Harmony was unsure if it was hours or mere moments later, when she heard a familiar voice cut through her Severus induced fog.

"Do you mind if I cut in?".

She glanced over her shoulder in surprise, breaking the eye lock she and Severus had been engaged in, in the process.

How the hell did I miss my parents coming towards us?, I hadn't even realised they'd started dancing.

In a distant recess of her mind, Harmony realised that she'd likely not noticed something as inconsequential as her parents whereabouts, simply because she was to caught up in her date.

No matter how logical the thought was, it didn't stop Harmony from feeling just a tad disconcerted.

She'd challenge anyone not to feel that way, if they'd just realised that they'd got so lost in a boy, that they'd failed to pay adequate attention to their surroundings, after all she'd been taught better than that. Constant vigilance had been drilled in to her since a very young age.

She was more than aware that her attention was almost always completely took up by Severus if she knew he was around, she tended to forget about what she aught to be doing and did somthing with him instead.

As far as Harmony was concerned it was quite normal for him to take all her attention, afterall she hadn't found anyone more intriguing than him in thirteen years, and she thought that, that was unlikely to change..but this was something else. Whether she found him intriguing or not she was still always aware of her surroundings in his presence...and yet tonight as soon as she was close enough to breath him in her surroundings seemed to keep fading around her.

It was like she'd had a puff of those things the twins sometimes smoked. The one time she'd tried one, it had left her feeling completely out if it. She'd come back to her senses a little while later and she'd found her self in the headgirls private bathroom, of all places.

She supposed she really shouldn't be too shocked by this new development though, after all time it's self had always seemed to run a little differently around Severus, it always felt like their time was infinite and yet at the same time it never seemed to last long enough.

Perhaps her sudden acute lack of awareness about her surroundings, was simply because he finally seemed to be returning her own overtures?.

For the moment she decided it was probably best just to let the problem slide and instead turned her attention to one of the other important men in her life.

He was looking at her so earnestly after his request for a dance, and she didn't have the heart to deny her dad at least one dance. Even if it would take her away from Severus for a while.

"Oh, sure. You don't mind, do you Severus?"

She gave Severus an apologetic half smile. One that her dad probably couldn't see.

Severus gave her dad a curt nod of ascent, before giving her a much softer look, one that said she had nothing to apologise for.

She hoped her dad wasn't picking up on quite how melted she felt under that look. Her inner girl was already swooning like some 19th century heroine.

Godric help her, If Severus kept giving her these unexpectedly tender looks after the ball was over, she wasn't sure she ever be able to get anything done again. She'd be to bloody dopey.

"I'll just go and wait over there until you're finished".

Severus indicated to the far side of the dance floor with a subtle tilt of his head, (sending the long strands of his hair into his face in the process), the area he was indicating had a long refreshments table, that had clearly been set up by the elves while everyone was busy dancing.

Thankfully it was well away from the dance area, or some of the other students rather energetic dancing might have knocked the entire thing flying.

Severus removed his hand from Harmony's and detached his other from where it had settled comfortably on her waist.

They had been touching since the opening waltz and now that he'd suddenly had to let go of her, Severus felt an almost jarring, aching sense of loss.

Why is this so hard?, I'm in her presence often enough and it's never been quite this intoxicating, though perhaps I should have expected this, after all I've been having to avoid her for the past week or so simply because a kiss on the cheek left me feeling drugged and out of control.

Severus didn't get to dwell on the aching feeling for long, because quite unexpectedly, Professor Evans suddenly grabbed hold of his hand, stopping him before he'd even managed to get more than a few steps away from her daughter.

Severus frowned at the hand clasping his, he looked at professor Evans a question already forming on his lips as he did so.

Whatever he'd been about to say, fled from his lips immediately and Severus felt himself swallow when he sae her face, because he knew that look in her eyes, whatever it was she wanted, that look didn't bode well for him. It never had.

He wondered absently if he could persuade Potter to kill him after all, it might be less painful than whatever Professor Evans wanted to talk to him about.

"Nonsense Severus. I'm down a dance partner. You can partner me till they're done".

There was a certain tone in her voice that told Severus it would be in his best interests not to refuse, Harmony and Potter didn't seem to be picking up on it however, since his date seemed blissfully unaware of the fact that she was about to loose him to the probable wrath of her mother.

With no more explanation, Lily pulled Severus through the throngs until they were out of ear shot of Harmony and her dad.

She pulled the hand she was clasping in to the proper position and slapped his unoccupied one on to her waist, before waiting for him to begin. completely resigned to his fate, Severus began to dance with her, as she'd requested.

At this moment in time he really didn't know if to feel. Should he be more anxious about what she wanted, or more mortified that he was dancing with a teacher.

He liked professor Evans, he really did, but even he was aware that as a teenager, there were certain things you just shouldn't do Infront of your peer group and dancing with a teacher was just asking for problems.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could just see Harmony and Potter laughing at the sight he and professor Evans made, and thought, that right at this second?, he was definitely more mortified than anxious.

Then he made the mistake of looking directly at his dance partner, instead of his feet and decided that he'd had that thought a little prematurely.

He certainly didn't feel mortified anymore or anxious. Honestly, he suddenly felt terrified; he clearly done something to earn her ire and whatever it was, he was sure that he wasn't going to like whatever she was about to say.

In order to understand why Severus was feeling so fearful, there was something that you first needed to understand about professor Evans. She might be renowned for her fiery temper, one that she more often than not, let rip on the drip headed Potter and Black. But you really knew you were in some deep shit when she became quiet and gave you a certain look, the look he was currently receiving.

It was the I'm deeply disappointed in you and I thought you were better than this, look.

Harmony and his mother could do the same look to various degrees, but in it's own way professor Evans's was so much more potent. She wouldn't hex you like Potter or his mum or even Harmony might, but that deeply disappointed look made you feel like you had been every damn time, it was like a hot knife in the chest.

But that wasn't the worst of it, the look was always accompanied by some sort of calm speech, during which she listed all the ways you'd fucked up and how you had earned her deep disapproval by your stupid actions. Before you knew it the speech left you feeling small and dirty and generally wondering why you'd gone through with your clearly imbecilic actions in the first place.

Personally Severus would prefer the hexing, he couldn't give a shit what most people thought of him or his actions, but to disappoint one of those three woman in his life whom he thought the world of? it always left him feeling wretched when they looked at him like this. At least a hex was over with quickly, but these quiet heart felt disappointed speeches and looks, lingered for weeks in his soul and in his head like a septic wound that refused to heal.

The point remained however that as of right now he'd clearly done something wrong and for the life of him he had absolutely no idea what it could be.

As they continued to dance amongst the students a heavy silence had settled over the pair, professor Evans was clearly waiting for him to say something, but since he didn't know what he'd done, what exactly could he say?.

Feeling very uncomfortable, Severus cleared his throat and took a gamble on what the look might be about.

"I'm sorry if you didn't approve of me touching Harmony during the dance but I couldn't have.. "

He was cut off abruptly by Professor Evans huffing out a breath and rolling her eyes.

ok, that clearly wasn't the issue.

"That's not the problem. If anything the problem is that you're not making any real moves on her at all"

Severus was positive his eyes must be bugging out of his head right now, professor Evans couldn't seriously suggesting that she was upset that he hadn't defiled her daughter enough.

"You've not held her hand in public, you've not kissed her. Infact you've not treated her any differently to what you have for the past thirteen years, even though you asked her to be your date to the ball. So what exactly is going on? she was so happy when you first asked her, but over the past few weeks I've watched as she's become deflated and listless, don't get me wrong when she knows me or her father are watching, she's never looked happier and thankfully for you James hasn't noticed that its more or less a show, but I have".

Severus felt winded, but didn't look away from her and as her eyes filled with fire he didn't dare speak either.

"So help me Severus Tobias Snape if you're leading my daughter on, they'll not find your body".

Severus began shaking his head negative before she'd even finished, how could she believe he was leading her daughter on?.

"No, I promise on my life that I'm not leading her on, I wouldn't do that to her, I swear".

Lily eyes still full of fire searched Severus's face for an answer but found none.

"so what's the problem?. You'd better have a damn good explanation for the way you've been acting, because from where I'm standing it doesn't look like anything but you leading her on".

Severus shook his head vehemently.

"No, I promise you've got it wrong".

Severus had the urge to run his hands through his hair in frustration, but couldn't give in to it while he was still dancing with his professor. Just how could he explain things to her without looking stupid? the plan sounded ludicrous in his own head half the time, how could he expect professor Evans to understand. He supposed he hadn't got much choice, the professor wasn't going to leave him alone with out an adequate explanation. He was going to have to tell her the truth and hope that she understood.

I knew this was going to turn out more painful than a hexing would.

Lily felt her heart go out to the boy who'd stolen her daughters, she knew she was coming off as a bitch and clearly Severus hadn't set out to intentionally hurt her daughter, the boys adamance that he wasn't leading her on proved this, but she couldn't help either of them if she didn't know what the problem was. She watched as Severus's face became devoid of emotion and his eyes shut down.

His voice sounded almost hollow as he started to speak it was as if Severus had fled and let some one else take over the use of his body.

"The reason I haven't acted less like a friend and more like a romantic partner, is simply because I knew as soon as I gave in and started doing that stuff with her I'd want more, so I decided that the best way to secure the more I was inevitably going to want, was to wait and give her the best first kiss I was capable of, waiting till the night of the ball seemed like the best option for this. I know it sounds stupid, but you know what she reads in those damn books my mother gives her, she's bound to have some over hyped sickeningly romantic ideal in her head, one that I can only compete with if I waited for tonight and I know that there are..."

Severus took a deep breath trying to gain courage for the next bit.

"There are.. other boys who are much better looking than me, or have better personalities than me. I have nothing else to offer her other than the most romantic first kiss I can provide. If I give her that fictional ideal, then maybe she won't think about how big or hooked my nose is or how crooked and miss coloured my teeth are or.. or how completely unsuited I am for some one as uniquely glorious as her".

Lily felt rather shocked by the Severus's confession, she'd mistakenly thought, the same as Eileen, that this lack of action from Severus was due to him being an overzealous gentleman. She'd have never thought that he had insecurities like this. She'd thought that Severus wasn't the type.

She's been completely sure that he had to know how much Harmony mooned over him, frankly you'd have to be blind and deaf not to see it, but clearly Severus was unaware of what Lily and pretty much everyone else could see, that Harmony Potter was completely besotted with Severus Snape.

Lily truly didn't know if to give him a hug or a smack around the back of the head.

In the end she settled for both.

Professor Evans brought them to an abrupt halt at the edge of the dance floor, not far from the refreshments, and suddenly pulled him down in to a hug. This was more than a little awkward, since he hadn't ducked down towards her for it and he was nearly a head taller than she was. If Severus had been shocked by the sudden hug, he was much more shocked when she gave him a good hard smack across the back of his head, while she was giving him the aforementioned hug.

Lily pulled back from Severus and watched as he tried to subtly rub at the back of his head.

She tugged Severus out of the way of the dancing couples until they were stood in front of the refreshments table, there wasn't any one around so the rest of their conversation was unlikely to be heard, which was good, she needed to deliver a few home truths Severus's way; but she didn't want to do him the disservice of other people hearing such delicate information either.

From where they were stood she could just see Harmony and her dad dancing, they appeared to be having a discussion of their own.

"You know, either you think too little of yourself or you think too little of Harmony, so which one is it?".

Severus who was still rubbing his stinging skull, (Professor Evans may have been a girl but she had a smack like a wooden paddle), looked at the Professor questioningly; unsure of what, exactly, she was getting at.

"Pardon?"

The professor green eyes were searching his face, for what he wasn't sure but he felt incredibly exposed under the scrutiny. Thankfully she looked away and back towards the dancing couples, Severus did the same as the professor quiet voice broke through his unease.

"It's a simple question Severus. Either you think too little of yourself of you think to little of Harmony".

Severus didn't look away from the dancing couples though he could feel that the professor was most definitely looking at him again.

" I don't think either of those things Professor".

Lily huffed, honestly getting through to this boy is like trying to talk to a stone sometimes.

"well clearly you must. After all what on earth makes you think that Harmony of all people, is going to turn round and ditch you for something as stupid as crooked teeth, and as for you nose I've heard her defend it on more than one occasion, so you can't seriously believe that that'll turn her off either. She isn't so shallow as to take a person on looks alone. Not that, that's a real concern for you anyway, I happen to know that she's rather enamoured of your looks and has been for some time".

The boy at her side remained silent, continuing to look over the dancing crowd as if he hadn't heard her.

"So that brings us back to the other option, why are you so positive that you're not good enough for her?".

Severus turned away from the watching the crowd then and gave her a pained look, one that said she should know why.

"Because I know I'm not, she's kind and gentle and loving and loyal and fiercely protective.. and honestly she's the most beautiful girl I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. Then there's me, I know what people say about me and for the most part they're right, I'm an unfeeling cold bastard, with no friends, a personality that could peel paint and no matter what you say; I know I have appearance that could crack mirrors. I might be passable as a friend, but who in their right mind would want me as a boyfriend. They wouldn't, not once they truly realised what it entailed. Harmony can't be immune to that, no one else would be".

Lily put a gentle hand on Severus's face and a pair almost vacant eyes looked back.

"Severus I think you need to revaluate some of your thoughts, Number one. You are not a cold unfeeling bastard, you're a human who's had a rough life at times and grown a shell to protect himself. But you're not that way around to the people that count and Harmony is very much one of those. Number two. Yes your personality leaves something to be desired sometimes, but this is unlikely to turn Harmony away!. She's already more than aware of how acerbic you can be and it's never stopped her yet. Number three. No matter what you might think of your looks, I certainly don't see a face that could crack mirrors, I see a distinguished, handsome young man, who doesn't recognise himself".

Lily eyes softened as she saw a crack appear in his vacant façade, her words were starting to get through.

"Harmony is more than aware of who you are, and what you act like, the point is she cares for you as you are. She doesn't want a boy with straight teeth and a sunny personality, she wants you and you're hurting her by letting your own insecurities rule your head, understand?"

Severus gave her a little nod of understanding, Lily leaned forward and gave him a conspiratorial smile.

"I'm going to let you in on a little secret Severus. Woman are simple creatures really and Harmony more so than most. The kiss doesn't need to be the height of romance, you won't loose her just because it's not something straight out of a fantasy. Frankly she'd be happy if your first shared kiss was in a cupboard. All Harmony's bothered about, is that it's you that kissing her, not the setting. So I suggest remove your head from your arse and make a move before you hurt her more than she can take and you do end up loosing her"

Severus gave appeared to be giving her words some real consideration. It was the first real sign of emotion she'd seen from the stoic boy since she'd asked him what the problem was. she didn't get a response to her words but at least they looked like they might have had the desired effect.

Hopefully they'll be alright. If they're not I'll lock them in a store room until they are

Severus for his part was considering what Professor Evans had said he and thought that he'd definitely done Harmony a disservice by continuing with his foolhardy plan despite seeing the effect it was having on her.

To hear it said so plainly that she definitely wanted him as something more and most definitely wanted him for him. looks and acerbic personality an all, was immensely gratifying, if not a little dizzying.

Though he didn't realise it his shields collapsed under this happy realisation and he was looking at Harmony with a mixture of fondness and hope and more than a little gratitude that this wonderful creature might just want him above all others.

"you know, I'm going to get all sorts of smarmy little comments for dancing with a professor don't you?".

Lily got a almost feral grin cross her features before she schooled it in to a look of indifference.

"All part of the plan my dear Severus, don't hurt my daughter any more than you already have and I promise not to ruin your reputation anymore tonight".

"I promise".