Chapter 46

Snow Fight

Snow fell with an abundance over ice capped mountains and the lake was frozen. It's icy surface like a gigantic mirror reflected the cold white sky and mountain ranges around.

It was a state of desolate abandonment. Silence, but the roar of the wind. Trees looked dead and ghostly black as they stood like skeletal growths on the landscape. The biting winds and the cutting chill would set any body's heart to shivering ice if they ventured out there in the storm.

No one fool hardy would dare go outside in cold blizzard like conditions until it had at least calmed itself considerably except for fool hardy children or two unsuspecting adults. A tiny young woman clad in two pairs of tights and socks under her jeans and a thick woolly jumper beneath a heavy quilted coat. Around her neck she wore a cashmere scarf and her hands were gloved. Her head was covered in a dark green velvet hat, leaving coils of brown hair to snake wildly around her shoulders.

The man beside her, much older, nearly twice as tall was dressed in black and sooty dark grey. Also wrapped around his neck was a doubly resistant black scarf. Although the man neither wore gloves or a hat his thick black hair would protected his head nearly enough had it not blown savagely around his face exposing blue frost-bitten ears.

His face was ice white, dark lashes were dusted in snow, his nose slightly red and his lips blue and trembling.

At this moment in time his hands were clasped in tight fists inside the pockets of his heavy woollen coat. His warm breath turned to chilled fog as he exhaled. He couldn't speak for it was too cold nor could he do much else than force his stiffened cold legs to march toward the castle, his boots crunching on the soft white grown as he strode beside his female partner.

She was deranged even to suggest they go out in weather like this, let alone drag him outside against his will. He had been out in it already once today, against her knowledge.

A trip to Hogsmead for once in his life had been unusually pleasant. Christmas shopping had been uncommonly cheering. Finding a gift for Taya had been a difficulty.

Severus Snape shivered violently as they re-entered the empty castle through a side door nearest the frozen Quidditch pitch. He dreaded the thought if he caught a cold from all of this. A Snape with a cold was a most unpleasant predicament not only for him but for anyone else unfortunate enough to be under his feet.

He shivered even more as they slowly crossed the small entrance hall and went up three flights of stairs. Severus coughed and rubbed his almost frozen nose, swollen now from the shock of the icy death bleakness of outside and the heat from within. He found himself sweating suddenly, and raged at the mad woman who had grabbed him from his quiet meditation and forced him outside.

Snow ball fights, building snow men, rolling about in the snow, making snow angels. She was quite delusional. Had he touched her brow before they left he would have said she was feverish with stupidity.

There was no way on this Earth that Severus Snape, the broody, bitter potions master was going to frolic about in the snow. If she, the deranged person he called his girl friend wished to partake in such jovial activities so be it, but he? It was out of the question. He was too civilised and mannered to do such stupid things.

Or was he.

Outside Taya had caught him off guard as he stood wrapped in a cloak of scorn and lobbed snow at his face. Snarling he grabbed her and through her onto the ground, virtually sitting on top of her he had grabbed as much of the frozen stuff as he could hold and flung it down her woolly jumper making her gasp a bit. She had pulled him close as to kiss him but he had pulled away flinging her bodily with him.

They were outside for about half an hour flinging snow, and damp ice before Severus realised the stupidity of the situation and marched the deranged woman back toward the warm, jolly, festive castle.

Christmas at Hogwarts.

Severus marched straight into her rooms, shed himself of the many layers of clothing and slumped into a warm welcoming arm chair.

"Bring me brandy, woman," he jeered. Taya crossed the room flinging her gloves at him.

"Get it your bloody self," she yelled and took off her coat, boots, half frozen jeans and slippery wet woollen jumper. She crossed the room without even batting an eye lid at the smiling potions master turning to watch her peel the two pairs of socks off her still chilly feet and start on the tights.

"Come, sit here." Taya followed his order and stopped before him. He made a grab for her waist and pulled her onto his lap. He almost leaped out of the chair when she sat astride him. "You're ruddy freezing. Get off." She laughed and looked at him disapprovingly.

"You told me too." Severus got up and poured himself a glass of the brandy from a glistening decanter standing on the table.

"Want one?" He asked turning half toward her while reaching for another glass.

"No thanks. Me thinks I'll have a bath."

"Oh." He raised a brow. "That sounds interesting." He gently took her arm.

"On my own."

"Why thank you my dear," he replied in a slightly hurt voice. A strange glint was in his eyes which caused Taya some worry. He smiled ever so slightly.

Taya folded her arms across her chest then turned to head toward the bathroom. Instead she was stopped with a great strength unparalleled to hers. Gods, she thought as he grabbed her from behind forcing her to stop and be pulled against him. He's strong. She felt a quiver between her thighs at the thought of his mishandling her. He grabbed the waist bands of both pairs of tights and knickers yanking them down in one go. She felt herself bending forward slightly from the shock then felt his hands.

Quickly he spun her around to face him. He was smiling.

"Tell me, do you still wish to take a bath alone? If at all? Or may I join you?" Taya grasped his arms, fearing her knees were about to buckle.

He pulled her tighter to him, his mouth making contact with hers, a slow kiss and then she pulled away.

Taya laughed almost maniacally. "On. my. own," she spelled out. Severus made a noise reminiscent of a soft growl, but did nothing as she swayed past and entered the bathroom.

Severus swallowed. He knew what she was doing. She was cruelly teasing him, setting the bate then pulling it away and watching the poor creature practically dribble over her. She laughed again.

He could only guess how long she would spend in the bathroom.

"Severus?" Called her voice from inside the bathroom. "Are you coming or what?"

He heard the door suddenly open and Taya stepped out with a towel wrapped around her.

"When I ment I was going to bathe alone it normally means an invitation for you to join me," she explained. Taya reached out her hand.

"Women," he mumbled, "Why must they say one thing that means the exact opposite?"

"Because it excites the man. Now come on." She took his hand and led him inside the bathroom.

For a moment Severus Snape stood miffed as to what to do. Taya dropped the robe on the floor.

"Well, get your clothes off then before you catch a cold or would you rather me do it." At those words he looked down at her. "God's sake come here you foolish bat." She grabbed his robes flinging them to the floor until he was as naked as she.

Taya stepped down the narrow steps into a bath that appeared almost as big as the room itself. The room smelt of warm spicy incense. Fragrant candles burned from alcoves set against the four corners of the room, burning their way slowly down and emitting an equally intoxicating scent of vanilla.

Golden elaborate taps spat soft pink and blue bubbles into the warm water, fogging up the chamber with a rich warmth that was inebriating.

Taya slid down to water that nearly came to her waist. Severus cautiously followed her suit. She sat down and opened her legs and invitation for him to lay in front of her and lean against her breasts.

"Come," she whispered reaching out to him. He sat down and lent against her. Without any thought her arms slid around him and he closed his eyes.

For a while they just sat their in the rich steam watching the coloured bubbles as they jetted out of the golden taps.

"Don't you normally wash when you take a bath," he said rudely and turned. The steam had sodden his hair, it was slick against his head, coiling slightly at the soaked ends where the waters edge had saturated it.

"Normally, yes." she replied sliding her hand over the top of his head. "But in this case I would rather just wash you, your hair especially." She smiled.

"Go on then."

"Lay back down," she said as she gently cradled his head in her hand and lowered it into the water completely drenching his hair. She pushed him up again. He heard a pop sound as she opened the lid from a shampoo bottle, spilling a small glob into the palm of her hands then gently massaged his scalp.

Severus closed his eyes. She rinsed his hair then repeated the process with the conditioner finally wringing out the excess water.

"Lean forward," she whispered, which he did. Her hands slid down his spine, caressing the warm silk of his skin, the enriched water alone cleansing his weary body. Her hands then rubbed with delicate care over his muscles, relaxing them until he almost lent forward too far, slapping his face in the water. She caught him in the nick time and pulled him back.

Kissing his cheek gently, her hands moved over his front, slowly rubbing circle patterns over his torso and lower.

"There, done," she said loudly and begun washing her own hair. Abruptly his eyes opened in start and gazed around at her with slight disappointment. Taya looked directly up. "You're clean. I...." He turned around, moved onto his knees and pulled her with him. Taya clasped her legs around him, resting her feet on the upper part of his buttocks.

"Not now, Severus," she whispered as his fingers made their voyage between her legs.

"Why?"

"Because I haven't finished washing."

"What makes you so sure I wasn't doing just that?" He cocked a black eyebrow.

"Because..." she looked at him square in the face. Her hand reached between them. "Because my favourite Master..." she took his hand and pushed it toward him. He felt the iron rod between them.

"Oh." He looked suddenly quite embarrassed.

"You must learn to calm yourself. I know it's taken you fifty years to get to this position, no pun intended." She cleared her throat. "But you must learn to control your desire, or otherwise I will be forced to take you in check."

"What is that supposes to mean?" Severus said, elegantly standing up. Droplets of water spilled down his body as if he were just stepping out of a water fall.

There was a loud dong noise, then another.

"My God," she exclaimed getting out of the bath. "Christmas day is allready here." The clock struck again and again, then another seven times. "We really ought to dry and get to bed. Albus will want us up early for the celebrations."