A/N: Not mine, never has been, never will be. I only own my fictional self and the embarrassing situations I find myself in.
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Chapter Two
Well, however bad my written work may be, at least I can brew a Dreamless Sleep Potion - the last thing I wanted was to be haunted by memories of what an idiot I was yesterday! Today will be different, I swear by Salazar himself! Just as soon as I've got out of bed, I mean.
A carefully-fixed black velvet choker (hurrah for Placement Charms) should get his attention with my white throat … just as well he isn't a vampire .. green nails, as ever. Madam Malkin's robes are the most flatteringly-tailored you'll find this side of the Urals, praise Circe … there. Better hurry or I'll miss breakfast - you can't go daydreaming on an empty stomach, after all!
Mmm … there's pumpkin pie! I can't resist pumpkin pie for breakfast, however fattening it may be! Wait a moment, where's Snape? My mind rushed off on an increasingly wild and improbable train of thought.
Perhaps he's not well, or he's in the hospital wing, all alone - poor Snape! Or perhaps he's avoiding me because I'm such an idiot - oh no! Or perhaps he's slipped and he's lying injured somewhere, all by himself …
"Oi, Aylward!" My train of thought was interrupted by Draco Malfoy's sneering voice. "What's the daydream about? Though I expect if I gave you 5 Knuts for your thoughts, I'd get change." About half the table laughed, whilst the others simply adopted the usual policy of ignoring the self-proclaimed leader of Slytherin. I gave him a withering look as I abruptly left the table, heading towards the dungeons.
The Potions Classroom door was locked.
"Alohomora," I whispered.
I should have known better than that, of course. There must be something I have to do, a sequence, a part of the door I have to tap …
"Miss Aylward, is there something you wanted?"
Oh no, Not again. Why? Why does this always happen? Why???
"Erm …"
"Well?"
Oh Professor Snape, I saw you weren't at breakfast, and I was really worried so I made it my mission to come and find you because I could picture you lying half-dead somewhere, and I was hoping to come and rescue you and then you would be eternally grateful and fall for me …
I resort to my usual embarrassed silence.
"This is the second time in two days I have found you creeping around the school without a reasonable explanation. I hope this is not the beginning of a most unwelcome pattern. I suggest you either return to the Great Hall, or prepare for your first lesson. I do not expect this to happen again."
His deep black eyes were staring into mine, never breaking contact, trying to perceive … something.
"No, Professor Snape." I said, and hurried away towards the relative safety of our common room.
Damn, damn, damn! I am such an idiot! Can he read minds? I've often wondered, but now I really think he can. Oh no! What if he can? He could have seen just what I was thinking about him, and then he'd … he'd … do something nasty and humiliating, even though I'm a Slytherin. Or perhaps he'd be flattered. But the Snape I know certainly wouldn't show it, even if he was.
My quiet reflections were interrupted by the first of a steady trickle of my housemates returning from breakfast.
"All right, Serena?" asked Blaise, in a reasonably concerned voice for a Slytherin accustomed to hiding most of her thoughts and emotions.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I replied briskly. "What do we have first, Arithmancy?"
"Yes. I'll just get my stuff."
"Hey wait, I have to get mine too!"
***
As we filed in for lunch, I steadfastly ignored Snape's gaze, focusing straight ahead. But once we were seated and had begun eating, I couldn't help glancing occasionally towards the staff table. Call me self-centred, but I could have sworn he kept looking in my direction.
"Nervous tic, Aylward?" asked Pansy Parkinson maliciously. "Or perhaps you're trying to catch somebody's eye … now who could it be? Dumbledore, Flitwick, Hagrid - " she snorted - "or … Snape."
I had to think fast.
"None of them. The first three? Oh please. And why would I fancy the greasy-haired git?" I lied.
"I would suggest, Miss Aylward," I heard a silky voice say behind me, "that in future you check that the person you are insulting is well out of earshot. Detention, Miss Aylward, tomorrow night at nine o'clock, for three hours."
In spite of my embarrassing predicament, I couldn't help feeling every syllable as a caress, sending the familiar shivers down my spine as he said my name.
"Professor Snape, sir? Why tomorrow night, not tonight?" I asked, perhaps a trifle too cheerily given my situation.
"Because tonight, Miss Aylward, I have to deal with Potter and his two greatest fans. Your year really is the most troublesome in the school." And with that, he swept away, his black cloak billowing behind him with every well-placed step as I struggled to suppress a lustful sigh.
Just how can he be so sexy???
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A/N: There's the second chapter! I intend to write one more if enough people ask nicely!