"Compulsion: The eloquence of power"
- Ambrose Bierrce
Being a Death Eater and a Potions Master at the age of somewhat tender age of 19 required a mammoth amount of time management. It was difficult enough to tend to experimental potions which required four fifths of a stir every second hour on the thirteenth day of the month, without introducing the weekly Muggle raids, bi-weekly Muggle torture sessions and random don't-forget-I-own-you -so-don't-get-cocky Cruciatus curses from the Dark Lord.
And so, Severus Snape kept a tight schedule.
Even now, quietly gliding through the dark forest in his borrowed broom, he was busy re-examining (for the forty-fifth time) the next steps to the potion he was currently working on. Theoretically, the Pamuy flower would be able to subdue the toxicity introduced by the aconite but he didn't have a lot of room for error, the Dark Lord was getting impatient and would soon -
"SEV!" screamed the dark blur hurtling past him, zooming through the trees at breakneck speed.
Sighing deeply, he sped up, truly wondered why he had decided to bring her along to his sacred ingredient gathering ritual.
"Sev, if you want to reach that godforsaken flower by midnight, we will have to travel at speeds faster than what Grandpa Snape is comfortable with", Bellatrix said, when he finally managed to catch up to her decelerating broomstick.
"Bella, the objective is to reach the flower with all appendages attached. I understand that your father's missing finger was the fashionable look of 1971, however, I refuse to amputate myself to satisfy your daddy issues", he shot back instigating a throaty chuckle from her.
Severus continued ahead, schooling his face into what he hoped was a severe expression, refusing to acknowledge the tiny thread of self-satisfied pleasure growing to life with the sound of her laugh.
After a few more companionable silences -during which Severus was definitely not obsessing over Bella's laugh- the trees parted into a familiar clearing.
"Oh", Bella gasped, drinking in the sight around them, "look at the purple" - Plum, not purple, he corrected mentally - "flowers"
But even he couldn't deny the magnificence of the view, the tall trees surrounding the clearing seemed to touch the very tips of the starry sky, the plants glittering with dew from the rainfall earlier. However, the centrepiece were the plum-coloured glowing flowers floating on the surface of the small pond in the centre – the Pamuy flowers.
He rushed towards the flowers and with practised ease gathered a petal, storing it in a vial. He had barely managed to put the petal away safely before a squealing Bella rushed past him jumping into the flowery pond.
"BELLA!", he scolded, "What if the flowers were poisonous?". And then he looked at her, truly looked at her. Her wild curls dripped with water, her dark eyes danced with mischief, droplets of water dripped down her face disappearing into her soaked dress which clung to every delectable curve. And that smile, that Bella-smile, the smile that beckoned you closer, giving you a small taste of the chaos of that lay within.
"Severus", she whispered and he couldn't resist anymore. Months of control, months of madness slipped away as he threw himself into the water, after her.
They met in the middle. The kiss was violent and wild and uncontrollable and Severus had truly never tasted anything more magnificent.
"I'm going to have to kill Rodolphus", she whispered into his ear afterwards, as they held each other, sated, surrounded by their ripped clothing.
A/N: This is my first fanfic, so I'd love some reviews/comments/constructive criticism!