A/N:Hey! Look!-Navi
Warnings for intense sensuality, but no true smut.
I will share a few songs and fun facts with every few chapters that I can think of one or two to go with.
So-
Funfact 1: I got Joon's name from the movie Benny & Joon, starring Johnny Depp (my aunt is a fanatic, I am simply a fan).
JG~SS~JG~SS~JG~SS~JG~SS~JG~SS~JG~SS~JG~SS~JG~SS~JG~SS~JG~SS~JG
CH: 7 Rumors, Dates, and hey, Auntie's Coming to Town!
Severus-
Dinner was some brown slice of cooked meat, a white pile of mush, and something else he supposed could be called green, but he wasn't paying attention to what Albus told him was part of a "nutritious diet" that was currently traveling into his mouth and down is throat. Joon was late showing up for dinner. She was rarely late. And the last time she was late, she had nearly died!
His inner turmoil subsided as the beautiful woman in question came into the hall and took her seat next to him.
The meatloaf began to get some flavor, the mashed potatoes were more buttery, and the asparagus less pungent than it had been as she turned to him and smiled sweetly, seeming to have something on her mind.
About half way through dinner, she finally spoke up.
"Severus, do you remember the few times I've mentioned my Aunt Adrianna?"
"Yes," he did. She spoke fondly of her at least once a week, which was as often as was their correspondence my owl mail.
"Ah, she's coming to the castle. To see my new job. And, ah, to, ah, meet... you."
"What could be so bad about that?" He asked her mildly. This Adrianna sounded like a slightly aged woman who lived alone. How bad could she be?
"You don't understand, Severus, she's like a female Dumbledore!"
Oh. That changed things.
"She's very eccentric. She dresses in fine silk robes of all sorts of colors. She used to be married to a Potions Master who died of severe Dragon Pox at sixty three, so she'll expect you to talk about several things in that area, she'll expect you to kiss her hand when you meet for the first time. You must address her as Madame unless she says you an do otherwise, and-"
"I promise I'll be good, and what could be so bad? I deal with Dumbledore and Minerva on a daily basis," he told her soothingly, half smiling on the half of his face that wasn't facing the rest of the great hall.
Sunday, Severus stole Joon away for the day on his weekly trip to Knockturn alley for fresh (and sometimes explicitly rare) potions ingredients he used in his own project potions.
She dressed, as he told her would suffice, in a black robe with a long black cape and a hood that covered her face, as he would be doing the same.
They walked up the street, dodging hagglers by the dozens to get to a cubby where a shaky elevator took them up to the third floor of a shop.
A grubby man who stood behind the counter scrutinized them until Severus put his hood down.
The mans beady eyes traveled to Joon, and she took the hint and put hers down as well. The mans eyes lit up in a way that, to Severus made his intentions clear. Joon, on the other hand seemed to be oblivious to the crude stock dealers' perusal of what of her body was showing.
He felt anger, jealousy, and finally rage build up within him, but showed none of it in his face, only in his eyes.
When the mans gaze traveled to Severus, he almost fell off his chair at the intensity of the hatred seen there.
"I'm here for my last order, Xaltos," he told the man coldly.
Xaltos nodded and went into the back to gather all of the things into a sack and handed them to Severus.
"Your payment will be in the secondary account as per usual, of course."
Severus rushed Joon back into the elevator and stopped it half way between floors one and two.
Joon-
"Whats the matter, Severus?" Joon asked him warily.
He was absolutely fuming. His eyes were boiling black cauldrons of raging fury, and she was hoping it wasn't directed at her.
"The way that little wanker was looking at you! Why I could have-" he hit the side of the shaft with his fists, growling angrily.
Joon was secretly pleased with herself that she actually attracted attention from someone that wasn't emotionally attached to her, and that Severus would fight for her honor like that, but she really wished he would calm down.
He whipped around and grabbed her by the waist, claiming her lips with a fiery passion she hadn't experienced even in Hogsmeade. She instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck and tilted her head to allow him more access.
As he suckled her neck, she heard him growl "Mine."
At least his possessiveness matched hers.
Severus-
As they walked through the doors of the castle, arms laden with covered baskets of ingredients.
Thank goodness they were both covered and charmed to be scentless (and Joons several large hickeys were covered by an undetectable concealing charm), because three quite large, intimidating arours were carrying the man who had been following them the previous day down the hall towards them.
Joon smiled kindly at the arours who in turn grinned shyly.
The burliest of the three tipped his hat to her and said in a deep base voice "Even'n to ya Miss Joon. Glad you got out of those people you had ta work with a'fer. Don' min' 'is piece 'o waste. 'E won' be botherin' ya' any mer'."
"Thank you Claus, thats very sweet of you. I hope you have a wonderful week!" She smiled once more and walked down towards the dungeon, Severus hot on her heels.
Joon-
After they got all of the ingredients sorted, logged, and put away in the storage closet, a student came running down the hall past the open door, tears in her eyes and a bleeding cut on her cheek.
Joon waved goodbye to Severus and almost literally flew in a smoky, Joon-colored haze to catch up with her as she took a turn down a dead end hall.
Joon very softly walked down to her, a ball of watery white light illuminating the dismal passage.
She bent down on one knee in front of the girl and gave her a sad smile.
Her name was Tarry. A Slytherin Second Year.
"Tarry, sweetie, what happened?" she asked gently, prying the small girls hands away from her chest to examine her palms.
"The... Girls in my... Dorm thought... I stole their... Things... But I didn't... I promise!" She told Joon through hiccups and sniffles.
Joon took out the handkerchief she had never given back to Severus (cleaned of course) and wiped her face of the tears, placing her palms over the girls'.
A slight glow was all it took, and the cuts, along with the dried blood, were gone.
Tarry looked at her hands, testing out the skin on her face.
She suddenly hugged Joon around the neck and whispered a muffled "Thank you."
"Why don't we go talk to your Head of House and see about this then, hm?"
She shook her head no. "Professor Snape is too scary."
Joon smiled. "If i ask him nicely, I'm sure we can do something about. What do you say?"
She nodded warily.
Severus-
At the nock on his office door, he called "Enter," sternly.
Joon walked through the threshold with his Second Year Slytherin, Tarry Clemens, hand in hand. So she was the girl who had run by crying.
"How may I help you, Professor Juniper?" He asked formally, mindful of the child's presence.
He took note of his own monogrammed handkerchief, the fifth in the set of ten. Thats where that went...
"Miss Clemens is having problems with her dorm-mates. They accused her of stealing and assaulted her. Is there anything we can do for her?"
"Of course, Miss Jones, Miss Evergreen, Miss Prieve, and Miss Daeé will all be questioned and given punishments. I suppose you may come up with some of it, Miss Clemens?" he replied mildly.
She looked surprised for a moment, and then grinned mischievously.
"The mean prisses should be made to clean all the girls toilets in the castle with Mr. Filch."
"Very Slytherin of you Miss Clemens, I'm sure Mr. Filch will be pleased to hear this," Severus told her dismissively.
As Clemens quite nearly skipped out of the dismal office, Joon closed the door and warded it.
She walked around the desk and straddled Severus' lap after swiftly turing his chair out of the desk. He automatically put his hands on her hips, not knowing exactly what she was trying to do.
"I believe you deserve a treat for being such a good boy," she said with a smirk, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him slowly.
Joon-
At dinner that evening, the High Table was filled with talk of their costumes. It went unsaid the irony of Severus being who he was, and the implications of Joons costume only fueled the rumors that were flying around the school.
Tarry Clemens told Mary Diggle in Ravenclaw about the handkerchief, and so they watched Joon and Severus for a while and figured out that they were talking, meeting, and smiling at each other an awful lot for them not to be together, so they assumed they were together. As in together-together.
This juicy piece of gossip then leaked to the rest of Slytherin and Ravenclaw, not to mention Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. The Professors, of course, heard this eventually. Some of the tattle-tales (mostly Prefects) had wanted to get the mess cleared up and vanquish the impossible rumors from the other students, and plainly asked their Heads of House (except Severus, of course) and were met with puzzled, and slightly amused expressions.
Minerva had asked Albus plainly if he knew. The twinkle in his eye was so intense that she knew for a fact that he did. In fact, he was probably meddling right under all of their noses to get them together, simply because he was fond of Severus. Minerva decided to take things into her own hands and had pulled Joon into her office earlier that day.
"What are you and Severus up to?" She demanded in a no-nonsense tone.
Joon stared at her openly, successfully hiding the evidence of surprise.
"I've heard the rumors, you can't hide your relationship forever! Severus is not good for you in any respect of the expression! He's moody, arrogant, and an Ex-Death Eater! You shouldn't affiliate yourself with him, it could mean bad things for your reputation! He's just using you, and I don't like it one bit!"
Joon suddenly looked unusually angry. Minerva knew Joon never lost her calm demeanor. Never. Her pretty violet eyes flared nearly neon, the redder pigments becoming more defined.
"I don't know if you've noticed, Professor McGonagall, but I happen to be an intelligent person. Severus and I have discussed his past, and even the future, and I have absolutely nothing against him. We are discrete, knowledgable, consenting adults. The rumors were invented, and may never be publicly proven, which is just fine with me. The whole damn rest of creation doesn't have to be clued into our lives, and besides, it's not like they cared before! Why now? And you don't have any idea about us besides your assumptions based on those of others!" She stopped for breath, and continued before Minerva could interrupt.
"And what is all this nonsense about my reputation!? Do I seem like I care one smidgeon about my damn reputation? That would go against my entire philosophy! The social world can kiss my ass! I have no idea where our relationship is headed in the future, but you, nor any other woman, man, or child will have any say in any of it! I happen to Love Severus for who he is. And quite deeply at that! Question it all you want, bash us for allowing ourselves to actually find what we've been looking for, but don't you ever challenge his integrity like that again, or you'll be hearing from me long before the sound reaches his consciousness. Am I perfectly clear?" She asked a pale face McGonagall quietly.
She nodded, barely believing her spectacled eyes as Joon's blood red iris' became purple again.
Severus-
Joon looked to be in a terrible mood, if the subtle hints he picked up were of any indication, that is.
She would huff every so often, shooting a slightly pale-faced McGonagall cutting glances; her fork was piercing her plate with an unusual intensity, disguised by the charm to keep them from clattering too loudly; the frustration was rolling off her in waves, he could literally feel it washing over his left side.
"My dear, what seems to be the matter?" He asked her quietly, hiding his mouth with his hands, which were propped up by the elbows on the table.
"Minerva tried me today. And took it a bit too far," she threw down her fork in disgust, taking a long drink from the steaming goblet she always had in the evenings.
"What has she gotten her knickers in a twist over this time?" He asked frankly, which brought a small grin to Joon's face. A sign she was finally calming down.
"She called you a slew of terrible things, accusing you of using me, and trying to get me to leave you," she whispered tiredly. "I guess we'll face plenty of that in time, won't we?" She asked him with a little smile.
Severus nodded solemnly. What was she getting at?
"Thats perfectly fine with me. If the rest of the world can't get some sense and start seeing past their assumptions and prejudices, then that's their problem."
Severus nodded succinctly. She really was in for the long ride. It wasn't that he'd doubted her, it was just wonderful to be reminded he had somebody to be with during the long-haul.
The rest of the week went by quite smoothly, all things considered. Minerva apologized to Joon after she had accidentally walked in on them having a paint fight in the classroom where the students made their murals, laughing and slinging the stuff all over each other. Severus, believe it or not, had instigated this, allowing an unusually irrational impulse to guide his actions. So Joon and Minerva were back on decent terms, and apparently with Minerva's blessing on their long-lasting relationship.
Friday was finally coming to a close, and Severus dismissed his last class.
He had something special planned for their evening together before Joon's aunt arrived the following da to relax their nerves. Of course, it was nothing too frilly, no roses and boxes of chocolates (Joon had banned them until Valentines Day), and certainly no harps and expensive dinners. She didn't want that, and they didn't need it.
He walked past the portrait of Barnabas the Barmy being clubbed by trolls on the seventh floor three times, thinking earnestly of the perfect setting and foods for their first real date. Dumbledore had said not to take Joon out of the castle on any odd trips again in case she were to be tailed by someone like the man from Hogsmeade, and they wouldn't be outside of the rules, Severus thought to himself absently as he opened the new door in the wall to find his every imagining come to life.
He sent the owl straight away from a randomly appearing window and began the preparations.
Joon-
She ran her hands through her disheveled hair, finally finished with the weeks grading, and still nervous about her aunt. What would she think of Severus? Would she be overly protective of her surrogate niece at the first show of affection? She could only guess.
A small owl flew into the open window and perched on the end of the ol stand in her office. She looked over and saw a note.
Meet me in the Room of Requirement at 7 o' clock ~S.S.
Joon grinned like a giddy school girl and looked up at the clock. It was already five! She had to get to her room and get ready!
She sprint-walked down to the familiar cool of the dungeons and went into her room to find a beautiful dress lying on her bed. It was bunched up dark purple silk at the sleeveless bust, cascading into a shimmery two-layered skirt of light lavender and deep amethyst.
She took a shower, shaved her legs twice, brushed her teeth thrice, and put her hair back in a fish bone braid at the base of her head that flowed into her naturally wavy, curly brown hair.
She checked over her reflection in the mirror, evaluating herself from every possible angle to make sure she was up to par, and finally put on a cloak before walking in silver flats to the pretty mahogany door with vine-like carvings.
Joon opened it tentatively, walking into the grassy, starlit forest full of fairy lights. She slipped off her shoes to feel the cool spongy moss between her toes, and allowed the cloak to fall from her shoulders before following the path between the trees, in awe of the beauty of the night around her.
Severus was leaning against a tree in the shadows across the clearing before the moon reflecting pool of water. He had his usual teaching robes off, and only the black trousers and crisp white shirt she loved so much remained.
There was a cozy blanket in the grass, a dozen jars filled with more fairy lights surrounding a simple but obviously delicious meal for two.
He padded across the soft natural carpet silently, gliding towards her smiling eyes alone.
He took her hands and kissed her softly on the lips.
"What do you think?" He asked her uncertainly. He was so adorable when he was self-conscious.
"I don't think this is the kind of thing a girl can just articulate like that, its just so beautiful, and sweet, and perfect."
He seemed satisfied with her answer and led her over to the soft blanket.
The food was delicious, and the best part was Severus refused to let her feed herself.
So he did it for her.
And it was the most intimate experience they'd had, topping all the best snogging in the world.
The few times she had accidentally licked his fingers, he had blushed like it was nobodies business and it gave her a terrible idea.
When it came time for the wonderful chocolate mouse desert, she purposefully dipped his index into the thick, creamy substance and, her eyes never leaving his, sucked and licked the digit clean.
Severus-
He could stand the nymphs taunting no longer and kissed her deeply, the chocolate mouse flavor he knew so well exploded on his tastebuds like it never had before. He had his arm around her waist, lying sideways, her smaller hands on his face and chest were sending warm electricity through him.
Her dress was hiked up her soft smooth thighs and he grazed one with his calloused Potions Masters' fingers making her shiver and press herself closer to him.
Before he could blink he was over her, shirt undone, suckling her shoulder and rubbing his bulging erection along her inner thigh, reveling in her warm sweet sighs and moans. Her hands were all over his chest exploring every inch they could touch, tracing his slightly defined pectorals and abdominals drawing back when his fingers grazed the thin elastic line of her panties.
He drew back only slightly, panting from the excitement.
"What is it?"
"I... please don't be angry with me but... Severus I'm just not ready yet..." She turned her head in shame, awaiting his reply. He smoothed his fingers over the skin of her fine cheek-bones.
"I can wait," he told her certainly, "for you, I can wait as long as you need me to."
She turned her face back to his, smiling shyly. He had never seen anybody's eyes change color like hers could, but they were deep, ocean blue. As if the red had just vanished completely.
"I'm not saying it won't ever happen, believe me I want it to, but I just don't think I'm ready just yet. I've done this before, and I want to do something different."
At his puzzled look, she continued "If I always do what I've always done, I,'ll always get what I've always gotten. And while what I've gotten before was pretty great, I'm looking for something more this time. Something that will last."
"Well, whenever you're ready, just say the words," he told her reassuringly.
JG~SS~JG~SS~JG~SS~JG~SS~JG~SS~JG~SS~JG~SS~JG~SS~JG~SS~JG~SS~JG
I may make a youtube and do playlists for this story! :) Look for news at the end of the next chapter
music-(don't get onto me about where it comes from!)
Bittersweet by Ellie Goulding
My Beloved Monster by The Eels
Sorry This was a bit late for the update, but I'll try to keep 'em coming as fast as I can. It's thanksgiving time btw for those of you who read and aren't from the States, so I have a thousand things to do for high school classes and college classes alike, so don't get mad at me please! Love you guys! ;)