed like hours to Draco who was getting bored. Just as he had decided that they were not going to provide him with any entertainment Severus leaned over and kissed Sanura. Draco had to cover his mouth to stop himself from laughing. So Severus had a soft spot after all. He watched for a few moments longer, wondering if Severus or Sanura were going to stop for air. He watched Severus help Sanura to her feet and Severus waved his wand again making the blanket disappear. They walked back to her quarters and before he left he kissed her again. Draco raced back to the Slytherin Commons room just as the invisibility spell began to wear off. Snickering to himself he crawled into bed.

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Chapter Eighteen:

Severus blinked groggily as his alarm clanged. He sat up and fought the urge to throw it across the room and go back to bed. He reluctantly rose from his bed and trudged into the bathroom for a quick shower. He dressed and went down to breakfast. His mood brightened when he saw Sanura sitting at the staff table talking to Eva. He approached the table and she stood to greet him. She kissed him quickly on the cheek and he turned scarlet. She reclaimed her seat and he walked quickly to the end of the table. Confused, Sanura looked at him for a moment and then to Eva.

"I always manage to screw everything up," Sanura said to her. "Wonder what I did this time." She frowned and Eva shook her head.

"You know, not everything is your fault," Eva said. "I don't think you did anything wrong."

"I'll ask him later, I don't need to worry about this right now." Sanura said rising from her seat. "Come on Eva, let's go to the training room, I have the fifth year Gryffindors and Slytherins first and I'm skipping the book work for them." Eva rose from her seat and followed Sanura from the room. She was not surprised when Sanura did not glance back to look at Severus. They walked to the training room in silence and Sanura was surprised to see bundles of clothing on the mats complete with name cards. Upon inspection she realized that they were the uniforms Dumbledore had promised her. Each set had the student's house crest on it.

"Why would they put two houses that hate each other together for class?" Eva said more to herself than anyone.

"Who knows? This place is more than weird." Sanura said in an angry tone. Eva realized that she was upset but did not want to pry. She had never seen Sanura like this before. Sure, Sanura had dated before but she never let them get to her. It was plain to see that Severus was different.

"Are you going to be okay?" Eva asked quietly.

"I'm fine," Sanura snapped. "Sorry. I don't mean to snap at you. I'm just...tired. I was up late..." her thought trailed off and Eva looked at her with concern. Before anything else could be said the students began to file into the classroom. Their eyes went wide as they scanned the contents of the walls.

"My father's got a sword just like it!" She heard one of the Gryffindor students say.

"Are we going to use those?" a Slytherin whispered.

"Attention please," Sanura said. The entire class stopped and looked at her. "Please file past here and pick up your uniforms. These uniforms will be worn to this class so that I can teach you to fight without your robes getting in the way," she explained. Each student took his set of clothing and stood awkwardly awaiting further instructions. Sanura looked up just in time to see Draco Malfoy raising his wand to curse Ron Weasley. Instinctively Sanura took a wooden boomerang from the wall and threw it at Draco's hand making him drop the wand.

"There will be no foolish wand waving, cursing, or silly incantations in my classroom," she said. "The art of self defense is a very dangerous thing and if you do not do as I say you will be out of my class and in Professor Dumbledore's office before you can say blood bath," some of the students wrinkled their noses at her choice of words. They watched as she approached Draco and looked at him sternly. He was rubbing his hand and looking at her indignantly.

"You wait till my father hears about this," he wined. "I think you broke it. I'm going to the hospital wing,"

"Hold it right there Mister Malfoy," she said grabbing him by his ear. "You will not breath, you will blink your eyes, and you will not speak unless I tell you to."

Draco turned and said, "My father is Lucius Malfoy and he can have you fired! I'm a Seeker do you know what that means? That means that I need this hand!!"

Harry chucked and murmured to Ron, "A good Seeker could catch a snitch with both hands tied behind their back,"

"Malfoy needs four hands," Ron quipped. They both turned their attention back to Sanura and Draco.

"I don't give a damn who your father is," Sanura said. "You will obey my rules, whether you like it or not, or you'll leave. If you leave, you fail Defense Against the Dark Arts. You fail my class Malfoy, you don't graduate on time. You fail and you will repeat the entire year. Don't think your daddy'd be too happy about that, do you?"

Draco turned bright red and scowled at Sanura. When he did not reply in any way Sanura began her first class.

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Severus stalked to the dungeons and kicked the door open. How dare she make a scene like that in the middle of the Great Hall? He was not the type of person to display his affections where everyone could see. To make things even worse for him the first class he had to deal with were the first year Hufflepuffs. He went through his usual first day speech and frightened one girl so badly that she bolted from the room with tears in her eyes.

"I'm taking ten points from Hufflepuff for her disgusting display," he snarled at the class.

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Sanura's second class had managed to frustrate her so much that she ended it early. As soon as the children left the room she sank to the mats, putting her head in her lap.

"These kids are hopeless," she said. "Half of them don't even know how to make a proper fist let alone use it,"

"I think you're being too hard on them," Eva said. "Most of them have never needed to fight, unlike you and I,"

"Yeah, I know." Sanura said quietly. She rose from her seat on the floor and looked to Eva. "I'm going to grab something quick to eat. How are you doing?"

"Huh?"

"Do you need your potion?" she asked.

"I should probably take some, I didn't last night," Eva said nodding her head.

"Damn. That means I have to talk to that...that...Grrr!!" she said.

"I can go get it...I promise I won't kill him...I won't even nibble,"

"No. That's okay. We need to have a...discussion." Sanura said with an evil grin.

"Discussion for you means someone ends up in the hospital. Don't hurt him too badly," Eva said gravely.

"I promise I won't lay a finger on him,"

"Sure you won't," Eva said. "If I remember correctly the last 'discussion' you had with Mac got him a broken arm and a black eye."

"I still maintain he broke his own arm," Sanura said. She took a deep breath and frowned. "Let's get this over with." They walked out of the room and toward the potions classroom.

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Sanura entered to find Severus screaming at Neville Longbottom. The poor boy looked as if he was frozen in fear and Sanura refused to let him take his anger and frustration out on the children.

"Professor," she said coldly, "I believe that Mr. Longbottom has been scolded enough for one day,"

Severus turned and glared at her. "Can I help you with something?" he demanded.

"Yes. I need to have a word with you and I think your time to torture these children is up," Severus looked at his watch and class was indeed over.

"Ten points from Gryffindor," he snarled looking at Neville.

"Why are you deducting points?" she demanded.

"Because I can," he snapped.

"Well then because I can I am awarding Mr. Longbottom fifty points," she said, fire in her eyes. "And if you think of taking anymore away I'll triple it. Don't tempt me Severus," she said. She turned and looked at the class. Every student had his jaw firmly on the desk and was frozen with fear. Had she really talked to Severus Snape that way?

"Why are you all sitting there?" Severus demanded. "Class dismissed,"

The entire class ran out of the room as if it had been set a flame. Only after the last student had managed to scurry from the room and the door was closed did Sanura speak.

"A word Professor," she said in an icy tone.

"What?" he snapped. His eyes were filled with anger.

"Eva needs her potion," she said, "and we need to talk,"

Severus walked over to a cupboard and took a small bottle from one of the shelves. He threw it at Sanura who caught it effortlessly.

"There is your potion, now get out," Severus said. Eva turned to leave but Sanura stood motionless.

"I'm not going anywhere." Sanura declared folding her arms across her chest. "I said we needed to talk and I am not leaving until we do."

"What do you want?"

"To know what the hell your problem is!" she screamed. "What did I do?" her voice cracked and Eva was afraid that she would cry. Eva walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Maybe we should go," Eva said gently.

"No." Sanura said. "I've never run away from anything or anyone before. I won't run from him either. He doesn't frighten me." Having said this Sanura turned back to Severus, "You know you're not as mean as you think you are,"

"Yes well you aren't as bad assed as everyone thinks you are," Severus shot back.

"Why are you acting this way?" She demanded. "What have I done?"

"Everyone was watching!" he bellowed.

"What?" she said numbly.

"You kissed me in front of the entire school!"

"No one was paying attention," she whispered.

"That's not the point!" he ranted. "I am not the kind of person who displays my affection publicly,"

"Oh, I get it. It's not okay for everyone to know that you and I are...whatever we are, but it's okay for me to be a secret."

"That's not what I meant,"

"It's what you said. It is what you meant." She said quietly. "Let me tell you something I think you need to lighten the hell up," Her temper flared and she resisted the temptation to break Severus' already crooked nose.

"Sanura I..."

"And furthermore," she continued. "I resent the implication that it's okay for you to keep me a secret! I resent the fact that it's okay for you to care as long as no one else knows about it. I refuse to be involved with someone who acts as if no one is ever good enough," having said that Sanura turned and walked out of the room. Severus stood rooted to his spot. Eva looked at him with sorrow filled eyes.

"If you plan on fixing this, you had better do it soon," Eva said quietly. "An upset Sanura equals chaos." Having spoken her words of wisdom Eva hurried after Sanura. She figured that Sanura would head back to the training room and break something. To her surprise Sanura was locking the door.

"Where are you going?" Eva asked her.

"My room. I want to beat the shit out of my punching bag. Come with?" Sanura asked.

"Sure," Eva said. They walked in silence to Sanura's room. When they entered Sanura closed the door and went into her bedchamber. She did not even bother with the gloves today. She began to pound the bag. Eva stood behind it and held it still and was surprised by Sanura's strength. She had to use all of her strength to stay on her feet. When she poked her head from behind the bag she saw Sanura's face was covered with tears that were streaming freely from her eyes. Eva let go of the bag and stopped Sanura in mid punch.

"I've screwed up so badly," Sanura said beginning to sob. "I...I...I... I'm so used to having to shut down that I have forgotten how to be human. I...I...oh god I've messed up so badly,"

Eva stood back and looked at Sanura with surprise. The last time she had seen her cry was when she had to kill her boyfriend. Eva gave her a hug and let her cry for a bit.

"You didn't mess this up alone," Eva said. "He obviously likes to overreact. Don't blame yourself,"

Sanura stopped crying and dried her eyes. Glancing in the mirror she frowned. She walked over to the dressing table and fixed her makeup.

"Let's go back to the training room," Sanura said sniffing. "My next class starts soon, the seventh year Gryffindors and Ravenclaws," They began to walk back toward the training room but the staircase had other ideas. It began to move and both Sanura and Eva grasped the railing in fear. When it finally stopped moving Sanura ran down the stairs with Eva on her heels. When they reached the landing they both took a deep breath.

"Why didn't you tell me that the staircases moved?" Eva asked.

"I didn't know," she said. Luckily the staircase had connected with another and they were standing in the entrance hall. Walking down the hall they reached the stairway that led to the dungeons. Severus appeared in the doorway and Sanura glared at him moving to one side waiting for him to pass her.

"Sanura," Severus began but she cut him off.

"I have a class that is set to begin in five minutes, if you will excuse me Professor," she said coldly. He moved to the left and she brushed past him.

"This is going to be much harder than I anticipated," Severus muttered to himself.

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The rest of the day was rather uneventful. Sanura's classes went well but she was distracted. She couldn't concentrate on anything. She dismissed her final class early and locked up the room without saying a word to Eva. They strolled to the Great Hall and sat at the end of the table. Sanura pulled Eva's potion from her pocket and handed it to her.

"I forgot to give it to you earlier," she said. "Sorry."

"No problem." She said. Eva poured a small amount of the potion into her goblet and drank it. Within minutes color appeared in her cheeks and she took a deep breath. "I feel so much better,"

"I'm glad." Sanura said. She looked up when the doors to the Great Hall opened and Severus walked in. "I think I'm going to go. I'm not hungry,"

"Sanura you haven't eaten all day,"

"I'll eat in my quarters,"

"Crow," Eva said sternly. "You need to eat,"

Sanura shook her head. "Eva," she said, "I can't do this right now,"

Eva understood and nodded. She realized that Sanura wanted to retreat to her room before Severus reached the table. She watched as Sanura jumped off of the small platform the table rested on and took a deep breath. Severus had managed to cut her off and Eva hoped that this confrontation wouldn't end in bloodshed.

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Severus walked into the Great Hall with butterflies in his stomach. He knew that everything Sanura had said was true and he wanted to fix things before they got out of hand. As soon as he entered he saw Sanura rise to her feet and knew that she was going to leave. He had to do this now or he may not get the chance later. She walked between the Gryffindor and Slytherin table and with a stroke of luck he managed to cut her off.

"Excuse me," she said trying to pass him.

"Sanura I'm sorry," he said.

"Sorry? I'm happy to hear it," she said snidely. Severus realized that a simple apology would not help this matter. Everyone in the hall was watching them now, and he moved to one side so she could pass him. Without hesitation he grabbed her arm and she spun around glaring at him angrily.

"What is it Professor?" she snapped.

He leaned over and kissed her gently on the lips. The entire room filled with surprised gasps and murmurs. She stood back and blinked. He had released her arm and looked at her with a smile.

"Come sit with me for dinner?" he requested holding out his arm. She hesitated.

"Everyone's watching," she said calmly.

"Let them watch," he said leaning over and kissing her again. She took his arm and he led her back to the staff table. Eva moved down so that they could sit together. She smiled warmly at Sanura.

"I told you everything would be fine," Eva teased.

Sanura nodded and Severus leaned toward her. "I'm sorry that I was so hateful this morning," he said. "Do you forgive me?"

"I suppose," she said a smile forming on her face. The fight forgotten they told each other about their first day of classes and life seemed to be okay once more.

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Things went well for the next few months. Classes were less stressful and Sanura had managed to teach the children how to punch and kick properly and had moved into using simple weapons. She had gotten to know a lot of the students, as did Eva. Severus had calmed down a bit and was not as mean to his students, much to everyone's surprise. Potions grades went up and Neville managed to stutter a few syllables in class now and again. Draco wasn't much of a problem but every time he lost a practice battle he would wine and Sanura would laugh. Things were going quite well. Little did they know that the sunshine was about to be covered by very dark clouds.

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Sanura walked down the hallway toward the Great Hall humming to herself. Christmas break was only a few days away and she was excited. Fred and George ran past her nearly knocking her over.

"Sorry," Fred said.

"Didn't mean to run into you," George finished.

"And what are you two up to? Getting into mischief?" Sanura inquired.

"Of course not," they said in unison.

"Oh," Sanura said smiling, "I'm disappointed. I would have expected nothing less from you two,"

The boys laughed and began to run again. She shook her head and smiled again. The Weasley twins had provided her with much entertainment throughout the year. She was almost upset that they would be graduating. She laughed aloud as she remembered their most recent prank. She had requested that a punching bag be installed in the training room. It was and before Sanura could test it Fred had managed to charm it to punch back. Sanura had been quite surprised when Draco punched the bag and it knocked him across the room. All she saw was a flash of blonde hair before Draco had hit the wall. Eva laughed immediately but Sanura waited until she was sure Draco was all right before collapsing into a small pile of giggles on the mats. The rest of the class joined her and Draco wined for the remainder of the day. Sanura felt silly, giddy, happy, and playful all at once. She skipped into the Great Hall and sat down beside Eva.

"You're chipper today," Eva observed. She had never seen her friend like this and was happy that she was finally learning to have fun.

"I'm in a good mood," she said with a grin. "Christmas is almost here, we get a break, life is good," she said.

"I want to go home for Christmas," Eva said, "But I'm afraid to. Hunter is probably still looking for me,"

"Would you like me to take you home?" Sanura asked. "I will and I'll even ask Severus to come with us."

"I do want to go home," Eva said. "I miss Christian,"

Sanura had been so caught up in her own life that she had forgotten that Eva had left so much behind when she brought her to Hogwarts. Eva's boyfriend Christian O'Clare lived in Dublin. Lucky for Eva he was a very understanding wizard who didn't ask many questions. He wrote her as often as possible and even talked of visiting Hogsmeade sometime in the near future. As a Hogwarts graduate he knew exactly where she was but promised not to tell anyone.

"I'll talk to Severus and see if he'll come along," she said to Eva. As if on cue Severus appeared behind her.

"Come along where?" he asked.

"Hey," she said jumping from her seat and giving him a hug. He kissed her on the cheek and she smiled. "How would you feel about going to Dublin? Eva wants to go home to see her sweetheart and I don't want to go alone," Sanura said.

"Dublin? Well, I could Apparate there, Eva could fly, how would you get there?"

"I don't know," Sanura said frowning.

"I know!" Severus said quickly. "We could take the knight bus. It wouldn't take nearly as long,"

"The knight bus?" she questioned.

"Yes, the knight bus. It's kind of like a Muggle taxi cab but it could get us to Dublin in less than a day,"

"That's great!" Sanura said. She looked to Eva who looked overjoyed. Sitting down they discussed their plans and decided that Eva would go home to see Christian the day Christmas break began and leave Christmas Eve. Eva wrote him a short letter and went to the owlery to send it off. She was positively glowing and Sanura was happy to see that she was happy once more. Severus said he would be more than happy to go with them to see Christian and to protect his two favorite people. Sanura went to Dumbledore and told him about their plans. He wished them safe traveling and suggested that Sanura take her wand with her.

"I haven't used it very much," she confessed when he suggested it. "I'm afraid I'm not very good,"

"You just need a little practice," Dumbledore said. "I'm sure Severus would be happy to teach you,"

"Be that as it may I'm not a witch and I don't want to give myself the hope that I could become one." She said with a shrug. "But I will take it with me, I just learned a disarming spell and I would love the chance to try it out," she said with a grin. Waving to Dumbledore she went to her room.

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Chapter Nineteen:

Christian O'Clare stood in his kitchen looking out the window. He had just finished washing the dishes and was reminiscing about the time he had spent with Eva. He looked over in the corner and could almost see her standing there, smiling at him, offering to help him put the dishes away. He would shake his head no and with a flick of his wand they would all jump into their spot in the cupboard or drawer. He missed her so much. He sat down at the kitchen table and wiped the tears from his eyes. She had said that she was going to help Sanura teach her defense classes at Hogwarts. Part of him wanted to drop everything that he was doing and go back to Hogwarts, go to his old home in Hogsmeade. His thoughts were interrupted when a snowy white owl came swooping into his window dropping a small envelope. He was about to read the letter when there was a knock on the door. Shaking his head and placing the letter on top of his refrigerator he answered the door.

"Can I help you?" he said to the strange man standing before him. He was a tall man with long blonde hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. He wore black sunglasses and an all black wardrobe. He had a small black bag in his hand.

"Are you Christian O'Clare?" the stranger inquired.

"Why yes I am, who are you?" Christian asked.

"Oh god I'm so glad I found you!" the stranger said a look of concern crossing his face. "My name is Andrew Hunter. I've been assigned to find and protect Eva Tsirra, she's in danger."

Christian took a deep breath and ushered the man inside. "Danger? What do you mean?"

"Let me explain. No wait, there's no time, let me sum up. Eva was a sort of spy for a slayer by the name of Sanura. One of the other slayers found out and wants to hurt her. I've been assigned to find and protect her."

Christian gasped. Eva was in danger? Is that why she ran off to Hogwarts without even so much as a good bye? Why had she not told him? Why had she not let him protect her? Dozens of questions raced through his mind. Although this man had a good explanation for wanting to find Eva one thing still bothered Christian. Sanura knew where Eva was, why was some strange man being sent to find her. Something just didn't feel right. He looked at Hunter and noticed the strange mark on the side of his sunglasses, which he had neglected to remove.

Sanura's the same way. She never takes her purple sunglasses off and they have that same mark. He's a slayer. Eva's really in danger. Dismissing the feeling in the pit of his stomach he told Hunter that Eva had gone to Hogwarts with Sanura.

"Thank you Christian," Hunter said shaking his head. "You have no idea what you've done for her,"

"Promise me you'll do everything you can to be sure nothing happens to her," Christian pleaded.

"I'll do everything I can," Hunter said a solemn expression on his face. He left without another word. As soon as Christian shut the door behind him he laughed gleefully. "I'll do everything I can to be sure she dies," he said to himself.

Christian shut the door and went back into his kitchen. Taking the letter off of the refrigerator he recognized Eva's handwriting and opened it up. He smiled when he read the news of her visit. He wished he had read the letter sooner then he could have told Andrew Hunter that Eva would be home in a few days. Humming and thinking he had done something right Christian made himself a cup of tea and went to bed smiling.

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