Chapter 10: When the Heat Rises

Severus sat in the cool shade of a large willow tree, his copy of Advanced Potion Making lying on his lap in the pretence of doing something constructive. In all truth though, deciding which of his precious spells he could bear to share with the other Slytherins was far too taxing when a warm wind was playfully toying with his hair and bringing with it the distracting laughter of many happy students. He looked up from the dip in the bank where he was sitting, mostly concealed by the long rushes and rise of the banks on either side, over to where the annoyingly loud screams of delight were coming from.

What seemed like most of the students of Hogwarts were either stretched out on the grass, lapping up the sun, or swimming in the refreshing waters of the lake. But Severus' eyes were drawn to a group of students who were being particularly loud, due to both yelps of pain and howls of laughter. Potter, Black, Lupin and what looked surprisingly like Longbottom and a few other Hufflepuffs were throwing around some stupid new Zonko's product – a Frisbee that appeared to bite at anyone who tried to catch it. Severus' eyes narrowed as he watched Black, who seemed to have discarded his shirt at some point, throw the snapping Frisbee towards Potter, who sprinted over and made an exuberant leap in order to catch it, coming to land near where a cluster of girls sat admiring the game.

Show-offs.

Severus scowled as he saw Potter glance hopefully at Lily, who was (mercifully) paying more attention to her friend Mary at that moment.

Irked Severus returned to staring at his book, but he was still smarting from Potter's behaviour. He suspected that ever since Lupin had whisked Lily away Potter had been trying to win her over with his stupid tricks and soppy smile. And yet, while Severus found this incredibly irritating, he was not so worried. Lily was far too astute to fall for such trivial devices. And, only a few hours ago, she had kissed him…

Severus' hands trembled and the book slipped through his fingers. He still found it hard to believe. He had no more need for the Dream-Inducing Draught he had concocted – everything he had ever wanted was beginning to weave its own way into reality. Severus only had to tempt it and life would finally shape itself into what he wanted. No spectacled Gryffindor or arrogant Purebloods were going to get in his way this time. The Dark Lord had given the go-ahead and that was all the encouragement he needed. Nothing could hold him back now.

xXxXx

The warmth of the sun was so wonderful. Lily was lying down on the grass, letting it wash over her skin and closed eyes, and hearing her friends' chatter drift distantly over her consciousness. She felt so relaxed, so at one with the world, that she felt as if she could hear every creature, smell every plant, even fly on the slightest breath of wind.

It had been such a lovely afternoon, spent surprisingly in the company of James, Sirius, Remus and Peter. It was such a welcome change to find herself sinking into easy conversation without constantly finding awkward barriers separating them – no locking horns over whether Voldemort was good or evil, no quarrelling over the way Hogwarts was being run, no flares of fiery heat or passion. No silly talk over which boys everyone fancied, no pettiness over latest fashions and music, no criticisms of who she hung out with. No over-the-top behaviour, no bullying, no pranks. Just simple, natural smiles and laughter.

The boys were so easy going, so welcoming, so intent on having a good time, that Lily began to seriously reconsider her previous prejudices against them. It seemed that some of Remus' calm ambience had made an impression on James' previous exuberance, allowing the two of them to talk away as if they had been friends for years. And how he and Sirius had made her laugh! There wasn't anywhere else where she had wanted to be instead. Her mind had not even drifted to Severus… That is, not until now…

Lily squinted around, her previous tranquillity disturbed by a funny fluttering of her heart. Now in Severus' absence, she was able to reflect on what had occurred between them that morning from a less hot-headed viewpoint. She knew why she had done it at the time, but now she started to realise with a worrying sense of guilt that throwing herself at Severus like that had not been the wisest thing to do. It was not that she hadn't enjoyed it, she confessed – and enjoying was as much of an understatement as saying that dragons did not make great pets – the way Severus had kissed her back had evoked such a divine sense of pleasure that she had never formerly known it was possible to feel.

But with a gathering sense of unease Lily was very much aware of how her foolishly rash actions had probably given Severus a mightily strong impression that she was saying yes, she would go out with him – that is, if he still wanted her to, given the cold way he had departed after she had kissed him…

However after their rather disastrous test-date to Hogsmeade Lily could not bring herself to risk a proper relationship with Severus, irrespective of her gathering desire for just that. She needed Severus to warm up to her convictions about the War before they dated or she was sure that they would lose their friendship altogether in explosive arguments and hurtful abuse shouted to each other in the heat of the moment. And Lily wouldn't risk that. She couldn't. Severus meant too much to her to risk their friendship falling into a ruin from which there could be no resurrection…

She sighed. Whatever mortification she felt, however much she wanted to just scream 'YES!' at Severus, she would have to apologise for her impulsive behaviour and pray that he did not take the letdown too badly… After all, she wasn't refusing him, just asking for more time…

She sat up and crossed her legs, trying to ignore the frustration that had built up in her in such a short time. Beside her, Alice and the other girls from her dormitory were all talking about how fit the guys looked, running around playing with James' new Fanged Frisbee, which was apparently the height of interest. Lily, who shared none of this interest, looked over to Remus who had just swapped out with Frank. Remus went to the nearby bank, found a long stick, and began stirring the water's surface in the hope of tempting out the Giant Squid.

Lily contemplated her friend thoughtfully, wondering how much he had seen that morning. As they had walked back from Hogsmeade, checking that all the other Gryffindors were leaving the village, she had attempted to suss out what he saw of her and Severus; Remus had admitted to seeing her crying with distinct unease but had not revealed anymore. Lily had not wanted to probe him any further; it would have suggested that there was something more, and if he did not know that she and Severus had been kissing, it was better to keep it that way. Though she regarded him as a good friend, she did not know whether Remus would keep a secret of hers if he deemed it in his best friend's interest to know it.

Remus was now using his stick to tickle the Giant Squid's tentacles. Mary crawled over to Lily and noticed her line of gaze.

"I'd so love to go swimming, but the Squid does scare me a bit," she sighed. Lily smiled.

"So… have you been watching the game?" Mary asked.

"Not really," replied Lily indifferently.

"Oh come on, Lily, you must!" said Alice, joining them. "It's such fun! James is really good at it."

"Exactly," Lily replied, as if that finished the matter.

Alice looked at her severely. "Don't act as if you don't like him. I know you do. I saw you two together this afternoon."

"And he really likes you," Mary added, watching James appraisingly. "He's so smart, he doesn't even have to work at it, and he's so good looking… just like Sirius…" She trailed off, going starry-eyed.

In spite of this pronouncement Lily stubbornly refused to look over at James and instead glared at her friend in the hope it would scare the colour in her own cheeks into going away. "I'm not interested in that department," she snapped. "He's just a friend."

"Oooh, that's more than you admitted to last week!" whooped Mary delightedly, tearing her eyes off Sirius' bare chest.

"I doubt it will last as just friends for much longer," said Alice, winking at Lily. She had seen just how well they had got on in the Vallatus class and seemed determined that this would finally push Lily and James together. It was incredibly irritating.

Lily was just about to declare this when James' voice rent the air.

"Oh shit!"

The girls glanced up to see what had happened; a gust of wind had lifted the Fanged Frisbee out of reach and was carrying it right out over the lake, finally dropping it with a soft plop onto the surface some way out. It bobbed up and down, sending out rings of ripples and snarling irritably.

"It's okay, James," Remus said, clambering to his feet and abandoning the Squid. "You can just Summon it back."

James turned to retrieve his wand from his bag, but suddenly the surface of the lake began to seethe madly with frantic swirls of ripples and a long tentacle burst out, waving in the air, before wrapping around the purple Frisbee and dragging it under.

"Oh no, not the Giant Squid!" James moaned, tearing at his hair and dancing about on the beach. "I'd only just bought that Frisbee!"

Lily stood up. "Why don't you swim over and take it back?"

James stared at her, his eyes popping. "Are you crazy?"

Lily shrugged. "It's just the Giant Squid. It's perfectly harmless."

"You can't be serious?"

Lily kicked off her shoes. "Is that a challenge?"

"Well-" James spluttered, looking at Sirius for help. Sirius just grinned.

"Sounds like an irresistible bet to me, you're going to win hands-down, Prongs," he told James, who still looked undecided.

James opened his mouth to protest but Lily cut him off as she walked down the grassy slope to the water, aware of her friends watching her avidly. "What's your bet?"

James hesitated. "Okay; if I win – you let me kiss you."

Lily's head jerked up. James grinned nervously. "And if I win…?" she asked softly.

"You can kiss whoever you want," he replied airily. "But you're not going to win."

"Really now?" Lily asked, smiling deviously. She checked the conditions. "One kiss? One only?"

James nodded. He began to wade into the water.

Lily frowned. "What are you doing?" she said.

"Getting ready to rescue you," James answered promptly.

Lily's eyes flared. "We'll see about that!" And she dived straight in.

The water was shockingly cold as it closed over her head, shutting out all sound from the world above. For a second her body protested at the sudden, frightening change in temperature and she felt an instinctive drive to kick back up to the surface for air; but somehow Lily managed to control her limbs and swam onwards in strong, smooth strokes. She opened her eyes to a blurry, shimmering world faintly tinged with green, where winking pebbles decorated the lakebed and streamers of weeds waved dreamily in a weak current. And then a vivid purple colour, hovering not far away, disrupted the gentle hues of the underwater world – the Fanged Frisbee!

Intent on retrieving it as soon as possible before she ran out of breath, Lily swam closer, her dress billowing around her legs like a pale green jellyfish. Out of the gloom an eye the size of a dinner-plate appeared, wide in pain as its owner flailed around with the teeth of the Frisbee sunk into one of its long tentacles. As Lily neared it, the Giant Squid's eye turned onto her. For a moment Lily was struck by terror, but it did not seem intent on eating her, perhaps having mistaken her for another underwater creature. Relieved, Lily held up a calming hand and took out her wand, wishing that the Squid would somehow understand to keep still. Whether by luck or by intuition, the tangle of writhing tentacles parted, leaving the one remaining tentacle with the attached Frisbee proffered towards her. Lily pointed her wand at it and prayed that she had finally got the hang of non-verbal spells, for she did not fancy wrestling with those snapping teeth.

Immobulus! she thought.

The snarling Frisbee stilled instantly and the Squid visibly relaxed. As a current of water flowed past, brushing Lily's hair over her eyes, it peeled off the Frisbee as easily as if it was nothing more than a Muggle plaster. Lily caught the purple Frisbee before it floated upwards, thankful that it was no longer snapping away, and made to swim up to the surface, intent on getting some air.

Suddenly she felt something cool and slippery winding around her arm. Startled Lily looked down to see the Giant Squid grasping her, but as she looked to its eye in terror she saw gratefulness, not menace. She smiled at the sea creature's token of thanks.

Then something disturbed the water to her side, sending silt flying up in spirals, and through the haze Lily saw the remainder of the Squid's tentacles waving at this new intruder. The half-light glinted off some rounded spectacles and told Lily all she needed to know.

Cross, she tried to tell James to leave her alone, but all that escaped her mouth were a few remaining small bubbles. Spluttering and now desperate for some air, Lily began to struggle and fixed her eyes upon the glassy white surface above. There was a commotion next to her and the tentacle around her arm quickly withdrew; Lily kicked out wildly and shot upwards; next thing she knew, she was bursting into brilliant sunlight and a world full of noise, coughing and gasping heavily.

A head popped up beside her a few moments later.

"Lily? Are you alright?"

Luckily Lily was saved from James by the arrival of her friends, who had decided to follow suit and join her in the lake, fully clothed. They swarmed around Lily, forcing James to retreat, and congratulated her excitedly on her retrieval of the Frisbee.

"You got the Frisbee!" Mary squealed excitedly. All of her friends seemed astounded and impressed by her 'daring' confrontation with the Giant Squid and keen to play around in the lake now that it had been proved to be safe. It made Lily laugh and she happily joined them in swimming and lounging about in the water, the Frisbee still clutched in her hand, her white dress swirling around her as if she was a ghost.

It was not long after, while her friends were diving for pretty stones, when a funny tingling crawled up her spine. She spotted a winged willow leaf spinning on the surface of the water, inches away.

Lily's eyes fled to the bank, her heart racing… Severus was not here, was he?

She searched the lawns and the wooded lakeside path with a kind of mad desperation – why, she was not sure. And then, out of the depths of the shadow of a willow tree, she met a pair of sultry, black eyes, fixated unwavering on hers. Lily's breath escaped her lips shakily. Severus was staring at her with such intensity that even across the distance she could feel the fierce desire roaring inside him as if he was devouring her lips once more – and instinctively she knew that he had not regretted their kiss as she had dreaded. He had not left her so coldly because he had not cared; quite the opposite. He had left so abruptly because he had cared so much, because he had been so furious at the interruption. At this comprehension a sudden ache jerked at her heart; she was overcome with the sudden desire to be kissing him again…

Lily closed her eyes, trying to calm her thoughts. When she opened them again, breathing shallowly, she saw the corners of Severus' lips were tugging up into a soft smirk.

Oh Merlin, why did he have to do this to her?

Furious with herself for being so readable, Lily dropped down beneath the surface of the cold water in an attempt to stop a visible blush rising to her cheeks, and swam a few good strong strokes underwater back towards where Mary and the other girls were splashing around, trying to slow her heart rate down. When she broke the surface once more, she swept her dripping hair off her face and quickly joined in with her friends' game, wondering how they could be so oblivious to the dark figure watching from the bank. But surrounded by her chattering, giggling friends, Lily felt safer and more confident, glad to be doing something; relieved to be creating the illusion that she thought nothing of the fact that Severus was sitting there watching her every movement.

Yet she could still feel his gaze burning upon her. And it was exceedingly difficult to resist.

It was only a matter of time before Lily felt her eyes drawn back to the dark hollow in the bank. She dipped her face low in the water, trying to make it less obvious where she was looking. Sitting so still, and dressed in such dark colours, Severus was so well camouflaged in the pool of shade there that it was no surprise that she had not noticed him earlier in the afternoon. But he was still there; his eyes sought her out, magnetising her to them. As their depths grew smokier the atmosphere between them seemed to constrict, as if fighting to pull her closer. She spluttered and slowed to a gentle drift following her friends.

Something different about Severus' appearance had gripped her attention. The book he had held before was now lying discarded on the grassy bank, and she noticed a triangle of toned, white flesh between his black shirt. It seemed that the heat had even affected Severus; Lily could never remember a time when he had undone a button that low before. The sliver that had been revealed was suggestive of such firm muscles that Lily felt dizzy and confused as to why her imagination was running off with such untoward images of her best friend. She quickly looked away and then barely stifled a scream. She found James' face inches from hers.

"Sorry, did I startle you?" he asked, as she splashed about and sculled backwards a foot.

"It's fine, I was just lost in thought," she said, her eyes travelling to her friends who had continued on without her and were now racing each other. She berated herself for letting herself get separated from them.

"In that case, I think it's time you gave me something."

"What?" Lily said.

"Our deal? I believe you owe me something. And I don't mean the Fanged Frisbee, although I'd like that back sometime today."

Panic began to rocket through Lily's body. "I don't owe you anything, James," she said, aiming for the cool tone but hearing a quaver in her voice.

"You didn't reclaim the Frisbee from the Squid on your own, therefore-"

"Excuse me, I did not need help! You just decided to give it, whether I needed it or not, to win the bet!" Lily said vehemently.

"The Squid had hold of you!"

"It was just saying thank you!"

James rolled his eyes. "You and animals…" he muttered. "It was going to eat you!"

"No, it was not!" Lily protested. "The Squid is perfectly harmless. You interfered and confused the poor thing!"

James snorted. "Well, can I have my Frisbee back now?"

"No, not until you admit that I won the challenge."

"You did not win!" James whined. "Besides," he added, "who would you want to kiss if not me?"

"I told you before, I'd rather kiss the Giant Squid than you," Lily teased, her eyes twinkling.

"Oi!" James splashed her and made a lunge for the Frisbee. Lily held the Frisbee up above her head, rubbing the water out of her eyes.

"You owe me, Lily," James growled. "The Frisbee or the kiss."

"You're not having either. Not until you admit I won. Then you can have the Frisbee back."

"Stop making up the rules! That wasn't part of the deal when we made the agreement!"

"Well, nor was your cheating."

"I didn't cheat!" gasped James, apparently hurt that she would think he would stoop to such low, Slytherin tactics to secure his goal.

Lily opened her mouth to retort, and then stopped. Perhaps James really had thought the Squid was pulling her down to eat once it had been freed from the Fanged Frisbee, and he was innocently trying to help her. Even though she didn't actually need the help…

James seemed to detect her indecision. "Lily, please…" he murmured with pleading brown eyes.

It would take much more than that to get her to kiss him! She took a well-aimed strike at the water and James was hit face-on with a huge wave of water that left him spluttering and bereft of his glasses.

Laughing Lily took her chance and swam to the shallows, hastening through the warmer water and up the bank. James had disappeared under the surface, no doubt fumbling around for his glasses. Lily hesitated.

With the force of a jet-like fountain, James burst out of the water, much closer to the shore than where he had disappeared. His glasses were back on and his brown eyes searched for her furiously.

"Lily!" he growled when they alighted upon her. He began to wade purposefully towards her, as he did so raking a hand through his soaked black hair so that it stood up in all directions even more untidily than usual and showered drops everywhere, pattering on the surface of the lake like rain.

Like a startled deer Lily darted off around the bank, running on the warm, springy grass, unaware of where she was going, her only thought to get herself and his prized Frisbee away from him as quickly as possible. As she neared the trees, she glanced back over her shoulder to see James struggling to get the water off his glasses as he went by rubbing them on his soaked shirt, but failing abysmally.

She hoped he wouldn't see where she had disappeared to. Lily dashed into the trees, feeling the warm dust from the path cling to her damp feet, thinking only of eluding James and what fun it would be. Her laughter rang out before she could stop it and she checked behind her to see if James was gaining –

All of a sudden a cool hand gripped her wrist, stopping her. Lily cried out and spun round, alarmed.

Her heart stopped. She found herself face to face with Severus.

xXxXx

He gazed into her bright, wide green eyes, framed by little trickles of water that ran down her forehead from her wet, dark red hair. Then his eyes moved over her, realising just how drenched she was, how flushed her cheeks were, and how quickly her breaths came between her parted lips.

"Oh…" Lily murmured. She was staring at him, stalled. It would appear that she had forgotten exactly where he had been sitting quietly and his unexpected appearance had offset her plan to evade James.

His lips twitched wryly. "Hello Lily."

Her cheeks, already flushed from running, turned even pinker.

There were thuds on the path behind. Severus' eyes flickered towards them, and then he sprang to his feet and tugged her up the bank.

"Quick – under here!"

He pulled her under the long trailing branches of the willow tree, letting the silvery curtain of leaves fall back just in time. They heard the footfalls grow louder, and heavy breathing. James was feet away.

"Stay still!" Severus whispered. Immediately Lily began to giggle.

"Shh!" But apparently the warning look in his eyes only made Lily want to laugh even more. Severus glowered at her as she bit her lip and her body shook with silent laughter. He seized her other wrist, too, in an attempt to still her as a blur of colour passed by the tree; but for once, he could not help a hint of amusement from entering his dark eyes.

Long seconds elapsed as their ears strained for any sign that James had found where they were hiding. Right now, nothing seemed funnier to Lily than the fact that they were both hiding from James. He could tell that she was surprised but secretly pleased that he had joined in with her. And as her wet body shook against his, he was very pleased that he had, too.

As James' footsteps continued on down the path and receded into the distance, Severus became incredibly aware of Lily's appearance. She was so wet that her chestnut-coloured hair was continually dripping water onto her nose and cheeks, and even her pink lips were gleaming wet.

Silently Severus let go of one of her wrists and raised his hand to wipe the drips of water off her forehead to stop them from going in her eyes.

"I think we're safe…" he murmured, taking his fingers away. He met her eyes.

They laughed.

"Thank you," Lily whispered at last.

Severus bent forward to brush his lips against her ear, teasing back her wet hair as he did so. "You're welcome," he whispered.

Unable to stop himself, he moved down to touch his lips to her pale white neck and felt a tremor run through her body. She gave a moan and tilted her head away as he gently began to suck on her throat.

"Sev…"

Severus ignored her weak protest. "God you're beautiful, Lily," he purred. His eyes followed the rivulets of dark red hair that trailed down over her slender shoulders onto her soaked white dress. It was now utterly transparent and clung tightly onto every part of her pale pink flesh, revealing every secret of her body as if she was standing there naked before him.

Severus swallowed, his throat dry, feeling as if he had suddenly been dropped into a very private fantasy – but where someone was watching him. His eyes gravitated to the gentle swell of her breast, where her lacy bra showed through opaquely white, and then ran down over her narrow waist before coming to linger on the darker area between the tops of her thighs.

Stop! his brain screamed. NOW! Before she sees! But he couldn't tear his eyes away. Instead he shut them, listening to the racing pulse thrumming in his ears and feeling the heat rise to his face as the blood seethed through his body.

When he opened his eyes, they were saturated startlingly with lust. At the same moment, Lily's eyes fluttered open like butterflies stretching their wings. She gazed at him, seemingly entranced, unaware of what he had been staring at. And then, as he made to descend upon her again, something else crossed her eyes – something like fear. Severus gave her a small, reassuring smile and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. She shivered.

"Sev…" she tried again, struggling to find her weak voice. "Sev, I need to apologise for this morning."

Severus drew back and hung his head. "No, Lily, it's my fault," he corrected her, sadness overwhelming his words. "I shouldn't have said those things. I'm sorry for upsetting you." He looked up at her pleadingly.

A puzzled expression had formed over Lily's face.

"I- I meant I'm sorry for kissing you, Sev…" she said quietly.

"What?"

Lily gulped. "I- I shouldn't have done it when I haven't given you an answer."

"Oh." Understanding gathered in Severus' eyes, interspersed with pain.

"I'm sorry," Lily said hurriedly. "It wasn't my intention to give you a false impression – I didn't want to hurt you-"

"You didn't," Severus said tightly.

"– I just need more time before we – you know – go any further…" There was a pause where Lily looked at him anxiously. "Are you alright?" she said apprehensively.

"I'm fine," he said, his tone annoyed. Lily's eyes filled with tears.

There was a rustling noise. They both turned around to see James standing there, looking on curiously at the interchange.

"Sorry to interrupt, but – woah!" James ogled Lily, staring shamelessly at the way the soaked see-through dress clung sensuously to her every curve.

Anger pulsed its way through Severus' veins. How dare James stare at Lily like that?! He glanced quickly at Lily and saw her looking frightened. Her eyes moved to his, hurt. Why didn't you tell me? they asked, panicked.

Wordlessly Severus seized a fallen branch and transfigured it into a grey-green towel, before passing it to Lily without meeting her eyes. Then he whirled around and marched to the furthest limits of the willow tree, determinedly not looking at her in order to give her some privacy. But what little good would it do, now that she knew what he had been staring at earlier? She must think he was nothing more than a hormonal teenager, intent on devouring her body lasciviously, just like James… Consumed by fierce contempt for the disrespectful Gryffindor, Severus jerkily crossed his arms to stop himself from strangling him.

After a minute his breathing had slowed down and his temper had cooled to a calm hatred. Severus cautiously turned round, his eyes moving to Lily, who had wrapped herself in the towel and was staring at the ground, her cheeks blazing in shame.

James, however, who had not turned away courteously like Severus, continued unabashed. "Lily, you still owe me."

"I don't owe you anything," she mumbled, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"We made a deal," reminded James.

"Just take your stupid Frisbee and go, James!" Lily said shrilly and hurled the Fanged Frisbee at him. He caught it before it struck him in the nose but stayed where he was, raising his eyebrows expectantly.

"I won the bet. And I can't give you what you want!" Her eyes flicked nervously to Severus.

"What is it you want from Lily?" Severus asked James, a warning tone distinctly underlying his words. He stepped forward protectively.

"She owes me a kiss," James replied smugly. What insolent cheek!

Lily's expression turned furious but Severus blurted out an answer before she did. "Well, it wouldn't be her first."

"What? What are you saying?" snapped James, his eyes narrowing.

Severus smirked. "I'm saying nothing. One of your little friends might, though." That all depended on whether or not Remus had seen him kissing Lily…

James glanced back over his shoulder to where Sirius, Remus and Peter were by the lake, confusion, doubt and fear clouding his eyes.

Lily took the chance to excuse herself before James figured that Severus had kissed her and a fight broke out. "Listen, I'd – I'd better go now," she announced timidly, drawing both their attention. "It's cold and I need to get changed before dinner… I'll see you both around…" She took one last fleeting glance at the two of them, avoiding their eyes, and then ducked under the willow's branches and hurried back up the path to the school, almost breaking into a run. Moments later, James followed.

Severus lifted up the curtain of leaves and slowly walked back to his spot on the bank to collect his book. He hadn't failed to notice the look of terror Lily had cast at him before she left. By failing to inform her of her compromising appearance, instead absorbed in savouring her dazzling looks for his own pleasure, he had unwittingly scared away the girl of his dreams. She would probably keep him at arms length from now on, scandalised by the lustful way he had treated her. Severus sighed resignedly. Perhaps it was for the best, as Lily obviously did not want to go out with him right now. It seemed that he had read her all wrong – he must have repulsed her with his kissing.

Severus grimaced and began his solitary way back to the school, feeling that he should have known this would happen all along. So what, if the Dark Lord gave him permission to make advances on Lily? That was no use now. From now on, he would have to keep his emotions under tighter control where she was concerned. If she was frightened by his intense feelings for her, he would have to hide them well; he still needed to persuade her to come over to the Dark Lord's side.

xXxXx

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