This story came about because of "The Tempesta Challenge." Tempesta DiCuore challenged me to write a Snape romance fic. But, there were a few catches. 1.) I had to seriously use the words post-nasal drip and porcupine. 2.) It had to be NC-17. 3.) Snape had to stay in character. 4.) It had to be with someone else who was never in a Harry Potter book. 5.) It had to have a real plot. And this is the end result. I hope you enjoy it. Please review and let me know what you think.
Oh, yeah, and that standard disclaimer: all characters, accept for Antonia and her kids, are JK Rowling's. All... blah, blah, blah.
The potions master stood in his dank, dark dungeon, watching puffs of smoke pop up, and things burst into flame as he worked. To the average wizard, it looked like he was hard at work. Of course, Severus Snape knew what he was really doing: working on a new beverage. It would be called, of course, the Severus Challenge. The challenge was to see if you could drink this concoction without needing Poppy Pomfrey to restore your vision. Almost perfect, he thought, adding a dash of porcupine quiver to the mixture… This had to come out better than the last attempt. The last time Snape tried to create a drink, he ended up with a nasty case of post-nasal drip. And a horrendous hangover.
His potions class at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry knew perfectly well that a hung-over Snape was not a fun Snape
. He checked the time and saw that it was nearly time for dinner. The Severus Challenge would have to wait until yet another day. Dumbledore disliked his tendency to stay in the dark coldness of the dungeons…
The wooden door to his dungeon flew open with a bang. "Snape! Where are you, you greasy bastard!"
It was a woman's voice, and, needless to say, it was filled with rage.
But, it was a voice that he knew…
He looked up and saw the most breathtakingly beautiful woman that he'd seen since… since Lily.
Of course. It was Antonia Delaney. She was a year younger than him, a Ravenclaw, and always kind to him.
He greeted her with a sneer. "Antonia. What a surprise. What made you drag your superior self back to Hogwarts?"
"Matthew Carter, of course."
Snape tried not to look confused. "So, what does the little twerp have to do with you, your Royal Highness?"
She narrowed her beautiful blue eyes at him. "He's my son. The poor boy is forever sending home owls, begging for my assistance…"
"Aren't you embarrassed, having a boy like that? One who is so hopelessly terrible at Potions, a class in which you excelled?"
"No, I'm embarrassed at having ever given a slimy git like you the slightest bit of my time," she spat, recalling her days in Hogwarts when she thought that Severus Snape was the sun, the moon, and the stars…
And, then, of course, she met David Carter in a muggle bar when she was seventeen, and Severus Snape had ceased to exist. Even when she knew that Snape had become a death eater, she still adored him. It wasn't very often that Antonia Delaney came across anyone who was her intellectual equal. Snape was. David wasn't her equal by a long shot, but he was kind and gentle, and he cared for her in a way that Severus Snape never would.
And, of course, David Carter was very generous with Antonia right up until the day he died… And he never pushed her to wed, even though he made it clear that he would take her for his bride, witchery and all, whenever she so desired. Two children later, Antonia was ready to take the plunge, and marry the man that had been so kind to her.
Unfortunately, he died during a car accident on the way home from work…
Antonia tried not to think of that. She worked in the Ministry of Magic's Accidental Reversal Squad, and she provided a good living for her children. That was what was important. And she'd be damned if she'd allow that greasy bastard to hurt her children. Especially when he wasn't half the Potions master that she was. She glided closer to the object of her rage, her slippered feet soundlessly gliding across the stone floor.
"Given me your time? Given me your time? Is that what you called it, when you hung around, waiting for Black and Potter to play their latest prank on me?" he spat. "Weren't you Black's lover by the end of our stay at Hogwarts? Didn't you prove your motives?"
"Is that what you thought? Is that why you thought I would beg your help in potions every chance I got, even though you knew perfectly well that I could do anything with a cauldron?" She was astonished. "I never knew a man could be that thick."
"Look at your boys, Mrs. Carter. That should show you how thick a member of the male persuasion can be."
She angrily reached up and slapped his greasy cheek, and then wiped her hand off on her robes. "My name is Antonia Delaney, same as it has always been, Severus. And I will not stand here and allow you to speak ill of my children."
Severus. She had actually called him Severus. Not Snape, not any of the other names that he was called, but Severus.
He stopped, and looked at Antonia Delaney for the first time in years. Perhaps this was the first time that he'd ever seen her as she truly was… She was so very tiny, and her robes flaunted her lovely curves, and her full breasts. Her blue eyes were still the color of sapphires, and her golden blond hair cascaded down her back and past her waist in soft waves.
And her lips… They were just begging to be kissed. Soft and pink and full…
He slipped his hands around her tiny waist and, before he even knew what he was doing, he was kissing those beautiful lips.
She gave a muffled protest, and then, she melted against him, soft and pliant in his arms. Fifteen years ago, she'd fantasized about this. And now, the brilliant Slytherin student she'd adored back then was kissing her, pulling her closer…
She pushed him away. "Damn you, Severus, I didn't come to your dismal little dungeons to make out with you. You should have tried that fifteen years ago. You might have even gotten lucky."
He sneered. "Like I would have wanted your scrawny little girl body, anyway."
She laughed. "Yeah, that's right, Severus. I was so damned unattractive… That's why Sirius Black took me to the Yule ball, when he could have had any girl that he wanted."
"Did you go out to the bushes on the edge of the Forbidden Forrest and make out with him?"
"Of course not! I was a Ravenclaw, not one of those slut Slytherin girls that use sex to their advantage."
"I bet that was the only time Black was disappointed," he spat.
"What the Hell do you care about Black, anyway? You're here, and you're free. He's who knows where, hiding from the dementor's kiss."
. "He's still better off than me. He's not standing in a dungeon with an ill-tempered shrew," he spat.
"What the Hell is with you? Are you still a jealous little boy? You have nothing to be jealous about, anymore! You're alive! James and Lily are dead! Sirius Black is on the run, and Remus turns into a dog once a month. And you! What have you become? A brilliant, successful man with the world at his fingertips!"
Her long lashes swept up and down as her eyes took in the form of Severus Snape… The broadness ofhis shoulders, his glorious height, the blackness of his hair… She still thought he was beautiful… even though he was a pompous ass.
"Antonia, why do you say these things to me? You never really wanted me when we were students. I think it was all about slumming with the Slytherin, just to upset the Minister of Magic, himself. And, of course, there was no lower Slytherin than Severus Snape."
She threw herself in his arms. "That's not true, and you know it! I wanted someone who was brilliant and kind and special. And I saw that in you."
"Kindness," he sneered. "Why would you see that in me?"
She smiled an innocent smile, one reminiscent of their childhood. "There is always kindness in the lost ones, my darling. It just takes someone special to find it within you."
He wrapped his lanky arms around her. She felt soft, like her silken robes, and she was so warm and pliant in his cold arms. For the first time in a long while, maybe in his entire life, he actually felt… good. And he had to wonder how much of these odd, positive feelings flooding through his mind and body were because of the little tempting blond in his arms.
When she snuggled against his chest (the top of her head came just to his shoulders, so that was the best that she could do), he began to wonder if this was what happiness was all about. And, if it was, he never wanted to let Antonia Delaney out of his arms again.
Antonia sighed contentedly. Never before had she felt this sense of security in a man's arms…not even in David's, and certainly not in Sirius's. She felt, for the first time in years, that she was where she belonged. And, that, of course, was with Severus Snape.
She began unbuttoning his robe, and kissing the bare white flesh of his chest as it was exposed.
"Antonia," he whispered. He ran his thin fingers through her silky hair, and felt his knees buckle as her lips moved lower. He felt himself slipping into a different world, a world where the only thing that mattered was Antonia, and what she was doing to him with her lips.
He was so surprisingly warm under his black wizard's robe. And so damned beautiful,she thought, in spite of the flat whiteness of his flesh.
He lifted her up as if she was weightless, and slipped her up on top of the countertop. She was so soft and pale and fragile… Only, he thought, her skin is white and soft and luminous… almost like a pearl.
"Severus," she murmured, wrapping her legs around his waist. Her robe had been pushed up, revealing shapely legs that were longer than anything that Snape had dreamed of. He gently slid his hand up her thigh, marveling at the satiny perfection of her.
The most beautiful woman to cross the threshold of Hogwarts in nearly a millennia, and she's with me, he marveled.
"Excuse me, Professor Snape," a female voice interrupted.
Snape cringed. Busted.
Antonia groaned in irritation. "Damn the bad luck," she grumbled under her breath.
"Miss Delaney, a pleasure to see you, too," Professor McGonagall greeted, not even attempting to mask her disgust. "I trust Jonathon and Matthew are well?"
The fragile little flower in the Potions master's arms glared daggers at the Transfiguration professor. "They are just fine, thank you."
McGonagall grew more irritated. "Miss Delaney, why are you here?"
"If you will pardon my impudence, oh great Professor, I would like to remind you that the Ministry of Magic does not answer to professors," she hissed, her blue eyes narrowing. "I don't appreciate being questioned by you. If you'd like that authority, then perhaps you should consider resigning your post here, and attempting to become my superior."
McGonagall sniffed. "I don't think you'd like that, Miss Delaney. I'm certain that neither you, nor your children that you seem to have forgotten about, would like to see you sent to Azkaban."
Antonia pushed Snape away and hopped down on the floor, her feet soundlessly hitting the stone floor. "How I raise my children is of no concern to you. But if you continue your snide remarks, I just might have to forget that I am supposed to be a lady," she replied, her voice deadly cold, and her wand in her hand. "I think you should consider going and taking care of that all important Hogwarts' business. At the very least, you should end your interference in Ministry business. Good day."
McGonagall opened her mouth to say something, and seemed to have reconsidered. She shut her mouth, turned on her heel, and stormed out of the dungeon in a huff. The impudence of that woman! she thought.
Antonia looked up at Snape. "Where were we?"
"I'd never seen anyone talk to Minerva like that," he said, his usual sneer replaced with admiration.
She shrugged. "I never liked her, anyway."
He looked at the tiny blond that stood before him. For some reason, he found her irresistible. Yes, she was beautiful; there was no denying that. But it took more than a woman fair of face to turn his head. It had to be that she was frighteningly intelligent, and so very in control. That mind had to be the most fascinating thing… "You, Antonia Delaney, are amazing."
She blushed. "No, I'm just me. I've always thought that was enough."
He scooped her up and put her back on the countertop. "That's all anyone could ever want of you. And you're more than anyone could ever be worthy of."
Snape couldn't help but marvel at his own good luck. Sitting before him was the most delicious piece of femininity, and she was wrapping her legs around him as he slid a thin hand up her thigh. He kissed the white flesh of her neck, and unbuttoned the top button of her robe.
"Amazing," he whispered, peering at her ivory flesh with awe. He felt something that he'd never felt before, not in his entire miserable existence: lust. He wanted to rip her robes off, and feel every inch of her lithe body pressing against him, and he wanted to kiss every inch of her.
But not here. He wanted to feel her, inside and out, but he wanted her somewhere warm and, well, less forbidding than a cold and damp dungeon. But he didn't want to parade Antonia around all of Hogwarts, either. Nor did he want to break the mood by having her focus on someone else…
"Shh," he softly instructed, picking up his fair lady and cradling her in hisarms. He carried her through his office, and whispered to the picture of the mad scientist, "Lily Snape." The painting swung open, revealing a longand dark secret passage way.
"Severus, I…" she protested. But she'd heard the password. She didn't want to be second best to anyone… especially a woman that had been dead for fourteen years.
"I'd rather take you somewhere warmer," he replied, looking at her with something close to… fondness…
"Really, Sever…"
He silenced her with a soft kiss to her forehead. "I want this to be something that you'll remember forever." I know I will…
She smiled angelically at him, and snuggled closer. He really is remarkably strong, she thought. And he felt so good. It was amazing, how gentle and warm Severus Snape could be.
"Cremare," he ordered, and the torches down the passage lit. She gave a passing glance to the gray stone hall that wound before them. The ceiling arched over them beautifully, and the flames gave the hall a warm glow.
Yet, onward Snape walked, carrying his treasured bundle in his arms. He could have put her down, but that wouldn't have had quite the effect that he was going for… Besides, Antonia was practically weightless, anyway. She couldn't have weighed more than five stone (or 100 pounds for us American folk out there). And it felt good to hold her, and to feel her blue eyes gazing up at him with undisguised warmth.
At that moment, Snape felt like a god or a king. He wasn't sure what he felt like, but it was much nicer than being the hated Potions master, and way better than being the hated Slytherin boy of his youth.
The hall curved and ended. "My humble abode," he announced, and the wall swung open.
Antonia looked at the room that he was bringing her into. It was a wondrously warm bedchamber, dominated by a massive four-poster bed close to the blazing fireplace. She smiled impishly up at him, wondering how he would go from there…
"Our chamber awaits, my lady," he said in an old-world style. He carried her across the threshold of his bedchamber, and carefully placed her in his bed.
She gave a soft, delighted laugh as she sank into the down mattress. "I never thought I'd be here with you, Severus."
He lay down beside her. "I can't believe this, either…" He glanced at the two tall, black iron candelabras on his floor that reached up to his great height. "Cremare," he whispered.
The tall, thin beeswax tapers lit up, and their tiny flickers danced.
"You should always be seen in candlelight," he whispered. While she was beautiful before, now she was simply intoxicating.
She smiled at him, and snuggled closer to him. Everything about this night had been better than she'd ever dreamed, back when visions of Severus Snape roamed her fantasies. "You're beautiful, Severus. And I've wanted you to notice me for so long…"
He kissed her. Not like those hesitant kisses that he'd given her in the dungeon, but real, passionate, hungry kisses. She tasted so sweet… something reminiscent of strawberries. He couldn't get enough of kissing Antonia Delaney. Nothing he'd ever experienced in his miserable life compared to this.
She kissed him back, matching him stride for stride. His fingers clumsily worked at unbuttoning her robes. Once her robes were open, all he could do is stare at the perfectly formed creature that lay so invitingly in his bed.
She sat up, comfortable in her unclothed state, and gently unbuttoned Snape's black robe. He fought the urge to cover himself from her eyes as the robe spread open before her. Her tiny, warm hands caressed his chest, slipping further down…
He grasped her seemingly fragile wrist. "Wait. I… You…"
Antonia sat up and looked at him, almost into his soul, "Severus, are you okay?"
"I haven't… I…"
She smiled gently at him. "You've never done this before, have you." It was a statement, not a question. She knew the answer.
"No," he said shortly. He found himself resisting the urge to run out of his bedchamber, and hide in the familiar sanctuary of the dungeons. What the Hell was he thinking, carrying her off to his bed like some sort of stud? Who did he think he was? Sirius Black?
"Shh," she comforted. "None of that's important. All that matters is that you stay with me, and that you never, ever turn away from me. I don't think I could bare it if you did."
"Antonia, I…"
She silenced him with a gentle kiss. "You haven't the slightest idea how very special you are… Or how wonderful your kisses are. Don't go, Severus. And don't be afraid. This is little Antonia, the one who never wanted anyone to hurt you… And I won't hurt you, now."
He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tight. She fit so perfectly against him… He'd never felt anything like this in his life. Is this what love feels like? he wondered, but only for a second.
As Antonia laid her hands on him, all thoughts were driven out of his mind. She moved off to the side of him and slid his robe off. Antonia smiled gently; she could see Snape resisting the urge to pull his robes back on and run screaming from the bedchamber. "Just relax," she whispered, gently pushing him back in the bed.
Severus Snape thought he'd died and somehow made it to Heaven, because Antonia surely had to be an angel… He could feel her silken hair drag across his sensitive flesh as she kissed him everywhere… and everywhere her lips touched felt more alive and real than ever before. He couldn't get enough; all he knew was that he'd die if she stopped, but his heart would explode in his chest if she kept going.
Her lips trailed down his left arm, softly touching and tasting. He stiffened when she paused at the Dark Mark. Ashamed, he tried to pull away.
She held his arm firm and looked up at him with adoring blue eyes. "No, Severus. I told you that I wanted to know every part of you. This mark is a part of you, whether it's a part that you're ashamed of or not. I want to kiss every inch of you, and this," she informed him, gently stroking the mark, "is not going to be enough to stop me."
"Antonia, I…"
She smiled. "Severus, my love, you talk way too much sometimes."
His sneer popped back up. "And?"
She slid back up to his face. "Shut up and kiss me."
The cold look left his face as he pulled her closer. He kissed her with every ounce of passion that he had in his being. He slipped her robe off her shoulders and pulled her flat against him. The feel of her bare, silky flesh on his was almost more than he could bare. Almost. His thin, pale lips found her pink lush ones.
Kissing Antonia was like nothing that he'd ever experienced. There was no greater joy than feeling her, all of her, pliantly meshed against him, all soft and warm and lush…
Hesitantly, he reached out to stroke her creamy white breasts. She took his hand in hers and placed it. "You can touch me, Severus. I'm not a dream, nor am I a fantasy. I'm here to enjoy you and to be enjoyed by you."
He resisted the urge to moan as he felt her skillful fingers trace down his chest, down his stomach, and finally to clamp on him.
Antonia was pleasantly surprised at what she'd found. Women always said "Size doesn't matter", but Severus was definitely proving that size could offer something a bit more to look forward to…
He let out a small cry of pleasure as her mouth followed the same path as her fingers, kissing his chest and slowly going lower.
"Antonia!" he moaned, running his fingers through her blond locks. He couldn't get enough of her.
"It only gets better, my love," she promised in a soft whisper.
"I…I…"
She smiled, that soft, catlike smile that a woman wears when she knows that she's driven a man beyond all reason. "Tell me what you want, my love," she whispered, resting her chin on her hands.
He looked down at her at saw those soft blue eyes… "I want you," he whispered, his voice ragged with passion.
Her smile grew more satisfied. "Then have me, you shall."
He thought he was going to die. He thought he was going to die if it stopped. He felt her slide up and straddle him. He felt the silky wetness of her. By their own volition, his thin fingers wrapped around her tiny waist. She slid up and down on him, whispering soft little nothings.
He felt so nice… She knew, now that she'd had him, that he was really the one that she'd been waiting for all along. She finally knew why she never married David. Severus Snape.
She whispered words of how wonderful he felt inside her, how she never wanted it to end… She stopped herself before whispering words of love.
His grip grew tighter and he cried out, "Antonia!"
She felt his small explosion inside her, and slipped off of the astonished potions master. She lay down beside him and kissed his shoulder before resting her head on his chest. She could hear his heart racing beneath her ear.
"I'm sorry, darling," he apologized. He felt like a failure.
"Shh,"she whispered, gently stroking his chest, now slick with perspiration. "You did wonderful for your first time out. This is only the beginning."
Oh, yeah, and that standard disclaimer: all characters, accept for Antonia and her kids, are JK Rowling's. All... blah, blah, blah.
The potions master stood in his dank, dark dungeon, watching puffs of smoke pop up, and things burst into flame as he worked. To the average wizard, it looked like he was hard at work. Of course, Severus Snape knew what he was really doing: working on a new beverage. It would be called, of course, the Severus Challenge. The challenge was to see if you could drink this concoction without needing Poppy Pomfrey to restore your vision. Almost perfect, he thought, adding a dash of porcupine quiver to the mixture… This had to come out better than the last attempt. The last time Snape tried to create a drink, he ended up with a nasty case of post-nasal drip. And a horrendous hangover.
His potions class at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry knew perfectly well that a hung-over Snape was not a fun Snape
. He checked the time and saw that it was nearly time for dinner. The Severus Challenge would have to wait until yet another day. Dumbledore disliked his tendency to stay in the dark coldness of the dungeons…
The wooden door to his dungeon flew open with a bang. "Snape! Where are you, you greasy bastard!"
It was a woman's voice, and, needless to say, it was filled with rage.
But, it was a voice that he knew…
He looked up and saw the most breathtakingly beautiful woman that he'd seen since… since Lily.
Of course. It was Antonia Delaney. She was a year younger than him, a Ravenclaw, and always kind to him.
He greeted her with a sneer. "Antonia. What a surprise. What made you drag your superior self back to Hogwarts?"
"Matthew Carter, of course."
Snape tried not to look confused. "So, what does the little twerp have to do with you, your Royal Highness?"
She narrowed her beautiful blue eyes at him. "He's my son. The poor boy is forever sending home owls, begging for my assistance…"
"Aren't you embarrassed, having a boy like that? One who is so hopelessly terrible at Potions, a class in which you excelled?"
"No, I'm embarrassed at having ever given a slimy git like you the slightest bit of my time," she spat, recalling her days in Hogwarts when she thought that Severus Snape was the sun, the moon, and the stars…
And, then, of course, she met David Carter in a muggle bar when she was seventeen, and Severus Snape had ceased to exist. Even when she knew that Snape had become a death eater, she still adored him. It wasn't very often that Antonia Delaney came across anyone who was her intellectual equal. Snape was. David wasn't her equal by a long shot, but he was kind and gentle, and he cared for her in a way that Severus Snape never would.
And, of course, David Carter was very generous with Antonia right up until the day he died… And he never pushed her to wed, even though he made it clear that he would take her for his bride, witchery and all, whenever she so desired. Two children later, Antonia was ready to take the plunge, and marry the man that had been so kind to her.
Unfortunately, he died during a car accident on the way home from work…
Antonia tried not to think of that. She worked in the Ministry of Magic's Accidental Reversal Squad, and she provided a good living for her children. That was what was important. And she'd be damned if she'd allow that greasy bastard to hurt her children. Especially when he wasn't half the Potions master that she was. She glided closer to the object of her rage, her slippered feet soundlessly gliding across the stone floor.
"Given me your time? Given me your time? Is that what you called it, when you hung around, waiting for Black and Potter to play their latest prank on me?" he spat. "Weren't you Black's lover by the end of our stay at Hogwarts? Didn't you prove your motives?"
"Is that what you thought? Is that why you thought I would beg your help in potions every chance I got, even though you knew perfectly well that I could do anything with a cauldron?" She was astonished. "I never knew a man could be that thick."
"Look at your boys, Mrs. Carter. That should show you how thick a member of the male persuasion can be."
She angrily reached up and slapped his greasy cheek, and then wiped her hand off on her robes. "My name is Antonia Delaney, same as it has always been, Severus. And I will not stand here and allow you to speak ill of my children."
Severus. She had actually called him Severus. Not Snape, not any of the other names that he was called, but Severus.
He stopped, and looked at Antonia Delaney for the first time in years. Perhaps this was the first time that he'd ever seen her as she truly was… She was so very tiny, and her robes flaunted her lovely curves, and her full breasts. Her blue eyes were still the color of sapphires, and her golden blond hair cascaded down her back and past her waist in soft waves.
And her lips… They were just begging to be kissed. Soft and pink and full…
He slipped his hands around her tiny waist and, before he even knew what he was doing, he was kissing those beautiful lips.
She gave a muffled protest, and then, she melted against him, soft and pliant in his arms. Fifteen years ago, she'd fantasized about this. And now, the brilliant Slytherin student she'd adored back then was kissing her, pulling her closer…
She pushed him away. "Damn you, Severus, I didn't come to your dismal little dungeons to make out with you. You should have tried that fifteen years ago. You might have even gotten lucky."
He sneered. "Like I would have wanted your scrawny little girl body, anyway."
She laughed. "Yeah, that's right, Severus. I was so damned unattractive… That's why Sirius Black took me to the Yule ball, when he could have had any girl that he wanted."
"Did you go out to the bushes on the edge of the Forbidden Forrest and make out with him?"
"Of course not! I was a Ravenclaw, not one of those slut Slytherin girls that use sex to their advantage."
"I bet that was the only time Black was disappointed," he spat.
"What the Hell do you care about Black, anyway? You're here, and you're free. He's who knows where, hiding from the dementor's kiss."
. "He's still better off than me. He's not standing in a dungeon with an ill-tempered shrew," he spat.
"What the Hell is with you? Are you still a jealous little boy? You have nothing to be jealous about, anymore! You're alive! James and Lily are dead! Sirius Black is on the run, and Remus turns into a dog once a month. And you! What have you become? A brilliant, successful man with the world at his fingertips!"
Her long lashes swept up and down as her eyes took in the form of Severus Snape… The broadness ofhis shoulders, his glorious height, the blackness of his hair… She still thought he was beautiful… even though he was a pompous ass.
"Antonia, why do you say these things to me? You never really wanted me when we were students. I think it was all about slumming with the Slytherin, just to upset the Minister of Magic, himself. And, of course, there was no lower Slytherin than Severus Snape."
She threw herself in his arms. "That's not true, and you know it! I wanted someone who was brilliant and kind and special. And I saw that in you."
"Kindness," he sneered. "Why would you see that in me?"
She smiled an innocent smile, one reminiscent of their childhood. "There is always kindness in the lost ones, my darling. It just takes someone special to find it within you."
He wrapped his lanky arms around her. She felt soft, like her silken robes, and she was so warm and pliant in his cold arms. For the first time in a long while, maybe in his entire life, he actually felt… good. And he had to wonder how much of these odd, positive feelings flooding through his mind and body were because of the little tempting blond in his arms.
When she snuggled against his chest (the top of her head came just to his shoulders, so that was the best that she could do), he began to wonder if this was what happiness was all about. And, if it was, he never wanted to let Antonia Delaney out of his arms again.
Antonia sighed contentedly. Never before had she felt this sense of security in a man's arms…not even in David's, and certainly not in Sirius's. She felt, for the first time in years, that she was where she belonged. And, that, of course, was with Severus Snape.
She began unbuttoning his robe, and kissing the bare white flesh of his chest as it was exposed.
"Antonia," he whispered. He ran his thin fingers through her silky hair, and felt his knees buckle as her lips moved lower. He felt himself slipping into a different world, a world where the only thing that mattered was Antonia, and what she was doing to him with her lips.
He was so surprisingly warm under his black wizard's robe. And so damned beautiful,she thought, in spite of the flat whiteness of his flesh.
He lifted her up as if she was weightless, and slipped her up on top of the countertop. She was so soft and pale and fragile… Only, he thought, her skin is white and soft and luminous… almost like a pearl.
"Severus," she murmured, wrapping her legs around his waist. Her robe had been pushed up, revealing shapely legs that were longer than anything that Snape had dreamed of. He gently slid his hand up her thigh, marveling at the satiny perfection of her.
The most beautiful woman to cross the threshold of Hogwarts in nearly a millennia, and she's with me, he marveled.
"Excuse me, Professor Snape," a female voice interrupted.
Snape cringed. Busted.
Antonia groaned in irritation. "Damn the bad luck," she grumbled under her breath.
"Miss Delaney, a pleasure to see you, too," Professor McGonagall greeted, not even attempting to mask her disgust. "I trust Jonathon and Matthew are well?"
The fragile little flower in the Potions master's arms glared daggers at the Transfiguration professor. "They are just fine, thank you."
McGonagall grew more irritated. "Miss Delaney, why are you here?"
"If you will pardon my impudence, oh great Professor, I would like to remind you that the Ministry of Magic does not answer to professors," she hissed, her blue eyes narrowing. "I don't appreciate being questioned by you. If you'd like that authority, then perhaps you should consider resigning your post here, and attempting to become my superior."
McGonagall sniffed. "I don't think you'd like that, Miss Delaney. I'm certain that neither you, nor your children that you seem to have forgotten about, would like to see you sent to Azkaban."
Antonia pushed Snape away and hopped down on the floor, her feet soundlessly hitting the stone floor. "How I raise my children is of no concern to you. But if you continue your snide remarks, I just might have to forget that I am supposed to be a lady," she replied, her voice deadly cold, and her wand in her hand. "I think you should consider going and taking care of that all important Hogwarts' business. At the very least, you should end your interference in Ministry business. Good day."
McGonagall opened her mouth to say something, and seemed to have reconsidered. She shut her mouth, turned on her heel, and stormed out of the dungeon in a huff. The impudence of that woman! she thought.
Antonia looked up at Snape. "Where were we?"
"I'd never seen anyone talk to Minerva like that," he said, his usual sneer replaced with admiration.
She shrugged. "I never liked her, anyway."
He looked at the tiny blond that stood before him. For some reason, he found her irresistible. Yes, she was beautiful; there was no denying that. But it took more than a woman fair of face to turn his head. It had to be that she was frighteningly intelligent, and so very in control. That mind had to be the most fascinating thing… "You, Antonia Delaney, are amazing."
She blushed. "No, I'm just me. I've always thought that was enough."
He scooped her up and put her back on the countertop. "That's all anyone could ever want of you. And you're more than anyone could ever be worthy of."
Snape couldn't help but marvel at his own good luck. Sitting before him was the most delicious piece of femininity, and she was wrapping her legs around him as he slid a thin hand up her thigh. He kissed the white flesh of her neck, and unbuttoned the top button of her robe.
"Amazing," he whispered, peering at her ivory flesh with awe. He felt something that he'd never felt before, not in his entire miserable existence: lust. He wanted to rip her robes off, and feel every inch of her lithe body pressing against him, and he wanted to kiss every inch of her.
But not here. He wanted to feel her, inside and out, but he wanted her somewhere warm and, well, less forbidding than a cold and damp dungeon. But he didn't want to parade Antonia around all of Hogwarts, either. Nor did he want to break the mood by having her focus on someone else…
"Shh," he softly instructed, picking up his fair lady and cradling her in hisarms. He carried her through his office, and whispered to the picture of the mad scientist, "Lily Snape." The painting swung open, revealing a longand dark secret passage way.
"Severus, I…" she protested. But she'd heard the password. She didn't want to be second best to anyone… especially a woman that had been dead for fourteen years.
"I'd rather take you somewhere warmer," he replied, looking at her with something close to… fondness…
"Really, Sever…"
He silenced her with a soft kiss to her forehead. "I want this to be something that you'll remember forever." I know I will…
She smiled angelically at him, and snuggled closer. He really is remarkably strong, she thought. And he felt so good. It was amazing, how gentle and warm Severus Snape could be.
"Cremare," he ordered, and the torches down the passage lit. She gave a passing glance to the gray stone hall that wound before them. The ceiling arched over them beautifully, and the flames gave the hall a warm glow.
Yet, onward Snape walked, carrying his treasured bundle in his arms. He could have put her down, but that wouldn't have had quite the effect that he was going for… Besides, Antonia was practically weightless, anyway. She couldn't have weighed more than five stone (or 100 pounds for us American folk out there). And it felt good to hold her, and to feel her blue eyes gazing up at him with undisguised warmth.
At that moment, Snape felt like a god or a king. He wasn't sure what he felt like, but it was much nicer than being the hated Potions master, and way better than being the hated Slytherin boy of his youth.
The hall curved and ended. "My humble abode," he announced, and the wall swung open.
Antonia looked at the room that he was bringing her into. It was a wondrously warm bedchamber, dominated by a massive four-poster bed close to the blazing fireplace. She smiled impishly up at him, wondering how he would go from there…
"Our chamber awaits, my lady," he said in an old-world style. He carried her across the threshold of his bedchamber, and carefully placed her in his bed.
She gave a soft, delighted laugh as she sank into the down mattress. "I never thought I'd be here with you, Severus."
He lay down beside her. "I can't believe this, either…" He glanced at the two tall, black iron candelabras on his floor that reached up to his great height. "Cremare," he whispered.
The tall, thin beeswax tapers lit up, and their tiny flickers danced.
"You should always be seen in candlelight," he whispered. While she was beautiful before, now she was simply intoxicating.
She smiled at him, and snuggled closer to him. Everything about this night had been better than she'd ever dreamed, back when visions of Severus Snape roamed her fantasies. "You're beautiful, Severus. And I've wanted you to notice me for so long…"
He kissed her. Not like those hesitant kisses that he'd given her in the dungeon, but real, passionate, hungry kisses. She tasted so sweet… something reminiscent of strawberries. He couldn't get enough of kissing Antonia Delaney. Nothing he'd ever experienced in his miserable life compared to this.
She kissed him back, matching him stride for stride. His fingers clumsily worked at unbuttoning her robes. Once her robes were open, all he could do is stare at the perfectly formed creature that lay so invitingly in his bed.
She sat up, comfortable in her unclothed state, and gently unbuttoned Snape's black robe. He fought the urge to cover himself from her eyes as the robe spread open before her. Her tiny, warm hands caressed his chest, slipping further down…
He grasped her seemingly fragile wrist. "Wait. I… You…"
Antonia sat up and looked at him, almost into his soul, "Severus, are you okay?"
"I haven't… I…"
She smiled gently at him. "You've never done this before, have you." It was a statement, not a question. She knew the answer.
"No," he said shortly. He found himself resisting the urge to run out of his bedchamber, and hide in the familiar sanctuary of the dungeons. What the Hell was he thinking, carrying her off to his bed like some sort of stud? Who did he think he was? Sirius Black?
"Shh," she comforted. "None of that's important. All that matters is that you stay with me, and that you never, ever turn away from me. I don't think I could bare it if you did."
"Antonia, I…"
She silenced him with a gentle kiss. "You haven't the slightest idea how very special you are… Or how wonderful your kisses are. Don't go, Severus. And don't be afraid. This is little Antonia, the one who never wanted anyone to hurt you… And I won't hurt you, now."
He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tight. She fit so perfectly against him… He'd never felt anything like this in his life. Is this what love feels like? he wondered, but only for a second.
As Antonia laid her hands on him, all thoughts were driven out of his mind. She moved off to the side of him and slid his robe off. Antonia smiled gently; she could see Snape resisting the urge to pull his robes back on and run screaming from the bedchamber. "Just relax," she whispered, gently pushing him back in the bed.
Severus Snape thought he'd died and somehow made it to Heaven, because Antonia surely had to be an angel… He could feel her silken hair drag across his sensitive flesh as she kissed him everywhere… and everywhere her lips touched felt more alive and real than ever before. He couldn't get enough; all he knew was that he'd die if she stopped, but his heart would explode in his chest if she kept going.
Her lips trailed down his left arm, softly touching and tasting. He stiffened when she paused at the Dark Mark. Ashamed, he tried to pull away.
She held his arm firm and looked up at him with adoring blue eyes. "No, Severus. I told you that I wanted to know every part of you. This mark is a part of you, whether it's a part that you're ashamed of or not. I want to kiss every inch of you, and this," she informed him, gently stroking the mark, "is not going to be enough to stop me."
"Antonia, I…"
She smiled. "Severus, my love, you talk way too much sometimes."
His sneer popped back up. "And?"
She slid back up to his face. "Shut up and kiss me."
The cold look left his face as he pulled her closer. He kissed her with every ounce of passion that he had in his being. He slipped her robe off her shoulders and pulled her flat against him. The feel of her bare, silky flesh on his was almost more than he could bare. Almost. His thin, pale lips found her pink lush ones.
Kissing Antonia was like nothing that he'd ever experienced. There was no greater joy than feeling her, all of her, pliantly meshed against him, all soft and warm and lush…
Hesitantly, he reached out to stroke her creamy white breasts. She took his hand in hers and placed it. "You can touch me, Severus. I'm not a dream, nor am I a fantasy. I'm here to enjoy you and to be enjoyed by you."
He resisted the urge to moan as he felt her skillful fingers trace down his chest, down his stomach, and finally to clamp on him.
Antonia was pleasantly surprised at what she'd found. Women always said "Size doesn't matter", but Severus was definitely proving that size could offer something a bit more to look forward to…
He let out a small cry of pleasure as her mouth followed the same path as her fingers, kissing his chest and slowly going lower.
"Antonia!" he moaned, running his fingers through her blond locks. He couldn't get enough of her.
"It only gets better, my love," she promised in a soft whisper.
"I…I…"
She smiled, that soft, catlike smile that a woman wears when she knows that she's driven a man beyond all reason. "Tell me what you want, my love," she whispered, resting her chin on her hands.
He looked down at her at saw those soft blue eyes… "I want you," he whispered, his voice ragged with passion.
Her smile grew more satisfied. "Then have me, you shall."
He thought he was going to die. He thought he was going to die if it stopped. He felt her slide up and straddle him. He felt the silky wetness of her. By their own volition, his thin fingers wrapped around her tiny waist. She slid up and down on him, whispering soft little nothings.
He felt so nice… She knew, now that she'd had him, that he was really the one that she'd been waiting for all along. She finally knew why she never married David. Severus Snape.
She whispered words of how wonderful he felt inside her, how she never wanted it to end… She stopped herself before whispering words of love.
His grip grew tighter and he cried out, "Antonia!"
She felt his small explosion inside her, and slipped off of the astonished potions master. She lay down beside him and kissed his shoulder before resting her head on his chest. She could hear his heart racing beneath her ear.
"I'm sorry, darling," he apologized. He felt like a failure.
"Shh,"she whispered, gently stroking his chest, now slick with perspiration. "You did wonderful for your first time out. This is only the beginning."