Act XII


56. Education


Thinking of London made me think of Jules, Renee, and Ami. "How do you think the girls are getting on?"

He glanced sideways at me. "I'm not sure. The Malfoys should be on their best behavior. Zabini was stuck up, surely, but never particularly cruel at school, as I recall."

"Malfoys?"

"Platinum blonde hair, identical supercilious looks—you couldn't possibly have missed them."

I giggled, "They were rather disdainful. How do you know about Zabini at school?"

"I was a school teacher."

"You're having me on," I gaped.

"Unfortunately, no."

Now that was an interesting and rather scary mental picture.


57. Science


"What did you teach? Sneering one-oh-one?" I couldn't contain my giggles, and the wine was not helping at all.

He rolled his shoulders and shot me the 'you're an imbecile' look. "Potions, actually."

I turned that over for a minute. "Like—alchemy?"

He nodded and gave me a little half smile. "Although, students did learn how to make interesting facial expressions in my class: horror, confusion, barely concealed terror." His smile was positively carnivorous.

"You don't seem like the kid-loving type."

"I hate the little fuckers." And he was dead serious.

I really did laugh then. "I bet you do."


58. Gamble


I was willing to bet that I was the sort of person that really got up Severus's nose: young, outrageously easy-going, emotionally intense, sometimes childish, wild looking, uninhibited acting, and notoriously undisciplined in everything but drawing.

No wonder he seemed to vacillate between trying to make me sorry I had ever been born and being cautiously amused.

There was so much we didn't know about each other and I was willing to bet that Severus hoped to keep it that way. To bad I was interested in making this strange relationship more enduring. I hoped I would grow on him.


59. Warrior


I pretended to be fascinated by the book I held in front of my nose, but I was staring at Severus. He had taken off his jacket and stood in his boots and pants, his thin shirt stretched across surprisingly broad shoulders. In spite of how thin he was, he was well built.

He went fluidly through a series of motions and cycled through some different stances.

Fuck, he was rather magnificent.

"Are you—slavering?" The snark was back full force. He was smirking at me, panting slightly and delightfully sweaty.

"Yes."

Annnnd—yes, he fucking blushed. Were we flirting?


60. Revelation


He lay next to me on the sand, still sans jacket, sleepy-eyed.

I tried to stare at the waves and not his relaxed face—it wasn't working. "How was your practice?"

"I'm a bit weak but feeling stronger all the time." It was probably all the food he ate. I swear he had a hollow limb.

"Three things cannot hide for long: the Moon, the Sun and the Truth. The Buddha."

I passed him the water bottle and brushed his bangs back. He gave me a drowsy smile.

The truth was I think I was falling in love.


A gamble for the best beta, renaid, who can't blame Ilsa for falling in love... but worries about the past coming back to haunt them.