I awaken alone on the mattress as usual; this morning, however, I feel the lack of warmth oh-so-much more acutely for last night's heat. As I drift into reality, I begin to have doubts – really? A dog-come-human? I suppose he could be an Animagus, I think, as I sit up. I shake my head. Really. I need to get a hold on my imagination.

And then I see a bouquet of roses – hastily picked and put together, it would seem – on the ground before me. Among their stems is a folded note.

I unfold it and read.

"It wasn't a dream, my delightfully doubtful darling.

I am very much real, and will be thinking all day of how I will prove this to you tonight.

Until then, I will remain your very own,

Snuffles"

I sink back on the bed and warmth fills my breasts, my stomach, my loins, as the reality of last night sets in. He was so gentle, yet so hungry; I think of how he kissed my ears, my neck, my shoulders, the feel of his hand supporting my head as he pulled me close to him, the weight of his body on top of mine.

The memory that sends a shiver down my spine, however, is the way he noticed every little noise I made, every involuntary movement of my body toward his, every confession I made about how much I liked what he was doing, or how I had been dreaming this would happen. It wasn't just that he noticed, though – it was how he responded, his breath growing ragged, his touch both more gentle and possessive at the same time. It was as if I were some ethereal, fragile object that he thought he could never touch – and now that he had his hands on me, he was simultaneously thrilled, afraid to break me, and terrified of letting me go.

I walk to the Great Hall, late to breakfast, so sleep-deprived that I once again feel as if I am dreaming. I slip into a seat across from Lily and Helen.

"Addie?" Lily looks hard at me. "You look… different."

"I feel different," I giggle.

Helen looks sideways at Lily. I can tell she's thinking, Really? Did Addie just giggle?

I giggle again, and smile dreamily at a window, beginning to replay last night from the beginning, when that hand first covered my eyes.

I can feel Lily and Helen staring at me incredulously. Then I become aware of another set of eyes on me. I turn my head and see Sirius looking at me with eyes full of emotion. There's satisfaction in them, but there's also something else in them – what is it? I shrug and give him a quick wave before turning back to my inner reverie.

Lily and Helen push me into the bathroom as we walk to Potions. Lily fixes me with a hard stare. "Explain."

I grin. "Snuffles turned into a human last night. And we kissed," I look up at the ceiling, "Um, pretty much until sunrise. And he's just so… perfect."

There is a period of several seconds where they both are speechless.

Lily breaks the silence. "Who is he?" she asks sharply. "He must be an Animagus, of course."

"Uh," I say. "I don't really know."

The bell rings, and I move toward the door, but I can feel Lily's worried, disapproving look on my back as we leave.

It's easy enough to shrug it off and return to my daydream.

I almost forget about Potions tutoring that afternoon, but at last minute, remember, do a 180, and head toward our tutoring room.

Severus smiles when he sees me. Seriously. This is how good I've gotten at Potions lately – my tutor is happy to see me.

I do make a couple minor mistakes, but I think it's only because I'm so tired. Severus is actually quite understanding. Then, at the end of the tutoring session, he drops the bomb. "Mc – er, Adrienne, the Yule Ball is in six weeks. I know it's a while from now, but I figured I would ask now, since you'll probably have lots of other guys asking..."

I scoff. "Doubtful." Then it hits me. "Wait. Are you asking me to the Yule Ball?"

Severus swallows. "Yes."

My eyes get wide. I have no idea what to say.

"Would you, er, think about it, then?"

"Uh… okay," I say.

"You'll go with me?" Severus' voice is filled with incredulous, disbelieving joy.

I am speechless once again.

Apparently he takes this as a yes, or maybe he's afraid I'm going to say no, because he grabs his stuff and runs out.

It takes me about 15 minutes to figure out what just happened.

I remain confused until I see Snuffles that night. He's in Animagus form, waiting for me by the mattress, and suddenly everything else just melts away. He cocks his head at me, and I respond, "All right, I'll close my eyes already."

I close them, still standing, and there are a few long seconds of waiting before his strong, warm arms are wrapped around me, his lips enveloping mine. The next thing I know, I am being picked up in the air and spun around, still kissing him. But this spinning is nothing compared to the way my heart is fluttering. Finally, he puts me back down and pulls his mouth from mine.

His voice is ragged. "It has been much too long a day."

He pulls me in close again, but this time it is simply to embrace me. He rests his chin on the top of my head, then puts his head down to take a long breath in-

"Are you smelling my hair?"

He laughs and kisses my forehead. "I love how your hair smells."

He puts his arms around me again, and then I am falling – he is falling backward, and I am falling forward, on top of him. I tense a little, but keep my eyes closed, trusting him. We bounce a little as we hit the mattress, and I am amazed by the strength of his broad chest and abs – he doesn't seem at all bothered that a hundred and five pound girl just fell on top of him like a bag of bricks. Actually, if I had to guess, I'd say he really, really liked it.

"How was your day?" he asks, after a healthy amount of reunion celebration.

"Ugh, better now," I say.

Snuffles' arms loosen, becoming gentler, and he pulls one away and begins lightly tracing patterns on my back. "What happened?" he asks, with – truly, breathtakingly, frighteningly – the most concern I've ever heard expressed in two words.

"It's not that bad!" I cheerily try to reassure him. "Just, my friends are all concerned that I don't know who you really are, and that's kind of stressful."

Snuffles sighes. "Why do you trust me, Adrienne?"

I ponder the question. "Well, you did save me from a werewolf. Even when you were just a dog, I felt more comfortable and safe than with anyone. And maybe it's also partly that I would wake up in the morning having had dreams of sleeping cuddled up with a guy and hope, wish that…"

"You do know you were actually sleeping with me, this way," Snuffles interjects. "I… couldn't resist."

I smile. "Well, that makes me feel a little less crazy. Lily and Ellen are still pretty skeptical, though."

Snuffles lets out another deep sigh. "I'm sorry. I want to us to be normal, too. More than you can know, actually. But at the moment, it's a bit… complicated."

I contemplate this. The easiest explanation I reach does NOT make me happy. "You don't have a girlfriend, do you?" my voice accusatory, my body tense and ready to react by hitting him.

His reaction is just to draw me closer, rigid muscles and all. "Of course not." He plants a wet, deep, passionate kiss on me, and I begin to respond, relaxing and retracting my claws. The process is interrupted when he quickly pulls away.

"I'm sorry, darling," he apologizes for stopping. "I just have to take a minute to try to remember everything about that moment. Seeing you jealous, about me, was just so endearing. If I didn't care so much about you, I would purposefully make you jealous just to see your reaction."

"You better not make me jealous," I growl, realizing, halfway through, that he is, once again, loving my reaction. I play it up for his benefit. "You don't even want to know what I'd do if you gave me reason to be jealous."

"What's that?" I can hear the smile in his voice.

"I'd beat you up, of course." He chuckles, so I think of something else. "And then I'd ignore you. AND I'd do things to make you jealous."

Snuffles takes a mock gasp of air. "No! Adrienne! Please, no! I'd… die! … I'd wither away!" his voice changes, growing more serious. "Honestly, though, I'm beginning to think my heart might break without you. Not being able to be with you today, seeing you but… I mean, not seeing you…"

I interrupt. "Are you a student at Hogwarts?"

He gives me a feathery kiss. "Give it a little more time." Before I can ask any more questions, he continues. "Do you know what I did all day? I thought of the perfect pet name for you. Something more personal than 'darling,' and 'sweetheart'."

I am intrigued. The dog-boy knows how to change the subject. "And?" I prompt.

He chuckles. "I'm not sure I'm ready to start saying them out loud. It might be better if I kept them in my head."

It is my turn to let out a mock sigh. "In that case," I say, rolling away from him. "It's getting late. No more kisses for tonight, I think…"

He rolls me back over, and I try my hardest not to give into kissing him back.

He pulls away, finally. "It was a tie," he says. "Between… hurricane and cactus."

I think he expects me to get mad, but I just laugh. "I guess it's a good thing we're not a public couple yet," I say. "It gives me some time to think of an even worse term of endearment for you."

"I look forward to it, my dear cactus," Snuffles replies, planting a soft kiss on my lips.

After that, there's no more talking for a while.