Chapter 9

Her mind reeled with her fresh images of Draco. She tried to cling to the warmth of his embrace and the scent of him. She felt the happiest she had felt in years.

Glynda was only in her room for a short while before someone knocked her door. Severus Snapes' dark form bellowed in the doorway. His skin was deathly pale and his thin lips were pursed close. He stood with his arms folded and an obvious resentment to where he was standing.

"Dumbledore informed me that you may be in need of some comfort." His tone was harsh and cold.

Glynda felt unnerved by his frosty exterior. She had never felt this tone directed at her. She did her best to act normal.

"Oh, thank you Severus. Please come in."

He swiftly strode from the doorway and abruptly turned to face her, a yard or two into the room. She tried not to look directly at him and busied herself with tidying up as she spoke.

"I'm feeling fine. I'm just worried about Draco. He seems to have accepted me very quickly. I just hope that he's not as upset as he was earlier. He seemed very angry with Lucius and Narcissa. It's understandable though. Would you like a drink?" Everything came out so fast and she immediately noticed how shaky she had become since Severus entered the room. She was terribly nervous.

Glynda momentarily looked towards him and noticed his features soften towards her for a fleeting moment, before his steely façade took place again.

"I don't need a drink." He snapped, too harshly. Slightly shocked, she looked at him again and saw how he'd noticed how harsh he had spoken and then chosen not to correct himself.

"I'm here to give you something to take you mind off things if you need to." He levitated some text books that Glynda hadn't noticed him bring in, and place them onto a table. "These will help you learn the theory behind the spells you have to perform. Professor McGonagall will be summoned by Dumbledore to help you should you require assistance." He turned to leave the room.

Glynda processed her thoughts and stood stunned for a second or two before hindering his exit.

"Wait a minute!" she exclaimed, still trying to sound bright. "I…I though you would be helping me with the spells. After all, you've done them all before with success."

"I am a potions master, not a miracle worker." He said as he reached for the door handle. As he opened and strode through, he mumbled something that Glynda didn't catch straight away. It was only when he turned the corner at the end of the corridor that what he had said hit her.

"And every success comes at a price."

The words and their obvious direction of meaning rang in her ears as she bound down the corridor after him. He must have flown back to the dungeons as she didn't catch up with him until he was entering his rooms.

"So I'm just the price you pay for a successful spell am I?" she spat at him, puffing out of breath and she reached him. She caught his full attention and he turned in his doorway looking bemused. "Well let me tell you this Snape, I never asked for your help and since I found out about it, I've been nothing but grateful."

At that he let out a feigned amused snort. "Well, I have." She raised her voice in protest. "And another thing…"

"I have no time for another thing," he interrupted in a bored tone. Glynda was enraged by his interruption.

"You will listen to me Snape!" she bellowed.

"Don't call me Snape. You are not superior to me!"

"Well listen up, asshole, I never asked of anything from you. You volunteered everything. I never intentionally hurt you and have had to walk on eggshells around you since I arrived to make sure that I don't insult your little ego. I never gave you any indication that I reciprocated your feelings, so don't try and act the martyr. You never ever tried to tell me either at school or after, how you felt about me, so how was I ever to know that you loved me? You were distant and cold and you barely spoke to me. And it's not like I never gave you the opportunity. I hovered around you like a bad smell in first year waiting for you to ask me to the Christmas dance and I never even got as much as a glance in my direction. I…"

They both froze and a still silence lay over them punctuated only by Glyndas' still heavy breathing.

'Where the hell did that memory come from?' she wondered. Then a whole wave of familiar emotion came over her. She had had a massive crush on Severus when she enrolled in Hogwarts. She had done everything but tell him directly. That had been how she had become so close to Lucius. She had used him to get closer to Severus. Then Snape had asked Lily to the dance, leaving Glynda absolutely gutted. Of course, Lily didn't go with Snape, but Glynda had been heartbroken and agreed to go with Lucius instead. Their romance had blossomed from there and Glynda had repressed her memories of her first ever heartache, until now.

Snapes stony guard was down. He looked at her questioningly.

"I…" she began uncertainly. "What I meant to say was…" She stuttered again and sighed. "I never meant to hurt you Severus. I'm sorry." She concluded and turned to leave, before feeling a strong hand grip her upper arm and turn her back around to face him. He kept hold of her arm and took her other arm in his other hand. She could feel his body heat and his breath in her face. She looked deep into his dark eyes and saw a new twinkle that hadn't been there before. He leaned down slowly and placed his lips on hers. Her stomach was brimming with butterflies. It was like her first ever kiss for a second time. His lips were soft and warm and she pressed herself into him and deepened the kiss. His arms circled her back and rested across her shoulders. She reached around his waist and placed her hands on his back. He opened his mouth and manoeuvred the kiss slowly and gently making Glyndas butterflies positively flutter. His hand roamed decently over her back and he drew one up to her neck and cupped the back of her head with his fingers threaded through her hair. It was a most beautiful kiss. With a slight sigh and a shallow breath, they broke apart.

They looked at each other while they assessed each others reactions to the kiss. While it was obvious neither of them had any protest to it, Glynda was radiating some kind of regret that Snape picked up on. He sighed sadly.

"Glynda, you know now how I feel. And I also know now that you still love Lucius. I'm not asking anything from you, but please don't expect me not to be bitter. Especially after what you've just told me."

'How can he stand there and be so understanding about this?' she thought. 'How can I be such a bitch to him? I'm just going to keep hurting him over and over again.' Her eyes misted up with tears.

She backed out of his reach, then extended a hand to take his. She lifted it up and held it in both hands and held it to her face. Kissing it gently she spoke quickly.

"You are such a special person, Severus Snape."

And she turned and ran back to her room.

Walking briskly up the last corridor to her door, she willed away her tears.

'You've cried enough girl!' she told herself. And she was glad she did, because the figure standing outside her door, plucking up the courage to knock, set her emotions further into turmoil.

"Draco?" she spoke on approach.

Draco turned and looked at her, very surprised and looking terrified.

"Dumbledore...told me where I could find you." He stammered.

She smiled broadly and let him into her room.

"Have a seat." Glynda gestured to the sofa and Draco awkwardly sat down. "Do you want something to drink?" She knew she was stalling.

"No thank you."

Glynda sat down uneasily across from him and smiled meekly. Draco looked nervous and saddened and showed no hint of a smile at all.

"Thank you for coming to see me." She said. "I'm so happy to finally meet you; I've been dreaming of this for years."

"Did father stop you from seeing me?" Draco questioned.

Although glad of the interruption as Glynda was rambling on too much, she had no idea how to answer all the questions Draco must have.

"Apparently a spell was cast on me after you were born that meant I had to stay away from this world and therefore you, and your father."

"So, was it him who made you go?"

"I really don't know Draco. Everything seemed to turn upside down at your birth. I had no idea what was happening. Your father changed suddenly and took you away from me. I never saw you again until today." Draco lowered his head and Glynda's eyes welled up. "I never even held you Draco." At that she reached out to touch his arm and squeezed it gently. He looked up into her eyes.

"I would never have left you of my own free will. I have loved you from the moment I knew you were growing inside me. I'm sure your father had too."

Dracos swollen eyes were welling up too.

"What happened with you and father? How did he change?" Glynda sighed.

"I wish I knew. I don't even know what he became, but when I knew him, he was kind and loving and gentle and perfect." Her eyes glazed over at the misty memories. "We were very much in love. I don't know why he changed."

"I wish I had known him then."

Glynda's heart sank. How had Lucius been treating their boy all these years? Had Draco not been loved?

"I can tell you a lot of wonderful things about your father…" she began.

The conversation continued for hours. Glynda told Draco everything about her past with Lucius. Draco listened intently and laughed and sighed in all the right places and asked questions that supplemented Glynda's story telling nicely. They were so at ease with each other that the conversation flowed without difficulty. Glynda felt so jubilant with the situation and felt less and less nervous as time passed. Draco seemed to become much more relaxed and less upset too. He asked questions about her youth and her schooldays and went right through the years up until his birth. At that part, they stopped talking and looked away from each other remorsefully.

"Anyway, enough about me," Glynda said brightly, "I want to know everything there is to know about Draco Malfoy."

He grinned and began telling her all about his likes and dislikes, his friends and his school classes and teachers. Who he liked and who he didn't.

Glynda was mesmerised. He was simply the most wonderful being on the planet. They found out about what sort of things they had in common and Glynda was surprised at how similar they actually were. They compared old and new teachers at Hogwarts. Glynda's stomach lurched when he mentioned a certain potions professor, but put the thoughts of him to the back of her mind as she learned all about the life and times of her mystifying baby boy.

Time ticked past while they discovered as much as they could about each other. Laughs, giggles and solemnity aplenty. When they finally decided to call it a night, it was Draco who sealed the conversation to perfection and caused Glynda to choke back a lump of happiness like she hadn't felt in years.

"I'm really glad to get to know you…mum."

Not 'Glynda', or 'mother', but 'mum' - like he was glad to have her in his life.

"That'll take a bit of getting used to!" he said playfully before leaving the room.

Glynda stared after him at the door for a good ten minutes before turning in for the night. Contentment.

AN: There may be a longer delay before the next chapter gets posted because I've very busy outside the FF world! Will update asap though. Thanks for the reviews and continuing support!

Hugs RB.