A/N: Thank you, thank you for the reviews! It's always great to get them smiles Hope you all enjoy this, though there's no smuttiness in it... I definitely wrote this one very, very quickly, but I think it turned out okay. (Come on, they all can't have mass quantities of sex) Also, I'm working on another story that's kind of centralized around Draco more... Just wondering if anyone's interested...

10

The Slytherin common room was nearly empty and Ava was lying on a couch, staring at the low ceiling above her. A hand had come up to absentmindedly twirl the necklace she had received from Draco, and she let her mind wander into nothingness as she sat there. The door opened, though she remained still, and she heard the footsteps from the culprit close in on her. As much as she had come to enjoy spending time with Draco, she really needed a moment to herself. Fate was unkind however and a shock of white hair flashed by as he jumped gently onto her stomach.

"Hello love," he said with a grin, leaning over to kiss her forehead gently. "Made a decision yet?" Ava let out a sigh and laced her fingers with his before pulling his hand close so she could kiss the top of it.

"Yes and… Yes. I would love to come home with you for Christmas. I sent an owl to Mum and Dad earlier, not that they'll mind, and I've just about got everything packed that I need. You're parents really don't mind?" she asked, arching an eyebrow at him.

"Course not," he said as he stood up and pulled her with him. "Mum is absolutely thrilled that she gets to meet you and Father is… Well, I think he's just happy that I found someone as amazing as you are," he said with a smile. "We leave first thing in the morning. Want to go get some dinner?" he continued, pulling her off the couch and leading her towards the common room door. She followed without hesitation but the look on her face caused his expression to turn sour.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly before making an attempt to explain as they stepped into the dungeons. She was cut off though as Draco shook his head and held a hand up to stop her.

"I know. You have to go do your potion bull shit with Snape… Always with Snape… I swear, he gets to see you more than I do," he growled. Ava grabbed his arm and pulled him to the side of the hallway before pinning his shoulders to the wall. There was an unwavering intensity in her eyes and the look on her face told Draco it would be foolish to press the issue.

"For the last time, this is my future. Believe me Draco, I want nothing more than to spend every waking second with you. Unfortunately for both of us, that's not possible. Doing this will open so many doors for me and I can move up in the industry so quickly with the experience I've had working wi-," she stopped abruptly as a confused look swept over Draco's face and he pushed her away gently.

"I don't understand why it matters? You aren't going to need to work! What; you think I can't take care of you? You think my family doesn't have that kind of wealth? I can assure you Ava, you're going to have a very posh lifestyle and you won't ever want for anything. I don't get why you're so consumed with all this potion crap. Who cares? It's not like you're ever going to have to support yourself!" he said fiercely as he paced around the hallway and waved his arms for added emphasis. Ava stared at him completely bewildered, on various different levels, at his statement. First and foremost, they had never spoken about marriage before and the idea of something so finite was overwhelming to her. Second, the idea that she was going to sit at home and be some sort of trophy wife for him made her physically sick to her stomach. She had seen firsthand the kind of life that was, as her mother had chosen that path, and from a very young age there had been no doubt in her mind that that was not going to be the life she led. Closing her eyes for a moment, she took a few deep breaths before opening them again to find Draco staring blankly at her.

"Let's get through the holiday before we worry about that," she said quietly. "Go get something to eat and I'll meet you back in the common room later." Without waiting for a response she turned around and headed off quickly towards the potion lab as Draco let out a sniff and turned the other way. Pushing the door to the classroom open roughly, she was surprised to find Snape standing in the middle of the room and peering over into a cauldron. "What are you doing?" she snapped. His head raised slowly and he stared at her with mild confusion at her harsh tone towards him. "Sorry," she said before he got a chance to speak. "I didn't mean that towards you."

"Trouble in Paradise?" he said smoothly as his gaze returned to the cauldron. Ava took a seat at one of the desks off to his side and stared straight ahead for a minute before slamming her hand on the desk.

"He just wants me to sit at home! Just sit there," she said with a disgusted look on her face, as though she had just smelled something awful. "Who does he think I am? I'm not Kat, I can tell you that much. I have a brain and I'm smart and I want to use that, not just bring it up at parties. Oh, that would be of course if I even got to speak at them. I'm sure if he had his way, I'd just hang on his arm and follow him around like some sort of puppy," she sneered. Snape glanced at her from the corner of his eye as he began stirring the contents of the cauldron.

"I'm not quite sure if I'm an acceptable choice of company for this particular conversation," he said softly. "I believe I have quite a skewed view on the situation." Ava dropped her head and it slammed into the table though the sting didn't affect her. She made a quiet whiney sound into the wood before turning her head so she could see Snape.

"You have nothing to do with this," she moaned, shoving her face into the wood once more. "He wants us to get married and that, my dear professor, has nothing to do with you."

"And why's that? I don't get a say in this? Or an opinion even?" he asked, remaining unusually calm while he spoke. "Being as intelligent as you are, you had to know this day was going to come eventually."

"Of course you can have an opinion and I welcome it. As far as "this day" however, I'm not quite sure as to what you mean and I have no desire to think anymore right now. Care to elaborate?" she muttered into the table as he trickled a few drops of the dragon's blood into the cauldron. After sealing it back up, Snape waved his wand and produced a seat on the other side of the desk before sitting down. She finally raised her head up off the table, though it was just enough so that she could get a clear view of him.

"As I see it, you've come to a sort of fork in the road, so to speak. You, and when I say you I mean you, need to make a decision on where you want your life to head. Knowing the facts and knowing the situation you're in, you have to decide how you want to spend your life," he said, leaning back in the chair. "One way leads you towards an easy, comfortable life in the lap of luxury and filled with love and warmth and emotional fulfillment, but is less than desirable from a mentally stimulating perspective. Another leaves you pushing yourself and potentially achieving great things and becoming one of the most brilliant witches of your time, but is completely devoid of the comfort and security that option one has. The third, however, is to try and balance a life of secrecy and deceit where you will never be comfortable around Draco and will never be able to obtain the intellectual stimulation you thrive off of. It's quite the quandary, now isn't it?" Ava stared at him for a moment as his words sank in before slamming her head back onto the table.

"Ow," she mumbled.

"If I may, what's your first instinct? Without giving it any thought for rationality or from a logical point of view, where does your gut tell you to go?" he said, gently prodding a response from her. Ava sighed heavily into the table before picking her head back up and looking at him blandly.

"I want to be with you," she said simply. Snape opened his mouth as though he was about to speak, but Ava finally sat up straight and cut him off. "Honestly, Severus, you think I don't understand my options? Let me see if I really can understand this… Option one: Marry Draco and give myself to him completely, which in turn means I leave you and will never get to work again. Option two: Stay with you and get to work, but accept the fact that you will never love me and never commit to me and that, while I'll get a sex life, I'll have no emotional fulfillment or… Option three: Continue playing this bullshit game that you've made me a pawn in… Did I get it? Does that about sum it up?" Despite the sarcastic tone in her voice, the faintest hint of a smile was forming across his lips as he leaned forward and rested his arms on the table.

"Nothing gets past you my dear, does it?" he said dryly. "You pretty much nailed it with the exception of Option two, as you so eloquently put it. Love and commitment are not the issue, as I'm quite sure I've shown you both of those things. I, however, am not capable of offering you the life you're used to. You say that doesn't matter, but you've never known anything other than wealth and comfort. Coming from that, it would be easy to assume life was always pleasurable."

"I'm willing to make sacrifices if you are," she sneered as she stood up and made her way over to the cauldron. She stared at the contents for a moment before grabbing a vial off the desk and measuring a bit of the powdered contents in her hand before dumping it in. "It was ready for the powdered ashwinder eggs," she said simply before stirring the liquid counterclockwise. "What are you making a love potion for anyway?"

Snape stood up and was quickly by her side with an almost panicked look on his face. She glanced up at him, immediately sensing the tension, and sat the wooden spoon back onto the desk before taking a step back. "Why are you making a love potion?" she repeated.

"How did you know what that was?" he asked, glancing back and forth between the witch and the cauldron. "How did you know what I was brewing?"

"I wouldn't have gotten this apprenticeship if I didn't know a thing or two about potions," she snapped. "Now answer my question…" she trailed off before the same panicked expression formed on her features as a sudden realization came into view. "Have you been… Is it for… This isn't…" she stammered, backing up away from him quickly. He shook his head and made an attempt to close in on her, but she continued pulling away from him until she finally darted around a desk so that it sat between them. "You've been giving me a love potion?! Merlin… I think I'm going to be sick…" she said, grabbing at her stomach and bending over at the waist. "I can't… No…" Snape saw his opportunity and quickly hurried around the desk, making an attempt to grab her hand. "Stay away from me," she said loudly as she scrambled away quickly from him before finding a path towards the classroom door.

"Ava, wait!" he yelled, with no result.

The stares she received from her fellow students didn't even faze her as she ran out of the dungeons and into the main castle. She didn't slow down once until she was out on the snow covered grounds and, despite the bitter air around her, she was unaffected by the chill of winter. Stopping abruptly, she tilted her head back and closed her eyes as she panted from her run, letting the reality of what had just happened sink in. Suddenly, the past few months turned into a far more complicated mess than it had been, and her whole relationship transformed into nothing more than a lie. Just as she felt her heart begin to slow down a voice snapped her back into reality and she turned her head quickly.

"Ava!" Kat's voice called out as she stomped towards her. "Long time no see." While the words were friendly, the tone and look on Kat's face was anything but. "So is stealing boyfriends your new past time, or was it just a one time thing?" Ava stared blankly at her trying to force herself to understand what she was saying through the haze of what had just happened.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Ava finally managed to blurt out.

"I'm talking about Draco, you bitch. Everything was fine and then all of a sudden he was head over heels in love with you. Said he just couldn't be with me anymore; that I could never compare to you," Kat spat furiously. "And don't pretend like you don't know what I'm talking about. I have it from a good source that you two were messing around together before he ever broke up with me."

"Kat, I don't know what you're talking about…" Ava muttered, still trying to process everything. "Draco never said… I thought…"

"Well you thought wrong you whore!" Kat screamed as she pulled her wand out. Any other day it probably would have worked and Ava would have ended up in a sorry state as she would have never harmed Kat in any way. Today, however, had left Ava far too unstable and before Kat could mutter a single word Ava had whipped her wand out and shouted "Petrificus Totalus!" Kat's body immediately went rigid and she toppled over into the snow. Ava took off in a dead sprint yet again, only to slow down as she came to a line of trees.

Traipsing through the snow, she stumbled into the Forbidden Forest until the trees became so thick that not even a shimmer of sunlight made its way through, let alone snow. The ground was cold, but dry, and she found a small clearing that she stood in the middle of. Screaming out in anger, she threw her wand to the ground and turned around, punching a tree in the process. A few birds scattered from the tree tops and flew away causing her to jump slightly before she slumped over into a pile on the earth, examining her bloody knuckles. Within an hour's time her entire world had been turned upside down and she couldn't help but be in awe at how quickly life could change. If anyone would have told her that morning that before night fell she would be more alone than she ever had been in her life, she would have told them they were crazy. Despite the depressing turn of events, it was humbling to realize that things could change at any moment.

Crawling over to a tree, she leaned against the trunk and closed her eyes as her bloodied hand rested in her lap. She was not one to cry easily as weakness had never been acceptable in her family, for any reason. Fighting hard to hold the tears back, she was already ashamed that both of the men in her life had seen her cry at some point; her father would have been so disappointed in her. Opening her eyes briefly, she looked around the clearing to reassure herself that she was, in fact, alone. As her eyes closed gently once more, tears began streaming down onto her cheeks and trailing down until they dropped onto her school robes. A big part of her wanted to stay in the forest for the rest of her existence, cutting off all ties to Draco and Snape. Relationships were supposed to make you happy and give you a sense of comfort, not leave you in a forest crying. She couldn't help but let out a laugh through her tears as self-pity took over and she realized that she had two chances at love and couldn't do it right with either man.

It was well after dark when Ava finally emerged from the forest and made her way back to the castle. She had fallen asleep at some point, using an unusually large root from the tree as a pillow, and tiny fragments of leaves and small twigs were stuck in her hair. The temperature had plummeted drastically and she began shaking as the warm air hit her skin that had been exposed to the frigid, winter atmosphere for so long. She had no way of knowing for sure, but she was quite certain that her lips had taken on the slightest hint of blue and was thankful that the hallways seemed to be empty. The walk to the common room was without interruption and she silently hoped that she would make it up to bed with the same luck. There was no doubt in her mind that she was going to be in trouble for what she did to Kat, but dealing with it tomorrow would have been preferred. With the way her day had gone though, it should have been no surprise that she wouldn't be that lucky.

As soon as the common room door swung open she let out a heavy sigh at the sight in front of her. While it was mostly deserted, the two people she longed to avoid the most were standing in the center, now staring at the entrance. She stepped further into the room and Draco immediately sprinted over to her and wrapped her up tightly in his arms as Snape watched her from the other side of the room. While her arms involuntarily returned Draco's embrace, her eyes were locked with the professor's and showed nothing but hurt to him.

"Where have you been Ava? I've been worried sick! You're freezing!" Draco said, pulling her onto the couch and grabbing a blanket before wrapping her up in it. "I thought you were mad at me and… I don't know. I'm so sorry; so, so sorry. I know how much this apprenticeship means to you and I shouldn't have belittled that. You're brilliant," he said, touching the side of her face lightly. "I just want you to be happy and if potions make you happy, then that make me happy."

"No, Draco…" she mumbled through chattering teeth. "It's okay. I'm not mad." Draco embraced her once more though Snape's eyes had never left the girl and she glanced up at him again.

"I love you so much," Draco whispered into her ear before kissing her cheek.

"I love you too," she said, keeping her eyes locked on Snape who, at her words, finally looked away. Draco finally pulled away slightly, but kept his arms around her as he rubbed her shoulders vigorously in an attempt to warm her up. Ava flashed the most sincere smile she could muster at him, but gave a quick nod towards Snape. "I think I'm going to have to go with him," she said quietly.

"What? No…" Draco said, turning around so he was facing Snape. "She's not doing anymore work tonight on your potions. We're leaving tomorrow morning and she needs to get some sleep-,"

"No Draco," she said gently, resting her hand on his knee. Draco turned back to her, slightly confused. "I cursed Kat today on the grounds and left her there. I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to go talk to Dumbledore." He looked even more confused than before she had spoke, but Snape took a step forward and finally added to the conversation.

"Precisely," he said curtly. "Miss Coombs, if you will?" he said, motioning towards the door as she stood up and pulled the blanket off her. Draco followed suit, taking the wrap from her hands, and embraced her once more.

"I'll wait up for you," he murmured into her hair. She touched the side of his face gently and smiled before leaving a quick kiss on his cheek.

"No, you go to bed and get some sleep. We have a big day tomorrow," she said gently before Snape cleared his throat impatiently. She cast a sideways glare at him before kissing Draco's lips and hugging him quickly again. "I'll see you in the morning. Get some sleep, I'll be fine." Ava turned away without a glance at Snape and marched out of the common room and into the hallway. She made a turn towards the castle but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder.

"We're going to my office," Snape said with a coldness in his voice that Ava had long since forgotten. The pair walked silently through the dungeons and into the classroom before weaving their way back into his office. She was surprised to find it empty, as she had expected Dumbledore to be there, but Snape closed the door behind them and pointed to the chair opposite him at his desk. She settled slowly into her seat before leaning back and crossing her arms defiantly, scanning the bookshelf to her side. "You're lucky I have such a pull with the Headmaster as I was able to convince him to let me deal with you myself. Regardless, you're not going to be able to get out of this one unscathed. Because of our relationship however, I'm willing to hear your side of the story and work out some sort of punishment that we can both agree on," he said flatly.

"What relationship?" she spat, finally staring at him fiercely. As tired as she was, the fact that he was dismissing the day's events as though it had never happened brought up a whole new batch of rage. "Oh… You mean when you tricked me into thinking I was in love with you, only to deny me the pleasure of having it be returned? You're a sick fucking bastard, you know that?" Snape arched an eyebrow but had a mildly amused expression on his face, which infuriated her even more. "Don't you dare smirk at me as though this is some sort of joke. I can't believe I let myself…" Ava's breath began to quicken and she grabbed the arm of the chair gently, "…I can't believe I thought I loved you. I can't believe I thought it was real…" she said quietly. "I feel so stupid," she whispered as tears threatened to consume her for the second time that day. The smirk from Snape's face instantly vanished at the sight of this and he reached down underneath his desk, returning with a large jar of shimmering, pink liquid. He sat it on the desk and rotated it slowly until Ava was able to read the label.

Professor Sprout

"Not all of the staff here at Hogwarts has been as lucky as I have been when it comes to the opposite sex. While striking up a romantic relationship with a student isn't exactly standard practice, I daresay I've been quite fortunate… Or at least I thought I was," he said quietly. "She asked me to do her a favor, which I happily obliged to, as she has always kept my supply cabinets stocked full with any ingredients I need. Secrecy is of the utmost importance as I'm sure you can imagine how quickly something like this would spread throughout the student body. I was going to explain, but you jumped to conclusions so quickly that before I could try and reason with you, you had taken off. While relationships have never been my strong suit, I like to think that I'm at least capable of acquiring a girlfriend without a love potion." Ava stared at him, mouth slightly open, as her cheeks flushed a brilliant shade of red. Sorry wasn't appropriate as she was quite certain she had never wanted to put her foot in her mouth more than at that particular moment. The overwhelming embarrassment of what she had done, and what she had accused him of, was almost too much for her to process after the day's stress. She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. "What happened to your hand?" Snape said abruptly, causing her to look down at her forgotten wound.

"Um… I had a run in with a tree," she muttered, brushing it off. Snape immediately stood up and rummaged through a cupboard before crossing to her side and dropping to his knees. "It's nothing…" she said, trying to keep her hand away from him.

"Ava, I don't care how you got it or why it's there. I'm not doing this because I'm your professor, I'm doing this because I care about you and when you care about someone, you want to help them if they're hurt," he said as he grabbed her hand firmly and began wiping it off with a clean rag. She watched him work, not being able to help the faint smile that formed as he took care of her so lovingly. Each movement was delicate and precise so that he didn't cause her any more harm than she had already done to herself. Grabbing a bottle of thick, blue liquid he held it over her hand for a second before glancing up at her. "This is going to sting… A lot."

As painful as it was, Ava was almost sure that he winced from it more than she did. Her skin was almost instantly repaired, though Snape wrapped her hand up anyway before flicking his wand, causing his supplies to return to their home. As soon as everything was back in its place he turned around and rested his hands gently on her knees as she stared at her bandaged hand.

"What happened with Kat?" he gently prodded. Ava shook her head, keeping her gaze in her lap, and Snape rubbed one of her knees tenderly.

"It was stupid. She accused me of stealing Draco away from her. It was right after I had… talked with you," she said quietly.

"Needless to say, you were pretty upset I assume?"

"Yes."

"Alright then," he said, standing up and walking back to his desk. "I have to do something about this, even though I feel partly responsible for it. Kat wants you expelled…" Ava gasped but Snape shook his head slightly before continuing, "…but the Headmaster thinks that's significantly too extreme for the crime. Rather than beating around the bush though, as they say, I suppose I should just come out with it he proposed. He wants you to remain here for the holiday," he finished. Ava immediately shook her head adamantly, sitting up a little taller in the chair.

"No," she said firmly. "I'm going to the Malfoys over the holiday and I'm not going to miss that."

"My dear, I don't think you're going to have much say in the matter. Believe me, that was the least harsh of the options," he said quietly. Ava stood up out of the chair and began marching towards the office door when he gave a wave of his wand, locking her in. "Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm going to talk to the Headmaster. This is ridiculous," she said impatiently. "Do you know how rude that would be? He can't keep me from going to spend the holiday with my family! And besides that, what the hell am I supposed to do here?"

"First, you aren't going to spend the holiday with your family and second, would spending some uninterrupted time with me by that horrible?" he asked, keeping the same calm and rationale tone to his voice.

"It's not that Severus…" she said quickly. "I'd love that, but I've already committed myself to the Malfoys and I can't back out at the last minute. I want to go talk to him. I don't care what the other punishments are; it can't be as ridiculous as this… Who does he think he is, telling me where I can go and what I can do-," she stopped as Snape interrupted her.

"You'd loose your apprenticeship," he said loudly. Ava stared at him blankly for a moment as his words sunk in.

"What?" she asked breathlessly, as though he couldn't have possibly meant what he said.

"He wanted me to drop you from the apprenticeship. I came up with the idea of keeping you here and explained to him that you were going to the Malfoys, so it would really be a punishment. I apologize, as I know it puts you in an awkward position, but I went out on a limb and assumed you would rather miss out on a trip with Draco rather than loose all the hard work you've done here. I'm sorry if I made the wrong decision," he said as the same calmness returned to his voice. She absentmindedly walked back over to her chair and sunk into it, still in shock from what he had said. Comparing the two options, she had gotten of extremely light. Draco was going to be upset but Snape had looked out for her best interest and had, in fact, made the correct decision.

"You know what?" she said quietly, still staring at nothing in particular. "Draco isn't going to understand this."

"I'm sorry…?" Snape replied as though he was unsure of how to respond. She finally snapped back into the present and stared at him intently.

"You automatically knew exactly what I wanted and what meant more to me… And not only did you know what to do, but you did it. You protected me, even though you didn't have to and that means… It means more than you could ever know. I just wish you would accept the fact that you love me because you don't do something like that unless…" she trailed off as he shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "Forget it," she continued quietly as she stood up and crossed over to him. Once she was close enough she leaned down and pressed her lips against his softly as her good hand came up and ran through his hair gently. When they finally parted, she rested her forehead against his and closed her eyes. "Thank you so much Severus. I hope you know how much that means to me."

Kissing him briefly once more, she backed away and let out a heavy sigh as she crossed towards the door. He waved his wand from behind her, unlocking it for her and she rested her hand on the doorknob before pausing for a minute. Inhaling deeply again, she let her breath escape slowly as she turned around and looked at him lovingly.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow morning," she said with a smile before vanishing into the darkness of the classroom.

"I still love you," he whispered under his breath as the office door closed.