Chapter 18

The first week back flew by. Tara had a lot of work to do and was upgrading memory in all of the computers, school wide. It had gotten so inexpensive, and once Dumbledore had his memory upgraded, he noticed such a difference, he ordered it for all of the machines. She was in the Slytherin house and the kids there enjoyed the music she brought with her. "Who is this?" one boy asked. "It's a band called Ever Clear. Good jam, huh?" "Yeah, this rocks!." "You can download it, you know." "I can??" She started up the PC she had just upgraded, and walked up to where he was sitting. He was working on one of the machines, playing a game. "Oh, I see you've found 'Quake.' I've never played it but I have heard all about it." She showed him a few sites where he could go download music to play on the computer. A few of the other kids in the house came to see; they were very excited about this.

That evening when Severus escorted her to dinner, he complained of a headache. "The students in my dorm have discovered how to download music. Some of it is all right, but this so called music where guys are yelling obscenities to a beat that shakes the walls..." he cursed under his breath. "Oh, rap. Yeah, that stuff sucks," she said. "I don't know how they found out how to get music, but then they are Slytherins..." he said. "Yes, that must be why," she said, trying very hard not to crack a smile. He looked at her strangely. "Don't tell me...we have you to blame for this new found...skill?" "Um, well, I didn't know they would download that crap. Why don't we come up with a rule to ban such music being played here? We're faculty, we make the rules, right?" she suggested. "After all, we did have to ban them from looking at porn on the web and I had to install all of that parental control software. We could do the same for this crap they're downloading. We'll have to talk to Albus."

She did have solutions for handling situations, Severus observed. He admired her resourcefulness and never-ending show of intelligence.

Saturday night came, and she met him in his quarters for dinner. She was a red gown and the way it contrasted with her dark brown - almost black - hair was quite stunning. He poured her a glass of wine, and she sat down at the small table, which he had adorned in white linen. The silverware was neatly laid out, and a crystal vase held a single red rose.

"Great table setting," she commented. "You sure I can't help?"

"I am cooking dinner for you, so no. You just relax. You've been crawling around under desks all week doing things to those machines. You must be tired."

"Sort of." He had lit many candles in sconces around the room. The lighting was very romantic, and whatever he was cooking in his small, make-shift kitchen smelled great. Soon, he brought over salads, and sat down.

"We'll start with a salad," he told her, and produced a container of dressing he had obviously made, and poured it on both salads. Tara put her napkin in her lap and took a bite of salad. "Mmmmm I know this one - I marked it! I had no idea it would taste so amazing!" The salad was greens with sliced pears and diced fennel with a balsamic dressing. The effect of the tart dressing against the contrasting sweet pears was amazing. "Oh Sev, this is delicious!"

"Yes, it is. I didn't know it would be this good. I don't mean to brag or anything, don't misunderstand."

"I'm not. This is great though. I could eat this every day!"

The next course was a soup made of carrots, onions, ginger, and cinnamon. It was thick and hearty and so tasty. The Riesling which he had chosen to go with it was perfect. The next was the main course; salmon topped with fruit salsa and mashed sweet potatoes. It had to be one of the best meals Tara had ever eaten. Afterwards, he brought two stemmed glasses with fruit. He had poured brandy over them and with a wave of his wand, they were flambe. "Whooa! Cool!" Tara said. The flames extinguished, and they ate their berries, looking longingly into each others' eyes.

"Come closer," he said. She scooted her chair to sit right next to him. He took a strawberry out of his glass of berries and fed it to her. Following his lead, she grabbed her glass of berries, and fed him a raspberry. A few berries later, she was getting very warm and tingly. She knew she probably wouldn't be able to stand if she tried. He picked up his glass of wine and she did the same. They touched the glasses together and sipped, then their lips met, and she could taste the wine and the berries when they kissed. He stood up and extended his hand to her. "Come on," he whispered, and led her to the bed...

When Tara came to, it was still dark. The candles illuminated the room. Where - oh yes but why had she fainted? Then she remembered the intensity of their lovemaking. His kisses rendered her dizzy; but his lovemaking literally had knocked her out. There was a cloth on her forehead, and she took it off and turned, seeing Severus leaning on one elbow under the covers, looking at her.

"Was it good for you?" she asked him. "You are too much. Are you all right? You fainted dead away after you uh--" his voice trailed off and he held her close. She was so soft against him, she was the best feeling to him. It had been such a long time since he had been with anyone.

"I fainted. I can't believe I fainted. It was just so intense, I blacked out! Is this normal?" she asked. He shook his head. "I don't think so, but perhaps. Since you have a bit of muggle in you." Tara wondered if that would always be the case and asked him if he thought so. "I have no idea."

Tara laid back again. "Well, you know the bright side is...you'll always know that if I don't pass out, I must be faking!"