SECOND CHANCES

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters or anything associated with Harry Potter. This is not for profit, just for fun. The plot line is mine, but of course merely a humble subplot to JK Rowling's wonderful work.

By all logic, Sasha should have been having a marvelous time at the Yule Ball. She was in her fourth year and lucky enough to be on the arm of Igor Karkaroff, a student from visiting school, Durmstrang. Igor was tall, ruggedly handsome for such a young age, popular with the girls, and also quite smitten with her. Igor, though quite charming was not her first choice. That honor belonged to a stringy stand-offish lad named Severus Snape, but despite her ability to charm quite a few young men, he remained indifferent. Since the night they were sorted she had developed a painful crush on her lanky classmate. They were only eleven years old that night, but she was already mesmerized by his arrogant air and brooding demeanor. By the end of the term, her feelings developed into a painful crush and when they returned the following year, she was sure it was love.

Igor had pestered her for weeks but she had put him off hoping against hope for an invitation from Severus. She reluctantly accepted the date with Igor only after she found out that Severus was taking her fellow Gryffindor housemate, Lily Evans to the ball. Try though she might to attract his attention, Severus barely noticed Sasha. She, however, noticed everything about him including how much he cared for Lily and how clueless he was that she only felt friendship for him. Adolescence was nothing if not cruel. When Lily accepted his embarrassingly awkward invitation, he was ecstatic and immediately began fretting about saying, doing, and wearing the right thing on their date. Sadly his joy was short lived and his planning unnecessary as she backed out of their date just a week before the ball.

Tonight Lily was here with James Potter and appeared to be having the time of her life. Sasha looked all around the beautifully decorated great hall for Severus but he was nowhere to be seen. Knowing how he must feel tonight, her mind wasn't on the ball, much less the dashing Mr. Karkaroff. She stared coldly at Lily fawning over James, laughing at his jokes which were presumably the tired old material to which he subjected his quidditch teammates. James' chest puffed up under her attention and he seemed to strut around the hall like a banty rooster. Sasha was becoming thoroughly disgusted with their behavior, as it was obvious that neither of them was remotely concerned with how Severus had been severely wronged in all of this. He must be gutted. Better that he wasn't here to see them together for it would only add an insult to his injury.

Igor remained blissfully unaware of his date's concern. He and his cronies managed to stash a few flasks under their dress robes and had already downed several shots of some vile liquor before the dance started. They toasted each time, mainly to their own accomplishments and became so involved in this activity that they all arrived late to the ball, missing the first dance entirely. When he finally pulled Sasha onto the dance floor he was quite intoxicated and all hands and lips. When Sasha accepted his invitation, she vowed to focus on him for the evening and try to forget Severus. Igor was after all charismatic, fun and a bit of a rebel like Sasha. She also loved his Russian accent which could have quite a heady effect when he flirted outrageously with her. It made him seem exotic. But at the moment, she just wanted to get away from him. He kept touching her where he shouldn't and pulling her body too close against his own. When they were standing with some of his classmates, she deftly planted the seeds of an argument over a recent and controversial quidditch match and then sneaked away from him once he got involved in the debate.

She escaped via the little known back staircase that led to the balcony overlooking the great hall. From the proper angle there hidden behind heavy drapes, she could look down on the ball and get a break from Igor. When she reached the balcony she saw a tall dark figure that apparently had the same idea. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know there was anyone here." She nearly turned to leave before recognizing the figure. "Severus, is that you?" It was indeed, and Sasha thought he looked beautiful. She heard him sniff and saw him quickly rub one eye. "Leave me alone Sasha," he said with a crack in his voice.

Severus Snape was a stoic young man and rarely expressed his emotions. If she acknowledged what she observed, he would certainly shut her out so she tried to sound nonchalant. "Oh relax." She shrugged and turned away from him. "I'll leave you alone soon enough. I just need 15 minutes away from Igor."

"He appears to be quite randy tonight," Severus observed, relieved for the subject to be something other than what he was doing there.

"Yes! Did you see him? It's quite ungentlemanly," Sasha huffed while secretly being glad that he had taken note of her predicament. "How long have you been up here anyway?"

"All night," he responded mechanically.

She didn't ask why. She knew why and it wasn't something she wanted to hear about nor something he would want to discuss. "You know I've always dreamed of this Ball. I thought we would do that beautiful opening dance and I would be here with someone I adored." She watched Igor, still arguing with his friends. He was drunk enough that his gestures were more flamboyant than usual. "You know, we didn't even make it to the first dance. All that practice for nothing."

"You missed the first dance?" Severus' attempt to feign interest in the conversation was not convincing.

"Igor was still drinking stolen cognac in the hall with his buddies." She shrugged. "Isn't that charming?"

"I thought you two got on well. I take it he wasn't your first choice then?"

"No," she replied dismissively.

"Who was your first choice?"

She met his eyes and scanned them for some hint of understanding, but it was obvious he knew nothing of her true feelings. He was merely digging for information. Slytherins were notoriously nosey. With the worry of her crush being discovered alleviated, she decided to tease him a bit. Her smile was smug as she answered him. "I don't think I'm going to tell you that."

"No?" He arched his eyebrows, appearing at least marginally intrigued.

"Absolutely not." She shook her head furiously and giggled. It was a trite move but being so young she didn't realize it. Fortunately, he didn't either and continued his line of questioning.

"Sirus?"

"Merlin's Beard! He's my cousin. That's disgusting."

"James?" He drawled the name out with obvious distaste.

"Not at all." She grimaced while shaking her head. "I'm not telling. You would laugh at me."

"I wouldn't laugh at you for caring about someone." He stared back down at the crowd.

She felt a warmth in her heart hearing him express something so honest and uncharacteristic of boys his age. "That's nice to say, but I'm still not telling. He's so far out of my league it's ridiculous."

"Out of Sasha Malfoy's league? He must be a force to be reckoned with."

"He is." She blushed under his compliment finding it was sweet how clueless he was; a rare moment for him as he always seemed to have all the answers.

The formal band started the last waltz before the rock band was to take the stage. He held out his hand and said, "I'm afraid I'm a poor substitute for this force of a man you have hopes for, but may I have this dance?"

She stared at his hand for a moment, surprised at the invitation. Then she smiled politely at him and tried to look like this was really no big deal. But it was. To her, it was a very big deal. "You may." She took his hand and he gracefully led her to a small open section of the balcony and began an elegant waltz. Obviously, he had been practicing to impress Lily, but she attempted to banish that thought and savor the moment between the two of them.

When the dance ended he was holding her close, too close for two people who were supposed to be just friends. So close that she knew he was imagining that she was Lily and she gulped nervously when she looked in his eyes. Abruptly, he took two steps back looking stricken with some unknown pain.

"Thank you, Severus," she whispered softly. "That was lovely." He nodded, turned without a word and left her standing alone and quite bewildered. Unsure of what this could mean, if it even meant anything, she searched for and found the nearest chair under a dust cover and sat down feeling hopeless. When she was sure he was a safe distance away, the tears began silently streaming down her cheeks. Normally she was not a girl who cried but tonight was nearly unbearable; she had to let some emotion out. After a few moments, she peered down at the crowd and saw Igor looking for her. It was rude to leave him and knowing she couldn't avoid the situation for long, she took several deep breaths and used the inside hem of her skirt to wipe her eyes. Then she composed herself and dutifully returned to her date.