"I'm not going." I snapped back.

Severus sighed deeply, grabbing my arm gently. "We need to talk, Ava."

"I really don't want to talk. I don't want anything else to do with you." I seethed.

His jaw clenched and I could tell he was becoming irritated by my defiance. "I am not interested in what you want right now. I cannot talk about this with you out in the open. We must be alone."

Severus led me down a corridor and to a remote wall. He spoke an incantation in a whisper and the wall began to move.

He clutched my hand and pulled me inside, whispering another incantation and closing the small room back off to the corridor outside.

Severus released my hand and went to sit at the table in the middle of the room.

"Please sit, Ava."

I glowered at him but sat across from him. The walls were littered with bottles and containers of all sizes and shapes. "What is this place?"

Severus looked at me intently, taking in a deep breath. "It is an extra storeroom." He sighed. "But this is not what I wish to speak with you about. Ava, I love you..." A long pause followed. "However, I do not know how to continue this relationship without the Headmaster discovering us."

"I don't know what to do, either. I guess you'll just have to sneak me around."

Severus breathed out a impatient sigh. "I do not desire to go against the Headmaster, Ava. He knows these secret passages just as I do." The dark wizard rose and turned away from me. "Unless you stayed in my quarters..."

"Are you feeling better, Severus?" I asked quietly.

"Hmmm?" The Potions Master turned back to me, an eyebrow raised.

"You said you had bronchitis." I replied. "The Gryffindors laughed at you."

Severus sighed. "Yes, I am much better. Thank you for asking."

I tried not to smirk.

He moved across the room toward me, until our faces were inches apart. "I take it you no longer hate me if you are concerned about me again?"

"I don't know...I don't know how you feel about me, sir." I countered.

I could feel his hot breath on me as he sighed against my neck. The breath rushed from his lungs as Severus whispered in my ear.

"Oh, but you do..." He purred, trailing kisses down from my ear to my neck.

"Ava...I love you."

His eyes were so intense I looked at anything else in the room.

"You do?"

Severus pulled me to him in a furious kiss.

I broke the kiss, leaving him gasping.

"Do you believe me now, Ava?" He asked, breathless. Severus took a deep breath and sighed it from his lungs.

"Yes..." I agreed.

"And...do you love me in return?" Severus cupped my face.

"You know I do." I smiled.

This earned me a smirk from the Potions Master.

He kissed me quickly before taking a deep breath. "I am certain it is nearly time for your detention with me, Miss Taylor."

"Ooooohhhh..." I jeered. "I've been a naughty pupil. You should punish me tonight, sir."

Something like lust clouded his eyes and Severus let a shaky breath exit his lungs. "We shall see this evening."

I gave him a disappointed look and he sighed. "Very well. Be in my classroom no later than immediately after dinner."

Severus straightened up and allowed a heavy sigh to pass from his lungs. He whispered the incantation and the walls opened from the outside corridor again.

Severus pressed his lips to mine again before letting me go. "Remember...no later than dinner. If you receive any trouble from your classes, tell them to speak with me."

I nodded as he released me.

Severus looked as if it would cause him pain to see me leave.

I quickly turned and ran down the corridors to DADA class.

Severus walked out of the room and into the corridor. Sighing deeply, he whispered the incantation and the walls concealed the room.