Chapter Title from "I Don't Know" by Fleetwood Mac. Adapted Excerpts from "Order of the Phoenix" by J.K. Rowling.

Rated MA - smut warning (romantic). This is the last smutty chapter in this book, I promise! Sorry for two in a row...the next three chapters will be plot-based, climactic, and gearing you up for Book Two!

The teenagers declared that Sirius's mood the next few days was the happiest they'd ever seen, a blessing since it seemed to determine the overall

mood of the whole house. Rhiannon could only attribute it to a lifting of pressure— like a balloon filled too tight that was finally permitted to burst — to be messy, and broken, and no longer forced to hold its shape. Now that they were both finished forcing their relationship to work or to be something more than it was, Sirius and Rhiannon found that they made excellent friends— with benefits of course, due to the bed shortage.

Everyone in the house worked together to decorate nearly every inch of it, draping it with enchanted snow, flying decorations; garland, bells and mistletoe teaming from every light fixture, shelf and beam. It was a chance to use purely fanciful magic, each witch and wizard trying to outdo the other with creative charm casting. Grimmauld Place was filled with laughter; even Harry had started being cordial to Rhiannon again, though things were still a bit awkward. Sirius had explained to the boy the need to guard her against Voldemort learning her true identity, and the easiest way to do that being to legitimize her relationship with Snape and allow him to manipulate the Dark Lord in order to protect her.

"But you two love each other," Harry had argued, perplexed. "You can't just give that up for the benefit of Order business."

"We can give anything up for the benefit of Order business," Sirius corrected him quickly. "Your Mum and Dad were proof of that."

Rhiannon gave Sirius a sharp look. "Harry, he didn't mean that the way it sounded. They didn't choose to give you up, like Sirius and I are making the decision to move on without each other. But they took a risk to be in the Order, for the greater good, and it ended in tragedy. Sirius's point is that we can't be so laser focused on our desires that we neglect the larger goals. That's what makes the vows we take for the Order so sacred."

"And when were you inducted?" Sirius asked, amused.

"Dumbledore said any day now," she replied defensively.

"Ah, so I won't be ridding myself of you after all," Sirius winked.

"Nope. I get to tantalize you forever."

"Ok, ok," Harry blushed. "You two are confusing and weird."

"Love is confusing and weird, son. Get used to it." Sirius patted him on the back.

"But...Snape?" Harry asked, trying not to laugh.

"My thoughts exactly," Sirius agreed.

"Harry, he's not that bad. Give him a chance. You could learn a lot from him," Rhiannon had encouraged. Sirius made a face.

The warm happiness from Christmas had slowly begun to fade though as winter break was nearing its end. Sirius had begun spending more time with Buckbeak during the day, closing the door for hours to dwell on the impending loneliness he would feel once the house was empty again. At night Rhiannon would reach out to him gently, only to be brushed away as he turned his back to her to sleep. She understood she shouldn't expect anything of him now that their engagement was officially off, but she worried about him withdrawing so much into himself. She had dared to hope after his Christmas mood that he was turning a corner.

He had told her to keep the ring. "Not like I have any use for it. Am I going to give it to Kreacher?"

"Buckbeak?" Rhiannon had suggested with a grin.

But it simply moved from her left hand to her right, and it felt good there. She didn't want him completely gone from her life. The ring seemed a fitting tribute to their brief but amazing time together— a time she would always want to look back on with a smile.

It was now the day before her scheduled departure. Rhiannon was in the library feeding her birds their final meal before their trip to Hogwarts, having Sirius's consent to take them back with her. She hadn't told him it was Snape's request — she thought that part was better left unsaid. But now the birds would be with them in the event they were needed for the divine task Snape seemed to think they may be destined to fulfill.

As she watched her three little feathered friends take their meal, she decided all at once what to name them. She honestly couldn't believe she hadn't thought of it before, in her lengthy quest to find just the right names. The green she would name Slytherin, the gold Gryffindor, for their golden lion, and the white Thunderbird. One for her, Severus, and Sirius. Now it made perfect sense that they had arrived to her when they did.

Rhiannon was about to settle in with a book when she heard heavy footsteps walk through the hall and down the stairs to the kitchen. Within a few moments her heart began to race when she heard his voice. It was so clear now, and she didn't understand why it had taken her so long to realize. Her heart only raced like this for him. Yes, she had feelings for Sirius and loved their time together, but her body and soul only reacted to one person with this breathless, adrenaline-filled euphoria every time she heard his voice, and that person was Severus Snape.

She took off running down the stairs after him, not even caring what she was interrupting, until she reached the kitchen and saw Severus at one end of the table and Sirius at the other, glaring. Sirius was rocking his chair back and forth on its back legs, hips arched up like he was trying to prove something— which after their conversation a couple weeks ago, Rhiannon figured he probably was. Severus was calm and reserved in comparison, wand in hand and tracing it delicately with his fingers. He finally broke his glasslike stare when he realized she was in the room with them.

"Rhiannon." Severus stood immediately. She rushed to him, throwing her arms around him and burying her face in his robes. His hand came to her back gently.

"Bloody hell," Sirius mumbled. "First you have the nerve to come here against my wishes, now you're going to fawn all over her in front of me?"

"I apologize, Black," Severus said icily, backing away from Rhiannon. She felt his absence from her like part of herself was torn away. It had to be the bond— broken for so long then rekindled— they would probably feel its power even more for awhile.

"Well, get on with it then," Sirius said angrily. "What are you even doing here?"

"Hogwarts business," Snape replied. He thrust a letter on the table and sent it sailing down to the end where Sirius sat.

Harry entered the kitchen at that point, having been summoned by whomever had let Snape in the door.

"Sit down, Potter."

"You know, I'd prefer it if you didn't give orders here, Snape. It's my house, you see." Sirius was still leaning up on the chair legs, arching like a male bird puffing out its breast. It was quite comical, and Rhiannon stifled a laugh.

"I'm here on Dumbeldore's orders," Snape continued. "He insisted we include you on necessary plans for Harry— we both know you like to feel...involved."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sirius's chair fell back to the ground with a loud thud as if it would crack.

"Merely that I am sure you must feel frustrated by the fact that you can do nothing useful for the Order."

"Severus," Rhiannon cautioned him with a whisper.

"The Headmaster simply wishes me to convey that I will be teaching Mr. Potter Occlumency this term."

"What exactly is that?" Harry asked.

"Occlumency, Potter. The magical defense of the mind against external penetration. An obscure branch of magic, but a highly useful one."

"But why?"

"Because the Headmaster thinks it's a good idea," Snape answered smoothly. "You will receive private lessons once a week, but you will not tell anybody what you are doing, least of all Dolores Umbridge. You understand?"

"Why can't Dumbledore teach Harry?" asked Sirius challenged. "Why you?'

"I suppose because it is a headmaster's privilege to delegate less enjoyable tasks," said Snape silkily. "I assure you I did not beg for the job. I will expect you at six o'clock Monday evening, Potter. My office. If anybody asks, you are taking remedial Potions. Nobody who has seen you in my classes could deny you need them."

Snape exchanged glances with Rhiannon, his face softening a bit as if he wanted to speak with her as well, but his business was done, and he turned to leave with his black cloak billowing behind.

"Wait a moment," said Sirius. He sat up straight and bristled like he wanted to fight.

Snape turned back with a sneer. "I am in rather a hurry, Black. Unlike you, I do not have unlimited leisure time."

'I'll get to the point, then," said Sirius, standing up. Rhiannon noticed Severus grab his wand within his robe pocket. "If I hear you're using these Occlumency lessons to give Harry a hard time, you'll have me to answer to."

"How touching," Snape said with a roll of his eyes. "But surely you have noticed that Potter is very like his father?"

"Yes, I have." Sirius beamed.

"Well then, you'll know he's so arrogant that criticism simply bounces off him." Snape's voice was like velvet, even as he threw insults.

In a flash Sirius sent his chair flying backward, and he and Snape were squared off with wands raised, much like their scuffle over the summer.

"Sirius!" Harry exclaimed, but Sirius ignored him.

"I've warned you, Snivellus, I don't care if Dumbledore thinks you've reformed, I know better. You've dragged Rhiannon into your dark mire and I'll be damned if I let you drag Harry too." Sirius's face was inches from Snape's.

"Oh, but why don't you tell Dumbledore so?" Snape dared. "Or are you afraid he might not take very seriously the advice of a man who has been hiding inside his mother's house for six months?"

Sirius stepped forward in his classic dueling pose and raised his wand. "Are you calling me a coward?"

"NO!" Harry yelled, "Sirius, don't!" He jumped over the table to try to keep the wizards apart; Sirius tried to push him aside, but Harry was surprisingly strong. Rhiannon flew to Snape's side, encircling her arm around the front of his waist.

"Why, yes, I suppose I am," Snape replied. His one arm came around Rhiannon's shoulder and held her possessively, his dueling arm still raised.

Sirius pushed at Harry again, insisting he get out of the way. They were interrupted by the serendipitous arrival of the Weasley clan and Hermione, who had joined them a few days into the holiday after deciding not to go skiing with her parents.

Arthur had just arrived home with a glow of gratitude and health, but his smile faded at the scene in front of him. "Merlin's beard, what's going on here?"

Both wizards sheathed their wands in their pockets, still fuming, but seeming a bit embarrassed to have been caught.

"Rhiannon, the permission I granted you is hereby revoked. You will be leaving with me now." Snape's command left no room for negotiation, and Rhiannon had no desire to argue anyway. She felt perfectly complete at his side.

"Yes, Severus."

"'Yes, Severus,'" Sirius mocked. "How pathetic."

"Sirius..." Molly warned. "This is unnecessary." She herded the others out of the room and back upstairs so the triangle could work out this latest conflict in private.

Snape clearly saw everything as already resolved. "Rhiannon you have 15 minutes to say your goodbyes and gather your things. I will be waiting in the hall." He turned with another swish of his robes and was gone.

Sirius's chest was heaving, his face ablaze. Rhiannon was scared to even approach him.

"Please," she whispered. "I don't want us to end like this. I need to know you don't hate me."

Sirius's gray eyes fell on her with sadness behind their ever-so-slowly dissipating anger. "I hate him. But I don't understand you. How could you want...that?"

Rhiannon tried to find the right words. "It's like you said to Harry," she began. "Love is confusing. And weird. He isn't like that with me. Well, most of the time. And when he is there is a playfulness behind it. He has so much hurt surrounding you...and James, which transfers to Harry. He doesn't handle it well, at all, obviously. But it's coming from a place of hurt— you have to remember that."

"He's a grown man. He should be over a little schoolyard bullying by now."

"Are you? Clearly not! The two of you are perpetually stuck in your teenage drama of the 70s, Sirius. When does it end?"

"I guess it doesn't," Sirius replied sullenly. "Because now he gets the girl."

Rhiannon crept closer to him but kept her hands at her sides. "Isn't it his turn to?" she asked hesitantly.

Sirius scoffed. "So because James won Lily, Snape wins you? Let me ask you, Rhiannon. When do I win? Growing up trapped in this gods forsaken house, hated by my family, my best friend murdered, 12 years in Azkaban, a year on the run living off rats in a cave, now a prisoner here, watching you ride off in the sunset with Severus. When is it my time?"

Her heart broke and she didn't wait any longer to take Sirius into her arms. He rested his head on her shoulder and she stroked his dark curls. His hands came to her waist, but something felt off. She felt a slight discomfort, like a burning. And a knot in her stomach. It was the bond. Snape had revoked his permission for her to touch his enemy. She pulled back to avoid the pain.

"Don't leave me," Sirius mumbled. "Hold me. I need you."

"I— I can't," she whispered. "I'm bound to him. He gave me permission to be with you these past couple weeks, but he just took it away, and now..."

"WHAT? He put some magical bind on you against your will? No wonder you think you love him. I'll take care of this right now. If he's dead you're bound to nothing." Sirius stalked to the door, wand out once again.

"Stop!" Rhiannon ordered. "I consented to it, Sirius. I wanted it. I love him."

Sirius looked at her, aghast, unable to say anything at first. "So wait..." he started slowly. "Snape actually gave you permission to be with me?"

Rhiannon nodded. "He loves me. He wanted me to be happy and have what I needed. And I needed closure with you. You mean so much to me."

Sirius gave a dark laugh. "Well, I suppose that's that then. Consider us 'closed.'"

"Yes." Rhiannon nodded meekly. "Sirius— you asked when it will be your time. It will be when you make it. You should try for a new start. Like you said— maybe out of the wizarding world, so you can have more freedom."

He shook his head. "I can't leave Harry."

"Then when the war is over. Or when you know Harry is safe. Just promise me you'll think about yourself, and what you need."

"The Order. Like we said. We take vows."

"You're no good to the Order if you're dying inside," she reminded him. "Please take care of yourself."

Sirius nodded grimly, jaw clenched, looking off at the kitchen stove instead of at her.

"Goodbye, Sirius," she said quietly. He gave her a half-hearted wave in return. Her heart heavy, she collected her birds and her trunk, then joined Severus for their departure.

Now that they were alone in the hall without the distraction of drama, Rhiannon was able to focus on all the details of Severus she had missed so much these last two weeks. Her eyes were fixated on his hard mouth, and the sight of his fingertips beneath his sleeve that had teased her early on when she had longed for him to touch her. The buttons— the excruciating sea of buttons — the gentle way his black hair sat upon his shoulders. She was falling in love with him all over again.

"Obviously you can apparate independently now, but you should know we aren't going to Hogwarts," he told her, jumping right to business and seeming to avoid the fanciful lusting that had overtaken her.

Rhiannon's sense of adventure was immediately piqued. "Where are we going?"

"To my house."

She could feel her eyes light up, and he gave her a small smile. "Only for one night. We will need to prepare the classrooms tomorrow. But as you pointed out, I promised I would share all of me with you. This seemed like a logical step, yes?"

Rhiannon laughed and nodded, remembering how odd he had thought it when she'd made the request originally.

"You're going to be disappointed," Snape warned her. "But you need to see what you're getting yourself into, I suppose."

"I'm getting myself into you, Severus, and I don't care about anything else."

"Silly girl." But he squeezed her hand with something she interpreted as affection.

"To Spinner's End," he said, and they, her trunk, and her birds were swept away to what had to be the dreariest town in all of England.

Rhiannon surveyed the dark, narrow street which seemed mostly abandoned save for trash piled up along the the sides of the streets and a couple of children racing through on rickety old bikes. All the homes were nearly identical— small, dark, and utilitarian in their build. A smell hung in the air like polluted water. It was obvious it was never a grand town by any means, but one that suited the purpose of housing workers for some kind of mill or factory. It wasn't quite what she would picture for the residence of a tenured Hogwarts professor.

"My childhood home," Snape explained simply. "My Muggle father worked in the mill here, when he chose to actually work rather than drink. Lily grew up a few streets over," he added, as if Rhiannon needed an explanation for why on earth he chose to remain.

"It's not so bad on the inside," he continued, striding to the front door of a small house on the end, carrying Rhiannon's trunk. "Time-worn, of course, and small. But there are lots of books." He spoke the fact as if it redeemed everything else.

"I'm sure it's lovely," she replied.

"It's not," he snapped. "Don't pretend it is. But you wanted to see it, so here we are."

Rhiannon looked around, noting that there weren't just 'books' but shelves upon shelves of them, probably over a thousand. She understood why he still lived in his meager childhood home if he was allocating all of his salary to his literary habits. There was a desk, a large chair by a fire, and a tea table with two chairs, not unlike their living room in the dungeons— just without the plush Hogwarts feel. Just past the living room was a small kitchen with a couple cabinets, drawers, a sink, and a single burner stove.

"I usually go out for supper," he told her as he used magic to light a fire. "If you walk about 10 minutes north there is a street with some food carts and small establishments. Decent variety."

"Can we go?"

Snape chuckled. "Always ready to fill your appetites, aren't you? Let me show you upstairs first."

"Ah yes, those appetites first, Rhiannon teased.

"Fairly certain you satisfied those sufficiently over the past two weeks." Snape used his wand to open one of the sections of bookshelves, revealing a small staircase.

She shook her head. "My appetites for you are entirely different, and they know no bounds." When Snape continued moving up the stairs without turning around, she continued. "And Sirius and I are over, Severus. Completely."

"I already know that. I forbade you to touch him again."

"Before that. Things ended well. As well as they could. I've made my choice."

"Black certainly didn't seem like a man in a conciliatory mood."

Rhiannon followed him into a tiny, austere bedroom with a double metal bed laid with drab gray and white covers. It looked more like a prison bed than someone's home.

"That had nothing to do with me," replied Rhiannon. "That's all you and him. And Harry I suppose. But I'm finished trying to make the two of you get along. Though I hope for the sake of the Order you'll try. When do I join by the way?"

Snape raised up on his heels then back down again, stalling. He removed his robes and boots, then stood before the small window, staring out as some rogue snowflakes began to fall.

"You don't," he replied matter-of-factly.

"What? But Dumbledore—..."

"Is a fool clouded by fatherly affection for you. You're not ready, and I told him so." Snape removed his jacket next, then started on the buttons of his white shirt. Clearly he was the one with appetites to fulfill.

Rhiannon clenched her wand, feeling anger rise inside her. "You don't get to make that call."

"On the contrary, I have been charged with your education and your safety, and now your soul. I believe I do." Snape's eyebrows were raised, daring her to challenge him.

"So when then? I don't like you holding me back."

"You'll be the first to know when it's time," he replied silkily. "Now, there's something I've been dreaming of since the night you left for Grimmauld Place, rather a preoccupation. If you'll be so kind to oblige me?"

The familiar surge of desire spiraled downward and Rhiannon joined him at the window, raising her eyes to him expectantly. She was in leggings and an oversized sweater, enjoying casual clothes before adopting her teaching robes in a couple of days.

"You're going to have to give up these Muggle clothes," Snape remarked disapprovingly. "The Dark Lord will not like it." He slipped his fingers to the bottom of her sweater, lifting it over her head.

"Well, good thing he isn't here then."

"Yes, very good thing, with what I'm about to do to his daughter." Snape's mouth fell hot and wet on hers, tongue firmly invading as both of his hands splayed over her ass and squeezed. He groaned. "That's it. Exactly what I've been wanting."

"To touch my ass?" she laughed.

"It was so perfectly delectable in that lavender robe," he breathed in her ear. "So round, swinging there in my face." His fingers lifted the waistband at the back her leggings and dove straight down, exploring every curve with intent as if memorizing, then slipping further to run where her cheeks met the top of her thighs, playing with the skin there before finding her wetness.

"Severus," Rhiannon moaned. "I've missed you so much."

"I can feel it, darling," he whispered. "And you've invaded and rattled my every nerve." He bent down and tucked aside the cup of her bra, sucking a breast into his mouth with wet, hungry noises. "Starting tonight no one else will ever make you feel like this, will ever give you what I am about to give you."

"Yes, please. Just you." Her hands were tangled in his soft black hair as she arched against him, feeding him what he wanted with her own forceful pushes against his mouth. Severus bit down on her nipple and exquisite pain shot through her along with the pooling at the tops of her thighs. His hand rose up to feel it, finding her bundle of nerves and massaging with the same rhythm his tongue used to ravage her other breast. She started to shake against his hand already.

"Yes, come for me darling," he whispered, slipping a finger into her, then quickly adding another. Her walls gripped his fingers as they shook.

"Ss— Severus, I—..."

"Shhh," he silenced her with his mouth, her climax still shaking her as he lowered her onto his bed, his erection pressing against her trembling nub through his pants. "Are you ready to feel me?"

"Yes. Please." Rhiannon freed him from his zipper. Snape sank into her immediately, the juices from her first orgasm welcoming him into her folds. He lined himself up perfectly to hit her spot inside, assaulting it over and over with the tip of his cock as he thrusted. His black hair fell in front of his eyes and he groaned in pleasure.

"Yes, my sweet girl, yes..."

Rhiannon couldn't recall him making these sounds before, so unbridled, uninhibited. Those sounds coming in his velvet voice lit a fire in her and she painfully craved another release. Snape's hands gripped her as if his life depended on it, his mouth kissing her tenderly and desperately at the same time, his spicy, musky scent filling her nose. It was a full assault on her senses so lush and rich that it could only be from the magic that connected them.

"It feels so good, Severus. So...incredibly...good."

"I know, my darling. I know." His thrusts became more wild, more powerful, each one still targeted on the one spot inside her that seemed the very center of the earth at that moment. The pressure built up and she saw explosions when she closed her eyes, letting out a scream. That triggered Severus to follow, and she felt him fill her as every muscle of his body tensed and released.

"Severus, how does it keep getting better?" she asked, pushing her hair back and collapsing into the pillow. It wasn't a comfortable bed at all, but she would be happy to relax anywhere at that moment.

He pressed a kiss to her mouth. "Whoever invented the phrase 'absence makes the heart grow fonder' must have been in a soul bond," he answered. "The reward was in direct proportion to the depth of our need."

Rhiannon's breath finally returned to a stillness and she smiled, tracing the lines of his face as he still hovered above her. "I love you. But the words don't seem nearly enough to tell you."

Snape caressed her cheek on return. "Then show me. Every day for all eternity."