Authors note: Ok so this is the longest chapter by far but i couldn't bring myself to break it up so in order to keep it together I tried to keep it as short. As a result I feel it may seem a bit summed up in some parts or not descriptive enough so I apologize for that. regardless I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and this chapter is rated NC-17.

It had been a week since his breakdown in the classroom and although, his relationship with Lily was unchanged Severus found that he had become more aware of his friend and her femininity, which now seemed to flow from her in waves that would wrap themselves around him, strangling him. Severus had long ago acknowledged his hidden love for Lily but the intimacy they had shared ignited a new element in his adoration for his best friend: Passion. He now found that he desired her more then anything; every breath that was close enough to warm his skin, every whiff of her flowery hair, every graze of her skin on his knotted his insides into a fiery fist, knocking his hearts rhythm off tune while sending a crimson fever to his face. He needed control. Passion however, was a fierce beast that would not allow itself to be tamed like Love had. Severus, unable to tame the beast deemed it best to keep his distance until he learned to master his emotions, learned to hide them behind his dark eyes. It was a Saturday morning and Severus took advantage of the fact that most students were still rising from sleep to enjoy the solitude of his thoughts on the lawn. He heard strangled curses coming from the lake and made his way over to find a familiar looking blonde girl at the edge of the water kicking the ground beneath her in frustration. She was unaware of his presence as she pointed her wand at a nearby log which would twitch, shrink, enlarge, or change color with every flick of her wand but would not do what she wanted, he reasoned from the look of annoyance that crossed her face with every unintended change. She flicked her wand and a red spark shot at the log which sent it flying towards her, violently shoving her into the water. Severus would have found the situation extremely amusing if it wasn't that he noticed that the girl did not come back up for air.

"Just great." He mumbled to himself angrily as he removed his shoes and robe to follow her into the water. When he pulled her out he noticed that she was unconscious but she coughed out water until her breathing steadied. He left her by the edge of the water and went to retrieve his shoes and robe. He put on his shoes and walked back to the unconscious girl lying at the edge of the water. He looked down at her and laughed quietly, her wet robes clung to her body and he couldn't help but notice her amazing body. She had large breast that rose and fell with her breathing and a thin waist which was further accented by her well rounded hips. Her pink lips parted and he could see the white mist of her breath in the cold morning air. He blushed heavily as he threw his robe over her before he lifted her into his arms all the while wondering what Lily would look like in the same situation.

He was late for breakfast and barely managed to scarf down some buttered toast. After he had dropped off the girl with Madame Pomfrey he had rushed down to the dungeons to shower and change, angry that he had forgotten his best robe with girl in the infirmary. After breakfast he sat with a book at the base of a tree and allowed the now present sun to wash over him. He heard familiar giggles and turned to see Lily walking in the opposite direction with some of her Gryffindor friends. He admired the way her red hair danced in the wind and smiled at her as she waved hello. When he could no longer see her in the distance he returned to his book and immersed himself in it for thirty minutes before he felt a body take a seat next to him. Lily must have come back he thought to himself as he finished the page he was reading before he looked over at the body next to him. He was surprised to find blue eyes intently staring at him instead of green, it was the girl from the lake. She smiled at him and held out a bag. He raised a dark eyebrow before he took the bag and found his forgotten robe neatly folded and washed inside. He put it to the side and returned to his book without a word. He leisurely finished the chapter yet, fully aware that the girl had not left his side. He slammed his book shut and put it down in annoyance.

"Is there anything else?" he asked.

"I wanted to thank you" she said undisturbed by his hostility.

"You've thanked me, you can go now" he said as he rolled his eyes. She smiled at him

"Are you always this hostile Severus?" she asked.

"How do you know my name?" She chuckled in response to his question.

"For one thing we're in the same house-"

"I thought you looked familiar" he interrupted. She rolled her eyes.

"For another I gave you a message from Dumbledore last week" Snape nodded in recognition. "And lastly your name was on your robe. Thanks for lending it to me by the way."

"I get it, it was a silly question" he said defensively. She smiled again and he remembered how enticing her pink lips had looked in the morning. He blinked and looked away.

"My name is Eden by the way" she said as she held out a hand for him to shake. He reluctantly did so and she looked down at his hands curiously. "Listen about this morning…do you think we could keep it to ourselves? Its kind of embarrassing." He laughed loudly at the memory as she pursed her lips.

"You did look like a bloody fool" he said "what were you trying to do anyway, working on homework or something?"

"As if I would have to work so hard for an assignment, no, sometimes I like to experiment with spells of my own but that particular one is giving me a hard time. If I manage to perfect it I'll show it to you." Severus nodded in agreement, he was aware of the frustration creating spells can bring.

"So that's why you where on your own so early in the morning?" he asked curiously.

"Yup, I needed to be alone although I'm lucky I wasn't" she said as she her light blue eyes met his dark ones. "So what were you doing out there?"

"Just thinking" he said lazily leaning back on the trunk of the tree in a slouch.

"You're a very pensive person" she said. Severus gave her a questioning look, "I like to observe people" she said flatly.

"And you have observed me?" he asked.

"Briefly, and I have concluded that you're a very strange person, you don't really like to socialize and even with your friends Avery and Mulciber, you seem separate."

"Well no one is forcing you to stay here" he snapped but she ignored his comment.

"Listen I consider myself an independent person and I don't like owing favors. You saved my life so that means I owe you a BIG favor and I intend to repay it."

"How do you plan to do that?" he asked lazily. She shrugged her shoulders.

xxx

The next day she sat next to him at dinner, ignoring a group of Slytherins who called her to the other side of the table. She only smiled at them and motioned towards Snape, Avery looked at her hungrily and tried to talk to her but she ignored him.

"What do you want?" Snape asked her, annoyed at his Avery's attempts to get the girls attention.

"Dinner" she said as she bit into her pasta.

"But why are you sitting here?"

"Because of your charming and warm personality" he wasn't amused by her answer "why can't I? besides I owe you a favor remember?"

"So what's your brilliant plan to follow me around the rest of my life?" he growled.

"Or until I repay the favor" she chided.

"Fuck off" he said. She narrowed her eyes at him in annoyance and said "no."

Xxxxx

After dinner Lily caught up to Severus who was walking towards the dungeons.

"Sev!" She called out to him. He turned and waited for her to reach him. Lily was surprised when the pretty blonde girl who was standing next to him turned as well. She looked at her and smiled; the blonde returned the smile but said nothing.

"Do you think you can help me with my homework tonight?" she asked.

"I can meet you in the Library in an hour" he said. The girl next to him interrupted

"Can I come?" she asked. Lily looked at her in surprise.

"Um… we are going to be working on homework and your not in our year" she replied.

"I know but I can work on my own thing" she said. Lily hesitated but Sev answered before she could.

"Alright" he said grudgingly. Although, he didn't like the idea of his new annoyance he liked the idea of making a fool of himself alone with Lily even less.

When Lily arrived at the Library she found the blonde sitting across the table from Sev. They both had their books out and the blonde had already made a significant dent in her workload.

"Hey she whispered" as she took her seat next to her best friend. She looked over at the girl in front of them who smiled at her and extended her arm.

"I'm Eden by the way" Lily took her hand.

"Lily" she mumbled.

Eden had finished her assignments before the other two but she chose to sit and observe them while she pretended to read her DADA book. She was certain that Snape would have been finished as well if it wasn't that he had to keep stopping to explain things to the redhead next to him. She observed how he would blush every time she came too close to him and smirked. Oh, its one of THOSE friendships she thought to herself. Still she couldn't help but be impressed by how intelligent he was and although he wasn't necessarily handsome he was certainly not ugly. His sharp features were attractive in a way and as she looked down at his rough hands she couldn't help but blush a little, he certainly had some very sexy features. She looked up so that she could observe the "couple" together. Although, they were clearly still in the just friends stage she could tell that Lily was defiantly responsive to Snape and she estimated that it was only a matter of time before they moved passed the friends stage. In a way they made an attractive couple, her bright cheeriness contrasted with his dark somberness and she softened him. Lily will be good for him she thought to herself as she packed her belongings and excused herself from the table, giving them some time alone.

Xxxxxxx

That Thursday Severus took a walk alone on the grounds contemplating his week. Eden had become a constant presence in his life, constantly following him around and although we still thought of her as a nuisance her presence meant that he was able to see Lily more without having to worry about being alone with her, at lest if Eden wouldn't suddenly disappear and leave them alone, as she sometimes did. All together though he had to admit that she wasn't that bad to have around, she was intelligent and opinionated, characteristics he admired in Lily, and he was beginning to see her as friend. He was suddenly jolted from his thoughts as he felt his body shoot up into the air. He heard the loud snickers behind him and cursed himself for not being more carful. It had been quiet lately and he had forgotten to be weary of Potter and his band of delinquents. He reached for his wand.

"Expelliarmus" and his wand was invisibly yanked from his hand and his body crashed head first into the ground before it was lifted up again. "Don't even think about it Snivillus" Potter cried as Peter went to retrieve Snape's wand from the ground.

"Put me down!" he roared, coating his voice with all the loathing he could master.

"Sure" Potter shrugged as Severus felt his body come crashing down into the ground again only to be lifted up once more. Blood flowed heavily from his now broken nose and his face began to swell from the impact. The boys roared in laughter and Peter skipped around Potter asking him to do it again. Potter obeyed and Severus felt a sharp pain take hold of his body as he once more crashed into the ground.

"Well look at that James! Who knew the Greasy gitt could bleed red like the rest of us? I was sure his blood would be green or a sickly yellow color to match the grease in his hair" Sirius called from the side lines as Potter made Severus's body turn slowly so that he could examine the color of his blood. Severus felt his lip tremble in anger.

"Yeah what do you know? But look at that I think he is about to cry" the boy's laughed at Severus's trembling lip and Sev made himself stop immediately. "Hey maybe he still bleeds red but his tears will defiantly be grease" James called over his shoulder to Sirius.

"You think so?" Sirius replied in mock curiosity.

"Only one way to find out" James grinned as he sent Severus crashing into the ground so savagely that Sev felt as if every bone in his body would break. He only saw black and could only hear their laughter echo around him but he fought to stay conscious, too stubborn to let them have that victory over him. Suddenly they went quiet and Severus struggled to regain his sight. When he did he saw Eden standing off to the side staring sternly at his attackers.

"What can I do for you?" Sirius asked as he looked at the pretty blond, he licked his lips as he looked her up and down and then gave her a sheepish grin. She ignored him and looked at Severus's bloody face. She said nothing as she pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket and kneeled beside Severus. "Honey we're not done with him yet" Sirius said as he moved to pull her away. She turned to them and spoke in a calm and static voice.

"I suggest you leave now because I called for professor McGonagall and she should be here soon" with that she calmly looked back at Severus and continued to gently wipe the blood off his face.

"Is she serious" they whispered to themselves. "I don't want to stick around and find out" Lupin piped in as he turned to leave. The boys turned to follow but stopped when they heard Eden call out "Wait."

"Tell that Worm y fellow there to give him back his wand" she said pointing to Peter who dropped it immediately as if it burned his hand. Sirius picked it up and handed it to Eden with a grin "You shouldn't waste your time with him" he said while Severus gave him the most venomous glare he could master, unable to say anything because he was still too busy coughing up blood.

"What can I say, we snakes stick together" she said flatly. Sirius's grin widened and he saluted her goodbye.

"See you later Honey" he said as he turned to join his anxious friends. When they had gone she turned back to Severus who was still spiting out blood through his missing teeth.

"Are you OK?" she asked worry lining her face. He snatched the handkerchief from her and began to clean himself up.

"I could have handled them on my own" he growled.

"Yeah, I can see that" she said as she took the handkerchief back and cleaned his face. "Dam it! They make me mad. I wanted to send curses flying at them but I knew it wouldn't help. Hell it took all my will power just to remain calm" she said when she had finished cleaning him and saw the purple swelling on his face. "Your nose is broken, let me help you get to the infirmary" she said.

"I can handle a broken nose" he replied as he retrieved his wand from her hand and pointed it at his face. She smirked as his face cleared itself of the swelling and his nose returned to its proud stance on his face.

"Looks like you're an expert at healing yourself"

"Well unfortunately this is not the first time Potter and his gang of Toerags decide to attack me." He heard her sigh at his side then she got up and pulled him along with her. "Lets go to dinner" she said.

They took their usual seats at the Slytherin table, which for Eden was regrettably close to Avery, who was still determined to get her attention.

"You repaid you debt so you don't have to continue hanging around me" Severus said. She looked at him before replying.

"Does my presence really bother you that much?" she asked. He was silent a moment then he looked her sternly in the eye and said "Yes." But the slight smile that twitched for freedom at the corner of his mouth gave him away and she smiled. She leaned in and whispered in his ear "GOOD, besides you saved my life and I chased some… what did you call them?... Toerags away, you can't really say I've repaid my debt to you." He rolled his eyes but he seemed to like the response. Just then Eden spotted Lily spying at them from the Gryffindor table, evidently curious to see why she and Severus where whispering to each other, interesting she thought as she leaned in closer to Severus. " I have an idea that will make us equal" she whispered "I'll help you get together with Lily" she felt Severus stiffen and he began to open his mouth "Don't deny it, I like to observe people remember and it is as clear as day that you have a thing for her"

"Lily is my friend" he whispered.

"I know that is why I am going to make you guys more then friends"

"She doesn't see me that way" he said. She rolled her eyes could he really be that clueless?

"She will, so what do you say do you want my help?" He took a bite of his pumpkin pie, the whipped cream that got on his finger went unnoticed. He finally turned back to Eden and nodded his head in agreement; she smiled and glanced back at the Gryffindor table to make sure that Lily was still watching.

"Lets start now" she said as she reached for Severus' hand, bringing his finger to her lips and slowly licking the cream off his delicious fingers. The look on his face was of utter shock and she smiled and whispered in his ear "relax I'm only teasing." Some of the Slytherins sitting around them snickered, Avery gasped and stared angrily at Snape but the most important person, Eden noticed, had turned as red as her hair and looked away.

Xxxxxx

The weeks flew by and although, Eden's preoccupation with Severus's love life was defiantly work she had to admit that it was fun. She enjoyed spending time with him and now considered him a friend, even Lily on occasion was pleasant company. Severus thought that all she did was advise him on what to do and say but Eden also used herself to make Lily jealous, hoping that Lily would stop dwindling on the side lines and act on her feelings for her friend. Eden knew that on some level Lily was aware of the feelings she had for Sev, and of the feelings he had for her but she refused to act on them which was puzzling to her. Either Lily's feelings weren't that strong or she was too scarred to act. Whatever the case may be Eden thought that making her jealous would force her to act and hopefully yield happy results. Whenever, Lily was in sight Eden would purposely get too close to Severus, clinging on him with adoration forcing Lily to come and interrupt and Eden would magically disappear leaving the two alone.

The three of them were walking down the hall, Lily had her arm locked with Sev's and she was leaning on him heavily as they walked. They are getting mighty cozy, now would be a good time to go Eden thought to herself but there was a pain in the pit oh her gut that kept her there, that screamed that it wasn't the right time yet so she lingered and watched. Lily chuckled at Sev's foolish stammers; he was so captivated by Lily's sultry whispers that he was acting like a dog with its tongue out she thought. Lily chuckled again as she leaned over to Sev, and gave him a lingering kiss on the point where his Jaw met his neck which caused Severus to drop the book he was holding and stumble when he reached down to pick it up. Now, she thought to herself as the knot in her stomach snapped and she reached out and grabbed Sev's hand.

"Severus we should head back to the common rooms and put our books down before dinner. See you later Lily" she said as she pulled him towards the dungeons leaving Lily gapping behind them. When they where well out of sight Eden pulled them into a deserted corridor.

"Thanks" Severus said as he placed his things on the ground and leaned against the wall "Agh I'm such an idiot I totally ruined it back there… I'm just happy you saved me before I made a total ass of myself" He sighed.

"Yeah that was defiantly idiotic behavior, lucky I was there" she agreed as she approached him. "Severus you know how I said I would help you with Lily" she waited for his nod in response "Well I changed my mind" she said as she kissed him firmly on the lips. He stood there stiff as a board, his lips pressed firmly together as Eden ran her delicate hands up his arms. He turned his head away, separating their lips and she continued to his jaw line and neck.

"What are you doing he stammered"

"mmmm kissing you" she hissed into his ear

"I can see that but why" he said pushing her away. She didn't like that and pressed herself closer against him, her breast pressed against his chest.

"Because I want to" she hissed again as she resumed to trail kisses along his neck

"I thought you where going to help me with Lily" he gasped as the tip of her tongue played with his adam's apple.

"I told you I changed my mind" she whispered as she led his hand along her waist where it rested lifelessly.

"Why" he asked in a half moan.

"Because I want you" she murmured as she reclaimed his lips, he held them shut again and tried to push her away.

"I don't understand" he said when he managed to pull himself away from her. Once more she was angered by his actions reclaimed his lips more fiercely then before, trailing her tongue along them trying to get them to part as she ran her hand up his chest between them.

"What is there to understand? I'm attracted to you and I want you" she said when his lips wouldn't budge. She could feel the erratic thumping of his heart under her palm and hear his heavy breathing by her ear. "I'm not a fool" she continued "I'm not saying I love you or anything but I have realized that I like you a lot and I am very attracted to you and YOU obviously want me" she said as she brought her knee up between his legs to graze his forming erection. "Just think of it as practice for Lily" she said.

"Stop" he growled as he pushed her away.

"No" she replied as she pressed herself against him once more, running her hand around his neck and grasping his hair firmly. She pushed his head toward her and kissed him savagely. When he refused to grant her tongue access she bit him firmly on his bottom lip, forcing him to part them. She slid her tongue in his mouth and explored every cavern, savoring the taste of him, savoring the slight tint of his blood that fell from his lip. Initially he was unresponsive but his kiss quickly became as aggressive as hers as his tongue now explored her. He grabbed her firmly by the waist with one hand and grabbed the back of her platinum hair with the other, trying to bring her closer to him, enjoying the feel of her breast against his chest. When that wasn't close enough he roughly pulled her by the waist and slammed her against the wall so that he was hovering over her. She moaned into his mouth and wrapped her arms around his neck.

They never made it down to dinner.