A/N: See some of the earlier chapters for a disclaimer. I'm over writing it. If you read, please review… ff.net disabled the hit counter, and so a review is the only way I have of knowing if anyone has read. So, please, say something, even if it's just that you think Antonia's a drunken slut and I have no talent. (Of course, I'd hate that, and I'd really prefer a simple "I wuz here" just so I know that someone showed up if you have nothing more to offer…)
The roll of honor is at the bottom. And now, on with the story…
***********************************************************************************************
She looked at her students, a row after row of Gryffindors. "Okay, guys, on that note, your homework for vacation will be a paper on wraiths. Four rolls of parchment."
She smiled at the groans of protest and said, "You have all of break to do this. I'm sure you can manage. Just have a good time at the Yule Ball tonight, and don't get caught," she said, an impish grin across her face as she looked at the seventh years.
The Weasley twins' ears turned red as they looked at Angelina Bell and Katie Johnson.
"Class dismissed," she breathed, flinging open the doors with a wave of her wand.
* * *
"Can't we sit this out?" Severus asked, looking at Dumbledore from the staff table.
"Severus, please. I've been telling you for the last thirteen years, you must show up at the Yule Ball. Even having fun is allowed," Dumbledore replied, a twinkle in his blue eyes.
"You don't want to go to the Ball with me?" Antonia pouted.
The other members of the faculty sniggered at the petulance in her voice and the lengths to which Severus would go in order to please this woman.
"Antonia, it's not that I don't want to go with you… I just plain don't want to go," he protested.
"That's okay, Sevie, you don't have to go," she cooed in a sticky sweet voice. "I'm sure Sirius Black will be most delighted to escort me… Especially if I wear those silk robes…"
"I'm going to the Ball," he snarled, baring his teeth. "I will wear my best robes and be ready to escort you with a smile." Honestly, he looked more like he wanted to bite her.
"Thank you, darling," she replied, looking up at him with undisguised adoration.
"Snape, I think she's got yeh trained," Hagrid teased in his booming voice. He did adore Antonia, even back in her days as a student.
Antonia smiled angelically. "Now, Hagrid, I don't train my spouse. I simply ask him politely and use logic to make my point. He then decides as he sees fit."
Severus looked only slightly mollified at that. "I still don't want to go, and I'll have a miserable time."
"How could yeh not go an' 'ave a good time? Yeh'll 'ave one of the prettiest girls as yer date," Hagrid pointed out.
Severus looked at his wife appraisingly. "Well," he began slowly, "I suppose she'll do… But we'll have to clean her up, first."
"Beast!" she laughed, swatting him playfully.
He snatched up her hand and kissed her fingertips. "Enjoy it, witch."
"Every second of it," she agreed.
Oblivious to the teachers and students in the Great Hall, they leaned in to kiss each other.
Dumbledore sneezed. Loudly.
"Professors Snape," McGonagall admonished.
"Sorry. Forgot about you guys," Antonia admitted sheepishly.
"We noticed," Flitwick tittered in his squeaky little voice.
Antonia looked around the Great Hall and flushed slightly. The students were looking at them both, amazed. The Slytherin boys looked rather envious of Snape, as did most of the male students. However, she noticed that Harry Potter and his crew didn't look envious at all.
"I think I'm going to be sick," Hermione grumbled.
"That's vile," Ron agreed. "It's bad enough she married the greasy bastard. She could at least resist the urge to snog the slime ball in the Great Hall…"
Harry himself had turned a peculiar shade of green. "Well, Herm, this blows your theory that she's with him for any other reason than love…"
"It seems that you two have created a bit of a disturbance," Dumbledore remarked mildly, taking in the gawking students.
"Um, whoops?" Antonia squeaked.
McGonagall was alternating between trying not to laugh at her and trying to look stern. The result came out resembling a puffer fish.
Dinner didn't end soon enough.
* * *
She closed her eyes as she felt his lips softly moving down the nape of her neck. His arms wrapped around her waist as she relaxed against him, one large hand cupped her breast. A contented sigh from deep within came from her as he held her tight.
"Wouldn't you rather stay in our chamber and just do this all night?" Severus remarked, his tone suggestive.
"We have to go, darling," she responded weakly. Her voice was telling him that she'd like nothing more than to spend a quiet evening in their dungeon, just the two of them.
"Are you certain?" he whispered, taking an earlobe in his teeth.
"Yes," she answered firmly, pulling away from him. "Go get a shower and wash your hair, darling."
"It's more fun when you join me," he pressed.
"But we'll be late," she protested feebly.
"So, we can make a 'dramatic entrance'," he insisted, pulling her dressing gown off.
"Severus, really!" she laughed, giggling as he scooped her up in his arms.
"Are you sure I can't convince you to join me?" He looked at her with something akin to pleading, but far more lighthearted.
She sniggered and shook her head. "I'll tell you what… Get your shower and wash your hair, while I try to turn myself into the belle of the ball. If you're impressed, we can try to leave the ball early… I can get a headache…"
He kissed her forehead. "And I've got the cure," he leered.
"Arrogant prat," she teased, swatting him playfully as he set her back on her feet. "Get ready, now, go on with you." She shooed her husband into the shower and got ready in the main chamber in peace.
He slipped out of the showers and saw her face reflected in the beveled glass. The potions master slowly crept behind her, gazing upon her oblivious countenance. He froze when he saw her putting her waist length blond hair in a French twist. She was… under ordinary circumstances, she was beautiful. But tonight, looking as she did? Here was something special about her that transcended her looks. She was… He smiled. She was his.
The witch turned and faced him, a sweet smile spread across her face. "What do you think?"
His black eyes drank in her appearance. She was wearing robes that he'd not seen before, all soft and shimmery black and silver with black lace… The robes were off the shoulder and hugged her full breasts and tiny waist before flaring out at her rounded hips, then falling to the floor in beautiful, shining pools. The sleeves were long and fitted to the elbow, then flared out into black lacey bell sleeves. She presented a delightful dichotomy of a pagan winter goddess of old and a modern pin-up girl at once. For once, she'd actually gone to the trouble of putting on make-up… Her blue eyes were brought out by the earthy eye shadow that she'd applied, and her high cheekbones stood out a bit more than usual… Her lips, of course, were still the same soft, kissable pink that he'd adored.
"Something is missing…" he remarked in a critical tone.
She hastily applied a pair of diamond studs in platinum. "Better?"
"No," he answered.
She sighed. "The jewelry box is right over there, darling. Check and see if there's something you like better," she replied, pointing to a mahogany chest on the table.
He opened the shining wooden lid and looked through the baubles inside. Diamonds, sapphires, rubies, emeralds, amethyst, tiger's eye, green aventurine, blue and yellow topaz, gold and silver… "None of this will do," he responded, his voice clipped.
"Well, then, what, my love, do you propose I wear?" she sniped.
He reached into the pockets of his robe and pulled out a black velvet jewelry box. "I thought this might be appropriate," he suggested softly, opening the box before her.
"Oh, Severus," she breathed. Her eyes feasted upon the magnificent jewels in her lover's hands. A lovely, twelve inch circle of onyx stones laid in a platinum lace with white diamonds surrounding the black stones sparkled up at her. A pair of earrings, black onyx, diamond and platinum, as well, lay in the middle of the bejeweled work of art. Those earrings… it looked as if each earring was a link taken from the necklace, made shorter simply to fit her own slender throat.
She felt his presence directly behind her, and saw the necklace glint as he lowered it in front of her face. She gasped slightly at the shock of the cold metal as he wrapped it around her neck. Antonia shivered; his lips gently brushed that delicate curvature at the nape of her neck and her shoulder. "Put the earrings on," he ordered, his voice a loving whisper.
With shaking fingers, she took off the diamonds and put on the lovely new earrings her lover had given her.
"Look at yourself," he said, again in that nearly a whisper of a voice. He turned her to see her reflection in the beveled looking glass once more. "You're beautiful, Antonia, so beautiful it hurts."
"I'm not beautiful like you," she answered in a hushed voice. The young Mrs. Snape felt her husband's arms wrap around her waist and lay her hands over his. "You're beautiful on the inside, darling. You're so very strong and bright… and you love me…. This," she added, making a gesture to her reflection, "This will fade."
"Not in my eyes," he promised, his lips brushing against her temple.
She turned and smiled up at her lover. "Shall we go to the ball, or would you prefer to stand here and get incredibly maudlin?"
Severus sighed. "The ball, I guess… if we have to…"
"We have to," she replied firmly.
He sneered, and then acquiesced, taking her hand and escorting her up to the Great Hall.
She entered the room with her husband at her side, looking every bit as regal as a princess surveying her domain.
Whispers and hushed words could be heard, babbling beneath the music of the Weird Sisters music as the Professors Snape strolled on to the dance floor.
"Look at Professor Snape," Ron said to Harry and Hermione, looking as awestricken over her as he did Fleur the previous year.
"How on earth does she afford all that jewelry!" Hermione remarked, admiring the platinum on her ears, neck, and finger.
"Who cares?" one of the Weasley twins said, walking up along side his fellow Gryffindors.
"She's hot," the other twin remarked.
"I just don't know what she sees in Snape," the first twin replied.
Harry spoke. "We probably never will, but make sure she doesn't hear us… I don't want to be hauled up to her office and told off, again."
However, Antonia was oblivious to the other students, as well as Sirius Black dancing with Professor Sinistra. No, she had eyes for no one else but Severus.
As the music turned into a waltz, Severus took one of her hands in his and wrapped one arm around her waist. He guided her through the sweeping movements of the dance, his eyes and hers never wavering from each other. All that existed in the Great Hall was Severus and Antonia Snape, and a wizard waltz. The students, the other faculty members, the ghosts? They had all ceased to exist.
The last strains of the waltz resonated in the air as the couple moved off the dance floor. "I love you, Severus Snape," she smiled up at him.
He raised her hand to his lips and kissed her fingertips. "And I love you, Antonia Snape."
Draco Malfoy walked up to them both. "Professor Snape, may I have this dance?" he asked solemnly, bowing deeply to Antonia.
She looked at Severus from the corner of her eye and he responded with an almost perceptible nod. At that, she smiled politely at Malfoy. "I suppose so," she heard herself say warily.
He took her hand and led her out to the floor, looking as regal as she did. "You know, Professor Snape, it's too bad you're a muggle lover… You'd look nice on my arm."
Antonia raised her eyebrow at him. "There is one word that would describe such an event ever occurring, Mr. Malfoy: pedophilia." Her voice was cold and clipped, her eyes were frosty.
He shrugged. "It doesn't matter much, anyway. When my father is finished…"
"I don't give a damn about your father, Mr. Malfoy. And you still need my class for OWLs. Let us not play this wretched game again. Your father has no control over me," she hissed, a polite smile still on her face as he led her through the dance steps.
Wisely, Malfoy shut his mouth and continued his flawless execution of the waltz.
The song didn't end soon enough for Antonia. As Malfoy escorted her to Snape, Sirius came up. "May I have this dance, my lady?" he asked, bowing deeply.
She smiled, relieved to be able to get away from that little Slytherin brat a few seconds quicker. "Certainly, kind sir," she replied, her voice belying the tension she felt.
Possessively, he put an arm around her waist and escorted her away from Malfoy. "What did he say to you?" he demanded.
Antonia shook her head. "He's just being his typical little pompous ass self," Antonia replied airily, brushing off her little conversation with the spoiled little Slytherin boy. "What of you, Mr. Black? Are you having a good time tonight?" she teased.
He smiled warmly at her. "I am, now."
"Sirius, please? You're my friend. That's all," she pleaded.
His voice was bemused when he saw fit to answer her. "Antonia, I'm not planning on ravishing you in the middle of the Great Hall or some such rot. I promise, you are perfectly safe when you're with me. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that nothing will ever happen… unless you want it to."
"Then nothing will ever happen," she replied firmly. The Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor's tone left no room for argument.
"So, why don't we go ahead and change the topic to something that won't get you angry with me?" he suggested.
"Sounds like a plan," Antonia agreed.
"The jewelry… Where on earth did you acquire it?" he asked.
She smiled broadly, a warm and genuine one. "Severus gave it to me today." Ah, yes. All someone had to do was ask her about her husband, and Antonia knew that she would be grinning like a fool.
The smile on Sirius's face faded. "I rather hoped that you would have worn the silk robes tonight."
"Severus Snape is a very proud individual, Sirius. To wear robes that you gave me while at the Ball with him would be a slap in the face. I think the only way that I could insult my husband more would be if I were to have sex with you right in front of him. Besides, I happen to be rather fond of these robes…"
"I don't want to just have sex with you, darling. I want to tempt you, tease you, seduce you, and make mad, passionate love to you from sundown to sunup. I'll never do anything that you don't want me to."
"Then you'll never lay a hand on me," she hissed. "I took vows of fidelity. I'd sooner die than break my wedding vows."
"I don't know, beautiful. I think I could tempt you. If you'd let me kiss you just once, you'd never want anyone else. You'd beg me to touch you," he swore.
She deliberately lost the rhythm and stomped on his foot. Hard.
He winced. "Was that really necessary?"
"Yes. Next time, it will be much, much more painful if you insist upon talking such trash to me. I am married. More to the point, I'm married to the one that I've always wanted. You had your chance at a Yule Ball of our own years ago. You blew it. And I'll not be giving you any second chances."
"Yet you give that slimy bastard a second chance every day. I see how he hurts you, I see how he treats you. I would never treat you like that. All I ask is for the opportunity to treat you as you deserve to be treated, yet you refuse me. Instead, you choose to stay with that Death Eater bastard and let him hurt you over and over again… I see the bruises when we sit together at the lake. He beats you, doesn't he."
She was too astonished to speak. Black took that refusal as a tacit confirmation of his worst suspicions.
"He has the most beautiful, passionate woman in all of England, and he beats her. Tell me, Antonia, does he know what to do when he has a warm and willing woman in his arms? Does he make love to you like you deserve to be touched? Does he reach out in the middle of the night simply to hold you and kiss you? Or does he let you lie beside him in that bed at night, only to ignore you?"
Her blue eyes flashed with barely controlled rage as she lifted her knee. Sirius, who was in too much pain to scream, simply hunched over and groaned. She could see tears forming in his eyes. "My sex life with my husband is none of your concern, although, I assure you, we most certainly do have one. As for the bruises, I enjoy every second that I earn them."
With that, she turned and walked away, her robes swishing behind her.
Harry rushed over to Sirius and helped him off the floor. "What happened?" he asked.
However, his godfather was unable to speak.
"Are you okay?" Harry asked, once Sirius was sitting in a chair.
He nodded weakly. "I let my mouth get the better of me… Don't ever think that a girl won't turn you down, Harry. Just when you think that, she'll let you know in the most painful manner that your advances are not welcome."
Antonia joined her husband at the table and gratefully accepted a goblet of pumpkin juice. "Thank you, darling," she cooed.
"What did you do to Black?" Severus asked, sipping his own beverage.
"He said something that he shouldn't have, and my knee 'accidentally' rose up a little higher than it should as we danced," she demurred.
Severus choked on his drink and set the goblet down in a coughing fit. "You kicked him in the…" He was seized by another fit of coughing, made worse by his laughter.
"It was totally accidental," she replied in faux innocence, biting her lip to keep a vicious grin from stretching across face.
Once he'd recovered, Severus looked his wife over appraisingly. "How's your headache?" he whispered, a lecherous gleam in his eyes.
"Oh, it's absolutely terrible," she sighed, massaging her temple with a tiny hand.
"Then we'd better tell Dumbledore that you aren't feeling well and get you back up to bed," he murmured, wrapping a protective arm around his wife's waist.
She nodded faintly as he escorted her to the table where Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey were sitting. Minerva and Hagrid were on the dance floor together.
"Professor, I think Antonia needs to call it a night. She's not feeling too well…"
"Perhaps a trip to the hospital wing would be in order?" Madam Pomfrey suggested, rising to her feet.
"No, I don't think that will be necessary, Poppy," Dumbledore answered, his blue eyes twinkling. "I think all Antonia needs is a bit of rest in her own bed. Severus, I'm certain, will take very good care of her." He winked at Antonia as Severus escorted her out of the Great Hall.
Once they were in their room, the two erupted into peals of laughter. "He didn't believe us," Antonia giggled.
"Well, darling, we were less than truthful…"
"Severus, do you honestly think he would have waved us out the door if we'd said, 'I'm sorry, sir, but I can't stay any longer. I really must take my wife back to our chamber so that I may shag her senseless'?"
"That is why we came back here… So, why are we talking?" he teased, pulling her against him.
"I'm not really sure," she murmured slowly, running her hands up his chest.
"Shall I carry you to bed?"
"You haven't done that in a while," she replied seductively.
"I've been a complete and total bastard, then, haven't I? Let's see what I can do to correct that…" He scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the bed, laying her on the soft mattress as if she may break.
"Don't forget the silencing charm," she reminded. The last thing that she needed was the Weasley twins to follow them down here and use an amplificus charm.
"Taken care of, my love," he whispered, sitting beside her on the bed. Gently, he removed her slippers and tossed them on the floor. She gasped when she'd felt his tongue on one of her toes.
He kissed and suckled her toes, making her squirm and whimper with delight. He kissed up the side of her ankle, along the silky smoothness of her calve, along the edge of her knees, into the inside of her thigh…
"Severus!" she cried, feeling his head move under her robes. Damnable robes, in her way… She couldn't even touch him for the black and silver concoction. This had to be the most exquisite torture that she'd ever experienced.
He slipped his head out from under the shimmering material and looked up at her.
"If you don't touch me this instant, I swear I'll die," she begged hoarsely.
"Can't have that, can we?" he teased, his own voice ragged. He slipped up beside her and began opening her robes, slowly but surely, starting at the top and working his way down…
She pulled him against her, her movements clumsy, and wrapped her arms around him. "I love you," she whispered.
He slipped open her robes gently, while she hurriedly parted his own. She needed to feel him against her.
Antonia pushed his robes off of his shoulders and tossed the black garments on the floor. Her hands glided over his bare, smooth chest; his body was slicked by perspiration. Tiny hands gripped his shoulders, pulling him down on top of her.
She wrapped her legs around him and he slid inside her. "Severus!" she whimpered, clutching him like a drowning man clutching a life preserver.
He collapsed on her with a loud cry and basked in the comfort of her embrace.
"Love you," she whispered, stroking his black hair. She felt her eyes glisten with tears, it was such a beautiful experience.
He kissed her gently, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I love you, Antonia. And I need you like the air that I breathe…"
The lovers fell asleep, entangled in each other's arms.
Thanks for reviewing: Whitebears, Tessie, Amanita Lestrange, PotterLovingAsh, w&m_law, Prue Halliwell, Byrdgirl, Katie Weasley, §phinx, Rushumble, Maeve, anonymous reviewer, Lindsey Beth, Unicorn Lady, Tom Riddilpley, and Gryffindor.
Tessie: You're right. The second you made a move towards Severus, Antonia would kick your ass beyond all recognition. She's a wee bit possessive of Severus.
Amanita: Now that you've busted out of prison, you'll be around until you receive the kiss or Voldie falls. Which ever comes first…
W&m_law: Thanks so much. J
Prue: Antonia may not be much of a lady, but she sure tries…
Byrdgirl: even when nothing major is happening, I try to make it vital for plot development. After all, every chapter can't end with Sev and Antonia wanting to kill each other.
Rushumble: You're kidding, right? Be nice? Where's the plot in that?
Maeve & anonymous reviewer: Thanks for reviewing… Now would you please keep it up? hehe.
Tom Riddilpley: Angelina will have her time. She'll be pretty pivotal in a tale of her own. As for Sirius? Well, he might be a lecherous bastard, but he's got his uses.
Gryffindor: ::slap!:: That oughta teach you!
§phinx: Antonia is very real. She's a very flawed individual, and she knows it. I'd go so far as to say that she's her own worst enemy.
Tempesta: I'd be eternally lost without you.
Oh, yeah, and As You Like It is one of Shakespeare's plays. That does it! Now, if you would so kindly, please review…