Don't own anything recognisable from JK Rowling's Harry Potter books
Chapter 11
No Use Crying Over Spilt Dead Frog.
Katrina felt the tears running down her face, but she couldn't stop them.
"Are you okay?" The hoarse voice of Severus filled the room.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she said weakly; she blinked back the tears and looked around her.
She found herself stood in a dark room; the walls were a deep shade of red, which complemented the wooden floor. There was hardly any furniture in what could only be called a living room, but there was a comfortable chair and many shelves on the walls, which were full of books on potions.
Severus had left her in this room when they had got back from the meeting, but she sensed that he was returning to her by the way the fine hairs on the back of her neck were rising.
She felt his gaze on her, but she still couldn't get up from her crouched position on the floor. He touched her on the shoulder. It was only briefly, but she felt the warmth of his hand shooting through her. It was strange, to look at the sallow faced, greasy-haired man, you would have though that his touch was cold as ice, but it wasn't.
She shivered, the weight of her past and secrets, combined with the fatigue caused by the meeting made her feel ill.
"Severus," she said faintly, before slumping over in a heap on the floor.
~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~
"Katrina?" He rushed to her side, and turned her onto her back. He felt for her pulse and relaxed when he felt the steady heartbeat.
He picked her up and paused. He could still smell the vanilla perfume that had given away her secret to him on her body.
He shook his head.
"Stop it," he muttered.
He took her into his bedroom and placed her gently on the bed. He cocked his head to one side and looked at her for a moment. She looked peaceful; it was the first time he had seen her that way. Composed, angry, worried, flustered: yes, but never at peace.
He went over to the door and gave one final glimpse at her, before leaving.
"She will want something to wear and something to eat," he muttered to himself.
He made his way silently up the staircases and to her room.
Luckily it was still night-time and the students were still in bed. He wouldn't be disturbed for a while. He magically unlocked her room and walked in.
He wrinkled his nose at the plants. The violet was pink.
He touched a couple of the books that were in piles in her room and read some of the titles.
Dracula, Catch 22, The Three Musketeers, A Clockwork Orange. He glanced at the diversity of them all. The many books she read went from horror to action.
Walking into her bedroom, he grimaced, and deliberately avoided the pile of Mills & Boon and other assorted romance novels on her bedside table. He went towards her wardrobe and picked out a loose fitting blue robe.
"The one she wore when she was staring at me in the staff room," he murmured. He draped it over his arm and went towards the door, pausing when he noticed the bottle on her other bedside table.
"Contact Lens Solution?"
He picked up the bottle and made his way out of the room, shutting the door as he did so.
Upon returning to his room, he checked on her; she was still asleep in his bed.
He got his wand and waved it over her head, holding the lens case in his other hand.
The blue tinted contact lenses appeared in the case, he frowned at them.
"Tinted?" he murmured and looked at the sleeping girl.
She had something to hide, but he wasn't sure what.
~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~
Katrina awoke slowly to find herself floating in Severus' classroom.
The room was fuzzy because she didn't have her glasses or contact lenses on, but she could still make out the black figure of Severus. He was stood beside a smoking cauldron; his back was turned to her as he stirred the potion. Without looking around, as if he sensed her conscious state, he flicked his fingers and she floated to a standing position. Her legs remained weak, but somehow they managed to hold onto her.
"Are you alright?" he asked huskily, his voice full of weariness, and something she hadn't heard in a long time. It sounded as if he was slightly aroused. She blushed; she remembered the last time he had sounded like that.
"Here, drink." He turned to her and offered her a spoon of something green.
"Ch…" She gave a rasping cough, and cleared her dry throat. "Chokecherry?"
"I left it out."
She nodded, and reached for the spoon. He moved himself closer to her, and put the spoon next to her mouth. "Drink," he rasped.
She sipped the potion slowly, letting it soothe her dry throat. "Strawberry?" she asked uncertainly.
He nodded, and offered her the spoon again.
She drank, her head became refreshed, and her muscles relaxed slightly.
"Thank you," she said, and looked up at him. His usually black eyes looked even darker; they were surrounded in deep black shadows, and there was a glint in them that she recognised.
"Severus," she whispered and was faintly disappointed when he backed away from her.
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He stared at her disappointed face. Her big green eyes were staring up at him sleepily.
'I don't know why she wears tinted contacts. Green eyes suit her' he thought distractedly. 'Although there's something about them that reminds me of someone…'
His thoughts drifted through some of the people he knew, and suddenly, as one of the faces stuck steadfastly in his mind, he was a victim of his own intense emotions as they overcame him. He looked at her, and felt something stab at him in his enraged state.
She was gnawing at her bottom lip nervously.
This made her lip red and swollen until some blood started to pool around her tooth.
He felt the urge to kiss her, and remembered the clinch they had shared when he had unmasked her.
He had done it to stop the Death Eater from finding out who she was. However while kissing her he had found himself enjoying the kiss, the vanilla scent that had given her away to him in her hair, the feel of her next to him and the taste of chocolate on her lips.
She looked up at him, her eyes met his and she gasped. Her eyes revealed her half-frightened, half-excited state. A red mist clouded his eyes, but he still had the constraint to stop and look at the clock he kept on the wall and make a few hasty calculations.
'Half an hour until my next class.'
He went slowly towards her, as she looked towards the open door of his classroom. "Severus?" she asked hesitantly, her swollen lips pouting gently as she spoke his name.
He flicked a glance at the open door, and ignored it, heading straight for her in purposeful strides.
He got to her and propelled her into his storeroom behind him. Closing the door and magically locking it, he turned back to her.
Pushing her back into the shelves behind, he kissed her ferociously. She responded bashfully. She put her hands on his chest and he felt the warmth of them going through his robe.
He wrapped his arms around her waist and cupped her lower back, pulling her closer to him. She gasped, but this just became an invitation to her mouth for him. She removed her hands from his chest and put them on the shelf, which was digging into her rear, for support.
He felt her chest rubbing against his, and pushed her even closer to the ledge behind her, savouring in the feel of her that he had experienced at the Death Eater's Meeting.
She tilted backwards to find no support, and thinking that she was losing her balance she flailed her arms, hitting a couple of jars as she did.
They hurtled to the floor with an almighty crash.
Hearing the sound, Severus regained control of his rampant passions and let go of her.
She spun away, going deeper into the closet and ran her fingers through her short hair in an attempt to create order.
Brushing the big bits of glass to one side magically, he looked at the dried frog and the herbs on the floor, mentally calculating the speed in which he could get more.
He then turned back to Katrina.
And frowned when he saw her shaking in silent sobs.
He went towards her, but she just shied away.
"No use crying over spilt dead frog," he said to her scathingly.
"I wasn't," she said and rushed from the room.
~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~
"What were you thinking!"? Katrina was telling herself off for the way she reacted to him.
She was rushing up the staircases from the potion's classroom in the basement, to her room.
"Oomph!" Harry exclaimed, and was temporarily winded when he crashed into Katrina as he was rushing down the stairs.
It wasn't Harry's day, because closely following Katrina was Severus.
"Twenty points from Gryffindor for running in the corridor! What are you doing here, Potter?! Shouldn't you be at Breakfast?!" Severus glared at the boy.
"Uhhhh… I forgot my… my book! I forgot my book that Hermione wanted to look at before our first class." Harry looked between Severus and Katrina. He noticed that her eyes were slightly puffy, as if she had just woken up, or just stopped crying. He also became aware of the fact that both Severus and Katrina's lips were swollen, and although he could only see a cut on her lip, his lip had a bit of blood on it. He also saw that Severus was carrying a ladies robe.
"Go to breakfast, Potter, before I deduct more points!" Severus growled warningly, and watched as Harry walked quickly down the corridor.
Katrina took that moment to try and escape, but his firm hand grasping her arm just above the elbow stopped her.
"Katrina…" He started to say, but she shook his hand off of her, she turned away so she couldn't see him.
He put the robe in her line of vision, but he didn't move.
"My…" She looked down and grasped the robe she was wearing. "Who…?"
"I decided it would be better
if you didn't wake up in this. Also that you didn't go rushing around the
castle in a robe stained with blood."
She shuddered as she remembered the pledge that a new member had made, which
was sealed with his blood. She remembered how he had knelt and cut his hand,
and how the splattering of blood had gotten onto her dress.
She felt woozy, and placed her hand against the wall for support.
"Katrina?" he asked quietly. It was the first time she had heard him speak softly to anyone.
"I'm fine," she said faintly, her shoulders slumped slightly as she tried to stop the flashbacks of the meeting. "It's just…"
"I understand." Severus' firm voice interrupted her thoughts, and he placed one hand on her waist, the other grasped her hand as he moved behind her and steered her to her room.
"You need to get some rest," he said quietly, not removing his hand from her waist as he opened the door and lead her inside. "I will tell Albus that you are ill, and take over your classes for today."
He laid her gently on the bed, and removed her shoes. She couldn't help wondering what would have happened if all those years ago she had told him…
"Severus… I have to…"
"I didn't watch," he interrupted her firmly.
"What…?" she asked confused.
"I said I didn't watch. I know you are probably worried about the fact that I changed your clothes, but don't be," he caressed her cheek gently, removing the hairs that were stuck to it. "I removed them magically."
"Uhhhh… Thanks, Severus, but…"
"Hush." He placed a finger over her lips. "Rest now. We'll talk later."
He left the room, and Katrina sighed.
"I wanted to tell you about my past… our past."
A/N Thanks to Kelest for reviewing!!!!!!