A/N: As I stated in the first chapter, I'm doing this for fun. However, I'd appreciate it if at least one person would leave me a review... It would be nice to know that someone out there was enjoying this!

7

"Get up. Now," Ava said loudly as she nudged Snape with her foot. He woke up abruptly and glanced around the room quickly, as though in a panic, before his gaze finally settled on her.

"What's going on?" he mumbled, barely coherent. Ava set her bag down by the door and walked over to him, scooping him up with all her strength, and set him on the couch.

"What's going on is that my apprentice is about to start in five minutes and I just walked in and found my professor lying passed out drunk on his office floor," she spat, making no attempt to hide the irritation in her voice.

"How do you know I was drunk?" he demanded as he leaned back in the couch. Ava spun around and stared at him with an incredulous look on her face before shaking her head.

"The shattered table and rock glass, coupled with the nearly empty bottle of firewhiskey were a dead giveaway," she hissed, pointing to the evidence around the room. Snape followed her gaze before staring at her once more.

"Oh," he said simply. Ava pulled her wand out and immediately corrected the flaws in the room before taking a seat next to him.

"So are you planning on explaining to me why I found you comatose?" she asked as her eyebrow arched and she stared at him out of the corner of her eye. He shook his head in response, eliciting a scoff from her. "I think I deserve it."

"I just had a rough night, I suppose," he muttered.

"You practically spent all night with me! Was it really that awful?" she asked, turning her body so that she was facing him.

"I didn't mean it like that Ava," he said, resting a hand on her knee, "I just meant after I left you, things got… shitty." Ava scooted closer, genuinely concerned by his response to her question.

"What happened?" she asked gently.

"I left you," he said quietly, still avoiding her gaze. "I was on my way to get you," he finished flatly, as though he was merely listing off potion ingredients. Her cheeks instantly flushed pink and she buried her face in his chest. "Do you want to spend the night with me?" he asked abruptly, causing her to pull away and stare at him blankly. He finally looked at her and raised an eyebrow, waiting for her response.

"Ah… Well, yes. Of course I want to, but I think Draco might notice," she said slowly. "Unless you don't care."

"For being as intelligent as you are, you don't think things through very often," he said with a smile, pulling her close to him. "Tell him we're working on a potion. He'll eventually go to bed, you can get up early and head back, and no one will ever know."

"He has detention with you," she said. Snape's smirk turned into an almost wicked smile and he leaned her back on the couch until he was lying on top of her.

"Perfect," he replied before pressing his lips against hers forcefully.


The common room had been filled with students only a few short minutes ago, however it had emptied out rather quickly as the dinner hour grew near. Draco paced back and forth across the now empty room, glancing at the clock every so often. He wasn't sure how to take the fact that Ava hadn't showed up yet and had been gone all day, without a word. She had been in his sights for a couple years now, though she had always seemed completely unobtainable to him. The idea itself had been mildly irritating, as being a Malfoy should have left nothing out of his grasp. However, she had always seemed just out of his reach. It had nothing to do with the usual qualities he had found in the numerous girls he had been with. The smartest Ravenclaw, prettiest Hufflepuff, and wealthiest Slytherin had all been on his arm at one point. (Gryffindors weren't even considered.)

Perhaps it was the fact that she was nearly a combination of all three of those things, or possibly it was because of something different entirely. She had never pined for him or went out of her way to catch his attention, which was something he wasn't used to. The majority of girls in their year had made some sort of pass at him at some point, but not her; not Ava. She was above that, and after much deliberation he had come to the conclusion that that's what made her so attractive. Coupled with her brains, beauty, and blood…

Lucius, as he preferred to call him in the privacy of his thoughts, had sat him down over the summer holiday and given him an ultimatum; either he found a serious candidate for marriage by the end of the year, or he was being cut of from the family funds until he did. Ava was the perfect match for him. Raised in an affluent household, as most purebloods were, she was witty enough to keep him on his toes, but high up enough socially to keep his father satisfied. It wasn't the only reason why he had gone after her, though it was a large part of it. If things had been different, he might have pursued her a little differently. After all, the chase had always been his favorite part of the game, which was obvious from his normal immediate disposal of any female, once he had gotten what he wanted from her. It was different though, as she was going to be here to stay.

Draco glanced at the clock once more and headed out into the hallways, making his way quickly through the dungeons. A third year Gryffindor got in his way accidently, and he shoved the boy into a suit of armor before shouting, "Watch where you're going, you little shit." He continued sulking down the corridors as the panic-struck boy ran off in the opposite direction. Banging the classroom door open, he crossed the hallway and pounded on the office door.

"One moment," Snape called out through the thick wood door. Draco crossed his arms in front of his chest and tapped his foot impatiently until the professor opened the door and let him in. A mild look of surprise crossed his face as he saw Ava standing at a cauldron towards the back, stirring it carefully as she stared in its contents.

"Hi Draco," she said somewhat absentmindedly as she continued stirring the simmering liquid, not taking her eyes off it once.

"Hey," he replied, watching her carefully as he took a seat across from Snape's desk.

"Don't get too comfortable," he said dryly as a smirk formed on his lips. "You're going to be scrubbing cauldrons out."

"Yes sir," Draco replied, putting heavy emphasis on the last word. Ava glanced over her shoulder quickly, but avoided his gaze as best as she could. Snape waved his wand and a stack of filthy cauldrons, apparently from the entire day, appeared in front him. Draco slumped over onto the floor at the stack and began scrubbing, though his eyes were consistently focused on the young woman. Snape took his seat at the desk and followed Draco's gaze, letting a smirk once more take its place across his lips.

"Miss Coombs, would you be a dear and grab me that book off the shelf?" Snape said in an unusually silky voice. Ava spun around quickly and followed his gaze towards a thick volume on the lower shelf of bookcase next to him.

"Of course, sir," she replied with a smile as she crossed over. Draco's eyes narrowed as he watched Snape make a show of staring at her as she bent over and retrieved the book. Snape wetted his lips as she did this and took the book gently from her when she offered it to him.

"Thank you," he purred before flashing Draco yet another smirk as Ava walked back to her station beside the cauldron.


"Alright Professor," Draco said, not bothering to hide the irritation in his voice. He grabbed the last cauldron, which was spotless, and slammed it on Snape's desk. "I'm done."

"Very good," Snape replied halfheartedly, as his eyes were locked on Ava. He had spent the entire two hours running her around and asking her to pick various items up, or finding ways that she would have to come into contact with him. Draco had gotten increasingly angrier as time had progressed, and Snape 

had loved every second of it. Ava, on the other had, kept quiet for the majority of the time, not bothering to get in the middle of their obvious quest for power. "You can go now," Snape said quietly.

Draco stared at him for a moment before straightening himself out. "Good. Come on Ava, let's go," he hissed.

"No," Snape said loudly, causing both students to jump slightly. "Miss Coombs still has work to do."

"What?" the pair said in unison, eliciting a small smile from Ava. "It's late and we have class in the morning," Draco finished.

"Sorry," Snape replied, "but she's not going to work with charms or magical creatures or whatever ridiculous classes the curriculum requires of you. She will, however, be working with potions. Potions take time and patience, but I wouldn't expect you to understand that, Master Malfoy." Draco looked furious as Snape spoke, clenching his fists into a tight ball.

"Fine," he said, turning around and stomping towards the door. "I'll see you when you get back then," he called over his shoulder before slamming the door behind him. Ava immediately dropped her book and crossed over to Snape, who was leaning back in his chair with a smug look on his face.

"Was that really necessary? And don't think for a second that I didn't notice what you were doing," she hissed. Snape merely shrugged in response. "Severus, honestly! That was just plain, flat out mean."

"I never said I was nice," he purred, grabbing her arm and pulling her close to him. "In fact, I don't think I've ever done anything nice, in my entire life… Are you still going to spend the night with me?"

"I shouldn't… Not after the way you acted tonight. I didn't really expect something that immature coming from you," she spat as she pulled her arm out of his grasp. Snape immediately grabbed her arm again, though much more forcefully, and pulled her onto his lap.

"I guess I phrased that wrong… I should have said: I'm glad you're spending the night with me," he said roughly before he kissed her hard. Ava returned it for a moment before pulling away and sneering at him.

"I am not your whore," she said firmly. "You can't play these petty games with me. Either you want me, or you don't. Either you want me to be with Malfoy, or you don't. Pick a side, Severus, because I'm not going to let you confuse me any more than you already have." He studied her for a moment, obviously taken aback by her sudden defiance. A smile crept onto his face though, and he gently wrapped his arms around her waist.

"You are certainly a fiery one, you know that? It just makes you that much sexier. Now tell me, my sweet, how am I confusing you?" he said softly as a hand reached up and delicately brushed a strand of hair out of her face. She wrinkled her nose up at his gesture before turning her head away from him to stare at the cauldron.

"I've already explained it to you, and I'm not doing it again. This is ridiculous," she said flatly.

"It's got nothing to do with whether or not I want you around. As I've already explained, there's no reason why you should settle for someone like me. Malfoy is far better suited for you, however that doesn't mean that I can't enjoy you," he said, running a hand up the inside of her leg. Ava snapped her head back towards him and their eyes locked, causing her to smirk slightly. If there was one thing she was better at than potions, it was manipulating people. While she rarely did it, it was something she had found herself to be highly skilled at.

"So it doesn't bother you that I'm going to shag him?" she said quietly as a devious smile began to form. "It doesn't bother you that you're not the only one that gets me? He's going to want me to do things with him, you know? Things that, in all reality, I only want to do with you." Snape's expression instantly turned unpleasant, as though he had swallowed something nasty, and he glared at her. Unfortunately for him, Ava was quite used to his gaze after seven years and remained completely unfazed by it. "I find it so hard to believe," she continued, "that you aren't bothered by the fact that he's going to be inside me."

Snape pushed her onto the floor violently and stood up quickly before leaning down and grabbing her by the hair. "Enough!" he screamed at her. Ava smiled wickedly at him, despite the immense pain of having him hold her up by her hair. "What?" she said quietly. "Does that bother you?"

"Of course it does, stupid girl. You think I want him touching you? I told you, you're mine," he yelled, inches away from her face. Ava smiled even more, which clearly irritated him. "Come on, Severus," she hissed, "I'm going to be with Draco as soon as I walk out of here, per your request, and if things go your way I'll be with him forever. Then you'll always know that it was thanks to you that I'll be spending every night sleeping next to him, and when I wake up I'll be curled up in his arms."

Snape threw her into the desk roughly before dropping to his knees and wrapping his arms around her. He buried his face into her hair and held her tightly to him, almost as though apologizing for what he had just done. "Please stop," he begged quietly. "Please… Just stop it." Ava wrapped her arms around him and kissed his neck softly. "Severus…" she whispered, "just let me be yours."

"I can't," he moaned softly into her hair as she ran her tongue lightly over his ear. Snape pulled away slightly before advancing again to press his lips into her gently. It was much softer than she was used to, coming from him, but there was still something highly possessive about the way he touched her. Almost as though he was afraid to let her go, for fear she would dart out of the room and run back to Draco. Ava leaned back, pulling him on top of her as she did, and wrapped her legs around his waist. Without a moments hesitation Snape undid his pants and pulled himself out before reaching up her skirt and ripping her panties off. He pushed himself into her forcefully as he rested his forehead on her chest, letting her tangle her fingers in his hair.

"Ava," he said, almost whimpering into her skin. She reached under his chin and tilted his head up gently so she could kiss him passionately. "Severus, I want to go to bed."

Snape immediately pulled away and reached down, scooping her up as he had the night before. He carried her carefully into his quarters, forcing his way to the bedroom before kicking the door shut behind him. After setting her on the bed gently he stripped down and muttered a spell to remove her clothes as well. Sliding between her legs once more, he brushed his lips lightly against hers. "Let me wake up with you tomorrow morning," he said quietly.

"I can't think of anything I want more," she replied.