Final Decision?

Disclaimer: I own nothing in here but Patricia. The line "Together you make the perfect man" I ripped off of the movie Bandits. Good movie if you want to see a movie with an actual plot line ruined by romance.

AN: I know it's taken me forever to post this chapter, but… I have no excuse. I've been lazy, and I apologize.



"Well, that was productive!" Patricia remarked as she and Severus left the Hall after the meal was done.

"What are you talking about?" he asked in amazement. "All you did was sit there cracking dirty jokes with Albus."

"And your point is…" she asked.

"Screw it. You're obviously in a mood and will refuse to listen to sense all day, right?"

"Who, me?" she asked innocently.

"Yes, Professor. You. Stop acting like you did when you were 18."

"Why? I didn't have any problems when I was 18! Why can't I have that again? Is it too much to ask for? One day where I don't have to feel guilty about choosing my lover over my husband? Why don't you just forget it? I have a lesson to plan, if you don't mind."

He watched stonily as she turned and stormed towards her office, resisting the urge to run after her. Why had he said that? If he weren't careful, he would drive her right back to Quirrell. He turned and went the opposite direction, heading for his office. Neither had noticed Albus Dumbledore watching them. He had hoped something like this would happen. True, something about Jason Quirrell was different, but he had been gone for a year. He was bound to be a little different from when he left. Patricia needed to spend more time with him than just one night before choosing whom she loved more. He smiled grimly as he thought of the confrontation that should be taking place right… about...now…

* * *

The Dark Lord decided at breakfast that she had gone to Snape too quickly. He would leave Quirrell alone for a while so he could make amends. It would be so much more fun to break Quirrell and his wife apart when Snape wasn't as much of a problem.

What fun!!!

* * *

Jason found Patricia in her office reading.

"Lord of the Rings?" he asked without thinking.

"Muggle classic," she replied.

"Patricia, I… I'm sorry about last night," he said hesitantly.

"What happened, Jason? One minute it was you making love to me, and the next… well, we both know what happened next."

He remained at the doorway; he wouldn't enter until she invited him in.

"Patricia, when I was gone, I had some very strange experiences. Once or twice I was… well, I was possessed, and the witches I went to for help weren't very good," he explained, thinking fast.

"Then why did you go to them?"

"Because they were the only ones around."

"Jason, it's going to take a while for me to trust you again. We both know that I don't trust easily. How do I know that it won't happen again?"

"Because I went to Dumbledore this morning," he lied.

"Jason, do you love me?" she asked, getting up and smoothing her robes. She crossed the room to him and stood before him.

"Of course I do!"

"Then why did you look at me with such hate? At breakfast, I mean." Patricia wasn't sure if she *wanted* to know the answer, but she knew she *needed* to know.

"Because it would appear that you've chosen Snape over me."

"And you hate me because of that?" she asked, incredulous.

"Don't you hate yourself because of it?" he snapped, unable to keep the hurt out of his voice.

"No," she said quietly but forcefully. "No. I hate myself for getting myself into the situation where I had to choose between you and him."

"He gave you those, didn't he?" Jason asked, meaning the robes.

"Yes. Why?"

"The suit you very well," he admitted gruffly. Here she was, looking more beautiful than he could remember ever seeing her, except for the day they were married, and she was dressed in robes that *Snape* had given her. Where was the justice? He loved her with all his heart; what had happened was not his fault. But how could he explain that to her?

"Patricia," he began, not sure how to continue. "Patricia, I love you. I would hope that you could find it in your heart to forgive me and give me another chance. But if you can't, and decide that you *do* love Snape more, then… I understand. If your decision is final, then tell me now and I'll go tell Severus and admit defeat."

Patricia stared at him for a moment before bursting into tears as the events of the past day and a half came crashing down on her.

"No," she sobbed before throwing herself into his arms. "No, don't! I thought I had this morning, but I was wrong. Jason, I don't know who to choose! He's dark and mysterious, and you're open and loving… together you're the perfect man! I just can't choose between you two, Jason."

"So don't choose. Not yet, anyway," he said quietly, surprising them both.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, why don't you wait till you get to know me again? I *have* been gone for a year."

"Are you sure? That's not – that just… I don't know, Jason…"

"I'm serious. You don't have to choose yet. You can sleep with whichever one of us you want."

Bloody hell, that hurt to say to her. But he loved her enough that he didn't want to see her like this. He pulled away from her and looked into her eyes… eyes that had lost their suspicion and fear. There was mistrust there, yes. He full expected to see that. Jason didn't even trust *himself* any more.

Well… if you're sure…" Patricia said uncertainly. She wanted to trust him, but didn't know if she should or not.

Jason nodded.

"Positive," he told her. She touched his face and softly touched her lips to his.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"Any time," he replied, gently wiping away the remainder of her tears. Now to tell Snape…

* * *

"Absolutely not!" the furious Potions Master snarled at Quirrell. "She's mine! I refuse to share her with you and risk her becoming too terrified to approach me in human form again! I swore last night I'd protect her, and I will! She's not yours anymore, Quirrell. You had your chance and screwed it up. Now *I* have to fix your mistakes. Now *I* have to try and find the Latisha Eston I used to know. That young woman disappeared the day she married you."

"Maybe the reason she was too terrified to approach you in human form was because you're a slimy bastard, and she knows it. Maybe you scare her," Quirrell remarked calmly.

"*I* scare her? I don't think so! If I scare her so much, how come it was me she came to last night when *you* hurt her?"

"It was, and still is, her choice," Quirrell shot back. "You don't own her; she's a person, not a thing."

"She used to be a Slytherin!" Snape growled, completely ignoring the other man's words. "Now, she's… she's more *Gryffindor* than Slytherin! All because of you!"

"She was never a true Slytherin," Quirrell remarked. "She was never conniving or nasty enough. To this day I have wondered why the Sorting Hat placed her in with you and Lucius Malfoy."

Snape arched an eyebrow at him.

"Oh really?" he asked. "Then why, pray tell, did she change her first name? Of did she never tell you that? Did you never wonder why she wakes up in the middle of the night screaming? Did you never wonder why she never gave you any children, even though you were together five years before you married the poor girl? And you've been married another three years, so that makes it eight years of no children… you never wondered?" Snape asked gleefully. He, of course, knew the answers to all the questions he had asked. He was sure Quirrell *had* wondered, but was equally sure he had never asked out of a warped sense of love.

"If she had wanted to tell me, she would have," the other man said quietly. He *wasn't* going to let Snape get to him.

"But isn't one of the main good points of a loving relationship the ability to tell one's spouse everything? Why did she not tell you?" Snape asked venomously.

"Because she felt it was none of my business. She told me about *you*, didn't she?" Quirrell responded just as venomously. "She loved me enough to tell me about you because she didn't want me to be hurt."

"Jason Quirrell, you are more dense than I thought. If she had wanted to keep you from getting hurt, then she wouldn't have allowed me to make love to her in the first place. Because that's what I do. I don't have sex with you wife, I make love to her. I love her for who she is, not because my parents forced me to marry her. I treat her like the Lady she is. Which is more than I can say about you."

"You wouldn't know what love is if it came and bit you in the arse!" Jason said, losing control of his temper. "I know she wouldn't have slept with scum like yourself if she hadn't felt *something* for you. Be it love she feels or pity, I don't know, but she felt something. Listen. I don't like this any more than you do, but I'm willing to do this for Patricia. Will you?"

"I will do it for Latisha, the Slytherin woman I've loved since the Sorting," Snape growled as if daring Quirrell to argue with him.

"Fine, whatever. Just do it for her."

Snape only sneered in response and Quirrell knew the Potions Master had agreed. He left Snape's office as quickly as dignity would allow him, wanting only to go to his office and have a stiff drink. He had first year Hufflepuff/Ravenclaw that afternoon, however, so the drink would have to wait. Bloody hell was that man difficult to deal with.