"That book again?" Severus asked as he looked down at you, sitting completely the wrong way up in his office armchair. Your crossed feet lay over the back of the old, comfortable seat, as you wiggled your toes in an odd rhythm. The book in your hands only completed two nights ago.

Looking at the script of the slightly tattered book you shrugged him off, "Comfort of the known."

The look on Severus' face told you he didn't understand what that meant but it's something you had done for years.

"It's comforting...the words don't change, the characters always make the same decisions and the outcomes never differ. No surprises. Even when it's sorrowful, it's bearable." You sighed and flicked your eyes back to the page.

He hadn't quite imagined such a heartfelt response; more expecting something along the lines of, "Colonel Brandon is a dish," which is what you had said last week. No surprises. Even when it's sorrowful, it's bearable. The words made his chest feel uncomfortably heavy.

Severus had watched you slip back into the routine of teaching after the accident, though he knew it wasn't going as smoothly as either of you had hoped. It was taking its toll on you physically and mentally but he knew you wouldn't declare that willingly. He both loved and loathed your stubbornness; the irony of his frustrations did not escape Severus.

On the nights you spent together, you were full nonsensical lunar ramblings; dreams he could not begin to comprehend but Severus knew nightmares, had been living with them for years. Waking you could make the process worse, confuse or upset you more, so he would hold you as best he could until you calmed.

The evenings you'd spend apart were when Severus worried the most. You'd said it was important to keep time for yourselves, for your personal pursuits; he understood but he didn't particularly enjoy going to bed alone. Throwing himself into research on those long nights to divert his wandering mind and to keep him from turning up at your door worked. Most of the time. You really have gone soft, was his repeated thought, as he knocked on your door one night. It was late but he knew you'd be up and from what he could gather you'd only been listening to music. You welcomed him with no questions asked.

Stephanie's visit had led you to open up to him again, which subsequently led to other late-night talks and he delighted in the feeling of regaining so much of your trust. Of course, people did trust him and had trusted him before; Albus as a spy, Tom and the others as a Deatheater, but you trusted him as a person. As Severus.

You told him how you had fallen into what you described as a state of repetitive numbness after the loss of your daughter and career. Whilst, he didn't think you'd succumbed to that cycle again, he knew the toll Albus's confession had taken. The lies. The deceit. His own guilt would get the better of him from time to time and Severus wanted nothing more than to release his rage upon Albus in those moments. But you dampened that fire every time it rose, assuring him you were okay.

That rationality didn't stop your pain though. The dark circles, that you took extra time to hide in the mornings, told him so. The way you slumped out of bed with little vigour, told him so and the way you had started hiding in his office at every break in the day, told him so. Sometimes you'd fall to sleep, on the rare occasion you'd find solace in his lips but for the most part, you buried yourself deep into another world. A world without magic.

"I'm hiding from Lockhart." You admitted; Severus' glare needed distracting, his worry had firmly etched itself into his brow and you were worried that it may never smooth out again. He wants to know why you keep coming here.In this instance, the reason was the truth.

Severus instinctively hardened at Lockhart's name and his hand twitched; you had enough to cope with and Gilderoy Lockhart needed to be the least of your worries. He'd see to it if needed. "What does he want?"

"Oh, I don't know," you shrugged, "I've just been told on several occasions that he is looking for me. Considering it's Valentine's day tomorrow, I am staying FAR away. Just in case. Don't quite fancy a bumbling Lothario to ruin the end of my week."

Valentine's Day. Good Godric. Severus didn't even realise. He looked down at you again, now enthralled in the pages of Austen once more. "Are you a celebrant of the day?" He asked, worried you might say yes. Christmas he could power through, he wasn't quite so sure he could say the same for Valentine's Day.

Your eyes glanced up tiredly, his large figure towering over your childlike sitting position. There was a squint in his eye as he stared at the potions along the workbench to the side of his desk. "Not particularly, dear." His stature relaxed significantly. Silly man.

Much to his displeasure, Severus had a class and you did not. He trudged out of his office soon after, having picked up the few extra resources he needed. There wasn't much lustre in his walk as he made his way to his classroom, he'd have much preferred to stay with you.

"Severus, just the man I need." Lockhart's irritatingly fake voice rang through Severus like a blast of the Cruciatus curse. He considered just ignoring him for a moment, then he remembered he was looking for you. That made him want to send Lockhart as far from the dungeons as was possible.

"Really? And why is that?" He asked, not hiding both his disbelief and disgust as he reluctantly stopped in front of the man.

"Yes. Well sort of. Y/N not around?" He asked.

Severus glared at him silently, not bothering to reply.

"No? Never mind, you should be able to help." Lockhart clapped his hands together excitedly, "So, I know you're mightily close to, Y/N."

Severus' eyebrow raised and his lip twitched, but he allowed Lockhart to continue with what he knew was going to be a foolish notion.

"I have an exquisite day planned for lovers tomorrow, and I have produced, all by myself may I add, a beautiful, intricate card for Y/N, but I think she's been put off by my masculine energy in the past. Tell me, does she like a softer man?"

Severus' entire body tensed as an indescribable rage bubbled in his stomach. How dare he? And not only that, was he serious? His mirrors must have been forged alongside the Mirror of Erised; masculine energy? If Severus wasn't so cautious of what he could reveal, he would have acted more violently, he was sure.

"Maybe I'll ask her to dine with me." Lockhart mused, not noticing Severus' growing agitation.

"I think she'd prefer to throw herself off the Astronomy Tower." Severus bit back, trying not to Avada the fool right there in the hallways of the school.

"Oh, dining at the Astronomy would be awfully romantic, wouldn't it?

His head must be made of cotton, Severus thought. Lockhart had swum through life feeding off his good looks and hadn't bothered to fill his head with the necessary knowledge, clearly. The Sorting hat had made a grave mistake putting him in Ravenclaw House, in Severus' opinion.

"Lockhart, were you dropped on your diaphanous cranium as an infant?" He asked but didn't give the blonde-haired man time to answer, "Repeatedly? Purposefully I suspect. Now, your last advancements towards Y/n ended with you looking rather foolish if you remember?" Severus hissed.

Lockhart dared try to interrupt him but before he could force a word beyond his painted lips, Severus continued.

"Oh yes, she told me about your wandering limbs. The reason why I had to save your precious hand. I don't hesitate in thinking she will do much worse to you next time if you continue with your endeavours."

A wave of Lockhart's hand in dismissal vexed Severus further, his eyes widening and his teeth grinding together uncomfortably.

"Mere flirtation tactics." Lockhart assured, "Playing hard to get. Women love that old trope. Trust me, old boy, I know women and I know she wouldn't be able to resist me again."

Severus saw red. Fuck caution. Rushing in closer to the pompous prat, seething and wand ready to be drawn at any moment, Lockhart visibly crumpled under the weight of Severus' aggressive presence.

"I suppose your mother didn't teach you not to touch what isn't yours? Let me leave no room for misinterpretation. Stay. Away. From. Her. Or your life at this school and everywhere else for that matter, will get very difficult." Severus searched the surface of his mind as he pinned Lockhart down with his stare, he really did believe you were interested.

Lockhart's tweezed brow rose, however, his bravery was shot down before it had really taken flight by the fierceness of Severus' demonic glare. Voice quivering as he spoke back, "And whose is she then, Severus?"

Severus snarled, no longer able to tolerate him talking about you as if you were an object, he turned away from the pitiful thing in front of him, barking back, "She's her own. Leave her that way."

"Her own?" Lockhart scoffed to himself, then probably for the first time since he arrived at Hogwarts; he thought. "A little secret is it, Severus?"

Lockhart shook off the encounter, straightened his back, ran a hand through his hair, and puffed out his chest. Scanning the corridor to check no one had witnessed the scene, he swayed out of the dungeons as if it had never happened.

"Sweet baby Cupids, what has Lockhart done in here?" You exclaimed to Severus as you entered for breakfast the next morning. The Great Hall was decorated to the helm for Valentine's day. Large, garish, pink flowers adorned the old walls, and pink, heart-shaped confetti fell from the glamoured blue ceiling. Christmas had at least been classy.

Severus jeered, completely unimpressed, and bounded down between the tables. How much longer would Albus allow him to continue to lessen the school's reputation? He questioned. Following behind, you greeted students, not missing how Ron, Hermione, and Harry looked between you and Severus. Just children being painfully obvious as ever. Hermione had evidently figured something out and had told the boys; you didn't mind her knowing, she could at least be subtle, but those two? You weren't sure how adept at subtlety they were.

There wasn't one inspired face at the teacher's dining table as you peered down the long row of forlorn faces, well except Pomona, who was still clearly as loved up as she was at Christmas. Severus grumbled his way through breakfast, mostly to himself while you were concentrating on trying to hold it together. Mealtimes were the worst. So many people. Too many opportunities to slip up.

Lockhart stood up rather dramatically before you could worry for too long. He was dressed in pink robes and his hair was somehow shinier than usual; you nearly lost your appetite mid spoonful of porridge. But you had to give it to him, he was always ballsy with his fashion sense.

Severus clattered his fork down loudly as Lockhart began bellowing into the packed Great Hall, which you thought was generous, considering he looked like he may launch said fork at him.

"Happy Valentine's Day!" Lockhart exclaimed as you half-heartedly scooped more porridge, only listening in part to what he was saying.

However, when a team of dwarfs thundered in through the doors of the Great Hall, your attention was firmly on the spectacle he had arranged. It meant one thing for all the professors; more stress. Lessons were going to be interrupted by these little cherubs all day long, especially considering the rampant hormones of these kids and the gleeful looks that were playing across the sea of faces in front of you.

"Why not ask Professor Snape or Professor y/n to whip up a love potion in class today?" He exclaimed joyfully as he looked over to you, "I'd be very intrigued to see what their Amortentia smells like!"

The students laughed in response and you had to hold Severus' leg under the table to stop him from turning Lockhart to dust with the flick of his wand. At this point, you were fairly sure that the pink cladded simpleton had a deathwish.

Distraction, that's what Severus would need today and lots of it. In all honesty, you could do with it too.

"Alright class, settle down, we have a lot to get through and I expect there to be a few interruptions from Professor Lockhart's minions. As a precursor, you should know that we will not be brewing any love potions in this class." An audible grumble of disappointment rolled through the Potions classroom as it had in the previous lesson.

"Yes, yes, I know. I'm SO boring but love potions are no joke, they're not a gimmick for Valentine's Day and that's why Professor Lockhart is never allowed access to the potions classroom." Most of them managed a half-hearted chuckle, even in their clear disappointment.

"Love potions can cause dangerous infatuations which are obviously a world away from actual love. There is no potion known to wizards or witches that can produce anything close to true love; you just can't force some things I'm afraid, even with magic. Best to find it the natural way."

Severus was thoroughly correcting his NEWT class assignments when you sat yourself down on the desk, he was half listening to you and glad someone was being a voice of reason. He'd taken to joining your classes, not out of concern for your teaching but mostly for his own enjoyment. It was pleasing to watch you and listen to you teach. However, he couldn't let the pupils think he'd tolerate such comfort in his classroom; a look of displeasure shot your way, as it always did when you perched there and as ever the class fell for it. Gullible Dunderheads.

"So, what does your Amortentia smell like, Professor? Because apparently, Professor Lockhart is dying to know." Geneva Hirth asked confidently and too curiously for your liking.

A rush of "oohs" made a wave through the students as they giggled and turned to their friends. You shook your head at them dramatically and tutted.

"Yes, well, Professor Lockhart can continue with his endeavour," And die, " I have not smelt Amortentia in many years and I do not plan on it any time soon. Enough about love potions and enough gossip for today!" Clapping your hands together you brought their attention back to you. A little chat and fun never hurt, and it helped the pupils trust you more but if you didn't steer them back in time, you'd lose their concentration completely.

"You all will be brewing the ageing potion that we went over in our previous lesson today. So if you fancy yourself with a few wrinkles or grey hairs, this is the one to remember."

Probably smells like Snape's bedroom.

You eyes flew up to the class. It happened again. Just like when you were younger, your Leglimency had been running a little wild, picking up titbits from the unaware students. A few days into teaching you found this to be another symptom of your accident.

The first occasion was during a particularly stressful class with fourth-year herbology students. Patrick Pepperson had called you a moody bitch with a nice arse. Only, it turned out that he hadn't but he had thought it. From then on, any time you could, you squirreled yourself away between classes. It only made you doubt yourself further, that you were really beginning to lose it. Maybe the knock on the head was the last straw; after all, Stephanie had raised her concerns about the memory shifting and erasing.

Weak.

Distraction. Time for that distraction.

"I think I'd prefer anti-aging," You whispered somewhere in the middle of the class.

"Yes wouldn't we all," you replied, "Okay, open your textbooks, everything you need is set out for you. As ever, if you require assistance just raise your hand. Good luck, try your best not to blow anything up today, please. I would like to enjoy my free period after this."

Severus rose and went to the bookcase in the corner of the room, perfect timing. On fresh parchment, you quickly scribbled a message in the top right-hand corner and placed it on top of his work, then began making your rounds as the students prepared their ingredients.

The classroom door burst open before you'd even reached the end row of tables; a pink adorned dwarf ready to deliver messages of love and devotion.

"Keep your eyes on what you're doing, I'd rather not be cleaning up your messes today, thank you." You warned.

The dwarf started weaving through the classroom, dropping cards next to pupils. A few looks of disappointment as some students remained empty-handed. Then he stopped at you, looking up he passed you three. Ah, balls. Turning to Severus, his signature eyebrow raised high, you smiled bashfully and then dipped your head. Students are getting braver.

"You may open your cards once your brews are finished." Your instruction caused more groans and Severus smirked as he sat back down, both at your embarrassment and your tough hand with the pupils.

Noticing the fresh parchment instantly, he picked it up and began reading.

I'm certain my Amortentia would smell like you.

P.S

I'm no poet but riddle me this.

Am I wearing underwear? Yea or nay?

Happy Valentine's Day.

x

He met your stare; jaw tight and his eyes hooded. They grazed over your body, his head slightly tilting to the side, eyeing for a crease in your skirt. Yea or Nay? Much to his irritation, he had to adjust his seating position due to the tightening under his robes; underwear or not he could stare at you all day. You would always fore-go teaching robes in Potions, for safety reasons, but at that moment Severus thought the sole reason was to ruin his concentration with your tight clothing.

Not missing the awkward shuffle, you smiled and continued on with watching over the lesson. Distraction 1 – Severus 0.

Severus detected the extra sway you put into your walk, saw the small glances you were taking in his direction. 66 minutes, then he'd take the smug look off your face. He could manage that.

It turned out, he could not manage it. To him, his complete lack of control when it came to you, felt disastrous. At one point he was certain you'd popped an extra button on your shirt, as you bent over a cauldron he could eye more cleavage than earlier.

And of course, after the class ended you had a pupil who wanted to ask you questions and of course you obliged them. He watched you see them out the classroom and shut the door and before your hand was off the handle Severus had locked it.

With a wicked smirk on your face, you turned and rested against the door, purposefully pushing your chest out.

"You popped a button in my class?" He asked, the rough edge in his voice doing wonders to your body.

"My class, love," you replied, "I was the only one in here teaching. And yes I did."

Leaning back in his chair, he pushed it out, making a space between himself and the desk, "Come here and I'll teach you something."

His lustful words almost made you purr with excitement but you were still in a devious mood, so you walked as slowly as you could to him. He was less patient and had your arse pressed into the edge of his desk in a flash. Pulling one leg up, he took your shoe off and rested your foot on his thigh; his hand beginning to tease from ankle, over your knee to the beginning of your inner thigh.

"Ah, ah," you tutted, stopping him at the wrist.

"Don't test me anymore, witch." He warned. You were going to have to change before your last class of the day. These clothes were ruined already.

"Oooh, someone is riled up. Yea or Nay?" You asked, your heart racing and your body buzzing with delight.

"Yea," he replied instantly and tried to continue the path his hand so desperately wanted to take.

"Yea?" Your eyebrow raised, "Why's that?"

"As much as you love to tease me, you would never teach a 2-hour class without any underwear on but it was a lovely thought, darling." Severus licked his lips and his fingertips pushed into the supple flesh beneath them, "Stop torturing us both."

Releasing his hand, you sighed as his slightly rough fingertips breezed over the delicate skin. Gleefully you watched as he inched ever closer to his goal.

"Wrong." You sighed as he touched the slick, heated skin between your legs.

He groaned as he fingertips were wetted and pushed you fully onto the desk with his other hand. The chair flew back as he stood and he branded the feel of his fevered lips onto yours. "I've never been so pleased to be wrong before," he mumbled between kisses.

"Surprise," Was all you could reply as your hands worked tiresomely to get him closer to you.

His fingers pushed teasingly at your entrance, taking over every feeling in your body; his way of payback for the last few hours. The way you dug your fingers into his shoulders and whimpered as his tongue stroked against yours, made him want to continue but you were both limited on time.

Removing his hand, he pulled you roughly to his chest, then turned you. Your head just about caught up before he pressed himself into your back, his arousal pushing into the softness of your backside. Naturally, you rolled your hips back into him.

"Fuck," he sighed as he dug his fingers into your waist, "Look at you. Just can't help yourself, can you?"

You shook your head softly in response.

Laughing darkly, his chest vibrated against your spine making the hairs on the back of your neck feel electric. Then both of your wrists were tightly clasped in Severus' possessive hands as he guided you down onto the desk.

You had thought about this all through teaching but no thought could compare to the feeling of Severus' hands running up your outer thighs as he pulled your skirt, or the sound of gratification as he saw you bared to him, or even the sting as he undoubtedly left his handprint on your arse. Stifling the shocked yelp, you reminded him to put a silencing charm on the door. You didn't need anyone hearing Severus fuck you on his desk.

Severus, already frustrated and ready to burst out of his trousers, grabbed his wand from the table and pointed it towards the door. "Muffliato."

Resting your forehead on your arms, you listened to the wand being placed back down on the desk, then heard the familiar sound of his belt being undone and his zipper being released. The sound of relief from Severus' chest filled you with weakening anticipation. Shivering uncontrollably as he ran a finger from the nape of your neck down each individual bump in your spine, then back up; his hand gripped your shoulder and you mewled in delight when the head of his erection pressed at your entrance.

Severus' breath faltered and then he growled as he thrust fully inside of you. Your whole body moved with the jarring motion and you felt like you had been spontaneously set alight; the heat rising from your thighs to your neck as he gave you no time to catch yourself. Whatever buttons you had pushed today had worked and these were equal measures of punishment and reward he doled out, as he relentlessly pushed you towards an achingly quick finish.

The sounds of him taking his pleasure emanated down on you and it only made your inner walls tighten more. Holding onto the edge of the desk, you hoped to anything that was holy that his Muffliato charm was secure because the indecent noises being made between your bodies, the grinding of the wooden legs against the floor and the moans of his name would probably get you sacked.

Severus' hand moved from your shoulder and he grasped your waist, he was gritting his teeth, holding back his release until you were ready.

"Let's see you sit on my desk again today," he said and slapped the cheek that had gone unscathed earlier.

"Jesus, Sev." You moaned and bit your lip, enjoying the warm prickly sensation of the aftermath.

"Muggle language as well." He huffed in short breaths, his hand came down hard on both cheeks, one followed instantly by the other. Delighted at the gasps the slaps elicited, Severus pushed further, "You'll still sit there though won't you?"

"Of course...fuck," you panted, "I wouldn't be your stubborn...witch if I didn't."

"Good. Very good." He praised and just like that your legs began to shake and the delicious tightening around his aching hard-on made him lose all sense of decorum as he pushed his hand roughly into your hair. You forced your forehead down into the desk, moaning your foul-mouthed climax into the dark wood as Severus joined you; his thrusts becoming uncoordinated as he leaned forward onto the desk for support before slumping against your back.

The weight of him was comforting, his heaving breaths and the small beads of sweat on his forehead indicated he was completed satiated. That was always a satisfying achievement.

"Happy fucking Valentine's Day" He panted, each word buzzing through your heightened senses, "You're going to be the death of me, woman." He kissed your neck lazily a few times as he composed himself.

"My crude mouth is rubbing off on you, dear." You said chuckling as his lips tickled your neck.

A peck on the cheek was his parting gift; he rose slowly and reached for his wand to clean up. There was a distinctive sting as you lifted yourself up shakily, one you would be feeling for the rest of the day no doubt. Not that you minded. A reminder of that experience? You'd take it.

Severus pulled your skirt down for you and ran his hands gently through your hair, massaging your scalp before retrieving the chair he had sent flying earlier.

Once seated he guided you to sit in his lap and you curled up as best you could; letting him bestow upon you soft kisses and continued scalp rubs until your next class. You'd missed lunch, which you were sure you were going to have to explain to some people, at some point, but that could all wait. At that moment, you were being loved upon and you were going to bask in it.

For the rest of the day, you couldn't look at him working at his desk without feeling ridiculously warm, he knew it too and relished in it. Sadly, some arsehole students were messing about in the Slytherin common room at the end of the day, so he was too busy with Head of House duties to lure him into your quarters. Shame.

"Lockhart thinks you're my boyfriend." You exclaimed rather too loudly as you lowered yourself carefully onto the seat next to Severus. Your stomach groaned at the sight of the bowl of roast potatoes in front of you; having not eaten since breakfast coupled with the day's activities, you'd arrived at dinner hungry for once.

Severus grimaced at the childish term and turned his attention to you, noting how tired you looked, his face softened but he was not impressed with the Monika. "I'm no one's BOYfriend. I am not a boy." He remarked rather indignantly.

You shrugged, "I'm not a girl either, but apparently I'm a very good one."

Minerva startled you both with a cough, a goblet at her lips; she quickly wiped her mouth with a napkin and pretended to eat. Minerva eavesdropping was nothing new, her hearing was unmatched and she'd averted her gaze by the time you'd turned fully to her.

Severus scowled at the both of you, the embarrassment of Minerva possibly knowing intimate details made him drop his head, his face shadowed by his dark hair, so he could eat in peace. Minerva was his colleague, his old professor, he didn't want her to know his carnal likes.

You plated yourself a reasonable-sized dinner and began eating in small bites, Severus' eyes scanned your plate. Better than before, he thought.

"Why does he think that anyway?" He reconvened, once the embarrassment had dissipated and his usual pallor had come back.

"Well, I blew him off earlier..."

Severus cleared his throat, "Might want to rethink your wording on that."

"Oh..ew. Please, I'm trying to eat, Severus. Anyway, I...declined his invitation to dinner, took his Valentine card, and then subsequently heard him moping to Harry and Ron in the courtyard. Saying he'd lost someone to a lesser man. Cheeky bastard and who says that to 12 year olds?"

"How do you know I'm the lesser man he was speaking of?" Severus asked, insulted.

"That's simple. He wrote it on his card." You swallowed the carrot you had been chewing and cleared your throat, "P.S, Whatever Severus has over you, I can give you threefold."

Raising the back of your hand to your forehead you feigned girlishness, "I almost came over all giddy," you mocked as you rolled your eyes. "It didn't even make sense. Bloody moron. I, of course, don't think you are, love."

The softness of your eyes quelled his hurt but not his anger. Lockhart hadn't listened to a word Severus had said, had he? What did he have to do to make him understand? He was in two minds about paying him a visit after dinner, which he was conveniently absent from. Considering he made the hall look like the insides of his soft mind, he should have had the decency to suffer it like the rest of them.

"What would you prefer anyway?" You enquired, pulling him from the ticking time bomb of his mind.

Having not particularly thought about this part of your relationship yet, you were intrigued as to what Severus would want to be known as. If anything. While it might have been obvious to watchful eyes, you and Severus were still not broadcasting you were together. "Man-friend? Lover? Mein Fuhrer?" You suggested then grimaced at your last offer. Too far. Too dark.

It took Severus a secondto understand what you were referring to. "Partner will do just fine," he replied.

"Howdy." You muttered under your breath as you nabbed yourself another Yorkshire pudding.

Apparently, your volume control was still lacking, as he whipped his head round to you, his hair swaying beautifully. "What?" He asked.

You stifled your childish sniggering, "Nothing, dear. Just being silly. Partner is good." In fact, you were quite happy with it; it was sensible and he had suggested, which was a shock all by itself.

Minerva did not fare so well with her own laughter and turned her head from the two of you before she felt the wrath of Severus' eyes bore holes into her. She thought the two of you suited very well and she was quite enjoying being privy to the secret relationship. Though if you kept talking so loudly and throwing each other those doe eyes, it wouldn't be secret for much longer.