Lockhart had pushed his luck too far this time. You strode confidently down the hallways to his quarters, your whole body so abuzz with energy that even your leg didn't protest the speed of your walk this morning. It was still early, the students would be safely tucked into their dorms for at least another half an hour, maybe more. The paintings along the walls were still snoozing away; you supposed there was no need to rise early if you're stuck in a painting all day.

Severus was walking with you, a look of uncertainty on his face. He had himself been in a similar position, though you were definitely not as angry, so you imagined he was quite worried about what you were going to do. Honestly, you weren't sure yourself but you weren't going to sit by and let Lockhart think it was okay to do stuff like that. Maybe some women would find the attention flattering, some would welcome it and that's fine but you didn't and he needed to understand boundaries.

You knocked on the large walnut door, shoving Severus out of view. He looked taken aback but you put your finger to your mouth to tell him not to protest, he scowled at you. Lockhart was clambering around in his quarters and then quickly opened his door. He smiled on seeing you and welcomed you in immediately.

His quarters were lovely, all airy pastels, velvet, and ruched materials. Not really your taste but it was pretty. His walls were adorned with pictures of himself, smiling, winking, and one with his wand poised proudly. Never looked that proud in person you thought; the last few weeks of his DADA lessons had been him reading from his own books. It was mind-numbingly boring for everyone, well, most of the boys anyway, the girls hung onto every word he said. The pupil's eyes usually lit up when they saw you at the front of the class though, meaning they'd actually learn something practical. That at least made you feel good.

Lockhart was looking at you with a fiery intensity, it made your blood heat up a few degrees and you swallowed back a grimace. "So, to what do I owe the pleasure, y/n?" His voice was flirty and he was now smirking at you as he stepped closer.

You immediately extracted your wand from under your cloak, "Easy there, Casanova, I doubt there's much pleasure to be found in this room." You joked shakily, trying to ease the anger building inside. You weren't here to do anything serious, just send a warning message; that he should keep his hands to himself. With that thought, you knew exactly what you were going to do.

"I don't think I'm catching your drift, pretty thing," Lockhart had to be the most oblivious person you had ever met. It's as if words floated in one ear and straight out the other without any processing in the middle.

You couldn't help but laugh, "Of course you don't. I'll make myself clear, shall I? I did not appreciate your...attention in the meeting. Do you not see how inappropriate that was?" You asked with seriousness.

"It was a mere flirtation." He waved it off like it was no big deal.

"We have very different versions of flirting, Lockhart, and I'm not interested." You seethed at him, feeling sick at the mere sight of the man.

He scoffed, "I've certainly never had any complaints in the past." His reply was too confident, too creepy. Urgh, okay enough is enough.

You lowered your wand and stepped closer, Lockhart didn't notice you hadn't actually withdrawn it fully, instead it was pointed at his hand. One more step closer, you looked up to him, then quickly to your wand, "Reducio!"

Lockhart's face immediately fell as he looked down at his hand, which was 3 times smaller than his other, he gasped, then screamed. Horror filling his tanned features. "Let this be a lesson, to watch your hands...and feet."

"No, no, no. You c-can't do that, change it b-back this instant. That's not funny, y/n!" He was so panicked, he stuttered out his words and his face had turned a ghostly pallor. Pacing his room, he was poking at his now child-sized hand.

"That's what you think." You retorted.

"I'm sorry, truly, it won't happen again." He pleaded and you did feel a pang of guilt but it was only a simple charm. You were about to teach it to the second years; he should be able to handle it. When he went to hold your arms, a raise of your eyebrow had sent him back retreating.

"Oh I know it won't happen again, I don't know whether you know this, but it also works on other areas." You said as you pointed your wand at his crotch. He immediately covered it up with his now lopsided hands. You rolled your eyes. "It's a simple Reducio spell, Lockhart, a seasoned Wizard such as yourself should be able to change it back with a flick of your wand"

With a total lack of confidence in his words, he stuttered out, "I...I can."

"Okay then. I'll see you at breakfast. Hopefully having come to your senses." You spun on your heels and left his room and breathed out a sigh. You didn't like being judge and executioner; it was something you were strictly trained against but desperate times called for desperate measures. Simply talking to Lockhart wouldn't have worked you reassured yourself.

"Better?" A dark voice boomed from your left side.

"Much," you smiled, - "Right, I need coffee, lots of it, and some breakfast. Then I am going to take the best nap I have ever taken."

Both of you set off for the Great Hall where breakfast would soon be served. Severus side-eyed you and smirked, "What did you do to him?"

You looked sheepishly back at his gaze, "I may have Reducio'd his hand...and then threatened to do the same to a more...erm, well."

He held his hand up, "I understand," he drawled.

Minerva and Albus were talking as you turned the next corner, they regarded the two of you, their eyes drifting from one form to another, "Good morning, you two," Minerva said in a suggestive pitch.

"Minerva," Severus replied, the timbre of his voice made your stomach flutter. You still needed to talk about last night. Maybe re-enact last night. Biting your lip you thought of the softness of his lips against yours, then you shot a shy smile to your superiors and made no effort to stop; a blush already forming on your cheeks.

Carrying on your discussion as you entered the empty Great Hall, you asked him if you thought you had been heavy-handed with Lockhart.

"No, I don't," his reply was bereft of any doubt about your actions. Severus double-checked the room then pulled out a chair for you and your cheeks seemed to burn warmer again, you thanked him and he sat down next to you. Brushing his leg against yours he pushed himself closer to you in his chair. He was warmth and comfort and desire. I could get used to this.

"I dare say, I may have underestimated you..." your brows creased with intrigue, - "...I called you timid, but now I see how wrong I was, " he laughed. I could get used to that, too. He poured coffee for the both of you, "You'd have made an excellent Slytherin."

You stiffened. You'd heard that before.

"That was a compliment, you know?" He said cautiously, obviously seeing the discomfort that had hit you.

Shaking the thought from your mind, you smiled softly at him, "Green isn't my colour, " you joked and cradled your coffee cup, its fragrant aroma steaming your senses. You were going to need a few of these to get through breakfast.

Teachers and students started swarming into the hall and you put some space back in between you and Severus. You'd only just managed to be rid of the Lockhart rumours, you didn't need new ones, even if they were true. Hopefully true, anyway.

The vantage point the top table gave you made you all too aware of last night's events again. The pupils looked preoccupied and you heard muffled utterances of the chamber. It was too early to get panicked you thought, you needed to see what would happen next and you knew something would, you could just feel it.

As you were tucking into a plate of pancakes, Lockhart came in trying to look inconspicuous for the first time ever. You looked down at his hand. Shit. It was bandaged up and he was keeping it close to his side, under his robes. He really couldn't fix it. You put your hand on Severus' thigh and he quickly turned to you with a heavy look in his eyes. He stared intently at your hand on his thigh and even over the material of his trousers your fingertips felt like they were on fire. You really needed to talk.

"He can't fix it!" You said in a worried hush, you felt your eyes bulging out of their sockets.

Severus looked over to him and shook his head, "Fraud."

Your leg began to bounce nervously, "What if he says something to Dumbledore?"

"He won't if he did he'd be even stupider than he looks. I don't even think Lockhart could charm his way out of that." Severus looked at your leg, "Calm down," he whispered and kept your gaze locked to his, "I'll reverse the charm before tomorrow. Let's let him learn his lesson for a bit longer," he said darkly.

Nodding with relief, you thanked him. You wanted to kiss his cheek but not being able to you squeezed his thigh in affection. His muscles tightened underneath your hand and his knuckles turned white as he clenched his fork. We really, really need to talk.

To distract yourself from Severus' muscular thigh, you scanned the hall; some students had eaten in a hurry and headed back off to their common rooms, some were lingering. Harry and Hermione were whispering whilst Ron shoved sausages into rosy, round cheeks. They needed to be watched you thought, as did every other teacher at Hogwarts you imagined. Your eyes felt heavy as you observed them.

You were flailing, needing to get some sleep before having to be back for lunch you stood and looked over at Dumbledore, a nod of his grey head and you knew you could leave. Breakfast hadn't been quite as horrible and you feared it would be, at least you didn't fall to sleep in your breakfast and Lockhart didn't even dare glance your way the whole time. Sympathetically smiling at Severus as you left the hall you made your way to your awaiting bed. Severus, being a Head of a House had to stay until the end of the meal. Poor sod, he was going to be so grumpy about that.

Getting back to your room wasn't too much of a hardship, though you did have to have a word with Fred and George Weasley who were causing mischief as usual; it seemed they may have started a business selling silly charms. You'd pass on their new venture to Minerva when you saw her later.

Back in the solitude of your room, you quickly showered, threw on a long sleep shirt, and cocooned yourself in your duvet. You don't even remember falling to sleep but you remember thinking of him the moment your head hit the pillow.