Chapter 10

September 30th, 2001

Severus stared blankly through the window, his hands clasped on his back. He was thinking about how many evil people he had met in his death eater days and about the terrible things he had witnessed… But as hard as he tried, he could not remember any of those people doing such horrible things to one of their own children. They all might not have been loving parents, but they took care and protected their young ones with everything they had. Just like any normal human being. What the Sebastian's had done to their daughter was despicable, to say the least.

He understood so much about this girl now; how closed and independent and proud she was. It made sense; he had once felt that fear, or aversion to getting close to someone. He had also felt like he destroyed someone's life because of his love and his involvement. Lilly had been killed because of that, because of him, and he had spent years, too many years, of his life blaming and punishing himself, drowning on guilt.

But Heather was a girl. A young woman, of course, with that entire burden inside her heart. It wouldn't do to see her drown herself in loneliness like he had in the past. If he, as stone hard as his heart was, had been able to put those feelings behind him and, only now, was opening up to someone, to Heather; then so could she. So should she.

"I really have to go to class now", Severus heard her sad voice in almost a whisper, and turned to her. Heather had tried her best to control and hide her tears away from him, and he understood she was not comfortable letting anyone see her cry. He had stood up and moved to the window to give her time to recover. Now she looked calmer, drying the last trails of shed tears from her cheeks.

"Don't worry. It's already started now. It won't be a problem missing just one class", he said as he walked over to stand in front of her. "I'll write you a note".

Heather sighed and looked down, away from his eyes. Severus reached up and softly held her chin, motioning her to look at him.

"Thank you for telling me", he whispered and caressed her cheek with his thumb. "I hope you know you won't face whatever happens alone. McGonagall would never let a student who deserves to be here to just be expelled like that", he said and too a step closer to her. "And I, even if I'm not part of the governors, have gained enough respect to have a voice among them as well. If necessary, I will speak for you".

"If necessary, I will defend myself", she said firmly, but her sad eyes got wet again. "You don't need to get involved".

"If I don't need to, then I won't. I know you can speak for yourself. Everything you've done to be here makes sure that this is very clear. You should be proud of yourself".

Heather snorted, looking down again, "Should I? I just face what I have to face in consequence of my own doing".

"Your own doing?", Severus asked incredulously and held her by the shoulders. "Heather, do you still believe what you parents said about it all having been your fault?"

"Well, isn't it?", she said looking at him again. "I did ruin Ryan's life the moment I met him".

"You did not", he said firmly. "Your parents did, it was their fault, and their fault alone. You did not ask for that to happen, you didn't see that coming"

"Exactly!", she said and a tear escaped her eye. "I did not see that coming, but I should have! I knew my parents, I knew their thoughts, I should have known they would be capable of doing terrible things! I should have known, I should! And now Ryan's life's been stopped and my baby…"

She broke down then and held his arms, which were still on her shoulders, and bent down in pained sobs. Severus held on to her, preventing her to fall on the floor, and hugged her tightly, her face buried in his chest. He could hear her saying "my baby" among tears. With his chest aching more than he could remember having felt for Heather, he just let her cry in his arms, stroking her hair, and slowly moved to the couch, sitting down and pulling her to his lap.

"He'd be almost five now", she said minutes later, still crying but a little calmer. "Or she". Not knowing what to say to that, Severus just kissed her forehead. "And I'd be to much more screwed that I am now!", she laughed, still crying. "But I wouldn't care… It was my child. Ryan's child, something he will never have".

That was something Severus couldn't relate to. He had never had the opportunity of having a child, nor had he ever thought about it. It was just something that had never crossed his mind, neither for wanting one or rejecting the idea. He'd had quite a few kinds of pain in his life; but this was one he didn't know.

"I'm sorry", he whispered into her hair. "I'm so sorry for your pain…", was all he could say, and was surprised by Heather holding on to him even tighter, her face buried in his neck.

"Thank you", she whispered and kissed him there. "Thank you, Severus…It means a lot to me".

"No… I thank you, my dear".

They just sat together, Heather still cuddling in his lap, for a while, during the first class time. When Heather would have to clean up to go to her Charms class and Severus to his first DADA teaching of the day, Heather sat up straight on him and cupped his cheeks, looking silently into his eyes. Severus slowly cleaned her face with his thumbs, whispering quietly a cleansing spell, and then kissed her slowly and deeply. Heather would be loss in that kiss if Severus hadn't made her stand up and silently walked her to the door, where again he stopped just to brush his lips on hers and then to her forehead before quietly leaving her room.

Heather closed her eyes and took a few calming deep breaths. Now that she was alone, she allowed herself to feel the ache in her chest and the pounding in her heart. She fought tears again and didn't let them fall. She couldn't spend her day crying over memories and fears… She felt to scared now, and didn't even know what scared her most, if it was the possibility of her parents making her leave Hogwarts, or if it was about what she was feeling, how Davon's words had been true. She was in love with Severus, and that was terrifying. She had never been in love with anyone else in her life after Ryan, and she had promised herself she'd never get involved for real in her life. Being involved with her would hurt any man; it would hurt Severus just like it had hurt Ryan.

But at the same time - she smiled between breaths – she had never felt more alive that she was feeling right now. She had voiced everything that had happened to her, and little by little she felt like a weight was being lifted from her shoulders; her heart was beating fast and it felt full of something she didn't know, but felt so good, yet foreigner. It was the most confused Heather had ever been, but allowing her heart to pump all she wanted now was that Severus had not left her room and that she could spend the day in bed with him. She had to shake herself out of that reverie and go to class. That was why she was in this castle, after all.

That afternoon's Defense Against the Dark Arts class was pure torture for both of them. Severus gave the students parchments with revision activities and remained silent most part of time in his desk. Forcing herself to concentrate, Heather couldn't help but looking up from time to time to look at him. Inevitably, they eyes met every time. By the end of class, done with the questions, Heather felt her face was quite hot and kept it down, unwilling to risk someone seeing her flushed cheeks. In the last few minutes of class, she watched him rising from his chair and walking among the rows, his billowing cloak sliding after him, his threatening, deep and quiet voice echoing on the stone walls.

When the time was up, students rose from their desks already carrying their school bags, gave the parchment back to the teacher and ran out of the class. Heather's friends did just that, and she pretended to be finishing the last question, motioning them to go to ahead. She was already up when the last students delivered their tests and rushed out.

"Problems with your test?", said the amused voice of Professor Snape as Heather walked over to his desk

"None at all, Professor. I'm not sure if you know, but I am quite good in your subject".

"You're quite good in a lot of things, Miss. Sebastian".

She smiled at him knowingly and placed her parchment on top of the pile. "Here's my test, professor. I think you're going to find it quite satisfactory. And now that class is over", she said going around his desk. Severus turned his chair on her direction and leaned back. "can I call you Severus again?"

"Gods, yes".

She leaned in and kissed him, not wasting time in teasing him softly with her lips as he had done to her before. She invaded him with her tongue, surprising him, and heard him moan in her mouth before kissing her back just as avidly, a hand reaching to hold the hair in the back of her head. She still didn't touch him, though. Not allowing him to notice, distracted as he was by her kisse, Heather reached up under her skirt and slid her panties down, stepping carefully out of them when they hit the floor. Just then she touched him, to open his cloak and reach his belt. Severus grip on her hair tightened when he felt her fumble with it and open his trouser, releasing him.

Heather moaned in his mouth, "So hard for me already…"

"I've been hard since I saw you enter this class".

With his eyes closed, lost in the feelings of her almost attacking him, the next thing Severus felt was the soft, velvety wetness of her rubbing briefly against him before connecting him to her entrance and sliding down. His eyes flew wide open when she connected fully with him and groaned in pleasure.

"Oh, fuck…", he whispered pulling her neck down to him. "Heather".

Sensations rising suddenly, Heather's fingers dig into his shoulders when she started moving up and down on him, slowly for just a minute before quickening the pace, her hips rolling in his lap. Severus moaned like a boy onto her neck, his hands grasping her waist strongly, motioning her. Heather felt her orgasm build so quickly and suddenly, that it made her cry out before throwing her head back and going quiet, trembling on Severus's lap. When she opened her eyes, still breathless and dizzy, she saw his face contracted in pleasure, gripping her down to him, groaning his release. She observed him, a satisfied smile on her face, until he relaxed and opened his eyes again.

"Are you trying to kill me, witch?", he said against her lips

"No, I just really wanted you. Couldn't wait…"

"I'm glad you didn't", he whispered before kissing her deeply again, their bodies still fully connected.

She allowed him to kiss her for a moment before withdrawing suddenly from him. "You have a class now!"

"Yes, and you've put me into the difficult situation of teaching first years with this delightful post-coitus drowsiness".

Heather laughed and rose from his lap, making him wetly slide out of her. He pointed his want at her and she was clean. He also got up, closing his buttons and belt as she pulled up her knickers. When they were both covered again, Severus pulled her to his chest and held her tightly. She breathed deeply into his chest, eyes closed.

"I want to sleep with you tonight", he said into her hair. "Let me stay with you".

She looked up at him, their faced very close. "I can't. I'm working tonight; I don't know at what time I'll be back".

"I'll meet you at Burn".

"I'm not working there. There's a party outside Diagon Alley, they hired me to sing; it's just tonight. I'm not sleeping over there, I'll be back after the show, but I'm not sure at what time", and, at the slightly disappointed face he had now, in spite of trying to hide it, she finished. "I'll floo you when I get to my room, it that good?"

"Ok", he said and then completed sharply. "If I'm awake. Or at home. I might be at a party myself, who knows?"

Heather laughed out loud and kissed the tip of his nose before turning and walking between the desks towards the door. "I'll call you", she said before leaving.

The fire on the hearth had just died, a small line of smoke from the ashes rising up to the chimney. Severus had dozed on his chair, a book open in his lap. He had promised himself he wouldn't wait for a long time. If Heather didn't look for him soon, he'd go out for drinks at Burn, even if she was not there. Half way through a chapter, though, he had fallen asleep, and when the fireplace turned green and Minerva's head showed up, he woke up with a start and was alert in a second, but he had no idea how much time had passed.

"Severus!", she shrieked. "Severus, are you awake?"

"Can't you see me right here? Of course I'm awake. What happened?"

"Filius and I have been called to the Ministry with urgency. I don't have time to explain now, I'll tell you later. You're officially in charge until we come back. Please, Severus, wait for us to return in my office".

With that, she disappeared, leaving Severus astonished and worried; he grabbed his teaching cloak and hurried to Minerva's office. There he paced his legs off waiting for them to return, picturing the most terrible outcomes to whatever had happened. Never before the Headmistress and Deputy Headmaster had been called away at the same time, and with such urgency.

More than one hour had passed when Severus felt the wards in the castle shift for a moment, and, a second later, a loud crack of apparition. Startled he took a step back to see Minerva arrive with a hand in Flitwick's shoulder, and holding in her other arm a very subdued Heather.

"Here, dear, take a seat", the Headmistress said when they stopped spinning. "Winky!"

The house elf appeared with expectant eyes and disappeared again right after Minerva asked for a set of tea. Heather had sat on the chair in front of the desk and looked down, silent. Severus hadn't still been able to say a work, scared about what could have happened to her.

"An outrage!", Filius seemed to have decided to speak first. "Those Aurors are completely out of line!", he shrieked, pacing close to a window

"Will anybody care to tell me that the hell happened?", Severus stormed and saw Heather turn her head in his direction, scared to hear his voice. He hadn't seen her eyes yet, and something cold took his stomach. Her eyes were read, smeared makeup, and when she saw him, her chin trembled and she turned around again, face in hands.

"It was a misunderstood. No student from my house would have part in something like that!"

Severus had never seen Filius as angry as he was now, his small form pacing and his face half-hidden by his moustache was red. He didn't care about his colleague, though. "What. Was. It?", he said between his teeth.

"Miss Sebastian was working tonight outside the castle", Minerva started, sitting across Heather by her desk. "As you know, she's kept working while studying to afford her expenses. Tonight, the Auror's Office ran a raid at the place she was working in and they have found illegal substances", she said with a sneer. "They have arrested a few of the attendees, and most of who was working there, for clarifications. Miss Sebastian was taken among them".

"They took all of them to the temporary jail in the dungeons at the Ministry", Filius said, outraged. "Have you seen those jail cells?", Filius asked Severus, without expecting an answer. "It was preposterous!"

"Calm yourself, Filius, you're making Miss Sebastian even more nervous", Minerva said and took a deep breath. "It has been resolved, they had nothing against her, and we took her out of there, no registries in her file"

"Yes, yes, it's been resolved for now, but we all know what the board is going to say about this!", Filius said

"The board?", Heather looked at her Head of House, and Severus could hear the fear in her voice. "What are they going to do?"

"They will investigate this until the end. Why was a Hogwarts student outside the castle; why was she working while she's a student; had she really had no participation in the illicit activities…", Minerva pointed. "We can be prepared to put up a fight".

"Miss Sebastian", Severus' voice started from somewhere behind her "is of age and duly authorized by the castle's authorities to work at the weekends. Since the accusations from the Aurors tonight were absolutely unsubstantial, they will have no case against her".

"Let's hope so, Severus", Minerva said leaning tiredly on her chair. "Having a problem like that, perhaps on the Prophet tomorrow, and a student expelled by the board…", she said and Severus saw Heather flinch and shrink on her place, but Minerva didn't seem to notice. "…would be just terrible for Hogwarts' public image. Miss Sebastian, I think you should go to your room now, you must be exhausted…", she paused. "Before you go, though… You must know I will, and I'm sure Professor Flitwick as well, remain by your side should any difficult situations arise. But for now, my dear, and probably definitely, I fear I must deny you the right to keep working on the weekends". She said sadly and saw Heather just close her eyes and a fat tear escape from each eye. "I am sorry, I really am, but this is a final decision. Go get some sleep now".

"Ok… Thank you, Professors", she said in a weak voice, looking from Minerva to Filius, "for taking me out of there. And… I'm sorry. I'm really sorry fro bringing you this problem". Both professors nodded at her silently and she rose from her chair, turning around to the door, where Severus was standing. "Professor", she said respectfully, opening the door and disappearing.

Minerva made Severus stay in her office to discuss the situation with her and Filius. The small Ravenclaw's Head of House was impressed to see the Potions Master defend his student, but his outrage for what happened was stronger. In about half hour, they had agreed they'd face the board on behalf of Miss Sebastian, who was a paying student as any other one and had the same right to be there as anyone. As an adult, she had had the right to go out of the castle and have a paying job, but if some of those rights needed to be taken away for the sake of the board, then the job would go, as Minerva had already told Heather.

Flitwick and Severus left the office together. When Severus arrived on the corridor he was supposed to turn go do downstairs and to the dungeons, Filius stopped to say goodnight and keep on his way to the third floor, where his office was. Severus responded his goodnight and turned the corner of the hall, stopping there, out of his small colleague's sight. He heard his steps fading away and gave it one more minute before following. Filius had already entered his quarters when Severus got to the third floor and stood at the portrait that hid Heather's room's corridor.

Heather left the door opened after entering, since nobody else lived in that corridor. She took off her shoes, angrily throwing them across the room. Tears still stubbornly escaped her eyes, her makeup now completely undone. She paced to the door and back towards the bathroom, uncertain if she should go to shower of check the door. She kept moving there and looking outside, each moment angrier that he was not there yet. She was pacing close to the window when a movement by the door caught her attention. Severus was already in and closing the door behind him, look expectantly at her.

"Never!", Heather started, "In my life… Despite of so many thing I have gone through", she paused with a sob, "have I been accused of something illegal – never! Arrested! Taken to a jail with the real guilty ones! I was just singing and they took me from the stage! Severus – I didn't – I wasn't! I swear!"

"I know it, Heather", he said walking towards her. "Nobody here doubts you. You had the two Heads of Hogwarts speaking for you and it was proved you did nothing of the sort", he said and cupped his wet cheeks in his both hands, making her look closely to him, and said softly "Calm yourself. Nothing else can be done tonight".

"I'm getting expelled", she whispered, the weakness in her voice making her sound so frail and small to Severus' ears. His chest ached again, once more in that same day.

"As long as I can avoid it, you're not. Heather", he said stepping even closer. "They might try. They might put on pressure on the school and on you, yes. But for what I already know of you, you won't let down easily. And I assure you, I won't as well", he said and looked deeply at her, waiting for her to answer. With a weak sniff, she nodded. "Ok? Now, no more crying. You did nothing wrong, so you don't deserve to cry".

He hugged there and she responded strongly, gripping the back of his robes. "Thank you", she said, her voice much less weak now.

"Anytime".

She let him go and turned around to enter the bathroom, where she leaned into the sink to wash her face. Severus moved to sit down on the couch to wait for her to recover and return, but stopped and rushed towards her when he heard her cry "Shit!"

"What?", he said from the door. Heather was looking at the mirror, wiping her face with a hand.

"I was looking like that all the time?!"

He understood she was talking about her eye make up having been completely disheveled from her years. He chucked, "Yes. All the time".

"Shit!", she said again leaning to the water again

He laughed wholeheartedly at her, "Heather, this is of no concern. Just three of us saw you, and I assure you we all understood the reason behind that panda face".

She gasped into the towel she had grabbed to dry her face, "Panda?!", she said outraged and threw it at him. "How gentle of you! Is that how you console a lady in distress like I am now?"

"A lady in distress indeed", Severus said coming closer to her, his velvety voice reaching right through her. "But that is now how I must console you".

"Oh? How are you doing it, then?"

"First", he said stopping in front of her, very closely, "I am going to wash you in hot water so your muscles will relax". Severus leaned forward and pressed a lingering kiss on Heather's forehead. Her eyes fell closed on their own. "Then I'll wrap you on a blanket and lay you down by the fire". He bent his knees a little to reach down for the hem of her dress. Heather lifted her arms unthinkingly for him to slip it over her head. Severus kissed softly her nose and eyes as his hands brushed through the skin of her back and unclasped her bra, sliding it down her arms. "And when you feel good and calm again", he whispered sliding his fingers under the waistband of her knickers and slid it slowly down, "I'll make love to you… Long and slow… Until you forget… Everything".

Heather felt like she had already forgotten everything – whatever that everything was – when he slowly kissed her; but she was too happy to let him do everything he promised. Severus opened the shower and guided her under the spray, and then took off his own clothes and entered it with her. With soap and washcloth, her washed and rubbed every inch of her body, in a slow, sensual way that made her lost in want in the very first minutes. He washed her hair, his fingers massaging her scalp with the honey scented foam, and later he did the same with her conditioner. What it seemed like hours later, Severus turned off the shower and toweled her body until her skin was dry. He motioned his wand through her hair whispering a charm that dried it almost completely and, then, as he promised, guided her back to the bedroom. There he lit the fireplace and sat with her, both still naked, wrapped on a soft blanket.

He noticed her face looked relaxed and peaceful, and he felt like it had been weeks since she saw her face like that, but it had really been just a day. That had been a real terrible day for her… But now she looked fine, and a sudden sense of proud took him. Could he do that to her? Could he really bring a woman peace, relaxation, tranquility? Well, that was new…

As he thought about that, she stared at him, noticing his eyes dance around her face, seemingly lost in thoughts. She leaned towards him and brushed her lips on his, and it was enough to wake him up. He closed his eyes and gently kissed her back, one arm encircling her back, the other hand stroking her face and hair. Slowly, their tongues met, and then everything that existed was their bodies, the fire, the blanket. Kissing her, Severus pushed her down to her back on the carpet, and pulled the blanket to cover them. Their kiss deepened then, but it was still gentle and slow, as he had promised. Severus positioned himself between Heather's legs and his entire body was now touching hers; he supported his weight on his elbows by her shoulders' sided and caressed her face and hair with both hands, kissing her lips, forehead, nose and eyes. After several minutes of delighting on her tongue and skin, he heard her whimper and felt something wet and warm on his hardness. He had grown hard and hadn't even noticed, and his erection rubbed against her folds. Moving it slightly downwards, he found her entrance and started moving in. Entering her. Going home.