The Muggleborn Vampire: A Dramione Story

Chapter 10: The Fate of Mates

After Severus left for his morning classes, Hermione emerged from her bedroom and decided to descend upon the living room bookshelves. Their earlier conversation had really helped her see her predicament in a whole new way. Yes, being a vampire sucks,no pun intended, but it wasn't the first lifestyle change she'd had in her life. When she first learned that she was a witch, did she let it overwhelm her? Of course not! She had used her love of education to learn more about her new situation and she was now a better witch because of it. Now that she was a vampire, it made sense to her to handle the situation the same way: by raiding Snape's library.

As she scanned the first shelf of books, she was momentarily surprised to find as many books about vampirism and creature inheritances than those about potions. 'That makes sense, I suppose,' she thought as she picked up a rather large tome, 'he's been a vampire longer then he's been a potions master. It's not far fetched that a scholar like him would research his condition as much as I am. I'm starting to believe that he is my father more and more.'

Hermione read through Severus's book collection well through the day, pausing only at lunch when he stopped by to check on her and to provide her with a couple glasses of blood. Sitting back on the couch, facing the coffee table covered in parchment and texts, Hermione closed and sat aside The Death and Life of Dracula and skimmed over her latest full page of notes.

She was quite impressed by the knowledge she now possessed about her condition. The nuggets of information she had already learned from Snape - the fact that vampires really do burn in the sun, that the myth about turning into bats was indeed just that, and the like - she was able to confirm. She had also came accross a book that she found particularly interesting; a book concerning mates.

Snape had already told her that all vampires had a predestined mate that would fulfill their heart's desire, someone who they would truly be happy with. But something he hadn't mentioned, and something she had learned today, was that if a vampire's mate isn't another creature, and was in fact a mortal, the vampire could share their immortal life force with them by biting them and feeding on them daily. The mortal's vampire mate's saliva holds just enough genetic code to preserve their body and to stop cell death. This would allow the mate to stay healthy and living in order to be a lifetime companion for the vampire without having to change them into a vampire themselves. 

Many vampires prefer this option rather then risking their mates to undergo the process of becoming a vampire themselves. For when one is changed into a vampire the traditional way, in which the mortal must drink the infected blood of a vampire after one drinks at least half of the mortals own blood, rather then becoming a vampire through a creature inheritance, there is a significant chance they will die before the vampire genes can take over and transform the human cells into immortal ones.

Hermione sighed and sat aside her notes. How cruel would it be to finally find one's mate only to discover they were mortal? And that the only way to save them from eventual death was to either bite them daily or to risk their life for the possibility of inflicting the same daily struggles that they face every day? She could only hope that her future mate was a magical creature like she was. If not, she would insist on the daily feedings instead of possibly killing them.

But even the daily feedings had a detrimental side effect on the mortal  if they didn't receive the required dose of vampire saliva every day. The mortal body becomes essentially addicted to the genes found in the saliva, since the genetic code of vampire/human mates are very similar minus the code for immortality. The mortal's system esentually becomes lazy and stops regenerating its own cells and become dependant on the vampire genes to regenerate new tissues, thus giving the body the sense of immortality. If the body misses a dose of the immortality gene, the body starts to deteriate quickly
since it can no longer create new cells on its own. Thus, it is essential for the vampire to bite it's mate to maintain the other's life and to avoid shutting down their love one's vital organs, which will quickly lead to death.

"So, if my mate ends up being a mortal," Hermione mumbled, "I will either only be able to be with them until the end of their natural life, infect them daily with my saliva to keep them immortal as long as we don't forget a feeding, or risk their life through a traditional vampire turning. Oh, I so hope my mate's a creature. It would make life so much easier."

Hermione was pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of the front door opening. She watched with a smile as a certian black-clad professor entered the living room with a frustrated sigh and began pulling off his teaching robes in disgust.

"Hey Severus, how were afternoon classes?"

He grunted as he drapped the robes over his desk chair and bent down to untie one of his boots. "I really wonder why I put up with these dunderheaded children sometimes."

"Because you want to change the world one child at a time?"

"Something like that."

She chuckled as she began cleaning up her coffee table work station. The rustling of parchment finally caught Snape's attention. "What have you been doing all day? Studying for your NEWTs?"

"No, I've been perusing your collection of vampire books. You sure do have a lot."

"Indeed, I dislike the feeling of inadequacy when it come to a subject that hits so close to home."

"I can agree with that." She nodded and began restocking the bookshelves. "I learned a lot about mates and what's to be done if one's mate is a mortal."

"Ah yes, I would hate to be the poor fool who has to decide the fate of one's companion based on the options available."

"Agreed, I just hope my mate is a magical creature."

"Indeed. For both of us."

Hermione turned to him. "You haven't found your mate yet?"

"No. And I loathe the possibility that I won't find them. It's been twenty years..."

Snape had paused in his musings and stood beside the bookshelf in one boot while the other hung limply in his hand. Hermione was surprised to see a shimmer of sadness in his unfocused eyes. Setting aside the book in her hands, she crossed over to him and gently took the boot from his clutches and placed it on the floor before placing a hand on his arm. "Hey, it's alright. You'll find them someday. You just need to have faith."

Clearing his throat, he snapped himself from his thoughts and pulled away from Hermione so that he could walk over and sit on the couch to remove his other boot. "Finish cleaning up this mess so that we can start your training." He said sharply before looking up to see the startled expression of his daughter from his sudden change in his mood. "That is, if you're done studying for today."

"Uh, yes, of course."

"Good. We will start in ten minutes."