Twelve
The week went by quickly. It was strange being back in classes and being treated as a typical annoying student by Snape. However, it was funny in it's own right, playing a secret charade to the rest of the school.
I hadn't been placed in another house. Dumbledore had merely given me and the rest of Ravenclaw a speech on the importance of tolerance and compassion for all people, and insisted that my things be returned and left alone from then on. I, of course, had taken to avoiding the house at all times unless completely unavoidable.
Most of my time was spent in classes or the library. Sometimes I would wander outside for a cigarette, but I noticed that I was smoking quite a bit less frequently these days. Nights were my favorite time. I would wait until everyone had fallen asleep, then put on my cloak of invisibility and run down to the dungeons or out onto the grounds for a little rendezvous. Yes, I just said rendezvous. Yes, I am a dork. A total, hopeless dork who just happened to be completely, head over heals, retarded for a certain potions master.
Soon I found myself on the verge of All Hallows Eve. Usually I spent the evening alone simply enjoying the sheer magic of the night. This year a ball had been planned for all students fifth year and up.
I had been flattered and mortified at the same time when a fifth year Hufflepuff had approached me Halloween afternoon at the lunch table and asked, in front of the entire school, if I would do him the pleasure of accompanying him to the ball. I had turned seven shades of purple and glanced casually up to Snape. Was I asking his permission or begging him to get me out of it?
"Nevin, how kind of you," I faltered after I had choked down the mouthful of pumpkin juice I had been using to stall. "However, I'm afraid I simply can't accept. You see, I have been silly enough to bungle a potions essay and will be serving detention this evening." I glanced up at Severus, questioningly. He raised his eyebrows and took a sip of his own pumpkin juice, nodding slightly as he did. I think Minerva may have noticed something, but if she did she had simply gone back to her dinner and pretended she hadn't. Albus had smiled slightly, that characteristic twinkle invading his blue eyes, and glanced from Snape to myself and back again before turning his utmost attention to the condition of the "sky" overhead.
"I'm so sorry," I offered as consolation to the stricken look upon his face. "I really am flattered." That seemed to have done the trick because he had managed a weak smile then, thanked me for my time, and returned to his table where a group of Hufflepuff girls were waiting for their own invitation from him.
The rest of the school had been in an uproar about the scene the rest of the day. I kept getting snotty looks from the Hufflepuff girls and curious glances from the Ravenclaws. The Gryffindors and Slytherins just ignored me, as usual. That afternoon in Charms class I had received a slip of parchment via Snape's mail raven. It said simply, "you may report to the classroom at eight o'clock for your "detention."
I smiled, folded it up, hid it in my robes, and went on copying lines.
I rushed through dinner and then ran back upstairs to pull a brush through my hair before going down to the classroom. I walked in five minutes early to find that the classroom was entirely dark. "Lumos," I whispered to my wand. The door closed behind me and for a fleeting second I thought I was going to have a repeat of the incident in Snape's rooms, but as it clicked shut the sconces on the walls roared to life.
I gasped in amazement. The room had been dressed to the nines. Small jack o' lanterns and carved gourds adorned the workstations, their candles flickering within casting an eerily romantic glow around the room. Live bats hung from the rafters and a few flitted noisily above my head. The center of the room had been cleared and had been enchanted to look like a small forest clearing, complete with dry leaves, tall bare trees draped with fairies whose lights shined pale and soft within them, and a night sky to rival the one in the great hall. There was even a pleasant breeze blowing through the room, which carried the scent of the leaves.
I walked into the center of the room and searched for Snape. He had really outdone himself. Before I had turned a complete circle I felt his arm fall around my waist from behind and his strong jaw fall beside my ear. He placed on large hand on my belly, which felt strangely warm and tingly inside, and used his free hand to turn my head to the side. He placed a potent kiss square on my lips, causing them to flush and swell, and then asked me if I could give him the pleasure of a dance.
I smiled, gave him my hand, and turned to face him. He assumed the proper position, one arm around my waist, our hands held out to our sides, and my arm draped around his shoulder. And we danced. And the longer we did the closer we got until my head was resting on his shoulder and his arms were wrapped protectively around me.
Finally I looked up into those deep dark eyes. "Happy Halloween," he whispered before placing another one of those fiery kisses on my lips, his index finger under my chin and one hand placed firmly against the small of my back, pressing me against him in the most comfortable embrace I had ever felt.
When the kiss was over I looked back into his eyes and he asked me if I'd like to retire to somewhere a bit more comfortable. I nodded and smiled. We both knew what was coming but neither of us needed to articulate it. It would have spoiled the aura of it all.
I took the hand he offered me and we left through a secret passageway on the right of the classroom, reappearing in his room. We stepped out from behind the fireplace and he replaced it, then turned and muttered a quick spell, pointed his wand at the grate, and conjured the warmest fire I had ever felt.
He met my gaze and for once I wasn't afraid to look at him. My breathing was growing heavier, as was his. He held my face up towards his and considered me for a moment.
"Acacia, I don't want to pressure you into anything. God knows I don't deserve someone like you. But if you'd have me -"
I placed one gentle finger to his lips, willing him to hush. I looked at him, trying out my old Jedi mind trick once again. This time it seemed to work for he picked me up and draped me across his arms and carried me easily over to the bed. There he laid me on my back, and as gently as could be reached down and took my shoes off my feet, one at a time. Then he worked his way around the bed, drawing the heavy velvet drapes around us. There was no canopy above us and so the light from the fire shone in nicely, casting shadows in all the right places.
Slowly he took his place beside me and I turned onto my side, the better to see him. He placed his hand on my cheek and the kiss that followed was one that I'm sure I could never forget no matter how desperately I wanted to.
I whimpered slightly as I let his tongue slide past my lips and dance across my own. It was not a whimper of protest, and he seemed to realize this, because he grew more bold and I responded mightily. This seemed to egg him on because he rolled me over onto my back with a slight groan, straddled me, and cupped my face in both of his ample hands.
He broke the embrace then, his breathing ragged and heavy. "Acacia, I don't want you to go through with this if -"
"Severus," I sighed heavily from underneath him. "Shut up and get on with it." He did as he was asked. I found my hands exploring his body as naturally as if I had done it a thousand times. The first thing I did was to reach up and free his hair from the loose ponytail he had put it in. I tossed the ribbon to the side of us and moved my hands longingly down his chest, unbuttoning each button of his black dress tunic. Once I had done that I slid my hands inside and peeled it off him slowly but deliberately.
My hands found a veritable playground on his smooth, warm skin. I ran them up his back and down his chest and back again as if I had never felt anything like it in my life. Meanwhile he had busied himself with my robe, pulling it over my head to leave me in a revealing red bodice and black silk skirt.
His hands discovered every inch of my body, concentrating on my shoulders and clavicle. Eventually he reached around to my back and undid the numerous hooks and eyes that held the thing on. He slid it off my arms and laid it gently beside us. I was now naked from the waist up and feeling rather vulnerable but his touch was so gentle and his kisses so tender that I felt comfortable in that vulnerability.
Eventually my hands grew bored with his chest and longed for something else to hold their attention. I ran them down his abdomen, past his navel, and hooked my fingers inside the waistband of his cotton dress slacks, my thumbs outside. It was his turn to hitch his breath and he rolled his head all the way back letting loose a titan moan. I gently unhooked the button and ran the zipper all the way down. Then I slid my thumbs gently between the waistband and his skin and slid his trousers all the way down to his knees. I used my feet to remove them the rest of the way.
I could feel that he was amply prepared and so I took on of his timid hands and placed it on the waistband of my skirt, willing him to get on with it. He undid the button and zipper on the side a bit clumsily, but managed to slide it all too slowly down. I could feel a long-forgotten ache deep in my belly. It seemed my body was writhing in anticipation of the act.
He returned his hands to my waist and slid my knickers down as well. I lifted my hips a bit to aid the process and felt him against me. This sent my head into a bit of a dizzy spell and I gasped.
"What's wrong," he asked, freezing above me.
"Nothing," I puffed heavily beneath him. "Don't stop." I hope I didn't sound too much like I was begging. It seemed to spur him on because he took my head in both of his hands and placed another hard kiss on my lips as he slid himself between my legs.
He was so gentle with me through the whole thing, I was amazed at his patience. He waited until I had enjoyed him entirely before he finished, gasped hard, fell against me, and then rolled over onto his back. We fell asleep in each other's arms, my head buried between his strong arm and gently rising and falling chest.
The week went by quickly. It was strange being back in classes and being treated as a typical annoying student by Snape. However, it was funny in it's own right, playing a secret charade to the rest of the school.
I hadn't been placed in another house. Dumbledore had merely given me and the rest of Ravenclaw a speech on the importance of tolerance and compassion for all people, and insisted that my things be returned and left alone from then on. I, of course, had taken to avoiding the house at all times unless completely unavoidable.
Most of my time was spent in classes or the library. Sometimes I would wander outside for a cigarette, but I noticed that I was smoking quite a bit less frequently these days. Nights were my favorite time. I would wait until everyone had fallen asleep, then put on my cloak of invisibility and run down to the dungeons or out onto the grounds for a little rendezvous. Yes, I just said rendezvous. Yes, I am a dork. A total, hopeless dork who just happened to be completely, head over heals, retarded for a certain potions master.
Soon I found myself on the verge of All Hallows Eve. Usually I spent the evening alone simply enjoying the sheer magic of the night. This year a ball had been planned for all students fifth year and up.
I had been flattered and mortified at the same time when a fifth year Hufflepuff had approached me Halloween afternoon at the lunch table and asked, in front of the entire school, if I would do him the pleasure of accompanying him to the ball. I had turned seven shades of purple and glanced casually up to Snape. Was I asking his permission or begging him to get me out of it?
"Nevin, how kind of you," I faltered after I had choked down the mouthful of pumpkin juice I had been using to stall. "However, I'm afraid I simply can't accept. You see, I have been silly enough to bungle a potions essay and will be serving detention this evening." I glanced up at Severus, questioningly. He raised his eyebrows and took a sip of his own pumpkin juice, nodding slightly as he did. I think Minerva may have noticed something, but if she did she had simply gone back to her dinner and pretended she hadn't. Albus had smiled slightly, that characteristic twinkle invading his blue eyes, and glanced from Snape to myself and back again before turning his utmost attention to the condition of the "sky" overhead.
"I'm so sorry," I offered as consolation to the stricken look upon his face. "I really am flattered." That seemed to have done the trick because he had managed a weak smile then, thanked me for my time, and returned to his table where a group of Hufflepuff girls were waiting for their own invitation from him.
The rest of the school had been in an uproar about the scene the rest of the day. I kept getting snotty looks from the Hufflepuff girls and curious glances from the Ravenclaws. The Gryffindors and Slytherins just ignored me, as usual. That afternoon in Charms class I had received a slip of parchment via Snape's mail raven. It said simply, "you may report to the classroom at eight o'clock for your "detention."
I smiled, folded it up, hid it in my robes, and went on copying lines.
I rushed through dinner and then ran back upstairs to pull a brush through my hair before going down to the classroom. I walked in five minutes early to find that the classroom was entirely dark. "Lumos," I whispered to my wand. The door closed behind me and for a fleeting second I thought I was going to have a repeat of the incident in Snape's rooms, but as it clicked shut the sconces on the walls roared to life.
I gasped in amazement. The room had been dressed to the nines. Small jack o' lanterns and carved gourds adorned the workstations, their candles flickering within casting an eerily romantic glow around the room. Live bats hung from the rafters and a few flitted noisily above my head. The center of the room had been cleared and had been enchanted to look like a small forest clearing, complete with dry leaves, tall bare trees draped with fairies whose lights shined pale and soft within them, and a night sky to rival the one in the great hall. There was even a pleasant breeze blowing through the room, which carried the scent of the leaves.
I walked into the center of the room and searched for Snape. He had really outdone himself. Before I had turned a complete circle I felt his arm fall around my waist from behind and his strong jaw fall beside my ear. He placed on large hand on my belly, which felt strangely warm and tingly inside, and used his free hand to turn my head to the side. He placed a potent kiss square on my lips, causing them to flush and swell, and then asked me if I could give him the pleasure of a dance.
I smiled, gave him my hand, and turned to face him. He assumed the proper position, one arm around my waist, our hands held out to our sides, and my arm draped around his shoulder. And we danced. And the longer we did the closer we got until my head was resting on his shoulder and his arms were wrapped protectively around me.
Finally I looked up into those deep dark eyes. "Happy Halloween," he whispered before placing another one of those fiery kisses on my lips, his index finger under my chin and one hand placed firmly against the small of my back, pressing me against him in the most comfortable embrace I had ever felt.
When the kiss was over I looked back into his eyes and he asked me if I'd like to retire to somewhere a bit more comfortable. I nodded and smiled. We both knew what was coming but neither of us needed to articulate it. It would have spoiled the aura of it all.
I took the hand he offered me and we left through a secret passageway on the right of the classroom, reappearing in his room. We stepped out from behind the fireplace and he replaced it, then turned and muttered a quick spell, pointed his wand at the grate, and conjured the warmest fire I had ever felt.
He met my gaze and for once I wasn't afraid to look at him. My breathing was growing heavier, as was his. He held my face up towards his and considered me for a moment.
"Acacia, I don't want to pressure you into anything. God knows I don't deserve someone like you. But if you'd have me -"
I placed one gentle finger to his lips, willing him to hush. I looked at him, trying out my old Jedi mind trick once again. This time it seemed to work for he picked me up and draped me across his arms and carried me easily over to the bed. There he laid me on my back, and as gently as could be reached down and took my shoes off my feet, one at a time. Then he worked his way around the bed, drawing the heavy velvet drapes around us. There was no canopy above us and so the light from the fire shone in nicely, casting shadows in all the right places.
Slowly he took his place beside me and I turned onto my side, the better to see him. He placed his hand on my cheek and the kiss that followed was one that I'm sure I could never forget no matter how desperately I wanted to.
I whimpered slightly as I let his tongue slide past my lips and dance across my own. It was not a whimper of protest, and he seemed to realize this, because he grew more bold and I responded mightily. This seemed to egg him on because he rolled me over onto my back with a slight groan, straddled me, and cupped my face in both of his ample hands.
He broke the embrace then, his breathing ragged and heavy. "Acacia, I don't want you to go through with this if -"
"Severus," I sighed heavily from underneath him. "Shut up and get on with it." He did as he was asked. I found my hands exploring his body as naturally as if I had done it a thousand times. The first thing I did was to reach up and free his hair from the loose ponytail he had put it in. I tossed the ribbon to the side of us and moved my hands longingly down his chest, unbuttoning each button of his black dress tunic. Once I had done that I slid my hands inside and peeled it off him slowly but deliberately.
My hands found a veritable playground on his smooth, warm skin. I ran them up his back and down his chest and back again as if I had never felt anything like it in my life. Meanwhile he had busied himself with my robe, pulling it over my head to leave me in a revealing red bodice and black silk skirt.
His hands discovered every inch of my body, concentrating on my shoulders and clavicle. Eventually he reached around to my back and undid the numerous hooks and eyes that held the thing on. He slid it off my arms and laid it gently beside us. I was now naked from the waist up and feeling rather vulnerable but his touch was so gentle and his kisses so tender that I felt comfortable in that vulnerability.
Eventually my hands grew bored with his chest and longed for something else to hold their attention. I ran them down his abdomen, past his navel, and hooked my fingers inside the waistband of his cotton dress slacks, my thumbs outside. It was his turn to hitch his breath and he rolled his head all the way back letting loose a titan moan. I gently unhooked the button and ran the zipper all the way down. Then I slid my thumbs gently between the waistband and his skin and slid his trousers all the way down to his knees. I used my feet to remove them the rest of the way.
I could feel that he was amply prepared and so I took on of his timid hands and placed it on the waistband of my skirt, willing him to get on with it. He undid the button and zipper on the side a bit clumsily, but managed to slide it all too slowly down. I could feel a long-forgotten ache deep in my belly. It seemed my body was writhing in anticipation of the act.
He returned his hands to my waist and slid my knickers down as well. I lifted my hips a bit to aid the process and felt him against me. This sent my head into a bit of a dizzy spell and I gasped.
"What's wrong," he asked, freezing above me.
"Nothing," I puffed heavily beneath him. "Don't stop." I hope I didn't sound too much like I was begging. It seemed to spur him on because he took my head in both of his hands and placed another hard kiss on my lips as he slid himself between my legs.
He was so gentle with me through the whole thing, I was amazed at his patience. He waited until I had enjoyed him entirely before he finished, gasped hard, fell against me, and then rolled over onto his back. We fell asleep in each other's arms, my head buried between his strong arm and gently rising and falling chest.