Welcome to Slayer's Way

Chapter Thirty:

Severus decided to try to work things with Sanura out but try as he might he could not get used to her. She never drank blood in front of him, she drank the same serum that Eva and Christian did and she didn't feel as cold as she did the first time he touched her but he still could not grasp the fact that she was dead. He started pulling away from her and he knew that she noticed. The school year came to an end and as promised Draco failed Defense Against the Dark Arts. As the summer began Severus felt himself wanting more and more to make Sanura mortal again. He realized that he could not find what he needed sitting at Hogwarts so he arranged to travel and search. Dumbledore wished him good luck, now all he had to do was tell Sanura. He waited for a few days and finally one night, he decided that they should talk. He entered his quarters to find Sanura sitting in front of the fireplace. She did not move to greet him and he realized that she knew.

"Sanura," he began. "I'm going to be going away for a while," he said.

"You mean you are running away from me," she said quietly. "You don't kiss me anymore and who can blame you, I am dead. You are afraid to touch me and I noticed that you don't fall asleep until I do, as if you are afraid of me."

"I am not afraid of you," Severus whispered.

"Then what is it?"

"I just need to think that's all,"

"You mean you need to come up with an excuse,"

"No." Severus said a little too quickly. "I love you, I do, it's just..."

"It's just you can't handle this...situation."

"Sanura, I love you with all my heart and soul and this is so hard for me to do,"

Sanura stood and walked over to Severus. She slid the snake ring from her finger and placed it in the palm of his hand. "Good bye Severus Snape." She said quietly, tears running down her cheeks. She walked out of his quarters and back to her own. She sat on the balcony and looked out into the night. A few moments later she saw Severus flying through the air, a bag slung over one shoulder. Realizing that he was gone, life seemed to become hazy. She had no concept of time. For days she neither slept nor ate. She was vaguely aware that Eva had come to see her but she felt trapped inside her own body. She wanted desperately to respond to Eva but she could not. She did not move from her spot on the balcony until one rainy July day. She went into her bedchamber and took a long, hot shower. She changed into a long and flowing hunter green dress that had silver snakes embroidered on it. She did her hair and make up as if she were going out and then she lay in bed. Closing her eyes she fell into a deep sleep.

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Eva looked outside to find that it was raining. She wondered if Sanura was still sitting on her balcony. Severus had packed his things and left Hogwarts and Sanura had fallen into a depression. Eva vowed that if she ever saw Severus again and he didn't have a very good reason for leaving the way he did she would bite him. He wasn't even writing to her. Eva looked over at Christian who was reading a book. He had finally adjusted to the vampire life and Eva was pleased.

"I'm going to Sanura's, would you come with me?" she asked Christian.

"Sure thing," Christian said closing the book and jumping from his seat. They walked to Sanura's quarters. When they entered they found all the candles in her living room had been extinguished and all the candles in her bedchamber had been lit.

"She moved!" Eva said happily but when she saw Sanura she cringed. "Oh no," she whispered.

"What?" Christian said. He looked to Sanura. She was elegantly dressed and lay on the bed asleep and unmoving. "She's sleeping,"

"She's not just sleeping," Eva said rushing to her side. She seemed to have stopped breathing and there was no color anywhere in her face. "Vampires, when they get depressed...or if they just want to escape, put themselves in a coma type state...you can't wake them from it. They sleep as deep as death," Eva said solemnly. "Looks like losing Severus was too much for her and she doesn't want to live but she can't die."

"We should tell someone," Christian said.

"I'll go to Dumbledore," Eva said gravely. Christian decided to stay with Sanura in the hopes that she may wake up.

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Dumbledore sat in his office and sighed deeply. Severus had been gone for almost two months and Sanura had not moved from her balcony. He wondered if she would recover before the start of the school year. If she did not Eva would take up Defense Against the Dark Arts. He shook his head again. He had interviewed three candidates to fulfill Severus' spot until he returned but none of them had been as qualified as he wanted them to be. A knock on the door made him push his thoughts to the back of his mind.

"Come in," he said. Eva entered and sat down.

"Good news I hope," Dumbledore said. Eva shook her head.

"No, bad actually. Sanura's put herself in a vampire sleep. I guess that she couldn't handle all this, so she's decided to sleep for a long time,"

"How long will this last?"

"Only she knows. Could be a week, could be a month, could be a year or..." Eva stopped. "Could be until Severus comes back and tells her that he still loves her,"

"In other words she may never come back to us," Eva only nodded. "Would you be willing to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts this term? If Sanura comes out of her sleep then she can take over but until then," Dumbledore said gravely.

"Yes I'll do it...she would want me to."

"Very well,"

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Six Months Later:

Severus sat back in his seat and closed his eyes. It was hard for him to grasp the fact that he had been gone for six months. He had gone to every country he could think of looking for a cure for vampirism. His last stop was Egypt. If he found nothing here he would return to Hogwarts and admit defeat. His eyes hurt terribly because he had been studying ancient Egyptian parchments for hours now with still no new information. The only good that had managed to come of this trip so far is that he had managed to create a potion that made the hieroglyphics talk to him. They told him many stories and one particular hieroglyphic, one of the Goddess Bastet had told him how vampires had come to be. It told him that studying the old ways could cure it.

It amazed him that vampirism was created by an overzealous wizard. This wizard tried to create a charm and potion combination that would defeat death. The idea backfired terribly and he was hurt very badly. The story took a strange twist after that. The hieroglyphic told Severus that a cat unlike any cat anyone had ever seen went to the nearly dead wizard and bit him on the wrist. It is said that a few minutes later he was completely healed but had a thirst for blood. He found the cat and drank its blood, hence becoming the first vampire.

"This is hopeless, I'll never be able to reverse it," Severus said to himself. He left the parchment lie on the table and trudged off to bed. Staying in taverns and hotels along with all the work he was doing had taken its toll on him. His long dark hair was flecked with gray and his eyes were lifeless and dull. Closing his eyes he began to dream.

Sanura was sitting on his sofa with a kitten in her lap. This kitten was white but had a speck of black on its forehead. The kitten's eyes were not green like most cats; rather, they were red. Sanura was playing with the kitten and then she turned to Severus.

"Why do you feel the need to change me?"

"Because you're dead now,"

"If my heart is alive then I am not dead. I love you Severus,"

"And I you,"

"If you loved me, you'd accept me,"

The room began to fade until only Severus and the kitten remained. The kitten walked over to Severus and a cauldron appeared. The kitten bit its own paw. Severus watched the blood pour onto the ground and onto a plant that had appeared from nowhere. Severus recognized the plant as nightshade. A table appeared and on it was several items. The kitten's blood, the nightshade, holly berries, yew leaves, a nightingale's egg, cat's fur, and a single red rose. Beside the ingredients was an old piece of parchment with Egyptian heretics on it.

Severus sat straight up in bed and realized that he had dreamt the answer. Scurrying over to the table he found the exact piece of parchment that he was looking for. Without a word to anyone he ran to his lab.

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Chapter Thirty-One: Two Years Later

Eva sat back in her seat and looked at Christian. He was playing with their daughter, Isabella. They had adopted her a year and a half ago. Eva sighed deeply, and marveled at how Isabella reminded her of Sanura. Things had gone so terribly wrong and they were still not right. Sanura still had not awakened. Dumbledore decided that she would remain in her quarters. Eva went into her room every day to look in on her, to see if she had decided to rejoin the world. Severus had not yet returned either. There was word that he was in Egypt right now and that he had created a potion that made the hieroglyphics talk.

"Wonder why he's in Egypt," Eva said aloud. Christian looked up at her in confusion.

"What?"

"Nothing. I was just thinking aloud,"

"Oh." Christian said. He placed Isabella in a playpen and went over to Eva.

"You know, if Severus ever comes back I'd love to knock him out,"

"I know,"

"I've lost my best friend because of him," Eva said tears stinging her eyes.

"I know," was all Christian could say. All of the sudden their fireplace took on a strange green glow. Christian ran over to Isabella who had begun to cry and Eva was right behind him. After a moment Severus Snape appeared in front of the fireplace.

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Severus stepped out of the fireplace and looked at Eva. He could tell by the look on her face that she was not happy to see him.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded.

"I've come back," he said. "I've got,"

"You've got what?" Eva snapped. "Do you realize what your sudden need to travel has done to us? To Sanura?"

"Where is Sanura?"

"In her room," Eva said. She was about to continue when Severus dashed from the living room toward Sanura's quarters.

"Don't you think you should tell him about her?"

"I'll follow him but let him find her like that for himself," Eva said as she kissed her daughter on the cheek and headed to Sanura's quarters.

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Severus reached Sanura's quarters and knew something was not right. The candles in the living room had not been burnt in a long time and the bedchamber door was open. Not knowing what to expect he walked into her bedchamber and there she lay. She lay motionless on her bed, just as she had for the past year and a half. Severus gasped and rushed to her side.

"Oh god," he muttered tears stinging his eyes. "What have I done to you?"

"Now do you understand?" he heard Eva say from behind him. "After you left she stopped eating and sleeping. She didn't even move from her balcony until one day in July when it started to rain. She's been like that ever since. It's the sleeping death."

"No. Oh no." Severus sobbed. "I left to find a cure," he said.

"A cure?" Eva questioned.

"Yes, a cure. If you were turned into a vampire, I can cure it."

Eva gasped. "You went away to find a way to make her mortal again?"

"Yes and it looks like I'm too late," Severus began to sob. "Because she's dead...she's closed her mind." He pulled a small silver bottle from the confines of his robes and handed it to Eva. "The cure," he said.

"It works?"

"Yes."

"Oh god," Eva breathed.

"Here. You only require a small amount. If I were you, I would put some in a cup of tea. You should both be totally human again,"

"What about aging?"

"How old were you when you were turned?"

"Sixteen,"

"That's how old you'll look. The potion just gets rid of the fangs and the deadness...you'll still be immune to a lot of things...you'll age a lot slower, and you'll live a lot longer. Just now you'll have a beating heart."

"You know, I don't know whether to hug you or hit you right now," Eva said. "Thank you,"

"You're welcome."

"Severus," Eva said before leaving. "She slept because she loves you, maybe since you've come back so will she,"

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Sanura could hear voices around her. One voice, a male voice, sounded just like Severus. How she longed to hear his voice again, to see him, to hold him in her arms. She was unaware as to how long she had slept. She heard Eva talking and someone was crying. A lot of crying had taken place around Sanura, she did know that. She wanted to tell them that she was okay, that she just needed to rest because she was so tired but she didn't have the energy to open her eyes. Then she heard Severus start to speak to her and realized that it was time to wake up.

"Sanura," she heard him say. "It's Severus. I'm back. I know...I know I've been gone a very long time but not a moment went by that I didn't think of you. I know you're upset that I left you without telling you where I was going or what I was doing and I'm sorry. I just didn't want to disappoint you. Sanura I found a cure. You can be human again. Sanura I love you. I just couldn't stand to see that you were dead. You mean the world to me. If you wake up and you don't want to take this potion I'll understand and I'll still love you. Sanura I want to be with you regardless. I didn't realize that until I had created the potion. I then realized that you were still Sanura regardless as to whether or not you were dead or alive. Sanura please wake up," he paused then and she heard him rustling around. "I have something for you," he said. He took her cold and lifeless hand in his and placed the snake ring he had given her the first Christmas they had shared together back on her finger. The snake coiled around her left ring finger and he knew that she was meant for him. Much to his surprise the hand moved.

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Sanura felt Severus slide a ring onto her finger and realized that it was the snake ring she had given back to him before he left. He kept it. She thought to herself. She decided that she wanted to wake up. She wanted to look at him. Slowly she began to regain consciousness. What if he leaves before you wake up? She asked herself. She doubled her efforts to wake up now and moved her hand. Within a few minutes she was fully awake and felt better than she had in years.

"Sanura!" he said. He rose to his feet and wrapped his arms around her. She hugged him back.

"Hello Severus," she looked at him and wondered what could have made him change so much. His dark hair had streaks of gray in it and he looked as if he hadn't slept a full night in at least a year. "What happened to you?"

"I went to find a cure for vampirism. It took me about two years but I found one," having said this he produced a second silver bottle full of the potion.

"I see," she said.

"But you don't have to take it if you don't want to,"

"I know,"

"Sanura, I missed you. There wasn't a moment that went by that I didn't think about you,"

"How long has it been?"

"Two years," Severus said.

"I see. And you have not found someone to take my place?"

"No. I wasn't looking for a replacement. Sanura I want you."

"Oh."

Severus looked at Sanura. "I love you more now than I ever have. Dead or alive I want you to be mine,"

"You do?" she whispered. "Even if I don't drink that?" she said looking at the potion.

"Even if you don't drink it,"

Sanura looked deep into Severus' eyes and realized that he was telling the truth. She also realized that he had gone through all this trouble because of her. No, she had not asked him to but he had done it of his own free will. He knew that she did not want to be a vampire. Taking the bottle from his hand she pulled the cork and drank the potion.

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Chapter Thirty-Two:

Sanura opened her eyes and sat up in bed. Dreading that the previous night had been a dream she jumped from her bed and ran into her living room. Eva, Christian, Severus, and an adorable little girl sat there talking in hushed whispers. Before emerging into the room Sanura wondered if the potion had worked. Sliding noiselessly back into her bedchamber she walked over to her mirror and smiled. No fangs. She put her hand on her chest and realized that her heart was beating. Her eyes looked normal again. She had color in her face and hands. She was in fact alive. Turning she entered the living room. Eva and Christian looked at her and she realized that they too were mortal. Severus rushed over to Sanura and hugged her tightly.

"How do you feel?" he asked her.

"With my fingers?" she joked. He laughed and kissed her. She kissed him back not wanting the moment to end.

"Seriously, how do you feel?"

"Alive." Sanura said. She walked over to Eva and hugged her. She then looked to the small child that sat on Christian's lap. She realized that she had some catching up to do but she felt that she had her whole life to do it. Finally her life was back together again and for once she hadn't done it the Slayer's way.