Disclaimer:
All things not Allosia belong to JKR.
Exaudio belongs to J R Anderson
Yes, I've elided over the sex thing for the most part. That will be in a separate NC-17.
I'm going to kick all of your asses if you don't stick around for the denouement of this thing. It's important to the sequel, and I'll tell you right now that neither the end of this, nor the sequel has any intent of being a cheesy wedding fic, because I am just not that type of girl, and if I become one, SHOOT ME.
This is not the last chapter, but we're almost there.
Thank you.
-----------------
Allosia was aware of her body before she was aware of being conscious. It hurt, just a little, everywhere. It took a few moments for the reason why to swim in to the small part of her brain that was awake. She smiled then, rolled over and opened her eyes, but the bed was empty.
She must have made a little noise then, because she heard his voice softly, from behind her eyes, "I'm in here."
She smiled, got up, grabbed his kimono from the bathroom, and padded out to the sitting room, where she found him curled in one of his green chairs, going through her photo album.
He looked up at the sound of her footsteps, waved his wand at her and whispered "Finite Incantatum," breaking the odd vocal link. Allosia realized it would take her a few moments to get used to not having it.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"That should be obvious," he said. "I don't have any pictures of either of us, aside from the yearbooks. I had forgotten these were taken."
She smiled, and he twisted his head around to look at her.
"It's a strange thing," he said, touching the edge of one of the photos. "You spend your whole life hearing you look a certain way, are a certain way, and you live your life accordingly, and then one day, you notice that while fairly true, it's not exactly true. It makes everything look much different."
Allosia nodded, sensing he was speaking more for his own benefit than hers.
He sighed heavily then. "I suppose you want me to come back to bed."
"It would be nice. You can bring the photos if you'd like."
He closed the book and nodded at it then, and stood to follow her back to the alcove. Crawling back into bed, he asked her, "why did you save all these?"
"It was all I had."
"You've always had a sense of loss about you."
"It made me prepared," she said as lightly as she could.
He nodded. "Tomorrow, we'll need to talk to Dumbeldore about what information you can give me to give," he paused, "them."
"It's not like you to avoid naming things, but yes, that's fine"
"This is our bed, this is different."
She noted the pronoun, but didn't comment on it.
"You're also going to have to be much more careful when you leave the school grounds. Even if I didn't care about you, Lucius would presume I did, which means you are really and truly at risk."
Allosia nodded, then sighed and stretched. "I'm not going anywhere until morning and neither are you. Can business wait until then?" her eyes were somewhat pleading.
Snape touched her face. "It can, but don't forget this," he held the Dark Mark up to her face. "There are no safe times."
She nodded before sliding further down in the bed and curling against him.
"Alright," he said. "You win," and put the book aside and grabbed hold of her once again.
When Allosia walked into the Great Hall for breakfast the next morning she couldn't help but laugh as all eyes turned to her. She suspected people though Snape was going to kill her when he dragged her from the Hall last night. As she took her seat at the head table, Dumbledore gave her the smallest of smiles with a very great twinkle in his eye. Absolutely nothing escaped him.
Allosia had to stifle another laugh when Snape walked in, trying to disguise the bounce in his walk as his usual fury. She caught a few students trying to look at either of them surreptitiously but most decided to pay sudden intense interest to their cereal. As he took his seat, with his customary flourish of robes, Allosia remembered her first evening here as a teacher. That little had changed in essence was a great relief.
Snape gently and briefly touched her leg under the table, and then ignored her about as much as he always had at every meal. She returned his small hello with a similar gesture.
As the day went on, he would often appear at her classroom or by her side in the halls between classes. She would look at him quizzically, say hello, and they would separate. It was delightful and absurd. When he decided to wander in to one of her classes though and perch there for the last ten minutes of lecture she had had enough.
"Professor Snape, you're scaring my students, and if you don't leave of your own volition right this minute I will begin throwing books and curses at you," she said brandishing her wand. He flashed his predatory smile then, bowed and left. Her students stared at her in awe. She would have to thank him later.
Hermione Granger was probably not the only student to have surmised what the situation was, but she was certainly the only one so hell-bent on proving her intelligence that she would mention it to either professor.
"Professor Hemrand?" she said, approaching Allosia's desk after a class later that week.
"Yes, Miss Granger, what is it?" It wasn't like the girl to sound nervous.
"I just wanted to tell you, I'm glad your and Sn-I mean, Professor Snape worked things out."
Allosia raised and eyebrow at her and Hermione, not entirely correctly presumed this was license to continue.
"I know you're trying to hide it, and I certainly won't say anything, but trust me, your students have noticed. Thank you."
"Thank you?"
"Well, we figure this could only possibly make him a little bit nicer."
Allosia laughed. "I so would not count on that, Miss Granger. Get out of here, before I decide this is inappropriate."
"Yes, ma'am," she said with a smile and waved on her way out.
For her sake, I hope she doesn't mention this to Severus, Allosia thought to herself and laughed out loud.
Hermione, was however, just that daring, later that day approaching Snape after a potions class that was no kinder or gentler than any other potions class.
"Sir?" she asked, nervously.
Snape looked up from the papers he was correcting. "Miss Granger?"
"I, I, Well I just wanted to say that I'm glad you've worked things out with Professor Hemrand. I think it's a right good thing you have someone looking out for you now."
Snape's facial expression went from amused to horrified to furious and back several times. If nothing else, the Granger girl had guts. He finally managed to say, "I'm tickled enough by your concern and well wishes, that if you get out of here right now, I'll forget you ever said that," he paused then, for dramatic effect. Hermione waited for the punchline. "Or, that you ever told Potter and Weasley, hrrrm, what was the exact word you used? Something about charisma and power I believe. Oh yes, that's right, compelling. You told them I was compelling."
Hermione blushed, but also managed a slight laugh. This was, in some odd way she realized, Snape's sense of humor she was witnessing. He nodded at her, as if to confirm her suspicions, before saying. "Out of here Miss Granger, I'm sure you have other classes to make a menace of you intellect in."
And so she left.
Their meeting with Dumbledore had also been sweet. Allosia felt that he smiled at her as if he were her own father. The content of the meeting, though, was stern and frightening. They talked of her safety, of plots within plots, of information that could be fed to Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Aurors would be at risk sometimes. It was necessary and it was all in the name of the greater good.
Allosia saw the look on Snape's face at the phrase, and realized that eventually she would probably look that disgusted herself. This was an impossible, dreary and perhaps endless war. This is what he had warned her about. More than risks to her self and more than risks to him or their relationship, she now lived, more clearly than she ever had in a world where hope was mostly about maintaining an unsatisfactory status quo.
Her hand crept into his during the meeting, and no one chided at her for it.
As November gave way to December, Allosia did her best to spend time in her own rooms, doing her work, continuing the solitary and scholarly life that had appealed to her just enough to ultimately end up in Ravenclaw. Snape would disturb her often, but after the first few times, she found she could tell him to leave without him sulking.
Sometimes, they still flew in the dark, in front of the castle, and once Snape was even feeling spiteful enough to intentionally startle McGonnogal as she read in her window seat.
The Dark Lord called once, in that first week of December. Snape had given him the information that Lucius had said he better find, that Dumbeldore had decided it was safe enough to provide. Everyone seemed satisfied, and Snape had returned to Allosia that night, wracked with pain from the Cruciatus but not damaged beyond that.
It was compensation, he told her, Voldemort felt he needed something to balance him from the pleasure of her. She had held her face stiffly then, and Snape had yelled at her not to feel guilty. It was just another excuse after all. The Cruciatus would have come with or without her.
All things not Allosia belong to JKR.
Exaudio belongs to J R Anderson
Yes, I've elided over the sex thing for the most part. That will be in a separate NC-17.
I'm going to kick all of your asses if you don't stick around for the denouement of this thing. It's important to the sequel, and I'll tell you right now that neither the end of this, nor the sequel has any intent of being a cheesy wedding fic, because I am just not that type of girl, and if I become one, SHOOT ME.
This is not the last chapter, but we're almost there.
Thank you.
-----------------
Allosia was aware of her body before she was aware of being conscious. It hurt, just a little, everywhere. It took a few moments for the reason why to swim in to the small part of her brain that was awake. She smiled then, rolled over and opened her eyes, but the bed was empty.
She must have made a little noise then, because she heard his voice softly, from behind her eyes, "I'm in here."
She smiled, got up, grabbed his kimono from the bathroom, and padded out to the sitting room, where she found him curled in one of his green chairs, going through her photo album.
He looked up at the sound of her footsteps, waved his wand at her and whispered "Finite Incantatum," breaking the odd vocal link. Allosia realized it would take her a few moments to get used to not having it.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"That should be obvious," he said. "I don't have any pictures of either of us, aside from the yearbooks. I had forgotten these were taken."
She smiled, and he twisted his head around to look at her.
"It's a strange thing," he said, touching the edge of one of the photos. "You spend your whole life hearing you look a certain way, are a certain way, and you live your life accordingly, and then one day, you notice that while fairly true, it's not exactly true. It makes everything look much different."
Allosia nodded, sensing he was speaking more for his own benefit than hers.
He sighed heavily then. "I suppose you want me to come back to bed."
"It would be nice. You can bring the photos if you'd like."
He closed the book and nodded at it then, and stood to follow her back to the alcove. Crawling back into bed, he asked her, "why did you save all these?"
"It was all I had."
"You've always had a sense of loss about you."
"It made me prepared," she said as lightly as she could.
He nodded. "Tomorrow, we'll need to talk to Dumbeldore about what information you can give me to give," he paused, "them."
"It's not like you to avoid naming things, but yes, that's fine"
"This is our bed, this is different."
She noted the pronoun, but didn't comment on it.
"You're also going to have to be much more careful when you leave the school grounds. Even if I didn't care about you, Lucius would presume I did, which means you are really and truly at risk."
Allosia nodded, then sighed and stretched. "I'm not going anywhere until morning and neither are you. Can business wait until then?" her eyes were somewhat pleading.
Snape touched her face. "It can, but don't forget this," he held the Dark Mark up to her face. "There are no safe times."
She nodded before sliding further down in the bed and curling against him.
"Alright," he said. "You win," and put the book aside and grabbed hold of her once again.
When Allosia walked into the Great Hall for breakfast the next morning she couldn't help but laugh as all eyes turned to her. She suspected people though Snape was going to kill her when he dragged her from the Hall last night. As she took her seat at the head table, Dumbledore gave her the smallest of smiles with a very great twinkle in his eye. Absolutely nothing escaped him.
Allosia had to stifle another laugh when Snape walked in, trying to disguise the bounce in his walk as his usual fury. She caught a few students trying to look at either of them surreptitiously but most decided to pay sudden intense interest to their cereal. As he took his seat, with his customary flourish of robes, Allosia remembered her first evening here as a teacher. That little had changed in essence was a great relief.
Snape gently and briefly touched her leg under the table, and then ignored her about as much as he always had at every meal. She returned his small hello with a similar gesture.
As the day went on, he would often appear at her classroom or by her side in the halls between classes. She would look at him quizzically, say hello, and they would separate. It was delightful and absurd. When he decided to wander in to one of her classes though and perch there for the last ten minutes of lecture she had had enough.
"Professor Snape, you're scaring my students, and if you don't leave of your own volition right this minute I will begin throwing books and curses at you," she said brandishing her wand. He flashed his predatory smile then, bowed and left. Her students stared at her in awe. She would have to thank him later.
Hermione Granger was probably not the only student to have surmised what the situation was, but she was certainly the only one so hell-bent on proving her intelligence that she would mention it to either professor.
"Professor Hemrand?" she said, approaching Allosia's desk after a class later that week.
"Yes, Miss Granger, what is it?" It wasn't like the girl to sound nervous.
"I just wanted to tell you, I'm glad your and Sn-I mean, Professor Snape worked things out."
Allosia raised and eyebrow at her and Hermione, not entirely correctly presumed this was license to continue.
"I know you're trying to hide it, and I certainly won't say anything, but trust me, your students have noticed. Thank you."
"Thank you?"
"Well, we figure this could only possibly make him a little bit nicer."
Allosia laughed. "I so would not count on that, Miss Granger. Get out of here, before I decide this is inappropriate."
"Yes, ma'am," she said with a smile and waved on her way out.
For her sake, I hope she doesn't mention this to Severus, Allosia thought to herself and laughed out loud.
Hermione, was however, just that daring, later that day approaching Snape after a potions class that was no kinder or gentler than any other potions class.
"Sir?" she asked, nervously.
Snape looked up from the papers he was correcting. "Miss Granger?"
"I, I, Well I just wanted to say that I'm glad you've worked things out with Professor Hemrand. I think it's a right good thing you have someone looking out for you now."
Snape's facial expression went from amused to horrified to furious and back several times. If nothing else, the Granger girl had guts. He finally managed to say, "I'm tickled enough by your concern and well wishes, that if you get out of here right now, I'll forget you ever said that," he paused then, for dramatic effect. Hermione waited for the punchline. "Or, that you ever told Potter and Weasley, hrrrm, what was the exact word you used? Something about charisma and power I believe. Oh yes, that's right, compelling. You told them I was compelling."
Hermione blushed, but also managed a slight laugh. This was, in some odd way she realized, Snape's sense of humor she was witnessing. He nodded at her, as if to confirm her suspicions, before saying. "Out of here Miss Granger, I'm sure you have other classes to make a menace of you intellect in."
And so she left.
Their meeting with Dumbledore had also been sweet. Allosia felt that he smiled at her as if he were her own father. The content of the meeting, though, was stern and frightening. They talked of her safety, of plots within plots, of information that could be fed to Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Aurors would be at risk sometimes. It was necessary and it was all in the name of the greater good.
Allosia saw the look on Snape's face at the phrase, and realized that eventually she would probably look that disgusted herself. This was an impossible, dreary and perhaps endless war. This is what he had warned her about. More than risks to her self and more than risks to him or their relationship, she now lived, more clearly than she ever had in a world where hope was mostly about maintaining an unsatisfactory status quo.
Her hand crept into his during the meeting, and no one chided at her for it.
As November gave way to December, Allosia did her best to spend time in her own rooms, doing her work, continuing the solitary and scholarly life that had appealed to her just enough to ultimately end up in Ravenclaw. Snape would disturb her often, but after the first few times, she found she could tell him to leave without him sulking.
Sometimes, they still flew in the dark, in front of the castle, and once Snape was even feeling spiteful enough to intentionally startle McGonnogal as she read in her window seat.
The Dark Lord called once, in that first week of December. Snape had given him the information that Lucius had said he better find, that Dumbeldore had decided it was safe enough to provide. Everyone seemed satisfied, and Snape had returned to Allosia that night, wracked with pain from the Cruciatus but not damaged beyond that.
It was compensation, he told her, Voldemort felt he needed something to balance him from the pleasure of her. She had held her face stiffly then, and Snape had yelled at her not to feel guilty. It was just another excuse after all. The Cruciatus would have come with or without her.
