Paige couldn't sleep when she told Ripley she was going to sleep. The moment with Severus in his classroom playing on repeat in her mind. The rain finally stopped, but the clouds above were still grey and covered the entire sky. Paige tosses and turns in her bed, fighting her fantasies of him. When dawn broke, she finally decided to get out of bed, giving up on the notion of sleep. There was nothing she could do or say until she saw him again tonight at 3am.
Her stomach tightens more and more as 3am approaches. She was still confused on where they left off and she was terrified to know the answer. At 3am, she saw the familiar lantern approach the Forbidden Forest. Paige takes a deep breath and hops down from the tree. The figure approaches her and when they are close, they remove their hood to reveal it was Dumbledore.
"Sir, what are you doing here? Is everything okay?" Paige asks in confusion.
"Yes, everything's fine." He says as he extinguishes the flame in the lantern. "Unfortunately, Severus wasn't feeling to well this evening. I haven't told anyone else of this operation, so I thought it would be best I come out myself."
"Any message to send out tonight?" Paige asks, trying to hide her disappointment.
"No, nothing again tonight. Might need something to go out soon though." He responds cheerfully.
"I have nothing on my end either. Things have been pretty normal so far." Paige informs him.
"Well, if there's nothing more." Dumbledore says re-lighting the lantern. "I hope you have a pleasant rest of your evening Captain Asher."
"You as well sir." Paige says, forcing a smile.
He turns and walks back to the castle. Paige focusing on the light of the lantern before it goes out of site.
"Doesn't mean anything. He's probably actually not feeling well." Otakemaru says after Paige turns around and starts climbing up her tree. "You'll see, he'll be here tomorrow."
Paige says nothing as she sits back on her usual branch.
The next night, the same thing happens. Paige jumps down from her tree and sees that it was Dumbledore again approaching her with a lantern.
"Good evening, sir." Paige says in a low energy tone.
"Good evening, Captain Asher." Dumbledore says with a warm smile. "I hope the nights aren't getting too chilly for you."
"We're prepared for the weather sir." Paige replies.
"Good. Good to hear." He says, trying to fill in the small talk. "I was told Hollow's eve will be a surprisingly warm one this year."
"Any messages tonight?" Paige asks, wanting to get this little visit out of the way so she can go back to her sulking in the tree.
"No. No messages to get sent out tonight." Dumbledore says to her.
"Nothing to report on my end either." Paige says.
"Well, maybe tomorrow." He says turning away from her. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight." Paige replies softly.
The next two weeks was the same thing. Dumbledore would come out to the forest to meet with Paige instead of Severus. Paige's heart broke a little more every night that it wasn't him. She was unable to shake the embarrassment every time she thought of him trying to avoid her. I mean she practically threw herself at him.
She covers her face with her hands as she thinks about what he must think of her, unprofessional, emotional, unable to control herself.
"Listen, I'm telling you it's something up with him, not with you." Otakemaru says, trying to reassure her as she still covers her face, thinking of how stupid she is.
"Stop telling me anything. You know nothing. When was the last time you dated someone? Oh, let me guess THOUSANDS of years ago?!" Paige snaps, tired of hearing him trying to make sense of this situation.
"You act as if I didn't interact in the same world you did for fifteen years." Otakemaru replies, getting angry himself.
"What world? The world with training and studying and working my ass off? That world?" Paige yells in her head. "Maybe if I interacted with people my own age back then I wouldn't be so awkward now!"
"That's so weird, because as I recall the world you lived in wouldn't be taking this pity party right now." He snaps back at her.
"You just wouldn't understand." She says out-loud to him.
"Understand what? You had your first crush and he ghosted you. What more is there to understand?" He asks.
Paige sat in silence, trying to shake off feelings of hurt and embarrassment. The sun was finally rising in the horizon thought the trees.
"At least you have the day off now. Get your mind away from work." Otakemaru says, trying to cheer her up.
Paige gathers her things and jumps down from the tree. She hears a branch snap from behind her. She takes out her wand and looks around. She spots a hooded figure walking towards her in a hurried pace.
"Stop." Paige says, pointing her wand at them.
The figure quickly stops, but then swiftly removes their hood to reveal Dumbledore. Paige lowers her wand.
"Sir, you scared me. What's going on?" Paige asks as Dumbledore continues closer to Paige.
He grabs her arms desperately.
"We think we might have found something." He says dragging Paige towards the castle. "In one of the student's possessions. I need your opinion on it."
"Let me get my team." Paige says, trying to get him to stop for a second.
He quickly turns to her, looking into her eyes.
"It needs to be discreet. Just you." He says to her.
"Hey Rip, I have a meeting with Dumbledore. I'll catch up with you guys later." Paige says to Ripley over her earpiece.
"Copy that Captain." he replies.
Paige nods and continues following Dumbledore to the castle. He brought her to the side entrance into the castle to avoid being seen by the early risers. He takes her up a flight of stairs and down a corridor. They stop in front of double doors. He opens the door for her, and she walks into the room.
"Wait in here and I'll go grab it." He says, as she looks around the room.
It was a large office with a fireplace, a roaring fire already lit inside. A large desk sits in back right corner of the room. A large circular coffee table is surrounded by three large armchairs in front of the fireplace. A small table sits next to the door with an assortment of different liquors. Glasses sitting up-side down next to the bottles.
"Whose office are we in?" Paige asks as she turns back towards the door.
The door was already closed, and Dumbledore long gone. She walks over to the desk, inspecting it to try and figure out whose office this was. She opens the drawers, but they were all empty. The doors open again, and Paige quickly shuts the drawer in the desk. Dumbledore and Severus both walk into the room. Severus sees Paige standing by the desk and quickly looks over to the fireplace.
"Now, I know you think you're here for some mysterious items found in a student's room, but I need to admit now that I lied to both of you." Dumbledore says looking at both Paige and Severus."
"So then what are we doing here?" Paige asks, folding her arms.
"I don't know what's going on between you two, but it needs to get straighten out." Dumbledore says sternly.
"But sir..." Severus tries to say, but Dumbledore cuts him off.
"I don't want to hear it." He says as he opens the doors to leave. "I want whatever reason you don't want to do the meetings at night to get cleared up before you both leave this room."
He walks out of the room, locking the doors behind him. Severus looks up at the ceiling, probably cursing Dumbledore's name, before looking back over to the fireplace. Paige sighs, knowing this might get awkward, so she slowly walks towards the table with the liquor. She ponders which one to choose for a moment before selecting the gin bottle. She flips one of the cups over and pours the gin until the glass is half-full.
"I don't know what he's saying. I've just been busy lately." Severus say, breaking the silence.
Paige drinks the glass of gin in one gulp. She puts it back on the table and refills it.
"Every time you lie to me, I'm going to take a drink, just to cope with the slap in the face." Paige says, having no patience for his lies.
"It's the truth. I've been busy." He says, doubling down.
Paige lifts the glass to her lips and again, drinks the whole glass. Her chest burning as she refills the glass again.
"I didn't think I needed to spell it out for you Captain Asher, but if it's the truth you really want." He says, approaching her.
"Please, I would love the truth." Paige says, turning around to face him.
He gets uncomfortably close to her, so much so that Paige pushes herself into the table behind her, some of the bottles knocking over. His face is inches away from hers.
"I'm no longer interested in your company." He says coldly.
Paige feels her body flush red with embarrassment as the rejection hits her. Her memory then flashes back to the day in the classroom. His body pushed against hers while he kisses her neck.
She looks him in his eyes, unblinking and brings her glass to her lips and swallows all the liquid, calling him a liar in doing so. She lowers her glass and turns away from him and back to the liquor table. She starts picking up some of the bottles that got knocked over.
"Listen, if you just want to forget what happened that day in your classroom, that's fine." Paige says, picking up the last bottle and setting it back on the table.
"I can't." He says quietly.
Paige turns around, confused.
"Can't? What is that supposed to mean?" Paige asks.
"You wouldn't understand." He says, turning away from her and going back to looking at the fireplace.
"I don't understand why I wouldn't understand." Paige says, trying to just get him to stay whatever was going on inside his head.
He turns to look back at her, looking like he's going to tell her, but then stays silent and turns back to the fireplace.
"I can't." He says to her.
"Can't or won't?" Paige asks, pouring herself another glass of gin.
"I never meant to confuse you." He says, ignoring her question.
"So, under closure I should just write down 'He was a coward.'" Paige says as she shakes her head in disbelief. "Thank-you for clearing that up."
He quickly turns around and swiftly crosses the room to Paige, backing her up into the liquor table again. More bottles than before falling over on the table.
"You're so confident, aren't you? You know nothing of how dark and evil this world can truly be and the people that make it that way." He hisses at her, his eyes burning into hers. "You're blind and naïve, like a newborn fawn trying to stand on it's legs for the first time."
Paige's memory flashes back to the day she tried to stand up by the creek after escaping the lab with Otakemaru.
She could feel Otakemaru's fire building up inside her at such an insult as calling her blind and naïve when he knows nothing about her struggles. Her heart was pounding so hard in her chest she thought it might explode.
Severus steps back from her, chuckling to himself like a mad man.
"It's so easy for you, isn't it?" he continues. "You kill others who your Senate deems a threat and you're considered a hero."
"And what would a Potions Master know about killing?" Paige asks angerly, stepping away from the table and closer to him.
He glares at her for a moment, the tension between them thick and heavy. He starts unbuttoning the buttons on his sleeve, still not looking away from her. Paige watches him curiously as he slowly rolls up his sleeve. He holds his arm down, the inner part of his right arm showing. Paige's body floods with numbness as she sees a Dark Mark tattooed there.
"You're a Death Eater?" She whispers.
"Was." He corrects her, rolling his sleeve back down.
Paige didn't know what to think. She's heard of Death Eaters before but has never encountered one.
"I used to be in the inner circle of the Dark Lord." Severus continues, walking back over towards Paige.
She watches him closely as he begins to walk around her in a circle.
"Such a loyal follower I was." He says, still walking around her. "Never failed a task given."
Paige tries to hide the shiver that ran down her spine from him. She didn't want to begin to think of what sort of tasks the most evil and dark wizard would give someone.
"So, when I heard of a certain prophecy involving the Dark Lord and the Chosen One, being the loyal follower, I was." He says, then pauses, standing directly behind her.
She could feel his breath on the back of her neck. She holds her breath, not wanting him to finish his sentence.
"I told him." He whispers in her ear.
Paige continues to look forward, trying hard not to react. He moves from behind her and continues walking around her.
"Then I had a moment of clarity and didn't want to continue doing what I was doing anymore." He says casually, like he just quitting a job or something. "Dumbledore put his trust in me, and I've been a double agent ever since."
"That's it? A moment of clarity?" she asks him in disbelief.
"I didn't understand the full consequences of my actions at that time." He replies, moving back over towards the fireplace.
Paige was getting flooded with questions inside her head. Like 'Why did Dumbledore trust him so much?', 'Why did he become a Death Eater in the first place?' and 'what if he's a double agent AGAINST Dumbledore?'. Paige couldn't help but feel like she was a bug flying into a spider's web.
She feels Otakemaru's power flood her limbs and her chest, his way of reminding her that she's not some helpless child anymore. She's not going to go down without a fight if it's worst-case scenario.
"So, what are you afraid of?" Otakemaru whispers in her ear.
Memories of training with Theodard appears in Paige's mind.
"The Oni is a very powerful being." Theodard says to a 15-year-old Paige. "Many men would kill countless people for that kind of power."
Paige looks down at her hands, engulfing them in green fire.
"Be cautious using this power around other people. The more people know, the more enemies you will have."
Young Paige looks around the snowy forest they were surrounded by. Making sure no one was around.
"Great power draws more great power until they collide. There would only be a handful of great witches or wizards that would be able to compete against the Oni's ancient magic." Theodard explains to her.
Paige looks back down at her heads. She forms a green fire ball in her hand then throws it hard into the trees in front of her. Fire instantly incinerating the trees. Nothing left of their existence.
"That's why I didn't want to see you anymore." Severus says, breaking Paige out of her memory. "I knew you wouldn't have understood."
Paige thinks about Otakemaru and his story. How that powerful wizard knew what was truly in his heart even after all the horrible things he has done. He gave he a second chance.
Severus looks at her in the eyes.
"I'm sorry, I didn't have the strength to stop myself when you first kissed me." He confesses, his cold dark eyes softening slightly. "I had to stop it when I knew you would discover the skeletons in my closet right there on my arm and before my inner demons became exposed to you."
Paige smirks to herself. His eyes giving him away to her.
"We all have our secrets." Paige finally says, feeling Otakemaru's power rise inside her.
A green fire starts to emit from her body, a ring of it also circling her feet. Severus stares in shock as Paige releases more of the Oni's power, her green fire burning brighter around her.
"We all have our demons." Paige continues, the voice of Otakemaru mixing with hers.
Paige stands, looking at him. Her cards on the table. He slowly walks towards her, his eyes locked on hers. She only extinguishes her flames when he gets close to her. Her heart was pounding, revealing Otakemaru to him, but if she was going to be with him, she had to reveal it. A tattoo on her upper back exposing her secret like his would have to her. Paige didn't flinch with his face inches away from hers. Paige suddenly realizes the look in his eyes. It was fear.
"You're afraid of me." Paige says, turning away from him.
As she takes a step back, he grabs her arm swiftly, surprising her. He pulls her closer to him then tips her chin up slightly with his finger, looking into her eyes.
"I'm afraid of these feeling I have for you." He replies, pressing his lips into hers.
Paige moans softly, she missed the way his lips felt on hers. She grabs the front of his robes, pulling him closer to her, pushing them backwards into the liquor table, some of the bottles now crashing to ground, exploding, and shattering across the floor. Paige wraps her arms around his neck as he lifts her up on the table, knocking more of the liquid bottles and glasses to the ground. She bites down on his lower lip gently as her back hit the wall the table was against. He pulls his lips away from hers, moving to her neck. She arches her back, pushing her chest into him as he sends waves of pleasure thought her body. Paige could feel his hard dick pressing into her crotch, the fabric of their pants blocking the penetration. She moves her hands down and begins rubbing his dick through his pants. He grabs her hand that was rubbing him to stop her. He pulls her to him, standing her back up. He locks his lips on hers again, walking her backwards towards the desk in the corner, knocking over a small side table with a potted plant in it in the process. He backs her into the desk and turns her around, so she was facing the desk. He moves his hands slowly down her sides until he reaches the bottom hem of her shirt. He pulls it up and pulls it up over her head, dropping it to the ground after stripping it off her. She tries to turn around, but he just pushes her more against the desk, causing her to bend over it. His fingers graze her lower back and move up to her bra clasps. Paige bites her bottom lip in anticipation as he slowly removes both clasps, one by one. She then feels him take the pin out of her hair, the bun she had her hair in now falling loosely down her back. He suddenly grabs most of her hair with his hand and slowly pulls her back towards him, standing her up again. His hand moving to cup her breast and kissing her neck from behind her. She arches her back into him, desire for him growing more intensely inside her. His hand lets go of her hair and moves to her hip and sliding to the front of her pants. She moans as he bites into her neck while un-buttoning her pants. He moves the fabric down over her hips, causing her pants to fall to the ground. Paige manages to turn herself around to face him. She kisses him and starts to push him towards the chairs around the fireplace, trying to take control from him. She backs him up to one of the armchairs and pushes him down into it. She climbs on top of him, straddling him in nothing but her underwear. He runs his hands down her back as she kisses him, trying to unbutton his robes, wanting to feel his skin against hers. Her body was craving his like a drug. He leans into her, kissing her collar bone as she finishes unbuttoning his robes, and moves to his pants to unbutton those, wanting to feel his cock in his hands.
He suddenly picks her up off him, her legs still straddled around his waist and places her on top of the circular table surrounded by the chairs. He removes his robes and pants and stands over her, naked with his cock standing erect. She gasps as he rips her panties right off her and tosses them to the ground. He climbs on top of her, going between her legs. Paige slowly thrusts her hips into him, wanting him to put his dick inside her. He hovers over her, staring into her eyes. She lifts herself up from the table just enough to get up to his level.
"Please." She whispers in his ear.
He kisses her passionately, pushing her back down on the table. She could feel his large cock enter her. She breaks away from his lips to gasp, but he forces her lips back on his as he trusts deeper into her. She moans loudly as he slowly pulls his cock out a bit, her lips still locked on his. She broke away from his lips again as he thrust into her again, unable to describe the pleasure she was feeling. He digs his teeth in her neck as she starts thrusting with him in unison. She digs her fingernails into his back as the pleasure keeping climbing and building inside her. He buries his face in her neck as she moans louder and louder the more, he thrusts in her. Her body shutters and tightens as she reaches her climax. He thrusts a few more times before slowing and climaxing inside her.