Milah - Thanks for the review. Hope you've caught up on your sleep, 'cause things pick up from here on!

Bananafanayou - I'm going, I'm going, I'm going! :D

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No Foolish Wand Waving ~*~

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Silence reigned all across the gathering in the clearing as Marius finished speaking, and Snape snapped his head around to first look at the man with enough audacity to do such a thing, and then his gaze went quickly to Taber.

Perth shrugged and gave Severus a look that said that he was obviously shocked by the turn of events as well.

"Well then," spoke the head of the council. "Custom dictates that we meet again in forty-eight hours. Is that sufficient?" She asked Marius, who nodded. She turned to Snape, who had no idea what the woman was talking about, but he nodded in acknowledgment of her question.

"Fine." She finished. "Forty-eight hours. Here." She and the rest of the council rose and the gathered crowd began to disperse.

Lorien shot a menacing glance in Marius's direction, and the blonde mage merely gave her a charming smile and walked out of the clearing. She quickly went to where Perth had gone to stand near Snape, where the man was looking puzzled by the occasional wizard that was patting him on the arm and wishing him luck as they went by.

"I can't believe this!" She sputtered angrily as she walked toward them. "You!" She said to Taber. "You put him up to this!"

Perth nodded. "I thought it would be a good thing for him to follow tradition, Lorien."

"Well, now look what's happened!" She said, quite agitated.

"How was I to know that Marius would do such a thing?" Taber asked her defensively.

Lorien sighed and backed down. "I know. I'm sorry. Even I didn't think Marius would stoop so low."

Snape spoke very slowly and deliberately to the two of them. "Would one of you be so kind as to explain to me WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?"

Lorien looked at Perth expectantly as Remus, Sirius, Harry and Draco came to hear what was going on.

"Marius has challenged you for the right to declare intentions for Lorien," Taber explained.

Sirius spoke up in an innocent sounding voice, but Lorien knew him well enough to know that the gleam in his eye meant that he just couldn't be any more entertained by the Potions master's new dilemma. "Why doesn't Lorien just pick Snape, then? It should be an easy enough decision for her."

Lorien shot Sirius a look that told him he was dead if she caught him alone, and he gave her his most innocent smile.

"It doesn't work that way." Taber explained. "If a challenge has been issued, traditionally it's settle by a duel."

"Really?" Severus asked, starting to perk up a little at the thought.

Taber nodded. "In forty-eight hours."

"Fine." Snape replied. "I think I'm actually going to look forward to this." Snape knew he excelled at dueling and he began to entertain thoughts of beating the brash Nemorosi into a figurative pulp. Or perhaps a literal one.

"Severus.." Lorien said quietly.

"So, they'll have to duel in front of the council?" Harry asked, not relishing his own brief experiences with the wizard's duel. He caught the snicker from Malfoy a few feet away.

Taber nodded.

"Severus..." Lorien tried again quietly to get his attention.

"Arrogant bastard." Snape growled. "It'll serve him right to get his ass kicked in front of the whole council. Of all the nerve! Challenging a Hogwarts professor!" Snape went on a bit arrogantly himself.

"Severus!" Lorien snapped.

He turned and looked at her.

"Could I see you for a moment?" She asked, looking bothered.

Snape walked a short distance away with her, not liking the look of alarm on her face. "You appear worried," he said.

"Well, of course," she replied in a slightly agitated voice.

Snape snorted and folded his arms. "That much faith in me, Lorien?"

Lorien sighed. "My faith in you has yet to waiver, Severus, but there's something you obviously don't know."

Snape frowned. He didn't like these things that he didn't know. "What?" He asked warily.

She made it simple. "Nemorosi duels are always wandless."

Snape stared at her for a long moment, and then began debating what it was going to be like to get his ass kicked in front of the whole Nemorosi council.

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Sirius Black was in a good mood as he walked along with Remus. "You know, Moony, I thought that coming with Harry to this council thing was going to be a bit boring." He grinned at his friend.

"What are you trying to say?" Remus asked, a broad grin on his own face.

"Well, I would volunteer to come here on all my holidays if I knew I was going to see someone beat the snot out of Snape," he replied.

Remus laughed. "Really, Padfoot, don't you think you ought to be cheering for a fellow Hogwarts staff member?"

"Are you?" Sirius asked with a devilish smile.

"Well, I hope he survives, at least." Remus said slyly. "I guess I wouldn't have much of a problem seeing Marius mop the floor with him."

"Thank you for that vote of confidence." The voice came from Marius as he caught up to the two men.

"Don't mention it," Sirius said cordially. He offered his hand. "I'm Sirius Black, and this is Remus Lupin."

Marius didn't offer to shake hands. "Ah, the convict and the werewolf," he said. He leaned closer to Remus. "Just be glad that Lorien made the decision for you before I did." He gave Remus a threatening look and walked off.

Remus clenched his teeth, and glared at the man's back.

Sirius hung his head in his hands and moaned aloud.

"What is it, Padfoot?" Remus asked.

"What a jerk!" Sirius replied.

"I know. I can't imagine being that arrogant." Remus said. He was starting to have a better understanding of why Lorien was so touchy about anyone seeming too possessive.

"It's not just that," Sirius said miserably, "he's actually making me consider routing for Snape."

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It had taken Lorien and Perth a considerable amount of time to calm Severus down after he found out that he would be taking part in a duel without his wand, and now they had finally managed to convince him that they thought they had time to at least make it so that it was likely that he'd sustain no permanent damage from the encounter.

"Well, that's something to look forward to isn't it?" Snape asked Taber caustically. "You know, this is all your fault. All this 'it's tradition' and 'it'll impress the lady' rot. What the hell was I thinking?" He ranted on. "Obviously I wasn't."

"Or at least not with your brain," Sirius added as he and the three others walked up.

If looks could kill, Sirius would have been a small smoldering pile of ashes in the dirt, but he ignored the look Snape was giving him and spoke again. "Get over it, Snape. What's done is done. Any of us would have done the same thing. You're going to have to figure out a way to get through this, that's all."

"That's easy enough for you to say, Black." Snape snarled. "You'd waltz in there and change into that mangy beast and not have to worry about not having your wand."

Sirius shrugged.

Taber spoke up again. "Sirius is right, Severus. We have two days to work on this. I think that I can get you through it ok."

They all finally convinced Snape that short of backing out of the whole thing, which he was loathe to do, he was going to have to at least learn to defend himself from Marius. Wandless.

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Harry and Draco stood nearby watching the first lesson that Taber was giving their Potions master unfold.

"This is so stupid," Draco said, and yawned in a bored fashion.

"It's not stupid." Harry said. "Besides, he doesn't really have much of a choice at this point, does he?"

"I guess not." Malfoy answered. "I don't really see the point of the whole idea of wandless magic. It's seems pretty useless if you ask me. Bunch of nature-loving fruitcakes"

"Well, it's not," Harry said defensively, "and the Nemorosi are not fruitcakes."

"So touchy, Potter." Malfoy drawled. "You'd think you were a Nemorosi by the look on your face."

Harry was angry. "Malfoy, you know what? You're a stupid slimy git."

Draco's expression darkened. "Take that back, Potter, or I'll hex you from here to Hogwarts."

Harry declined, his anger getting the best of him. "So, how did it feel to have your father in Azkaban, Malfoy? No wonder you turned out the way you did."

That did it. Draco pulled his wand and pointed it at Harry.

"Go on, just try it." Harry said, standing there without drawing his wand.

"You think you're that fast on the draw?" Malfoy sneered. "Fine. I would have thought you'd learned your lesson about dueling with me the last time," he said, and spoke the hex.

Harry quickly drew his arms together in front of him, invoking earth and blocked the spell easily as Malfoy looked completely surprised, but he wasn't finished, and he tapped his anger at the arrogant Slytherin and threw the small ball of fire at his feet, causing him to jump back quickly.

"What the hell, Potter?" Malfoy was furious, but also completely caught off guard.

"You ought to spend more time learning about the Nemorosi and less time insulting them, Malfoy." Harry said.

"Is there a problem here?" Remus asked as he came to where the two boys were eyeing each other angrily.

"No." Spat Draco.

"No problem, Professor." Harry answered with his eye still on Malfoy. "I was just giving Draco here a little lesson in wandless magic."

"Well, I think that's enough out of both of you for one day," replied Remus. "Clear on that?"

Both boys nodded and walked back with him to where the others were.

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Lorien was frustrated that she could do nothing to help Severus at this point, but she knew that if anyone was going to be able to teach him anything useful in such a short period of time, it would be Perth. She listened to the instructions Taber gave Snape as they readied to begin the lesson, and she tried to think of anything else useful that she might tell them about Marius.

Not too many people knew what Marius was like better than Lorien. He was a fairly strong wizard, decent at dueling, and wouldn't hesitate to resort to physical violence in a confrontation if need be. The one thing that she knew would be in favor of Severus was that he was definitely smarter, and she hoped his wits would help him with the considerable challenge he was going to face. She reminded herself to tell Perth that Marius had an affinity for fire spells, and blinding curses.

A thought struck Lorien, and she suddenly thought of something that might afford Severus a little extra protection from Marius. She quickly left and ran off to find Rachel or Ilizabeth to help her with what she needed to do.

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Snape had listened to everything that Taber had to offer in the way of initial instruction and stepped back to try his hand at a first attempt at a wandless defense spell. He notice Lorien leave just as he was doing so and he frowned. Evidently she couldn't bear to watch and was leaving. Not a confidence builder by any means.

He nodded at Taber to indicate that he was ready, and it was only a couple of seconds after he did so that he found himself on his back on the ground, staring up at the sky in an unfocused way.

"Try again," he heard Taber say, and he shook his head and got to his feet to face the Nemorosi mage.

The fourth time Severus hit the ground, he found himself angry at the fact that this was proving to be so difficult. After all, how long did it take Potter to get this? He was definitely unhappy with the thought that another Potter might be better than him at something, and he managed to drag himself to his feet again.

Lorien had returned by this time and she came to him to offer a bit of advice. "Severus, you can do this," she said. "You're just not getting past the fact that you don't have your wand, that's all. It's all here." She tapped her head.

Severus stared at her for a moment. "Lorien, why do you have blood on your lip?" He asked.

She wiped the trace of blood away and spoke again. "It's nothing. Now, what you must realize is that you already have the ability to do wandless magic. You do it every day when you unlock the classroom, and half the time when I've seen you summon a book. You just do it so automatically that you don't even realize that you're doing it," she explained. "Tell me you don't realize that all that potion brewing is a form of wandless magic. You never even use a wand when you're stirring that damn wolfsbane potion."

Severus thought about it for a minute. She was absolutely right. He had really never given it much thought.

Lorien smiled as she saw realization dawn on the man in front of her, and the thought occurred to her that Marius was going to get more than he bargained for. She stepped close to Severus and spoke again. "You can do this. I have ever so much faith in you, Severus." She looked into the ebony eyes for a long moment and then turned away to let him return to the lesson.

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"Oh, brother." Harry muttered, after hearing Lorien's declaration of confidence in the black robed Slytherin. He rolled his eyes.

"Enough to gag you, isn't it?" Malfoy added, for once in agreement with Potter.

Harry looked at Draco and held up his pinkie finger. "She has him right here, doesn't she?"

Malfoy nodded. "Evidently another form of wandless magic," he said slyly.

Harry actually found himself smiling at the comment from Draco.

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Snape was sure he had the idea this time as Taber hurled the minor stunning spell at him again, and it aggravated him to no end when he found himself slamming once more into the dirt, this time at the feet of Lupin and Black. He gazed up at the upside-down werewolf as Lupin leaned over him.

"Are you alright?" Remus asked the man in the dirt in front of him.

Snape nodded and lay there for another moment catching his breath before he looked back up at Lupin and spoke. "I suppose there isn't a chance you want her back at this point, is there?"

Remus smiled, shook his head adamantly, and helped the Potions master get back on his feet. He clapped him on the shoulder. "She's all yours, Severus," he said cheerfully.

Snape walked back to Taber once more, debating momentarily about if it might not just be easier to let Marius have her. One glance at the way she was watching him, however, told him that he knew exactly why he was doing this, and he resolved to try it once more.

This time he was only knocked backwards a pace or two, but remained on his feet, and that small success did everything in the world to give him greater confidence, as did the smile that Lorien gave him.

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Later that evening, when the others had all gone off to dinner with Perth, Lorien stayed behind with Severus to tend to his injuries from the afternoon's lesson. He was bruised and battered, and moved stiffly as Lorien helped him remove his robes. He groaned as she helped him get his shirt off, and cringed when she touched a large bruise on his back. "That hurts!" He snarled softly.

Lorien pulled up a chair and indicated that she wanted him to sit, and he turned it around to straddle it and rest his arms and chin on the back.

Lorien went to work, and felt Severus wince each time she placed her hands on a new sore spot. "You know you don't have to do this," she said, hands on the large bruise she had touched earlier. "It's really a silly old tradition. I mean, it's not like I wouldn't still pick you if he wins."

"Well, the whole thing is purely symbolic," Snape agreed from where he had his eyes closed and his chin resting on his hands.

"Exactly. Why men feel the need to run around proving themselves that way to women, I'll never know. I mean there certainly are better...."

"Oh get off it, Lorien." Severus said sharply.

"What?" She asked.

"Don't give me that. I think you actually like this," he said.

"I do not." She pressed against the next bruise a little harder than necessary, and Severus grunted a little. "It's a bunch of nonsense," she continued.

"So, you wouldn't care if I didn't go through with it?" He asked.

"Not at all," she said, finishing with the worst of his injuries. "Just tell Marius to get stuffed and walk away."

"Really?" Severus sounded intrigued.

"Yes," she said, trying to sound indifferent.

"Truly? You wouldn't care?" He asked, sounding a little hopeful.

"No." She said, but he heard the lack of conviction in her answer and he stood and faced her.

"Liar," he accused her softly. He reached for her and pulled her close. "You might have some people convinced that you think the whole thing is ridiculous, but you don't fool me for one minute, Remedari atora."

"I don't know what you're going on about." Lorien tried to pull away a little, but Severus wouldn't let her.

He caught her chin up with one hand and looked her in the eyes. "Tell me you don't like it, Lorien. Tell me you don't like the idea of men fighting over you."

Lorien shrugged and looked back at him steadily.

Severus continued, pulling her against him. "I don't care what you say, I'm willing to bet that you do. I think you like the idea of being ...won."

Lorien couldn't help herself, and smiled and then bit her lower lip as she turned away.

"That's what I thought," he said.

"Which is why you're ready to get the stuffing knocked out of you?" She asked.

"Perhaps," he answered her slyly. "Well, that and the fact that I'd never hear the end of it from Lupin and Black if I back out."

Lorien pouted. "Oh, that's very romantic, Severus. So, it's really all about your ego?"

He pulled her in closer and looked down into her blue eyes again. "What do you want it to be about, Lorien?" He asked in a honeyed voice.

Lorien found that she couldn't turn away from the way he was looking at her if she tried.

"I'm going to do this, Lorien," he said softly. "I'm going to do this and try to preserve what shred of dignity I'll have left after I get thrashed by Marius."

He wanted to tell her more, but was unsure how to say the things he was feeling. How did he tell her that he'd never done anything remotely romantic in his life, and now that he had the opportunity, he had surprised even himself when he discovered the idea appealed to him, even though it might mean he'd take a beating. How did he tell her that she was the only one that he'd ever considered doing such a foolish thing for?

It was hard enough for him to tell himself. He, Severus Snape, was about to enter a wizard's duel, wandless, over a woman. This woman. The one that had made the possibility of such a duel happening by taking a chance on him. But, he was in the habit of proving to people that had faith in him that they were right to do so, wasn't he? He smiled and spoke softly to her. "Besides, I believe you're worth it."

The way she was kissing him after that simple declaration was already going a long way toward making that statement true.

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A/N: Next chapter the betting starts as the forty-eight hours tick down!