Prompt: Abruptly (#476)

Chapter 20:
Morning Confession

In the morning when Tracey's eyes opened, it was to her dark room, and though she felt abnormally well-rested, her head felt like cotton-wool. It felt full to bursting and throbbed for some kind of relief.

A litter of questions sprung to mind as she rolled onto her side. She was glad at least she didn't have nausea this morning while allowing her to become preoccupied with what time or day it was. And why did her mouth taste of an alcoholic death?

It wasn't until she caught sight of Snape sleeping on a chair at her bedside that the sevens of the previous day came rushing to her mind.

Conjuring up her Auror training, Tracey contained the gasp in her throat and forced her tense muscles to relax. Her suddenly racing heart took longer to control as she focused on making her breathing quiet but normal.

The question, why the hell is Snape sleeping beside my bed, was running rampant through her mind. As quietly as she could, Tracey sat up in bed and scooted back against the head-board; she didn't want to startle awake the infamous ex-spy.

However, she soon became distracted by the man, and the novelty of his sleeping form. For a moment, she felt her breath hitch as she realized the pre-dawn, when she'd come across the dying man. But she quickly regained her sense of calm as Snape was nowhere near as pale as he'd been that day, nor his breathing was not shallow and ragged as it had been then.

He looked almost peaceful.

The fairly noticeable lines usually etched on his face had all but disappeared, though the purple half-moons beneath his now closed eyes still lingered. Even the usually tense lines of his lithe figure was lax. And though Snape was not young or handsome, in his clearly uncomfortable but exhausted repose, he looked alluring and dignified. Nothing seemed capable of robbing him of his dark and powerful aura.

Bitting on her lower lip as her stomach flipped as she continued to eye the unsuspecting male, Tracey had to admit that there was something sexy about her ex- Head of House. The reluctant and internal admission made a flush course up Tracey'd neck and she shifted as she felt the liquid heat of arousal suddenly flare between her legs.

And of course, this was the moment that the man chose to stir. Straight, sooty lashes fluttered against a sallow cheek. Long, tapered fingers twitched. The rest of his body shifted with a groan as he sat up with his eyes still stubbornly shut.

Tracey, for a panicked moment, wanted to get up and run before his eyes opened. But she knew sudden movements would force his eyes open in a split-second, so instead she sat frozen. She was resigned to whatever would follow when those blazing black eyes finally chose to reveal themselves to the world.

Besides, Tracey thought with a grimace, she still had to have that chat with Snape about the chalice.

xXx

Snape groaned as he slumped forward, pressing his elbows on his knees and resting his head in his hands.

Why the hell did I sleep in a chair? Severus wondered as he grit his teeth against the aches of his forty-two-year-old body. But in spite of that, Severus felt better rested than he had since before the damn binding and he wondered why that was.

Briefly, he wondered what had stirred him before he realized the somewhat uncomfortable sensation og his had member pressing against the zipper of his pants. Severus frowned as he rubbed his hands over his face, wondering when he'd last had a morning erection. Not in a very long time, that was for sure, and he puzzled at the cause.

He certainly hadn't been having any erotic dreams. And yet, the heat and tugging behind his navel, seemed to indicate otherwise.

The sensation of being watched prickled at his skin, disrupting his thoughts and causing his body to stiffen. But before he could look up to find the culprit, he found himself recalling the events of the previous night and his inability to leave Tracey. Because every time he'd stepped away, Tracey would frown and begin to fidget. Her body unconsciously demanded his continued presence and Severus found himself incapable of leaving the young, beautiful and clearly distraught witch.

Taking a deep breath and trying to will away his erection- which he rather hoped she had not noticed and remained well hidden by his black robes- he slowly looked up. And his gaze instantly caught Tracey's and her far too cavalier expression. Though, a blush painted her cheeks and hoped it was because of embarrassment on behalf of her inebriation of the previous night.

For a while, they continued to study one another with vacant expression, neither one quite knowing what to do. Severus couldn't help being somewhat distracted by the plump lip caught between pearly white teeth. It made his only just softening member twitch with interest.

Severus subtly adjusted his seated position to better his unaccommodating erection which refused to fully wilt.

"Do you make it a habit to get inebriated on Mondays?" Severus asked caustically, glowering at the girl who was the cause of so much of his present discomfort; at least if he attacked first, he could put off explaining why he slept on a chair beside her. Besides, he could use an outlet for his mounting irritation and frustration.

Beneath his scowl, the girl blushed.

"No," she replied in even tones, though her voice was rough much like his own from disuse. Her own eyes glared at him.

"Then would you care to explain your state last night?" Severus asked derisively.

He saw her jaw clench, but it seemed that she couldn't hold it in.

"There's something I needed to tell you but I got... derailed," she started, causing him to arch a brow at her. Tracey sighed, pulling her exceedingly long legs up to her chest and making Severus twtich as he studiously kept his gaze locked on Tracey's face.

"Well what is it?" Snape asked as the girl raked her hands through her hair. It was was with no small degree of annoyance that he noted that through the night, her hair had not got very disheveled, and with a mere rake of the hand, looked perfect again.

"They finally told me what the cup does," Tracey said and at his blank looked growled out, "The one Tonks knocked over... that caused my most recent trip to the Hospital!"

"I see."

Though, he wasn't sure what she was getting at. Though she looked concerned and nervous, it wasn't the type of anxiety caused by a life-threatening situation, so he guessed whatever the cup had caused, was not a danger to Tracey's life.

"It's called the Chalice of the Honest Hearts or some tripe like that," the girl explained, not looking at him but instead at a spot over his shoulder. Her hands were clenching at her knees, as she continued, speaking at an accelerated rate. "Apparently it is an enchanted object used in binding ceremonies. Supposed to ensure intimacy between the bonded when they marriage was arranged. It activated and only affects me, because of... this," Tracey said, gesturing wildly with a hand between them.

Severus, who had been listening very closely, furrowed his brow as he began to understand why Tracey felt the need to tell him. Because the contract had connected them, and their blood agreement had made their connection more secure before the binding ever occurred. Which meant... it must affect him as well.

"What does it do?" Severus asked warily.

"Honesty of the heart.. it forces us to tell each other the truths in our hearts," Tracey replied in a small and somewhat bitter voice. "The curse of the Hermit Hearts."

Severus grimaced, though he remained silent. He could feel his blood pulsing, the vein in his temple was throbbing suddenly and his fists clenched in his lap, much like Tracey's own hands.

That thread, where he knew Tracey's soul existed within him, writhed inside him uncomfortably and Severus found that he understood why, and it wasn't because Severus slept in a chair beside her head.

Tracey was, conceivably, almost as private as he himself. Perhaps that was the reason that while she was his student, he had never been sure if her relationship with the Nott boy had ever become romantic. Although honestly, he'd never expected Theodore, plain and even unattractive and boring as he was, would manage to snag the beautiful red-head. Girl's as good-looking as Tracey usually ended up with boys like Blaise Zabini.

He might have found the possibilities afforded by the enchanted cup intriguing, as he was always a dreadfully curious person- always had to know- if he were left out of it. Instead, he found himself plagued by all the things he kept buried in the deepest depths of his heart, hoping to forget about them.

The idea that it was no longer in his control to keep those things hidden, that he might blurt them out to his beloved at any given moment...

Gritting his teeth, Severus abruptly stood, his hands still clenched and his vein still pulsing.

There had to be a way to reverse this... in the meantime all he had to do was... avoid the girl. Right?

Without saying a word, he whirled around and stormed out of the room.

Ever since this particular student came back into his life, all he seemed to have was trouble. His peaceful, if somewhat boring existence since the culmination of the war, was disturbed and he wondered if this was what was in store for him for the rest of his days.

Was marriage always so much trouble? Even when love or even any form of relationship was absent?

TBC...