A/N: * denotes thought; denotes song lyric

"Password?" demanded the Fat Lady.

"Er. . . whomping willow."

"Very well," the Fat Lady smiled and swung open.

The boy entered the portrait hole quickly as Snape followed close behind. Hey, Potter wasn't the only one at Hogwarts who owned an invisibility cloak. Snape carefully followed the boy into the Gryffindor Common Room. He forced himself to suppress a growl. Everything was colored in rich earthy tones. Two girls were sitting on a deep burgundy leather sofa, giggling amongst themselves. *What could they possibly find funny at a time like this?* He took a mental note of the rich colors. *Do they mock this grim time? Everything should be black!*

He rolled his eyes at the thought as he began approaching the stairs up to the rooms. He began ascending the stairs when a thought came to him. *I wonder what a Gryffindor prefect room even looks like.* No sooner had he finished the thought than he came upon a door of a strong crimson hue. His heart skipped a beat as he reached for the knob. I see a red door and I want to paint it black

*Locked!* He immediately reached for his wand. "Alohamora," he whispered and slowly entered the room.

He could have gasped at what he beheld. Her room was a beautiful lavender with touches of pink, yellow, and green found in trinkets and pictures. Closing and locking the door behind him, he drew off his invisibility cloak. This wasn't such a good idea, he learned, however late. A ginger cat lay upon her bed, patiently awaiting its master's return. It stirred as Snape crossed the room; and, when it saw him, it began to hiss and growl. Snape reached into his robe and pulled out a smelly sardine that he'd carefully injected with sleeping potion. Glad to finally be rid of it, he tossed it at the cat who accepted the offering eagerly.

Snape crept over to her bed. He scooped the cat up and placed it on the floor. He then obliged himself to a seat on the bed. There, on here nightstand, was a beautiful picture of her dressed as a fairy draped in pink. The very gown she'd worn as a Halloween costume her first year. *Stupid muggle traditions.* He almost smiled to himself but thought better of it. *These colors, so bright and cheerful, hurt too much.* No colors anymore, I want them to turn black.

He set the picture back down and came across her prefect's badge.

----FLASHBACK----

Snape walked outside and sat down on the bench beside her.

"Lovely day, isn't it?" He said.

She stared at him curiously for a moment and then giggled a bit. "It's dreadful cold, Severus, and this is the first that the rain has let up all day."

"Oh," he knew she'd never understand his strange taste in weather. Still, it was peculiarly cold for an early summer day. "I rather like the rain, actually."

"Yeah, I guess if you really think about it, the rain cleanses everything."

He sighed; this was so difficult. "I haven't seen your prefect's badge yet. Could I have a closer look?" He'd never bothered to notice anyone's prefect badge. He was stalling.

"Yeah, sure," she unpinned it from her robes and handed it to him.

Snape examined it: it was maroon and there were gold stitchings of a lion and the words "Gryffindor Prefect." Snape smiled to himself. It was simple, yet beautiful and delicate, much like her own unique nature.

"I love you," he finally said, returning the badge.

"Severus--"

He held up his hand in protest. "Please, you don't have to like it. I only wanted to tell you in case something happened and it couldn't be said later."

"Severus, what do you mean? What's going on?"

He shrugged, but he knew exactly what was going on. "You can't hide forever, Severus," Voldemort had said. "I know exactly what you've been doing, and you're going to pay. Your whole world will be painted black."

"Let me just hold you now and not worry about later," *because I'll be dead soon.* He finally said as took her hands in his, knowing that more affection would be too much. "Don't worry, if Potter finds us, I'll tell him that I am simply helping you with a hand-warming spell."

She smiled shyly to herself.

Snape snapped back to the present when he heard noises outside the door. Quickly pulling the cloak back on, he headed towards the door. He opened it cautiously and looked out. There were two girls walking by. Snape had to bite his tongue when he noticed that one girl wore a sundress similar to the fairy ensemble in the photograph. He forced himself to stare at the floor. I see the girls walk by, dressed in their summer clothes. I have to turn my head until my darkness goes.

After they passed, Snape let himself out and left Gryffindor House the same way he came. *If only I could have her with me now. I'd hold her in my arms and make passionate love to her just to show Potter that he didn't own her.* He returned to his room in the dungeons where he spent a sleepless night dreading the day before him.