Miranda walked down the hallway, deep in thought. She was heading towards the dungeon when she saw Bellatrix not far from her. She decided to wait until the girl was gone, since she knew how much Bellatrix loved to bully her.

While she hid herself behind a statue, she heard the conversation between the two slytherins. At first she didn't know who the second person was, but then it came to her - it was Rodolphus.

"Do you think you convinced him to join sides with our lord?" Bellatrix said her voice filled with arrogance.

"I am not sure," Rodolphus answered, "for some reason he seems to doubt. I used to think he was one of the best in the Dark Arts, but now… He's holding back. It's like somebody has told him to stop or something…."

"Told him?" Bellatrix asked the surprise in her tone obvious.

Miranda tried to get closer to the two of them. She had no idea about who they were talking about, but she realized that the lord they were talking about was none other than the same man who had killed her father.

"I don't know, Bella," the caring in his voice made Miranda almost vomit. How Rodolphus could love a woman like Bellatrix was a mystery to her.

"Severus Snape cares about no one!" Bellatrix suddenly shouted.

Miranda gasped and knew that every color in her face was gone in seconds. Severus, her Severus? No… he could not choose the side of the man, who had killed her father, could he?

"Did you hear something?" Bellatrix asked.

Miranda started to walk back slowly, but bumped right into someone. She turned around immediately and looked into the eyes of none other than Severus Snape.

The coldness that she saw for seconds in his eyes made her fear for the worst.

"Severus," she said.

Immediately Severus placed his hand upon her mouth and pulled her away from the corridor where Bellatrix and Rodolphus were talking.

Miranda felt her heart pound in her chest as she tried not to panic. What was he up to?

"Miranda, are you insane?" he suddenly asked, with the same voice he used for other students, cold and uncaring.

"I…. I…" she stumbled and looked away from him, trying to understand what she had just heard and seen.

"If they found out about us…" he trailed off.

"It was fine until you arrived," she whispered.

"Really?" he said with a sarcastic tone, "Why were you walking backwards then?"

"I...I wasn't…," she lied, but when she looked back at him she saw he didn't believe her.

His eyes had become warmer than before, and it made her calm down. Everything was still the same; she had seen things that weren't there.

"What did you hear, Miranda?" Severus's hand still lay upon her face and it felt warm, safe and very tender.

"Nothing!" she rapidly answered.

"Miranda, please. Do not lie to me. You are like an open book. I can see every thought, feel every emotion you feel..," he whispered.

Miranda swallowed. Why was it so hard to think normal when she stared right into his black eyes?

"They were talking… talking about you," she looked away, afraid of what she would see.

"They were saying," she continued, her voice a mere whisper, "about a lord. And about convincing you to join his side."

Severus didn't answer and her curiosity won from her anxiety and she gazed back at him.

"I'm not an idiot, Severus," she continued, her voice a bit stronger, "I know of who they speak. I know it is the same man that killed my father. You're not really considering…"

"How dare you say such a thing?" Severus replied, but he did not sound angry which was a relief for her, "You mean the world to me. I would never betray you, Miranda. I thought you knew that."

"I did! But it's hard when … when there are so many people who try to make me believe otherwise." She defended herself.

Miranda covered his hand resting against her cheek and removed it, she took a step closer to him whispering, "You know there is only one thing that you need to do to make me believe you…"

He stared back into her green eyes and she saw that he understood what she meant. Slowly his face come closer to hers and from the moment his lips touched hers, Miranda was sure that everything she had heard was nothing more than a bad dream…

Severus slowly left the dungeon and walked towards the Slytherin common room. His thoughts were running at fast speed. Had he convinced Miranda? Or did she still have doubts? She was everything but an open book for him. She was smart, beautiful, funny… and she loved him with her entire heart. He moistened his lips. This situation was going on longer than expected. It was now December and still Lily acted the same way as before. But that wasn't the biggest problem. He didn't mind that Lily didn't have feelings for him anymore; all he cared about was Miranda.

He tried to deny this, but the nights filled with dreams about blue eyes and longing lips, was enough to convince him. He was falling for her. It was the only thing he had never thought of. He had never thought he would fall for Miranda Bloom, a full blood wizard with a family of blood traitors. But how could he care about that, since he was as good as a blood traitor himself? His love for Lily still ran through him, but less strong. In her place had come Miranda, who had shown him so much love. Enough love to fight evil for eternity…

He shook his head. He had to lose those feelings. They could destroy everything… and more. They could destroy Miranda if anyone would ever know the truth.

"Severus, everything alright?" someone asked, behind him.

Severus turned around and saw Rodolphus.

He smiled, coldly, and said, "I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"You seemed to be deep in thought," Rodolphus answered, while they walked together through the corridor, "Anything I can help with?"

"I don't think so," Severus answered coldly.

Rodolphus stared at him and frowned when he saw the coldness in Severus's black eyes. He could be the best death eater of all, if only he would choose for their side…

"Have you thought about my…"

"I told you, I would give you my answer when I'm ready. Is that not enough?" Severus interjected.

Rodolphus didn't answered and the two men continued their walk.

"I noticed you and Lily Evans aren't friends anymore," Rodolphus started again.

Severus froze and turned to face him.

"What is that suppose to mean?"

There was no change in his voice or his eyes, but Rodolphus could feel that there was more going on than the man would admit.

"Just… she's a mudblood… You really did spend much time with her…," Rodolphus replied, while he looked more closely towards his friend.

"So? I finally realized what an evil monster she is. I thought you would be glad to hear something like that…"

"I am, I am," Rodolphus replied hastily.

He dropped the subject and started talking about potions, a much safer thing to talk about. But Rodolphus was not thinking about liquid luck, no, he was thinking about Lily and Severus. Something was going on and he had to know everything about it…

December slowly passed and when the holiday came closer, Miranda got more nervous. She could not miss Severus for a moment, so how could she miss him two entire weeks? They only solution was to ask him if he would stay with her or if she could visit him during the holiday.

Two days before the holiday would start; they met late that evening at the lake. He held her close to him and she could feel his heart pounding. It was an assuring sound and she laid her head upon his chest to hear it constantly.

"Everything alright, Miranda?" Severus whispered, while he laid his arms around her.

"Yes," she answered, while she closed her eyes, "couldn't be better."

"Then why do I get the feeling there's something you want to ask me?" he asked. She could hear a slight hint of joy in his voice and she had to smile. He knew her too well.

"You're right. There is something I've wanted to ask you for quite a while now."

She opened her eyes and gazed at him. His black eyes stared into hers and upon his face a smile appeared. She came closer to him and kissed him softly. He kissed her back and she slowly laid her arms around his neck. He pulled her closer towards him and she could feel the warmth of his touch through her clothes. Gods, she loved him so much!

"Well, why don't you ask whatever you want to ask then?" he said, when their kiss had ended and he had let go of her.

"I was thinking about the holiday and I realized that two weeks without you," she started to blush, "is too long for me. I thought maybe… maybe you could stay at my place or something."

Severus was moving his hands to get a bit more warmth in them, but froze when he heard Miranda's words.

Slowly he gazed back at her and looked at her. His eyes were cold again and Miranda swallowed heavily.

"I ... I…"

Suddenly he smiled and Miranda let out a relieved sigh. For a moment she had feared he would be mad at her for nothing…

"I like that idea, Miranda, but I don't think I can stay with you the entire holiday. My parents would become furious."

She blushed even more and looked down.

"I should have known… I am sorry…It was a stupid idea…"

He grabbed her hand and squeezed in it.

"No, it was not. I would love to stay with you, but … it would raise questions. You know that as well as I do. But, if it's alright for you, I can visit you a couple of times. Isn't that a nice idea?"

"Oh yes, yes!" she replied and she hugged him, which took him completely by surprise.

Severus fell in the snow, with Miranda on top of him and they both laughed out loud. He looked back at her, she looked back at him and that very moment she saw how much he loved her. And it made everything feel so right.

His body laid so close to hers, she could feel his chest through his clothes and suddenly something deep inside her wanted more from him, wanted more than a kiss, more than a hug. It wanted him, completely. Severus's hand slowly moved over her back and she could see how he as well had noticed how close they were.

A bark not far from them destroyed everything and they immediately moved away from each other. With a grin, Severus removed the snow from his coat and helped Miranda get up.

"Stupid Fang," he mumbled, with a smirk upon his face.
"You could say that," Miranda whispered, not loud enough for Severus to hear.

While they walked towards the castle, the feelings inside her had only grown. When she looked back at him, she felt a fire deep inside her. A feeling inside her stomach which made her feel so warm that she couldn't feel the c oldness of the mist or the snow.

Severus gaze was fixed on the gate, so Miranda didn't know what was going on in his mind. Gods, they were sixteen! It was only normal that they wanted more, wasn't it? But… but could she? The words Bellatrix and Rodolphus had said were not forgotten. She had kept a close eye on those two and had noticed with a relief that the both slytherins were still unhappy, which meant that Severus hadn't given in on them.

"We have to go to bed now or people will start to ask questions," Severus suddenly said.

Miranda looked around her and noticed that they were inside Hogwarts again.

"I didn't even notice," she whispered.

Severus smiled, gave her a kiss, wished her goodnight and disappeared in a corridor nearby. Slowly Miranda started walking towards the Gryffindor Common room. A smile started to appear upon her face and there was only thought going through her:

"I can visit you a couple of times…"