"Enemies of the Heir, beware. You'll be next, Mudbloods!" a voice echoed down the corridor.
Snape and Luna who had been making their rounds in the area paused at the sound of the voice carrying through the corridor. Snape's eyes met with Luna's who's had turned glazed over with rage. Severus knew from his years of having her in his class that Luna was a muggle born, and that it was a bit of a touchy subject for her. She was tormented for it relentlessly during her first year as a muggle born Slytherin.
"My cat! My cat! What's happened to Mrs. Norris?! You! You've murdered my cat! You've killed her! I'll kill you!" another voice shrieked.
Snape and Luna's gaze broke and they quickened their pace towards the commotion.
The two of them arrived on the scene at the same time as Dumbledore and several other professors.
It was a rather unpleasant sight. , Filch's cat, was strung up by her tail from a torch bracket. Scribbled on the wall below her, in what almost looked like blood, was written:
THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED.
ENEMIES OF THE HEIR BEWARE.
"I think you should head back to our quarters." Severus said sternly to Luna.
"What are you talking about? I'm not going anywhere!" Luna protested.
Snape whirled around to face her, his expression was stern. "This isn't the time to argue with me. As your superior, I'm giving you an order to return to the dungeons. Now!"
Luna's chest was rising and falling quickly, her breath quickening with rage, but in the end she turned and began to walk back to the dungeons without another word.
As she rounded the corner at the end of the corridor she heard Snape hiss to Lockhart, "I believe I am the Potions master at this school."
Luna sat on the edge of her bed facing the doorway in silence. Her arms were crossed, and her anger still controlled her breath. She felt like a child that had just been sent to her room. After the last year she thought Snape was finally beginning to see her as an equal, but after that last exchange she was left feeling like a schoolgirl again.
There was a rasp on the door.
"Come in." Luna said sternly.
The door slowly opened and Snape solemnly walked in, closing and latching the door tightly behind him.
"What happened?" Luna said before Snape could get a word in.
"The cat wasn't dead. Merely petrified. But I'm concerned about what's to come.." His voice trailed off briefly. "Do you remember the stories about the Heir of Slytherin?"
"Those were just tales to scare students." Luna said, "Are you saying that one of the students in our house is playing a rather elaborate and morbid joke on the school?"
"I think it's more than that." Snape said as he joined Luna sitting on the edge of her bed. "Something feels different."
"Is that why you sent me away?" Luna said defensively, "Do you think so little of me that you think I couldn't defend myself? I may be a mudblood, but I was still chosen to be in Slytherin. And even after I was sorted, I worked my ass off to prove that I belong." Her face was turning red.
"I sent you away, not because I think so little of you..." Snape paused for a moment, as if trying to figure out how to say the words in his head, "but because I think so much of you."
He rested his hand tenderly on her cheek and looked deeply into her eyes, "I would be devastated if anything were to happen to you."
Luna's heart skipped a beat. She had noticed Severus had softened up to her over the course of the last year, but until this moment, she had just assumed that they had formed a close friendship. To her surprise, the feeling of his cool hand on her warm cheek left her with butterflies in her stomach.
"Severus..." She whispered as her words failed her.
The two shared a moment of silence, simply staring into each other's eyes, before Severus began to slowly lean in towards her.
Their lips met each other with a soft touch, and Luna felt the anger release from her body. Snape's hand clasped her cheek a little more firmly as their lips continued to press into each other time and time again.
Luna's hand reached out and found Snape's free hand and grasped it gently. Severus gave her hand a tender squeeze as he finally pulled his lips away from hers.
Silence filled the room as the two stared at each other, Snape's hand moved from Luna's cheek and brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear tenderly. The candle in the corner of the room flickered.
"I've been wanting to do that for a while now." He whispered softly.