A/N: Its my birthday, so have a chapter! :) Birthday reviews would absolutely make my day! Happy reading!

Chapter 9: No More Indiscretions

Severus Snape sat at the desk in his office in a particularly sour mood. It was the second to last day of the holiday break and he longed for the distraction of work to keep his mind occupied. He had spent the morning with Professor McGonagall. They had reviewed the memory together before Severus had destroyed it. Afterwards, he had been unable to get the images of said memory out of his head. Decades of his pent up anger seemed to be currently fixated on Rikkon Brisbane. He wanted nothing more than to subject the boy to a few curses of his own making.

Sitting here thinking about retribution is not healthy he told himself. His idle hands were itching for a task to focus on. It didn't help that he couldn't get her out of his head. Visions of long dark curls, emerald green eyes, and a sprinkling of freckles filled his mind. His thoughts kept flipping back and forth between sheer rage and… something entirely different. It wasn't the same as it had been with Lily, but then again he was an entirely different man with many more years under his belt. Perhaps it's not supposed to feel the same; the unexpected thought caught Severus off guard.

All of a sudden, an idea came to the professor. Realizing that he could no longer sit there and dwell on it all, he slipped on his usual deep black cloak and headed to his classroom. Once there he said, "Dobby," firmly yet quietly. In a flash the house elf appeared. Snape had often wondered about why the house elf had decided to stay and work at Hogwarts despite having been granted his freedom from the Malfoy's residence. However, that wasn't the sort of thing that the professor allowed himself to meddle in.

"Yes, sir?" Dobby asked attentively.

"Will you please fetch Miss Winchester for me?" Severus requested.

"But of course, sir! Right away!" and just like that the little house elf was gone.

Severus sat and waited, tapping his long thin fingers on the surface of his classroom desk. It was not long before there was a little tap as the door swung open. There stood the young woman who had been occupying his mind. "Yes, Professor?" she asked.

"I find myself in need of something to do and I know of a need for the Wolfsbane potion. Would you care to do some brewing with me?" he asked.

Brixton lit up and chimed, "Of course. I would love to help."

Severus motioned towards the front of the classroom where two side-by-side workstations were already set up with cauldrons and utensils. "I think if we both brew a double batch we will have enough to keep one werewolf from supplied for an entire year."

Knowingly, Brixton looked up at the man who towered over her, "Are you planning to go see Remus Lupin?" she asked.

Severus groaned slightly and relented, "Yes. I think your suggestion was a very apt and well thought out recommendation."

Brixton smiled and said, "I'm happy to hear that. I hope that you might get some answers and possibly some closure about the events that happened here when you were a student."

"Perhaps," was all he replied before heading to his personal storeroom to fetch the ingredients that they would need.

When he returned he set enough ingredients for each of them at the stations. As they got started Severus turned to her and said, "I must admit that as a result of the things you witnessed in my memories I have committed a fair bit of wrongdoing myself towards Lupin."

"Do you mean like teaching us about werewolves in our third year in attempt to have his nature discovered?" she asked quietly while keeping her eyes on her work. Wolfsbane was a particularly advanced potion that she had never brewed before due to its complexity and the high price of its ingredients. It was such a delicate concoction that if there was even one small slip up it would render the potion useless.

"Among other things," replied Severus.

"Well, I think that a year's supply of Wolfsbane should be a nice little peace offering. If nothing else it will be a good conversation starter when you pay him a visit," Brixton smiled.

"We shall see. He may suspect me of trying to poison him," the Potions Master replied with a terse laugh.

"You can always tell him that I helped you brew it. If he remembers me it should ease his mind. He was particularly fond of me while he was a professor here…" She suddenly became quiet and stared off as though haunted by some memory.

They continued brewing together in an awkward sort of silence. The familiar bubbling sounds and strong smells set the professor's mind at ease. Their cauldrons began emitting a faint blue smoke at almost precisely the same time. Severus smiled. He was pleased at how well the young witch was able to brew even the most complex of potions. He was thankful for her help as well. It would save him a lot of time and effort to be able to make two double batches of the concoction at the same time.

As they were both rapidly stirring their separate brews Brixton suddenly blurted out, "Will you tell me about Lily?"

"Why on Earth would you want me to tell you about a long dead woman who I love? Please tell me it's not some sort of jealousy," the words dripped of distaste and mocked Brixton as they came out of Severus' mouth.

Angrily, she spat, "No. I don't feel like I am in competition with the memory of a woman. Please do not think me so childish."

"You have my apologies, Miss Winchester. I just can't think of any sane reason that you would want me to talk about her," he admitted.

More calmly than before, Brixton replied, "It's not so much that I want you to talk about her for my benefit as it is for yours. I don't get the feeling that you have had much opportunity to talk about her with anyone and it might do you some good."

This wasn't helping Severus' sour mood at all. Damn those memories. He wasn't even sure how he was supposed to talk about Lily. Everything had gone wrong with her and it was entirely his fault. He was used to blaming James, but after his near death experience he could no longer live in denial. He looked up from stirring and turned to face Brixton. "Okay, I will tell you something that I have never spoken to anyone about. In fact, I have not had anyone that I would even consider discussing it with. In that regard, you should consider yourself special."

Their eyes met for the longest time and Severus' could see no jealousy or anything other than understanding in Brixton's eyes. He turned back to his work and continued, "When I was hanging somewhere between life and death at St. Mungo's I saw her. I saw Lily. She looked exactly as she had the day I found her dead. She hadn't aged at all. She was just as beautiful as ever."

"Did she say anything to you?" Brixton asked softly without looking up from the blue smoke.

"Yes," he answered quietly. "She told me that I had done well and that she was thankful to me for doing my best for Harry."

"Was there anything else?" she asked.

"Yes," he struggled to find the right words while concealing his emotional state. "She hugged me like old friends and that was it."

Brixton considered this for a while before saying, "You know, Harry says he saw Dumbledore on the night he died. Maybe it was really her."

"Do you really think that's possible?" he asked.

Nodding, she replied, "I do."

"You know, you told me that you thought that she would be proud. Why do you think that? Things ended so disastrously between us I can't imagine her even wanting to look at me." Severus shut off the flame beneath his cauldron. He heard Brixton do the same and he stared at his feet.

She leaned the stirring spoon to the side of the cauldron and closed the space between herself and her professor. She grabbed his hand in hers and he flinched slightly, but did not let her hand go. He had been physically touched more by her in the past few weeks than he had by anyone in his whole life. Her voice was barely above a whisper as she said, "Because you deserve some grace. We all do when it comes down to it. But you… you sacrificed half your life so far to protecting her son and all of humanity when it's all said and done. I said that that's how she would feel because that is how I would feel. I wish you could see yourself the way I see you: brilliant, brave, and loyal."

He stared into her captivating eyes and softly asked, "Isn't there someone your own age that you would rather spend your time with? Isn't there anyone else more deserving of your affections?"

She didn't answer him with words. Instead, she stood up onto her toes and wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his. Losing her balance, she backed up, pulling him with her, until her back hit a nearby workstation. There was about a three second delay while Severus' mind was having a bit of a dilemma. After the moment passed, he bent down, opened his mouth, and kissed her back while wrapping his arms around her waist. Their tongues darted against each other.

The kiss was deepening and heating up. Brixton reached up to pull him by the collar of his shirt towards her until their bodies were flush against each other. Severus felt utterly intoxicated by the younger woman. He could tell that she was struggling to stay on the tips of her toes. As she began to lose her balance again, it pulled him back to reality. He quickly pulled away from her just to stand at arm's reach away.

"You gave me your word that you wouldn't be stealing any more kisses from me," he all but growled at her.

"You want them though" she said breathlessly while looking at the floor.

Taken aback, he adjusted the collar of his shirt and said, "What I want is irrelevant. We shouldn't be doing this. You should be giving your affections to someone your own age… another student perhaps. You definitely are wasting them on me."

She glared up at him with a fiery look in her eyes, "Do you not understand that there isn't anyone else here that I want? How can you not see that everyone else is nothing in comparison to you?"

Her words moved him. No one had ever held him in such regard. No one had ever even shown him the slightest bit of interest. Perhaps that is why he completely lost his senses. He quickly closed the gap between himself and his student. Taking her by surprise, he grabbed her firmly at the waist and lifted her up and set her down on the workstation behind her. For the first time, he was the one to initiate. He pressed his lips against hers hard and desperately. He was pleased to find that sitting her on the table had fixed the issue of their height difference. He was able to kiss her fervently without stooping.

Brixton welcomed the kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. She pulled him in as close as she could and parted her lips to grant his tongue entrance. He entangled his fingers in her soft thick hair and pulled her black scarf away from her neck. He used his hand to pull her away from his mouth by the hair. Her head tilted towards the ceiling of the dungeon and her eyes were shut tight as though she were trying to soak in every sensation of the moment. He took the opportunity to kiss her neck. Severus kissed along the ridges of the scars that she hated so badly. He wished that he could kiss them away for her, but they didn't bother him a bit. As his kissing got harder and more deliberate she struggled to catch her breath.

"Oh, Sev…" she said as her sentence was cut off by a breathy moan.

He froze. Sev, the word burned in his ears. No one other than Lily had ever called him that. It was enough to pull him from the moment entirely and cause him to regain his senses. Severus untangled himself from her arms and legs. This time when he pulled himself away from Brixton he took several steps back. He was visibly shaken up.

"What happened?" she asked, obviously confused.

"There can be absolutely no more indiscretions between us. You will come to your lessons and keep your hands to yourself. Do you understand me?" he snapped, anger filling his voice. He watched as all happiness and desire melted from the young witch's face. It was replaced by an expression of great pain and defeat.

She hopped off the table and began to gather her things without looking at the man. When she was finished she said, "I understand, Professor." The word came out of her mouth venomously. "I won't be bothering you again with my foolish feelings. I assume that you can handle putting our potions into jars on your own so I will take the hint and leave."

Before he could open his mouth to speak Brixton was out of the classroom, letting the heavy door close hard behind her.

Damn it he thought. Standing in the classroom looking at their perfectly prepared Wolfsbane Potions, Severus was sure he had rarely felt as alone as he did in that moment.