Discipline
It was chilly outside; she rubbed her hands together and put them back into the pockets of her jumper. Snape was late and it irked her terribly. The sky was cloudy again, threatening to wreck their day in Hogsmeade. She rested her back against one of the pillars of the doorframe, hoping it wouldn't be too long a wait.
She heard footsteps and turned to see Snape marching down the aisle-way. Something leaped inside her.
"Let's go," he said, not stopping to greet her.
They walked in silence, his long strides hard for her to keep up with. She tripped once along the way, but recovered quickly, jogging so as not to lose the pace. When they reached the town, he went straight into the first shop, allowing her to catch her breath in the doorway.
He gave her a funny side glance, and she felt herself lose it.
"What is your problem?" she yelped at him.
He frowned, concerned that a student would talk back under any circumstance. She tapped her foot and kept her hands to her waist, waiting for a proper response. She knew she had gone too far, but it was beyond that now; it was personal.
"Miss Granger, we will discuss this outside," he said sternly, though not angrily.
She huffed and stormed out the door of the shop to a bench just across the street. She sat, folding her arms, waiting for the reprimanding to begin. He crossed the street a moment later, and sat beside her, crossing his own arms.
"Never do that again," he said.
"Sorry," she said, feeling her guard break. "It's just that…"
"No excuses," he interrupted. "What you say to me in private and what you say in public are two different things. Don't confuse them."
"Sir?"
"Hum."
"Are we alone enough?"
"For what?"
"I think I'm falling in love with you."
He sighed.
"I feared that," he said.
"Why?"
"Because it's harder to say no when its reciprocated."
"You mean?"
"Yes."
She almost burst with excitement. He loved her. She had proven to him that she was an equal and he had invested his feelings in her.
"Snape?"
"Hum?"
"I realise I'm still your student, and it is wrong of me to ask, but…what if I want more? What if…I've been waiting for this moment, and now…?"
He turned to face her.
"I'm still here."
Chills ran up her spine then. She knew exactly what he meant.
They finished their tasks in Hogsmeade and took the trail back up to school, his hand occasionally brushing past hers in an obscure fashion. They busied themselves with shelving the new items, a sense of urgency in the air, as if they could not finish in time.
As the last item was in place, she turned to Snape, who was staring at her so intently that she felt he didn't see her at all. Her breathing shallowed.
He smiled, pulling her in for a kiss. It was intense, skilled, beautiful. She had never been kissed before, but the feeling was old, like she had felt it many times before.
