But he had fallen for her, regardless of his parents and his friends. The day he met her in an outdoor cafe, she was reading Crime and Punishment and wearing a blue sundress, her long auburn hair ironed straight, as was the style back then. He approached her and she rejected him with the grace of a swan. But he was persistent and she eventually gave in and allowed him to buy her lunch. From then, they were inseparable, until Serverus' father learned of their little tryst.
Laura was dead in days.
Still, Severus could remember her. The way she smelled like tulips and roses, and the rediculously short dresses she wore. The way she ironed her hair out, killing the soft curls he had begged her to keep, just for a day.
He wouldn't let Ginny be another person to be hurt because of him. Although this time, it wouldn't be his father, but Severus himself.
~*~
Meanwhile, Ginny had no idea what to make of anything. She sat behind the curtains of her four-poster bed in her dorm, a pillow hugged tightly to her chest. What had she done? She could still feel the small scratches on her back where the roughnes of the stones had made contact, and the patches of skin Snape had touched were tingling even now. Ginny sighed and closed her eyes, letting herself fall back against the pillows. Holiday break started soon, and for most this would be a great escape from school for two weeks. To Ginny, who had opted to stay at school over break, it was a death sentence.
How was she going to avoid seeing Snape if she had to spend two weeks with him, practically alone, in a castle? Well...alone was an exaggeration. Between the other faculty, ten or so other remaining students, and the ghosts, Ginny could try to distract herself. But she knew deep down that that would be impossible. For even now she felt the urge to go straight back tot he dungeons and...and what? Give Snape a peice of her mind (again)? Kiss him (again)? She didn't know. All Ginny really knew at this point was that she was in trouble.