The Potion Master's Apprentice

Chapter 11

"Tell me everything you know so far."

An hour later, Harry was hastily jotting down notes while Hermione started reeling off important information.

"Vampires are crazy territorial Harry, more so than werewolves or veela. And you know how Remus and Fleur get when they feel threatened. The potions that they can take are incredibly helpful. One of them transformers animal blood into human blood by tweaking the biology of it just a bit. It allows them to maintain their full strength without having to kill people or take donors. They can still have donors though, but that's all regulated through the ministry to make sure everyone is a willing participant. And it lets them walk in the sun as long as they use a sunscreen spell. Another one helps them regain control; from what I understand, it mimics the effect blood has on a vampire for a very short amount of time which allows them to flee a stressful situation or regain control if they need a moment. It's fascinating, but I'm sure you could learn more about those from the man himself since you're his apprentice.

"They don't really need sleep-it's more of a meditative state that they use for a few hours to rest and process everything they've done in the day. They can sleep though, if they're injured or if they take sleeping aide potions. There's a myth that they can sleep when they're with their mate and relaxed enough but that's purely speculation. They're said to be incredibly beautiful creatures, practically irresistible without any glamours." Harry snorted at this.

"You got that right."

"You've seen him without any glamours?" Harry nodded and she took a moment to process that before moving on. No doubt she would ask about it at some point.

"Their mating habits are...well, they're rather secretive about that so not much is known. And what little we think we know may just be speculation. For the record, I'd like to know for sure once it happens Harry! Don't think you'll worm your way out of this!"

Harry held up his hands in mock surrender. "Okay, okay! I promise I won't get in the way of your search for knowledge, even if it means you'll have intimate information on your best friend that you might rather not know." She laughed at him and continued.

"What's been widely accepted as fact, although it might be nothing more than a rumour, is that vampires mark their mates. It's believed to be sort of a warning system for other vampires, so they know to stay away from what's theirs. Judging by all the rumours, it's likely that they bite their mate over their external jugular vein and somehow it leaves a scar."

"Hold on! Wouldn't that kill you?"

"No Harry, you're thinking of the internal jugular vein. The external one is on your right side of your neck and is much smaller than the internal one on your left. It'll still cause significant damage if left untreated for long, but it won't cause nearly as much damage as the internal one."

"I'll be honest, that's sort of terrifying." She eyed him shrewdly.

"It's a known fact that vampires secrete venom that they can choose to release and that they have a healing agent in their saliva. Even if he released any venom, his spit would heal you almost instantly. Do you happen to remember what it was like, being around him without his glamours?" Harry's mind immediately thought of the moments when Severus held his fangs over his neck and shivered.

"And just like that, it's not such a terrifying concept." They talked for another hour about her job in muggle relations and Ron's fascination with muggle sports before Harry stood and took his leave to return to Hogwarts.

The students were in full swing outside, studying in large groups or lazing about in the sun on the grounds. Harry smiled as he recalled his time as a student not so long ago as he strode to the dungeons.