NOTE: So, this is looking like it is going to be a really long story. I hope that doesn't bother anybody. I just realized I'm on chapter 37 and they are now only kissing for the first time. Lol. But that just means you get lots more fun Dinah/Severus interaction, right? And don't worry, their relationship will keep progressing, just rather slowly as I try to be as true to Severus's character and personality as possible. Just in case anyone is getting impatient at this point I could see this being around 100 chapters when complete, so you'll still get plenty of chapters where they are in a more "serious" relationship than they're in now, just gotta get there!

Anyway, hope everybody is still reading and enjoying this. Please keep leaving reviews when you can, they are much appreciated! :)

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

Kiss

"Move!" Severus shouted at Godric, waving the large brown cat away as Godric continually jumped up and batted at his hand motions.

Dinah laughed and came into the room, just fastening in her second earring for the Halloween Feast. "You two are creating a vicious cycle, you know that, right? If you keep trying to make him leave you alone by waving him away he's just going to keep coming back for more... and more... and more."

"This is why I never had a pet," Severus growled, standing from the couch and walking over to her. He looked her up and down. "Dress robes."

"For the feast," she flushed, "You too, I see. Or at least they look somewhat different from your usual ones."

"They aren't dress robes. But they're fancier than the plain. Dumbledore insists we dress up more than usual for these... events."

"He does..." she agreed.

"You look... nice."

She smiled. "Thank you. So do you."

He snorted. "You're probably the only person that thinks so."

"I don't care if I am. If other people don't notice how attractive you actually are then they're stupid and biased. And that's what I'll tell them."

"Really?" he raised an eyebrow. "I'd like to hear you tell somebody that."

Dinah flushed and stared at the floor. She would probably be too much of a coward to do that. She felt Severus's fingers reach over and tilt her chin up to face him again and her face only turned redder. "I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing. I wasn't actually suggesting you tell somebody that they're stupid and biased."

"If they insult you, I should. I will from now on. That's a promise. I don't know if Sirius is going to be there, but-"

"Enough," he cut her off, as tense as he usually was when she started talking for too long on his personal issues. "Let's just go. You're fine. You look lovely. And I'm sure you're hungry."

"Telling me I'm lovely and teasing me about being hungry in once sentence," she smiled a little. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack, Severus?"

"You would match the Gryffindors that I am now calling on regularly in class. And perhaps the lot of you would have a great many things to discuss while you recover in the infirmary with Madam Pomfrey."

She laughed. "You're very up on the snarky comments today, aren't you?"

"It's Halloween. I'm feeling festive." He said it with such a straight face and in such a low monotone that Dinah couldn't help bursting into giggles.

He gave her a half-smile, half-smirk and extended his hand to her, saying; "We should go."

"All right, let's go," she took his hand and they left her rooms, but as expected he dropped her hand the minute they began passing students in the halls. Honestly, Dinah was fine with that. She had irrational worries that if the students found out she and Severus were dating they would only use it to make fun of Severus more than they already did, and she didn't want that.

They had already dealt with the somewhat uncomfortable moment of asking Hagrid and Professor Vector if they could sit by each other on Halloween. So now there were a total of five professors who knew about their relationship. Dumbledore, Lucy, Slughorn, Hagrid, and Vector. And it seemed McGonagall was getting suspicious. Besides them, only Eugene and Sirius knew that she and Severus were dating, as far as Dinah could guess at.

When they made it into the Great Hall Lucy came up to greet them, apparently without Sirius. She and Lucy had talked a couple of times in the previous week but Lucy and Severus hadn't seen each other since the incident on Sunday. "Happy Halloween," Dinah said, hoping the conversation didn't get awkward. "Oh, I like your dress robes, they're a nice color."

Lucy blushed and looked down at her purple robes. "Thanks. I wasn't sure about them. You look nice too. You both do." She ducked her head again before looking up at Severus, "I'm sorry about last week. I didn't think…"

Severus regarded Lucy for a few moments, looking almost amused. Probably because even Lucy had noticed that he looked nice in his semi-dress robes. Dinah couldn't keep the smile off her own face and she gave Severus what she thought was a 'see, you do look nice' look. He met her gaze for a few short seconds and then replied to Lucy. "You did nothing wrong," he said, emphasizing the 'you' part.

"Perhaps not, but if I'd been using my training I'd have known better than to enter the school the way we did," she looked at both of her colleagues for a moment before continuing, "I know you probably don't care about this Professor Snape but I'd appreciate it if neither of you told anyone about…well, the dog thing."

"Oh, I haven't," Dinah said. "I didn't even tell you that I knew. Well, I didn't think Severus should have told me either..."

"I've told no one else," Severus said. "I really don't know why I told her," he gestured to Dinah, not using her name which was more common in public; "But I did. Anyone else and Dumbledore would have something to say about it if he found out."

"He probably didn't want you to tell me, either," Dinah said quietly.

"I don't mind you knowing Dinah, it's a relief actually. That time we had lunch together and he came by…it was hard to remember to speak to him like I would an animal. It's just that if the wrong person finds out he could be in a lot of trouble."

She nodded, "I understand. So um... he's not here then?"

Lucy snorted, "No. I didn't think that would be such a good idea. He's back in Hogsmeade anxiously awaiting my return. Probably gearing himself up to give me another lecture about stepping in the middle of it last week. Apparently I'm lucky not to have had my head blown off. I disagree, but," she shrugged.

Severus growled and Dinah wasn't too pleased either. "So he was really planning for it to go that far, was he?" she asked, realizing afterwards that her tone had been rather cold.

"Oh," Lucy said, biting her lip. "No. I-I-I doubt it. I think I scared him when I did that more than anything. That and I turned my back on you two. I knew he wouldn't try anything with me standing in front of him though. And I'd hoped you wouldn't either, Professor."

"I can't harm Dumbledore's prized dog," Severus sneered. "I was reaching for my wand for incapacitation and defensive purposes only. Come," he pulled Dinah's arm, dragging her away from Lucy. "We're eating."

"All right, all right," she drew back a moment and hoped she looked sincere when she said to Lucy; "I'm sorry."

"I know. I'll see you later," Lucy replied, looking a little wilted. Dinah felt bad and shot her a sad little smile before Severus finished dragging her away to their seats.

"I wish that whole scene had never happened," Dinah said, miserably piling her plate with pumpkin stew.

"He shouldn't have waltzed into Hogwarts unannounced. And I had every right to be in the halls," Severus said, dividing his plate with more manageable portions of the various foods offered. "And your friend needs to develop more of a backbone when it comes to comments made about her boyfriend."

"Be nicer to Lucy. It's not her fault Sirius is the way he is. I probably shouldn't have gotten angry, but her comment bothered me and you take first priority."

Severus muttered something before taking a bite of food and Dinah was quite sure she had heard him wrong. "What?"

"Thank you," he repeated, and although it was still muttered she was able to make out unequivocally that that was indeed what he'd said.

She smiled. Maybe she hadn't called anybody stupid and biased but she had been brave enough to defend Severus in public. Her only regret was that it had to be to her friend. Still, she felt like she had done something right this time. "You're welcome."

"How appropriate," Dinah laughed, as she and Severus sat on his sofa together in the dungeons where they usually did their reading. "Researching ghosts on Halloween."

He laughed a bit. "Yes, I suppose it is rather fitting. Yet you haven't heard from your mysterious ghost since the last time you spoke with him?"

"No," she frowned. "It's odd. This happened the first time I spoke with him, too, and Myrtle is getting positively angry with me about it. She thinks that it's my fault he keeps disappearing for weeks at a time right after I talk to him."

"Irritating though the girl ghost may be, she could have a point," Severus said.

"What?" Dinah looked at him, "You think maybe I really am making him vanish for awhile after I talk to him? It's only happened twice. Statistically, there's little evidence so far that-"

"None of your Muggle statistics," he cut in with a frown. "I refuse to acknowledge its mysterious powers until you provide me with a full survey analysis. I simply think that there could be a reason you are the only person who has encountered this ghost so far."

"That's silly," she turned back to her book from the Ministry, ignoring the uneasy feeling that was brewing in her stomach at his comment. She wasn't quite sure why it made her uneasy, but it did, and so she was going to ignore it like the coward that she was.

Severus only shrugged and continued looking through the book she had bought at Flourish and Blotts. They had both finished going through the Ministry papers earlier in the week and had found some interesting reports but nothing that seemed immediately useful. "Have you ever considered," he began after a time, "that this boy might be a poltergeist?"

"Like Peeves?" Dinah frowned and shook her head. "No, no. He may be solid and colorful but he is definitely not mayhem incarnate. A poltergeist is out, unless it's a new 'type' of one in which case we're back where we started."

"Hmm," he agreed. "I suppose we should finish investigating the ghost avenue first, then."

"I think so, yes." She shifted a bit, enjoying the fact that she was leaning against him and taking a moment every now and again to just close her eyes and enjoy the feeling of each of the contact points with his body, and the warmth that came with it. That he let her do this whenever they were together on this couch was utter bliss. Unfortunately, sometimes it distracted her from her reading. "Thank you for doing this with me."

"Purely academic interest," Severus muttered, turning a page.

She laughed, "Of course."

They continued reading in relative silence until Dinah hit a chapter that interested her in the book. "Severus, this is perfect!"

"What?" he put his own book down and leaned over to look at hers.

She took a deep breath and tried to calm her body as his hair brushed past her face. He was so close like this; she could barely focus on the words on the page which she was pointing out. "Um... well, this chapter looks at things people have reported that may or may not have been... ghosts."

"Ah, there is something like that in this book, too," Severus moved back, allowing Dinah to breathe normally again for a few short moments, and then showed her his book. "Seems most of this is idle speculation, however. It mostly reports things that Muggles have believed were ghosts, such as odd orbs that show up in photographs. Apparently they are more likely due to the fact that Muggle cameras are unable to compensate for certain odd light conditions."

"Yes, I've heard of those. But I don't think that applies."

"No," he put the book aside. "This book will probably not be very useful. "Yours looks more promising."

"There were plenty of chapters on understanding the nature of ghosts, too," Dinah said. "It seems the author of the book has a very intense interest in whether the ghost state is one of permanence or if ghosts can 'die again' so to speak, if they choose to." When she saw Severus's frown she bit her lip, remembering what he had said about himself when they'd discussed the pensieve scenes. About thinking that maybe he would have been better off not having been revived. She had no way of knowing if that's what he was thinking about, but she was reminded of it.

All he said was; "That coincides with the Muggle view of ghosts as creatures 'stuck' in this world and needing to 'move on'. Different from the reality in which ghosts choose to be stuck here and are more often than not afraid of 'moving on'."

"I think Tommy might be more like a Muggle ghost. I feel like he should move on. But what do I really know about him, after all?" she shrugged, and then went back to the chapter at hand. "The author restates that point many times in this chapter about different ghost type things. Even suggests that maybe certain Muggles can become ghosts and that the Muggle ghost concept applies to them. We think only wizards can become ghosts but maybe we're wrong. But Tommy went to Hogwarts, I'm certain of it, so he has to be a wizard ghost. But maybe there are wizard ghosts like Muggle ghosts."

"I would think we would hear of it more often."

"But if there really are Muggle-type ghosts then they are often hidden or hard to see by most people. To the point where Muggles aren't even sure if they exist or if they are just figments of the imaginations of people who have supposedly seen them. So maybe they're as hard to see for wizards as for Muggles."

"But Tommy wasn't wispy and hard to see for you. He was very much solid, colorful, and 'there'."

"That's true..." she frowned again, flipping through the chapter. "But there are many instances of people seeing odd things that might have been ghosts. Nothing mentions solid, opaque, or colorful ghosts but I feel like it could be a natural extension. Maybe."

"Who is the author of that book?"

"You know, I never thought to check," Dinah turned the book back toward the inside front cover. "It says the information was compiled by... Frederick Binns?" she finished, surprised.

"But Professor Binns's first name is Cuthbert," Severus, following her train of thought with ease, pointed out. "And he has no interest in anything that hasn't been absolutely verified as fact."

"But he is a ghost. And maybe he knows this other Binns. We could ask him."

"If we must. But now it is getting late," he closed the book for her, taking her hand into his and pulling her up from the couch.

There was something oddly intimate in the gesture, and Dinah felt her face turning red again as she stood to meet him. She let her other hand wander over to their clasped ones, and Severus did as well, so that they were holding both hands, staring at each other for a long time. His expression didn't change but his gaze felt intense. And then he abruptly dropped their hands. "I'll walk you back to your rooms."

"Oh... thank you. You don't have to, though. I can find my way." Stupid, why are you telling him no? She smiled a little. "It seems my internal monologue is back."

He raised a curious eyebrow and then smiled the tiniest smile. "I won't ask what it's saying. Come," he repeated for the second time that night, not acknowledging her previous statement, which was just as well. She walked back through the halls with him and they ended up standing in her open door again. Dinah was suddenly reminded of the day he had taken her back here after finding her in the rain. The first time she had felt his warmth.

"Um... thanks," she repeated, feeling like her smile was somewhat shy. "Happy Halloween?"

"Indeed," he put both hands on her shoulders.

Dinah watched him curiously, not knowing what he was doing. He stood there staring at her for what felt like hours. He appeared to be considering something, but she had no idea what. She was just about to crack and ask him what was up when it happened.

He might have shrugged a little, she wasn't quite sure, because the next thing he did blocked every other thought from her mind. He leaned over, his head coming toward hers so fast that she barely had time to register the movement. He tilted his head to the side in another split second and then his lips were on hers. They pressed against her for not more than an instant, but it felt like an hour. They were soft, she thought. Held a bit thin and stiff, as though he was inexperienced, but yet soft and gentle. Intimate. Then he pulled away and it didn't feel like an hour anymore. It felt like it had been over much too soon. As short as the tiny kiss was, she was sure it had been.

"Good night," Severus said, not smiling but still regarding her with a thoughtful expression for another instant before turning around and walking back down the hall toward the dungeons.

She stood in the doorway for what felt like an eternity, barely breathing, still feeling the lingering sensation of his lips against hers. He kissed me, her inner monologue whispered. Actually, she wanted to say it out loud but she was afraid to. If she spoke it, maybe she would find out it had been only a dream.

But it was no dream, she knew. It was real. Severus Snape had kissed her.

She finally mustered the energy to move her arm enough to close the door, and went through all the motions of getting ready for bed with little attention to detail and with her fingers pressed to her still-bewildered lips.

When she crawled into bed and Godric took his usual spot curled up next to her she closed her eyes and blissfully replayed over and over again the feeling of his lips against hers. It was like the first night he had said her name, when she replayed the word 'Dinah' over and over again in his voice. This time it was the image of him standing over her in his black dress robes and hair. His thoughtful look, his face coming toward her, his lips on hers, her eyes closed, enjoying the sensation, and then over too soon.

But she could imagine it.

She could imagine it happening over and over again forever. And dream about it. And revel in it.

And hope that it happened again very soon.